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This Toxic Life, More Stars!, Prediction Hearing, Gut Love, Botox Weakness, Vitamin D NOT A Cure-all, Wired Drunks Are Bad, Gamburtsev Questions, Moderation Wins Again, And Much More!!!
Show Notes to come!
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I'm the host of this little science show. 
OMG… I tried listening to “Riders On the Storm” imemdiately after hearing Justin mention it on the podcast (I was lucky enough to have it on my iPod at the time), and I totally heard the “whispering”! WEIRD… I thought it would be an urban myth or something, but it was there.. how did I never hear it before? And now, I can never un-hear it.
Thanks for all the good work you guys do, I enjoy the podcast a lot!
– corey
I loved the story on selective listening. Anyone have the reference to the original article?
The Wolfe-Simon paper isn’t very convincing.
She seems like nice person and was great on Science Friday, but her procedure is messy.
I don’t suspect Arsenic is being used in any biological molecules.
It seems more likely that the cells are sequestering the Arsenic, perhaps in vacuoles.
No doubt a whole new set of core enzymes could be evolved for using Arsenic over Phosphorus.
It just doesn’t seem like that’s likely to happen on Earth.
This is because Arsenic-rich environments like Mono Lake are transitory.
The Earth, to an Arsenic over P life-form would be a toxic hell-scape with pockets of sanctuary scattered far from each other in space and time.
That doesn’t support the millions of years it would take a lineage to ratchet up a whole new set of enzymes.
Think of how many genes it takes just to transcribe DNA to RNA, RNA to Amino Acids, break down Arsenic-laden proteins, etc.
No doubt GFAJ-1?? is well on it’s way, but Mono lake won’t be around long enough.
http://rrresearch.blogspot.com/2010/12/arsenic-associated-bacteria-nasas.html
So that nobody is confused by Justin’s carelessly perpetuating a silly myth: milk consumption does NOT contribute to osteoporrosis.
The calcium in milk is beneficial for people with an otherwise calcium-deficient diet.
For those with diet already rich in calcium, it the added calcium is unimportant.
Of course, no components of milk act to lessen bone density!
The correlation of per capita milk consumption to bone density by country is NOT to be confused with CAUSATION!
The myth is debunked here: http://www.osteopenia3.com/Milk-Osteoporosis.html
Interesting bit about hearing. However, I am not convinced that Jim Morrison is whispering over the vocal track. It sounds more like there was just a lot of reverb on the mic.
… the myth dubunked while perpetuating other myths?
1 – Osteopenia… is a made up disease, created by Merck to sell a drug. That it is being conflated with Osteoporosis here… credibility = fail
2 – Vitamin D deficency is related to Osteoporosis in the US?
3 – Mexican ppl all play a lot of soccer ?
I’m in sunny, outdoor active, yogurt loving california and yet, we still have Osteoporosis… hmm
Dr Kiki seems to have the same hesitancy as the medical community in saying that it CAN be good for you! While I understand the stigma of the dangers of alcohol abuse, that should not restrict supporting the benefits. My doctor perscribes baby aspirin and fish oil pills for me everyday. Not lots, but enough to give me all the benefits. And it is NOT because of any pre-existing condition, only family history (heart disease). Why can’t alcohol be considered similarly?
Maybe I misunderstood her reaction, but it sounded as “well, we should have more studies before we conclude anything”. I suspect that if this were another drug it would not have received as pessimistic a reaction. Of course more studies are never bad and it should be qualified that moderation (as she did state) is implied in the study. Despite my wishes… I DON’T think a FULL BOTTLE of scotch every night is what the study was saying!
Cheers and great show!!
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteopenia is not a disease, it’s a condition.
No doubt, over diagnosis and frivolous treatment of the condition has made Merck lots of money.
It’s still a real word, and brings attention to the actual topic of the article.
I’d say it’s use in the headline is refreshingly appropriate.
Besides, you of all people should know that poor headlines are prevalent.
The quality of the headline tell us close to nothing about the quality of the study or article!
2. Yes. http://tinyurl.com/28hezvd
3. Yes, Mexican people do play a lot of soccer.
I’m in sunny California, too. I can end sentences with hmm, too. hmm…
hmm.. lol…
I used to love this show. But over the past couple months it has gotten too hard to listen to.
The conversational tone originally brought me to the show. It was great. But a show on science needs to be accurate. Over the past couple of months I have heard both of you mispronounce, falicparum, telomerase, and other biological terms.
When I hear you mispronounce something, on a topic that I am knowledgeable on, I immediately think, ‘What are they mispronouncing that I am not aware of?’ This also undermines your credibility. If you are getting even the pronunciation wrong, what other facts are you getting wrong?
Last week was the last straw when you mixed up Proteins and DNA when discussing how Arsenic can be involved in DNA self assembly.
Sorry. She show is entertaining, but too frustrating to listen to.
JErry
Sorry that you are frustrated by the mispronunciations and occasional mix-up. This is a live show. We don’t have producers aside from ourselves. Mistakes are made. We don’t deny that.
I do apologize for the amino acid / nucleotide mistake I made a couple of weeks back. It was only after I went back to edit the show that I realized I’d been misspeaking. But, I can’t go back to change what I said.
That’s where you come in. Thank you for bringing it to the attention of people who visit the website. This is a place where we can all discuss the errors on the show and hopefully everyone can benefit from the discussion. You can help us make things like this an opportunity for learning.
This show is about talking about science and getting people to ask questions. Yes, facts are very important, but so is fostering enthusiasm for curiosity. I’m willing to bet that the pedantry of science is a major part of what pushes so many people away.
So, we make mistakes, and we will probably continue to make mistakes. But, we accept our mistakes, hopefully learn from them, and move forward. We might lose some listeners, like you, who over time become frustrated with our casual attitude, but I hope to find new listeners who maybe didn’t realize how much fun science could be.
We are the gateway show for science.
Have you ever tried to have the authors themselves call in?
That is obviously not feasible (or even wanted) for all authors.
But for a topic you aren’t really well versed in, to get an author who ‘gets’ your show it would be great.
In spite of the frustration I have listening, I of course encourage you and the show.
Jerry