Skeptics Guide #1051

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1051 August 27th 2025 Segment #1. Why Didn’t I Know This First Portable Computer https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/the-worlds-first-laptop-weighed-24-pounds-and-had-a-five-inch-screen-but-it-changed-computers-forever/ Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Brightest Fast Radio Burst https://theness.com/neurologicablog/brightest-fast-radio-burst-discovered/ News Item #2 – Trash into Biochar https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44246-025-00207-7 News Item #3 – Declining Reading Rates https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/social-sciences/reading-rates-decline-us/ News Item #4 – Most Americans Skeptical of Paranormal https://news.gallup.com/poll/692738/paranormal-phenomena-met-skepticism.aspx News Item #5 – Quantum Alternative to GPS https://theconversation.com/quantum-alternative-to-gps-navigation-will-be-tested-on-us-military-spaceplane-262967 Segment #3 Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. From TikTok Question #1: Mammograms Not Banned in Switzerland https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT6boH6KC/ 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: Everyday Chemistry Item 1: Microwave ovens heat food unevenly partly because they produce standing waves with high and low energy spots. Item 2: Rusting is an electrochemical process, with a little battery forming on the surface of iron, including an anode and a cathode. Item 3: The gases inside bubbles of freshly baked bread (prior to cooling) are about 80% CO2 and 20% oxygen. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "However profoundly we may penetrate the depths of space, there still remain innumerable systems, compared with which, those which seem so mighty to us must dwindle into insignificance, or even become invisible.." Mary Somerville