Skeptics Guide #788

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #788 August 12th, 2020 Segment #1. COVID-19 Update Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – COVID-19 Quackery in Afghanistan https://undark.org/2020/08/10/afghanistan-covid-19-drug-quackery/ News Item #2 – The Russian Vaccine https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/russian-and-other-covid-vaccines/ News Item #3 – CNO Neutrinos https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.15115 News Item #4 – TESS Exoplanet Mission https://www.space.com/nasa-tess-exoplanet-space-telescope-primary-mission-ends.html News Item #5 – Follow Up on Lava Tubes https://spaceforce.org.uk/2020/08/06/lava-tubes-on-mars-and-the-moon-are-so-wide-they-can-host-planetary-bases/ Segment #3: Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Benford's Law Steve, pretty please with cheese and Jay farts talk about Benford's Law. Pepe Smith Raleigh, NC/Hong Kong Segment #4. Science or Fiction Each week our host will come up with three science news items or facts, two genuine, one fictitious. He will challenge our panel of skeptics to sniff out the fake – and you can play along. #1) A new review of dinosaurs closely related to birds finds that powered flight evolved independently at least three times in this group. #2) An analysis finds that TSA likely missed 4,600 firearms in carry on luggage for air travel between 2014 and 2019. #3) A comparison of wheat varieties from 1891 – 2010 finds that modern wheat has as much as 50% more gluten than the older cultivars. Segment #5. Skeptical Quote of the Week “To treat your facts with imagination is one thing, but to imagine your facts is another.” - John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist.