06/05/2015

Koala Chlamydia, Pluto’s Moons, and Bad Science Search Results

11:37 minutes

In this week’s news roundup, Rachel Feltman of The Washington Post tells us about new Hubble observations that suggest Pluto’s moons are even weirder than we thought. Plus, the STD that’s sweeping through koala populations—and what to do about it.

Also, if you’re curious to learn about what happened to the dinosaurs, a quick Google search might turn up an unexpected explanation. The top result is from Answers in Genesis, which is “an apologetics ministry,” according to its website. Rather than a scientific answer to the query, the response offers the following: “Dinosaurs are used more than anything else to indoctrinate children and adults in the idea of millions of years of earth history.” Christina Warren, senior technology correspondent for Mashable, joins us to discuss the pluses and minuses of seeking scientific answers from search engines such as Google.

A Google search for “what happened to the dinosaurs,” conducted at 11:17 a.m. ET on June 4, 2015, turned up this result.

 

Segment Guests

Rachel Feltman

Rachel Feltman is author of Been There, Done That: A Rousing History of Sex, and is the host of “The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week.”

Christina Warren

Christina Warren is senior technology correspondent at Mashable in New York, New York.

Meet the Producers and Host

About Becky Fogel

Becky Fogel is a newscast host and producer at Texas Standard, a daily news show broadcast by KUT in Austin, Texas. She was formerly Science Friday’s production assistant.

About Christopher Intagliata

Christopher Intagliata was Science Friday’s senior producer. He once served as a prop in an optical illusion and speaks passable Ira Flatowese.