Skeptics Guide #932

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #932 May 16th 2023 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Microsoft Signs Up For Fusion https://newatlas.com/energy/helion-microsoft-fusion-2028/ News Item #2 – Robot Helpers https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230515132043.htm News Item#3 – DNA Everywhere https://theconversation.com/you-shed-dna-everywhere-you-go-trace-samples-in-the-water-sand-and-air-are-enough-to-identify-who-you-are-raising-ethical-questions-about-privacy-205557 News Item #4 – The Evolution of Butterflies https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-023-02041-9 News Item #5 – CO2 and Lab Grown Meat https://interestingengineering.com/science/lab-grown-meat-25-times-co2 Segment #2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. Name That Logical Fallacy Love the show, I have been listening on and off for many years, and have introduced some of my friends to your excellent podcast. My question is about a discussion I was having with my brother in law which turned into a bit of a debate. Long story short, it was about a video where 2 cars were participating in a "tug of war" type of contest where a rope was attached between them and they had to try and pull the other car in the opposite direction. My brother in laws claim was that the victorious car had its victory because of the more advanced suspension system and the design of the 4 wheel drive system. Note that in this battle, the victorious car was lighter by 600 pounds, had less power and less torque. My claim was that there may have been other factors that the video maker should have eliminated to make the result more definitive and fair. For example, they should have done a few tests with the cars switching positions in case the road surface or direction someone advantaged one of the cars. Also they should have switched the actual drivers between cars to eliminate driver technique as a factor. Also things like the types of tyre, tyre air pressure etc may have all contributed. My brother in law claimed the above factors would have been negligible and didnt need to be factored into the testing. I then said that without factoring them into the testing, we dont know for sure. He them (sarcastically) said that by my logic we should have also taken into account the angle of the sun, position of the moon, and a whole bunch of other nonsense factors. When I told him those factors wouldnt be considered reasonable as having an effect, he asked why I am the one who gets to judge what is and what isn't a reasonable thing to test for? My reply was that we can't test for absolutely everything, so at least testing for the most reasonable and likely confounding factors is a good idea. He also used "Occams Razor" in his defense, claiming that his claim is the simplest, but my claim has a lot more factors and is therefore more complicated. I replied that his position has more assumption, since he is assuming that all the things I mentioned have only a negligible effect. His reply of course was that he is only making one assumption, that being that "all factors other than the design of the suspension and 4 wheel drive system don't have a significant effect". I hope this discussion/question is iteresting to you and I really look forward to hearing your thoughts on this. Adam H Zielinski Brisbane Australia Segment #4. Potent Quotables Segment #5. Science or Fiction Each week our host will come up with three science news items or facts, two genuine, one fictitious. He will challenge our panel of skeptics to sniff out the fake – and you can play along. Theme: Butterflies #1) Butterflies breathe through spiracles located mainly on their wings. #2) Most of a butterfly’s taste receptors are on their feet. #3) There are over 100 species of butterfly that are considered arctic, including almost 20 species that are high arctic and extremely cold adapted, although there are no butterfly species in Antarctica. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.” ― Saul Bellow


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