Skeptics Guide #949

The Skeptics Guide To The Universe

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #949 September 3rd 2023 Dragoncon 2023 Live Show Guest Christian Hubicki, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering Segment #1. DragonCon Highlights Segment #2. Robots of the Future Segment #3. News Items News Item #1 – Exploding Batteries to Deorbit Satellites Using Lithium-Ion Battery Explosions to Deorbit Satellites (ts2.space) News Item #2 – Dark Stars JWST Might Have Spotted the First Dark Matter Stars - Scientific American News Item #3 – AI Drone Racing Champion-level drone racing using deep reinforcement learning | Nature News Item #4 - How May People to Settle Mars https://www.livescience.com/space/mars/just-22-people-are-needed-to-colonize-mars-as-long-as-they-are-the-right-personality-type-study-claims News Item #5 – Stress Patch https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/meghan-markle-nucalm-stress-patch-224418801.html Segment #4: 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: Robotics #1) According to the International Federation of Robotics, in 2023 there are 35 million industrial robots, and 43 million service robots worldwide. #2) The first robot-assisted surgery was in Vancouver in 1984, the Arthrobot, which assisted in arthroscopic procedures. #3) Arguably the oldest robots include water-powered clock-driven figurines dating from 3,000 BC and a steam-powered pidgeon that could actually fly dating from 400 BC. Segment #5: Skeptical Quote of the Week “Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today – but the core of science fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.” - Isaac Asimov