{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/5e5bb446df501a0b22943a06/5e5bb49f13b6828a4aaadd61?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Skeptic Check: Superstition","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/5e5bb446df501a0b22943a06/41edc0918da1f2e32cc00b68e2b69869.jpg?height=200","description":"<p>ENCORE  Wait!  Before you step outside... is it Friday the 13th?  Any black cats prowling around?  Broken a mirror lately?  <i>Homo sapiens</i> are a superstitious lot.  Find out why our brains are wired for irrational belief.  Plus, from the 2012-end-of-the-world prophesy to colliding planets - why some people believe the universe is out to get ‘em. </p>\n<p>Also, Brains on Vacation takes on a challenge to relativity and our Hollywood skeptic has doubts about exorcism.  It’s enough to make your head spin on Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it!</p>\n   Guests:\n<ul>\n            <li><a href=\"http://brucemhood.wordpress.com/\">Bruce Hood</a> - Cognitive scientist at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and author of <i><a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061452653?ie=UTF8&tag=arweal-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061452653\">The Science of Superstition: How the Developing Brain Creates Supernatural Beliefs</a></i></li>\n            <li><a href=\"http://www.seti.org/Page.aspx?pid=1436\">David Morrison</a> - Director of the Carl Sagan Center for The Study of Life in The Universe at the SETI Institute and keeper of the NASA website <a href=\"http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/\"> Ask an Astrobiologist</a></li>\n          <li>Martin Snow - Research Scientist, <a href=\"http://lasp.colorado.edu/index.htm\">Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics</a> at the University of Colorado at Boulder</li>\n          <li><a href=\"http://www.cfiwest.org/contact.htm\">Jim Underdown</a> - Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, West - Los Angeles</li>\n          <li><a href=\"http://www.badastronomy.com/info/whois.html\">Phil Plait</a> - Astronomer, keeper of <a href=\"http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/\">badastronomy.com</a>, and author of <i> <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0670019976?ie=UTF8&tag=arweal-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0670019976\">Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .</a></i></li>\n</ul>\n<p><a href=\"http://www.seti.cl/podcast-del-instituto-seti-revision-esceptica-supersticion/\">Descripción en español</a></p>\n<p>First aired August 16, 2010</p>","author_name":"Seth Shostak, Molly Bentley, SETI Institute"}