Skeptics Guide #1081

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1081 March 26th 2026 Segment #1. Back to Basics Confirmation Bias Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – NASA Announces New Moon Plans https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/nasa-announces-near-impossible-space-plans-including-usd20b-moon-base-and-humanitys-first-nuclear-powered-interplanetary-spacecraft News Item #2 – The Limits of Cloning https://www.sciencealert.com/dead-end-radical-20-year-study-reveals-genetic-cloning-hits-a-limit News Item #3 – Giant Insects https://phys.org/news/2026-03-massive-insect-body-size-million.html News Item #4 – Pushing Exorcism https://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/exorcists-urge-pope-to-appoint-trained-practitioners-in-every-diocese News Item #5 – Update on 3I/Atlas https://theness.com/neurologicablog/what-happened-to-comet-3i-atlas/ Segment 3. Who’s That Noisy 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. Theme: Global Nutrition Item 1: About half of all deaths of children under 5 are linked to malnutrition. Item 2: The most prevalent micronutrient deficiency globally is Vitamin A. Item 3: According to recent data, current fortification programs prevent 7 billion nutritional deficiencies per year. Segment #5. Skeptical Quote of the Week “Doubt everything, roughly, although most people know his most famous second saying, cogito ergo sum, the first was to doubt everything, of which he couldn't doubt he was doubting, hence, I think, therefore I am. The cartesian coordinate system was named after him, a true polymath of his time.” - De omnibus dubitandum - Renee Descartes