Topic: Episode #335

[mddawson]

backing up the comments made in the podcast.

thanks. don't need to watch it, now

Heston Blumenthal and his weird dishes are always worth watching.  That said this was his from his first series Kitchen Chemistry and not as good as his later ones (In Search of Perfection and Feasts)

[lonely moa]

Orchardists have been misting fruiting buds which would be frozen, on particular nights, otherwise for years.  And it's just water. 

[ufo]

WTN is a steam locomotive getting going as heard from the coal car.

Myth is the using only 10% of your brain thing.

[ufo]

Breast enhancement for mice?

SoF:
The thing about the 2nd gift is the fiction.  I've read about both the other two and they are plausible.

[ufo]

D'oh!   I read about the mouse boobie cancer vaccine and years ago about spraying oranges in florida with water or some kind of solution.  The gift thing doesn't make sense.

[uolj]

I was wondering if this was the myth snuck in to the show.

I think the "hidden myth of the week" comment was just a joke. I believe they were just making fun of the fact that several weeks in a row someone had mentioned a commonly believed myth and had to correct it the following week.

It would be a fun segment if it was real, but it's too easy to do on accident anyway.

[GodSlayer]

I think the "hidden myth of the week" comment was just a joke. I believe they were just making fun of the fact that several weeks in a row someone had mentioned a commonly believed myth and had to correct it the following week.

I woulda fort dat was obvious

[Johnny Slick]

I was wondering if this was the myth snuck in to the show.

I think the "hidden myth of the week" comment was just a joke. I believe they were just making fun of the fact that several weeks in a row someone had mentioned a commonly believed myth and had to correct it the following week.

It would be a fun segment if it was real, but it's too easy to do on accident anyway.

That and it was a great opportunity for Dr. novella to give his younger brother a hard time. As an older brother, I know that it is imperative to do this at every opportunity.

[JuniorSpaceman]

I was wondering if this was the myth snuck in to the show.

I think the "hidden myth of the week" comment was just a joke. I believe they were just making fun of the fact that several weeks in a row someone had mentioned a commonly believed myth and had to correct it the following week.

It would be a fun segment if it was real, but it's too easy to do on accident anyway.

Almost certainly right    I just found it odd that nobody (particularly Rebecca and Steve) picked up Jay's comment about menstruation, or that anybody even hinted at querying Bob's sweeping comment about dreaming in colour - maybe the policy now is to let the 'big statements' go through unchallenged, and sort them out next show?

[fatblond]

I feel totally geeky for saying this, but on this show, one of the rogues said that Neo would have no muscles and been unable to stand.  I am not sure that this would be true in the context of the movie.  When Morpheus is presenting Neo with the history of the future he says:

"The human generates more bio-electricity than 120-volt battery and over 25,000 BTVs of body heat. Combined with a form of fusion, the machines have found all the energy they would ever need."

Now I am no expert on physiology, but body heat would come from metabolic processes as a base line.  However, a body in motion would generate more heat based on a greater expenditure of energy and musculoskeletal friction? (Not sure on this last bit.  Think I heard it somewhere. )

Therefore, the machines would have an incentive to make sure that Neo and the other batteries did in fact have muscles and more body mass than a paraplegic as mentioned in the show.  Otherwise the core premise that the humans were "batteries" would be nullified outright or substantially undercut.

Now, the bigger question I have is, why they would need anything beyond fusion, but I digress. 

[GodSlayer]

Now, the bigger question I have is, why they would need anything beyond fusion, but I digress. 

or a matrix of any sort (perfect, miserable, whatever). people can survive in a coma.

and how about mincing the bodies being disposed of so the resources can be reused, instead of flushing them to safety.

[BornToKvetch]

"the center for theology and religious sciences" at Lund University, where I study

what're the religious sciences? (is theology not one of them?)

(Stupid question, but Google is currently showing up as a blank page...)

(very delayed reply):

Oops. Translation should be: "Center for Theology and religious studies", but the original words in Swedish litteraly translates to:
"Center for Theology and science of religion".

Also, I would not consider theology a modus of science as such, more a field of study, or something. Myself I study for example the histories, psychologies, philosophies and anthropologies (plural form intended) of religions, which would be these "sciences of religion" that google is so ignorant about.  When theology is scientific, it enters one of these major branches. When not, it is either metaphysics (does God exist?) or religion (this is why God exists!) or psuedo-science (this animal proves evolution wrong!). Yes, I have had books with these examples in them as part of our curriculim (or is it syllabus? My english is a not so good). One time, we were given to read a book about philosophy of religion that "proved" God is more likely to exist then not. Of course, that book was written by a christian monk (!). No book with the opposite message was assigned to be read.

This, of course, has nothing to do with the podcast this thread should be about. Do carry on.

[GodSlayer]

Also, I would not consider theology a modus of science as such, more a field of study, or something.

yea, well, I'd agree. it's just that when you used the term 'science', I assumed you could only be using it in the broad sense Aquinas used it in, in which theology is a science (presumably a religious science, if such things are to be said to exist), hence my curiosity.

Yes, I have had books with these examples in them as part of our curriculum (or is it syllabus? My english is a not so good).

::shrug:: Mine, too, apparently

[jharvey963]

I'm a little behind on SGU and I just listened to an episode, I believe #335.  In it, Rebecca apologized for the "female periods syncing up" error.  I applaud the scientific attitude of being self correcting. Later on in that episode Rebecca referred to

"Sabertooth Tiger"

And I'm sorry to say, Rebecca may have to apologize again.  There is no such thing as a "Sabertooth Tiger".  It's a "Sabertooth Cat".  That animal bears no relation to tigers.

Yes, "Sabertooth Tiger" is commonly heard, but it's also commonly wrong.  I was surprised myself when I learned this -- from, of all places, the La Brea Tarpits Museum in Los Angeles.  Additionally, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabertooth_tiger is the Wikipedia entry, the very first line of which reads:

"Smilodon, often called a saber-toothed cat or incorrectly a saber-toothed tiger, is an extinct genus of machairodonts"

So -- this is my first post here!  I'm glad to join this community (and hope I haven't broken any board rules!) finally.  I'm looking forward to a lot of interesting reading and posting!

J.

[Citizen Skeptic]

Yes, "Sabertooth Tiger" is commonly heard, but it's also commonly wrong.  I was surprised myself when I learned this -- from, of all places, the La Brea Tarpits Museum in Los Angeles.

First, welcome!

Secondly, the pits is one of my favorite places in LA.