Skeptics Guide #1047

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1047 July 30th 2025 Segment #1. From TikTok More on 3I/ATLAS Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Artery Calcium Scan https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/health/coronary-artery-calcium-heart.html News Item #2 – Microwave Beam for Geothermal Drilling https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/30/superhot-geothermal-energy-could-unearth-power-needed-for-ai-era-.html News Item #3 – World’s Largest Cargo Plane https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250729-windrunner-the-company-that-wants-to-build-the-worlds-largest-aircraft News Item #4 – Dental Floss Vaccine https://dnyuz.com/2025/07/26/dental-floss-could-be-the-future-of-vaccines/ Segment #3. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Apes Sign Language In the show two weeks ago (#1045) during Science or Fiction, Cara said something like, "we know that apes can learn sign language" when discussing the river pig's alleged intelligence. I thought the narrative of signing apes had been debunked. I re-listened to Skeptoid's podcast (#630) on the subject to confirm my memory wasn't flawed. Love the show, and loved seeing you guys in person in Melbourne a few years ago. Jeremy Melbourne, Australia Question #2: Mama Cass Hi all, Just writing in to note that in this week’s episode Evan mentioned that a ham sandwich was “how Mama Cass went”. This is a (fairly humiliating) myth - she actually died of a heart attack. It’s so easy to hear pop culture myths and not question them, especially if one has no real interest in the person in question and doesn’t care enough to look into it. So no judgement here, I just think it’s important that this myth (like any) doesn’t keep on being perpetuated. 😊 Love the show, keep up the amazing work that you do! Erin Segment #4. Name That Logical Fallacy I’ve been listening for many years and this is my first time contacting the show. For context, my earliest memories are the “inflating Earth” and “birds vs. monkeys”. I was watching a clip of some internet rando saying evolution couldn’t have happened because [paraphrasing] “half of an organ wouldn’t work” (e.g., an incomplete eye wouldn’t have vision as we know it”). Obviously we’ve heard the whole “eye” thing a million times and this betrays a lack of understanding of adaptation and evolution (and is quite ableist), but I had a sudden realization that this might also be a very specific logical fallacy. Jason Massachusetts 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. Item 1: Scientists have built and confirmed a neutrino detector able to detect neutrinos with just 3kg of detector mass, compared to the multiple tonnes of other detectors. Item 2: A new study finds that Roman concrete is more sustainable than modern concrete, requiring 10% less water and releasing 20% less CO2 in its manufacture. Item 3: Researchers have developed and now successfully tested gene therapy to prevent HIV infection that works in infants for several years after a single treatment. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “Be not astonished at new ideas; for it is well known to you that a thing does not therefore cease to be true because it is not accepted by many.” ― Baruch Spinoza