
- Playing
- Skeptic Check: Energy Vortex
- From
- Big Picture Science
"I feel your vibe!” Well, that describes a number of fabled locales that claim to pulse with mysterious energy – perhaps prompting books to fly across the room or airplanes to vanish into thin air. But what’s the science behind it?
We examine spots marked with an X, for “extraordinary” – from a haunted house to the Bermuda Triangle – to sort out natural from supernatural phenomena.
Plus, what causes the aurora borealis… a haywire Russian space probe… and just what the heck is an “energy vortex,” anyway?
Guests:
• Phil Plait – Skeptic and keeper of Discover Magazine’s blog: badastronomy
• Jim Underdown – Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, Los Angeles
• Peter Williams – Hydrodynamicist at Agilent Technologies
• Guy P. Harrison – Writer and business owner in Southern California, author of 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True![]()
• Rob Lillis – Space and Planetary Physicist, Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley
Also in the Big Picture Science series
To Earth and Back
(00:54:02)
From: Big Picture Science
Meet the NASA officer whose task is to keep Earth, Mars - and the entire solar system - free of hitchhiking bacteria.
That's So Random!
(00:54:03)
From: Big Picture Science
We crave order in things, but we can’t iron out every chaotic crease, nor would we want to: from brain cell activity to the evolution of species, discover why randomness is ...
Skeptic Check: Forget with the Program
(00:54:02)
From: Big Picture Science
Just remember this: Even our memories of dramatic events that seem to burn themselves directly into our brain are riddled with errors.
Group Think
(00:54:02)
From: Big Picture Science
If two is company and three a crowd, what’s the ideal number for to write a play or invent a new operating system? Experts disagree whether creativity is a group or solitary ...
Early Adapters
(00:54:02)
From: Big Picture Science
How Homo sapiens can wield technology to adapt to the onslaught of climate change, a growing population, and the blitz of hi-tech.
Humans Need Not Apply
(00:54:03)
From: Big Picture Science
It’s silicon vs. carbon as intelligent, interactive machines out-perform humans in tasks beyond data-crunching – find out what jobs are left for humans.
Second that Emotion
(00:54:02)
From: Big Picture Science
Why flies in milk gross you out and other voyages through human emotion.
Life Back Then
(00:54:01)
From: Big Picture Science
Time keeps on ticking, ticking … and as it does, evolution operates to produce remarkable and transformative changes in species.
Found in Space
(00:54:02)
From: Big Picture Science
From Google to GPS – how modern mapping is reshaping our world view.
Catch a Wave
(00:54:02)
From: Big Picture Science
What your eye sees is but a narrow band in the electromagnetic spectrum. Discover what the rest reveals about the secrets of the universe.
Piece Description
"I feel your vibe!” Well, that describes a number of fabled locales that claim to pulse with mysterious energy – perhaps prompting books to fly across the room or airplanes to vanish into thin air. But what’s the science behind it?
We examine spots marked with an X, for “extraordinary” – from a haunted house to the Bermuda Triangle – to sort out natural from supernatural phenomena.
Plus, what causes the aurora borealis… a haywire Russian space probe… and just what the heck is an “energy vortex,” anyway?
Guests:
• Phil Plait – Skeptic and keeper of Discover Magazine’s blog: badastronomy
• Jim Underdown – Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, Los Angeles
• Peter Williams – Hydrodynamicist at Agilent Technologies
• Guy P. Harrison – Writer and business owner in Southern California, author of 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True
• Rob Lillis – Space and Planetary Physicist, Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley
Broadcast History
new episode
Additional Files
- Listing: Skeptic Check: Energy Vortex (Energy_Vortex.docx)
Additional Credits
Seth Shostak – Host and Producer
Molly Bentley – Co-Host and Executive Producer
Gary Niederhoff – Producer
Barbara Vance – Production Assistant
Jay Weiler – Volunteer
Marissa Fesssenden - Intern





