The core group of 4 is back together again to bring you another dose of premium skeptical content in episode 315 of The Reality Check. Elan leads things off by exploring the health claims of grounding mats. Next Adam analyzes yet another study comparing cocaine to sweetener. Darren closes out the show by answering what colour our teeth should be.
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SHOW NOTES
Grounding Mats
Skepticblog – Are you a grounded person?
TRC 207 (With POM Wonderful segment)
TRC 153 (With Anti-oxidants segment)
Cocaine vs. Sweetener
TRC #268: Krokodil + Oreos vs. Cocaine + Does Reading in Dark Damage Eyes
PLOS ONE: Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward
Tooth Colour
PURE water isn’t very conductive to electricity. It’s the impurities in water that make it a good conductor.
As I edited the show yesterday, I really did spend several minutes sweating over whether to cut this entire conversation out because I knew we would get called on the water/conductivity thing. Obviously you are correct that pure water is not very conductive. I thought we might get a pass since Adam did clarify “salty water” and the context was shoes (puddles, rainwater, etc). No such luck. Well caught!
I sleep on a water bed, and work in a factory with special conductive flooring to prevent static damage to electronic components. No wonder I’m so happy!
Just a quick note:
(from wikipedia): The naturalistic fallacy should not be confused with a fallacious appeal to nature, a mistaken claim that something is good or right because it is natural (or bad or wrong because it is unnatural).
I should also mention that I started listening to the podcast just as support for Ottawa Skeptics, but gosh-darn-it-all, it turns out it’s one of the best Skeptic podcasts out there!