Skeptics Guide #1052

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1052 September 3rd 2025 Segment #1. Quickie with Bob Real Interstellar Technosignatures https://phys.org/news/2025-09-technosignatures-interstellar.html Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Sexless Seeds https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02753-x News Item #2 – Spouses Share Psychiatric Disorders https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02772-8 News Item #3 – CRISPR Improvement https://phys.org/news/2025-08-crispr-efficiency-triples-lab-dna.html News Item #4 – Robotic Bee https://www.yankodesign.com/2025/09/01/mit-develops-robotic-bee-that-can-flip-and-hover-and-could-pollinate-plants-on-other-planets-someday/ News Item #5 – Tin Man Syndrome Retracted https://retractionwatch.com/2025/09/02/tin-man-syndrome-five-other-case-studies-retracted-following-retraction-watch-coverage/ News Item #6 – Super Wood https://www.newsweek.com/super-wood-inventwood-construction-production-2072071 Segment #3 Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Taxing Deductions 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: Marine Mammals Item 1: Large whales build up ear wax in layers, forming rings which can be used to estimate their age. Item 2: The blue whale has the largest brain, in absolute terms, of any animal to have ever lived. Item 3: Otters have pouches near their forearms which they use to store rocks to use as tools, sometimes keeping a favorite tool for years. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything." Ronald Coase