Big Picture Science: Skeptic Check: Energy Vortex

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"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

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