Skeptics Guide #1041

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1041 June 18th 2025 Guest Rogue Justin Daab Segment #1. From TikTok Mysterious Moon https://www.tiktok.com/@filspixel/video/7507104277635026182 Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Scopes 100 Year Anniversary https://www.sciencenews.org/article/scopes-trial-anniversary-science-attack News Item #2 – Smells and Hunger https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/06/250612031553.htm News Item #3 – Black Hole Supercollider https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/06/250603114637.htm News Item #4 – Antarctica Radio Pulses https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/strange-radio-pulses-detected-coming-ice-antarctica News Item #5 – GMOs May Save Florida Citrus https://theness.com/neurologicablog/gmos-may-save-florida-citrus/ Segment #3. Special Report Does AI Think? Segment #4. Who’s That Noisy Segment #5. 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. Theme: Online Privacy Item 1: Websites can secretly activate your microphone to gather information about you, including audibly tracking your keystrokes. Item 2: Once you log into a website, it is possible for it to link your account to your browsing activity so that they can track your online activity on other websites. Item 3: Browser fingerprinting uses features about your computer, such as your screen resolution and installed fonts, to create a fingerprint they can use to track your activity across the internet. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “I think this case will be remembered because it is the first case of this sort since we stopped trying people in America for witchcraft, because here we have done our best to turn back the tide that has sought to force itself upon this modern world, of testing every fact in science by a religious dictum.” — Clarence Darrow