The Skeptics Guide To The Universe
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is your weekly reality check, in a world drowning in misinformation. Hosted by Dr. Steven Novella and his elite squad of critical-thinking rogues, SGU cuts through the noise of pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, and sensationalized headlines with sharp analysis, smart humor, and fearless skepticism. But it’s not just about debunking myths—we celebrate the wonder of science, exploring the latest discoveries, breakthroughs, and the profound ways science shapes our world. Whether it’s exposing junk science, dissecting viral myths, or diving into the mysteries of the cosmos, this show arms you with the tools to think critically and challenge the status quo. If you’re ready to sharpen your mind and see the world through the lens of reason, hit play and join the fight for facts.
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1032
04/19/2025
Skeptics Guide #1032
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1032 April 16th 2025 Segment #1. Dumbest Thing of the Week https://knewz.com/world/an-encounter-with-a-ufo-turned-russian-soldiers-into-stone-alleged-cia-report-contains-its-details/ Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Where Did Water Come From https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/04/250416135918.htm News Item #2 – EPA Data on Emissions https://undark.org/2025/04/15/epa-emissions-data/ News Item #3 – Is Your Red My Red https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/04/250416135938.htm News Item #4 – Evolution of Complex Life https://phys.org/news/2025-03-life-special-group-celled-laid.html#google_vignette News Item #5 – Crow Math Skills https://www.npr.org/2025/04/12/nx-s1-5359438/a-crows-math-skills-include-geometry Segment 3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Separating the Art from the Artist Been a fan of the show for a number of years now and have enjoyed learning and engaging with the community and the ideas discussed each week. I was hoping to ask your opinions on how skepticism can inform the way we view certain industries and institutions when individuals can cause conflict within core ideologies. The example I'm thinking of (and what sparked this email) is how to view Tesla in the current political landscape. For background I'm in the market for a new car to replace one that's recently hit end of life and I was hoping to get something electric. This is driven both by the impressive technology and the reduced emissions and costs, especially attractive in my state where our power is almost entirely hydro. The Tesla Model 3 is in my price range and is by all accounts a fantastic car with sound engineering behind it. I come unstuck though grappling with what I believe is a logical environmental/financial choice. The crinkle though is the ties to Musk who I would have picked as my skeptical jackass of the year. This goes back to my original subject matter of whether we can separate "art from the artist" in the technological and political landscapes. For consideration how much of current Tesla is driven by Elon and how much does that matter if the product at the end is still efficient, safe, reliable and just well designed? How should we as skeptics or individuals be tackling these decisions and should this tie weigh in strongly to the final decision? Interested in any thoughts you have on the matter or action you would consider. Thanks, Nathan Question #2: The Moon Rotates The Moon does Not Rotate on its Axis Rotation in Orbit: An object moving in a 360-degree orbit will, by the end of that orbit, have returned to its original position relative to the body it's orbiting. In that sense, its overall orientation has "rotated" 360 degrees relative to an external viewpoint. Rotation on its Axis: This requires a change in which part of the object leads its motion. A tidally locked body, by definition, maintains the same face towards the object it orbits. Therefore, the same part of the object consistently leads its motion in that relationship. The 1:1 orbital period to "rotational period" of tidally locked moons (like our Moon and 20+ others) is a consequence of their orbit and the gravitational forces involved. It results in a consistent face towards the primary body. according to the definition of Rotation on its Axis, this consistent facing means that these tidally locked moons are not rotating on their axis in the sense that different parts of them are taking the lead in their motion. The "rotation" that completes one cycle per orbit is a rotation of their orientation in space due to their orbital movement, not a spin around an internal axis that changes which part leads the way. this seems right 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: extinct genomes We have fully sequenced nuclear genomes from the following extinct animals: Item 1: The dodo, famous extinct bird of the Mauritius island. Item 2: The bluebuck, a blue antelope, and the first large African mammal to go extinct in modern times. Item 3: The giant moa (both north island and south island Dinornis species) of New Zealand. Item 4: Denisovans, a close relative of humans and Neanderthals. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "The ease with which we believe things that flatter us or confirm our prejudices should always be suspect." — Christopher Hitchens
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/36230250
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1031
04/12/2025
Skeptics Guide #1031
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1031 April 9th 2025 Segment #1. From TikTok Flat Earthers Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – De-Extincting the Dire Wolf https://theness.com/neurologicablog/de-extincting-the-dire-wolf/ News Item #2 – What Experts Really Think About AI https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01123-x News Item #3 – Planned Obsolescence https://theness.com/neurologicablog/is-planned-obsolescence-real/ News Item #4 – Lifelike VR Touch Sensors https://newatlas.com/vr/wearable-lifelike-haptic-sense-touch-feedback/ Segment 3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: SNPs vs Sequencing I love the show, thanks for putting the effort to make such a great listening experience. I feel that when I found the podcast I finally found my clique! Just a correction to Caras segment on 23andme. 23andme does not sequence your DNA, they use microarrays that detect specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the sample. This is very different to actually sequencing your DNA. Im not familiar which array 23andme is using but typically they detect hundreds to thousands of SNPs. The validity of the SNPs genotyped, again not sequenced, can be dupious. A single SNP or even thousands of SNPs cannot be scientificly used to infer characteristics of a single person. They can only be used as aggregate data to determine risks or potential correlations to traits (phenotypes). Some SNPs are more common in certain populations which can be used to roughly estimate your ancestry. SNPs are not equal, some have been validated through rigorous research and can be said to be risk factors, such as some SNPs in the BRCA-gene. However, many SNPs used in arrays have no data to back them up, there is no validated correlation to any risk or phenotype. So, a good collection of alot of SNPs can tell something about a population where those SNPs are, but not really anything relevant about an individual. Actual sequencing a persons DNA is a complete different beast, but I wont go to that here. Please feel free to ask clarification or references on the subject. Best regards, Markus, a geneticist from the other side of the puddle, from a country that some deranged questionare has deemed the happiest in the world. 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: A recent study finds that, unlike modern rhinos which are mostly solitary, a North American species of rhinoceros from 12 million years ago (Teleoceras major) lived in vast herds. Item 2: Scientists have used AI to develop a complete digital twin of a mouse brain, which is able to predict responses to novel stimuli. Item 3: A study of over 1,700 people found a correlation between moderate, heavy, or former drinking, a type of brain damage called arteriolosclerosis, and impaired cognitive ability. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "Science is not just a collection of techniques or strategies for producing knowledge, it is an ethical stance of commitment to the truth. The good scientist knows that honestly following the evidence is a form of respect for nature, and honestly communicating one’s findings is a form of respect for others." - Michael Anderson
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/36109455
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1030
04/05/2025
Skeptics Guide #1030
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1030 April 2nd 2025 Segment #1. What’s the Word enantiodromia Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – AI Protein Sequencing https://www.science.org/content/article/ai-revolution-comes-protein-sequencing News Item #2 – Solving the Bat Cocktail Party Problem https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2407810122 News Item #3 – The Extremely Large Telescope https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-extremely-large-telescope-could-sense-the-hints-of-life-at-proxima-centauri-in-just-10-hours News Item #4 – CIA and the Ark of the Covenant https://www.yahoo.com/news/cia-found-ark-covenant-using-104441588.html News Item #5 – 23&Me Selling Personal Data https://theconversation.com/23andme-is-potentially-selling-more-than-just-genetic-data-the-personal-survey-info-it-collected-is-just-as-much-a-privacy-problem-253220 Segment 3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: RFK Jr and access to vaccines Message: Hello Y'all, I believe I could write you an entire novel of my concerns in life right now and provide an unending list of questions. I figure I will attempt to keep my question to the point in the next part. after that it's just conjecturing from me. How much say does RFK have to limit or eliminate vaccine access for the US? What would/could we do to prevent it? If he can remove it, how badly would this affect the manufacturing and supply of vaccines once he is gone from office? An example I look to is the lime disease vaccine that did exist and disappeared and seems to making a come back now. I just do not understand how someone in power like RFK is so willing to be ignorant? Does he believe seatbelts shouldn't exist because they aren't 100% effective, and 50 years of data can be ignored on their effect? I could go on and on and on with the amount of anger that has been building up inside since 5 years ago. Thank you for doing a good thing, I look forward to your weekly release! Question #2: Simple Math Problem Sorry- It's a little long! A meme circulated on a Neil deGrasse Tyson FB page contained an interesting math problem: “A driver aims to average 90 mph over 2 laps, but he completed the first lap at (an average of) 60 mph. What (average) speed is needed for the second lap” I recognized the problem immediately. The question contains a trap and involves the idea of weighted averages. The intuitive answer is 120 mph. Many people guessed this. But many others got it right- 180mph, and there were numerous explanations provided- some very mathematical, some less abstruse. Then a second meme popped up where the 1st lap speed was changed to 45 mph. I was the first person to jump on this one, and didn’t initially realize that for this version there is no solution! So, I gleefully posted a picture of my work and thought “well, that was cool!” Similarly, others solved the problem in various ways and came to the same startling conclusion. The average speed needed for the second lap is infinity! But many more others insisted the intuitive, very wrong answer of 135 mph, found by (45 + X)/2 = 90 was RIGHT! You can imagine what happened. Many hours and dozens of threads later, people couldn’t accept the no answer answer. “It’s 135 mph and your narrow and dogmatic view is simply laughable!” The patient meme creator and others replied to numerous commenters with different types of arguments- some mathematical, some more logical, but to no avail. As of this writing many vociferous and determined individuals are still haunting the meme. LOGICAL FALLACY? One could dismiss as Dunning-Kruger, but I noticed something else. Many comments were of the form “It’s simple! Don’t you get it?!” and “Why are you making this so complicated?! Just take 90 times 2 and subtract 45!!!!” And I’ve seen this in other contexts as well. It seems to be a desire for simplicity (elegance?). Things that are messy and complicated must be wrong. “There’s gotta be an easier way to do it!” Thoughts? William CA 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: A review of health records finds that getting the shingles vaccine is associated with a 20% reduction in the risk of developing dementia. Item 2: A new study finds that mortality rates are overall higher in the US than Europe, but these differences disappear for the highest socio-economic groups. Item 3: A systematic review finds that older adults, >35 years old, do not experience greater exercise induced muscle damage than younger adults age 18-25 from the same exercise. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool” - William Shakespeare, As You Like It
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/36019220
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1029
03/29/2025
Skeptics Guide #1029
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1029 March 29th 2025 Quickie with Bob: Extinction Survivors; News Items: Constructed Languages, Exercise and Brain Health, Curiosity Rover Finds Long Carbon Chains, Nanotech Lightsails, Vaccine and Autism Again; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Technology vs Magic; Science or Fiction
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/35917940
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1028
03/22/2025
Skeptics Guide #1028
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1028 March 19th 2025 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – NASA Delays Artemis Again https://www.space.com/space-exploration/artemis/nasa-delays-artemis-missions-again-what-could-this-mean-for-the-moon-mars-and-space-leadership News Item #2 – Punishing AI https://www.livescience.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/punishing-ai-doesnt-stop-it-from-lying-and-cheating-it-just-makes-it-hide-its-true-intent-better-study-shows News Item #3 – Hybrid Bionic Hand https://theness.com/neurologicablog/hybrid-bionic-hand/ News Item #4 – Petawatt Electron Beam https://www.science.org/content/article/first-petawatt-electron-beam-arrives-ready-rip-apart-matter-and-space Segment 2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Rewriting Physics Hey everyone, For over a century, physics has claimed to be advancing, yet every major cosmological mystery remains unresolved. Instead of addressing why their models keep failing, physicists have relied on increasingly complex, unproven assumptions—dark matter, dark energy, singularities, inflation—to patch over contradictions rather than solve them. But the truth is, these mysteries were never real. The errors were built into the models themselves. The solution isn’t exotic or hidden—it was in relativity all along. The universe is not expanding—it is relativistically revealing itself at the speed of light. Gravity is not an independent force—it is suppressed charge expanding into three spatial dimensions. Black holes are not singularities—they are time-coiled neutral zones where relativity folds upon itself. The “beginning” of the universe is not a past event—it is a continuous absolute moment, moving outward at c. None of this required new physics—just actually respecting relativity. I know this because I built a model that does. I’m not a physicist—I’m a geologist. A year ago, after suffering a severe neck injury, I spent my recovery rebuilding physics from first principles. In doing so, I unified physics in months. Not because I had special insight, but because the answer was always there—it was just being ignored. Meanwhile, mainstream physics is still stuck defending models that don’t work: Dark matter? Never detected. Dark energy? Never detected. Singularities? Mathematically impossible. Physics? Off course for a century. And until someone forces the correction, humanity is stalled. We are at a crossroads: either we acknowledge these failures and move forward, or physics remains an ever-growing list of imaginary fixes to a broken model. Dan Ottawa Dan, Is there any way to test your model? Have you spoken to a physicist to see if there is anything glaringly wrong with your model? Have you submitted any papers for peer-review? I'll be blunt - you are a non-physicist claiming to have overturned a century of physics in a month. The probability that you are correct is pretty close to zero. Now is the time for you to demonstrate massive humility and try to find out what is wrong with your model and why physicists believe what they do. Otherwise you are destined to be nothing but one in a long line of endless cranks. Best, Steve Oh really? Well, okay then—guess I’ll just drop this here: α to 50 decimals: 0.0072992700729927004893449193900778482202440500259399 Physicists aren’t even looking in the right place for it. But hey, if you figure only physicists know physics, then I’ve got news for you—they’re way off. I'm holding a complete rewrite of physics from first principles. But, if you're too good, I'll check with someone else. Good day Segment #4. Interview with Michael Marshall and Cecil Cicirello https://www.knowrogan.com 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: Invertebrates Item 1: Jellyfish are in the same invertebrate phylum, echinoderms, as sea cucumbers and sea urchins. Item 2: Invertebrates make up 97% of all animal species, with 30 phyla, compared to only one phylum for vertebrates. Item 3: Invertebrates not only lack a backbone, they completely lack any bone or cartilage at all, either internal or external. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood." - Marie Curie
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/35819625
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1027
03/15/2025
Skeptics Guide #1027
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1027 March 12th 2025 Segment #1. What’s The Word Psionic Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Screen Time and Mental Health https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/03/250310131816.htm News Item #2 – US Mass Shootings https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/society/us-mass-shootings-impact/ News Item #3 – Stem Cells for Parkinson’s https://theness.com/neurologicablog/stem-cells-for-parkinsons-disease-2/ News Item #4 – Brown Fat and Exercise https://www.rutgers.edu/news/special-type-fat-tissue-could-promote-healthful-longevity-and-help-maintain-exercise-capacity Segment 3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Vitamin A and Measles Dear Skeptics, your show is a highlight of the week for me. I am sure I am not the first to point out inaccuracies in episode #1026 regarding the Texas measles outbreak. I certainly got the sense from the skeptics that fun was being poked at the recommendation to use vitamins in the treatment of measles. According to the WHO guidelines Vitamin A has been and continues to be a core treatment for measles, and Cod Liver Oil contains not only, Vit D as reported, but also Vit A. In the situation with the Mennonites its plausible that this traditional remedy would be more "palatable" given their cultural norms than pills from the big bad government. For example Cochrane states that Vit A reduces death by 87% in children younger than 2. Any cursory search for measles treatment would have outlined the importance of Vitamin A. While I think the reporting content was uncharacteristically shoddy, it was actually the tone that I found more problematic. I agree with the general premise that RFK Jr. has been a dangerous vaccine skeptic but in this case he basically seems to recommending the correct treatment. While I understand the bias of judging RFK Jr. based on previous quackery, each time the skeptical community stoops to judging a current behaviour in this way it feeds the narrative that the sky is falling. If RFK Jr. starts to promote general health via exercise will that be taken at face value or also laughed off? Lest we forget, vaccine hesitancy and denialism exists on all sides of the political spectrum - I would hope the skeptics can try and stick to a more neutral and fact based approach. Keep up the great work. Tim Graham Canada Segment #5. Interview with Dave Farina https://www.youtube.com/@ProfessorDaveExplains Segment #6. 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: Ancient Roots Item 1: Persian scholar, Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni, proposed in the 11th century that India may have been connected to other continents in the past. Item 2: Aristarchus of Samos was the first to propose a heliocentric system, in which the Earth revolves around the sun in one year and rotates on its axis in one day. Item 3: In his 1025 work, Muslim physician Ibn Sina proposed human-to-human transmission of disease through invisible entities, and was the first to propose a quarantine to limit the spread of contagion. Segment #7. Skeptical Quote of the Week "The burden of proof as far as authentication is concerned is on the claimant—not on anyone else to prove a negative. Asserting that a particular image must be paranormal because it is unexplained only constitutes an example of the logical fallacy called arguing from ignorance. One cannot draw a conclusion from a lack of knowledge." - Joe Nickell
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/35706735
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1026
03/08/2025
Skeptics Guide #1026
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1026 March 5th 2025 Segment #1. Quickie with Bob Atlantic Shutdown https://phys.org/news/2025-02-simulations-nightmare-atlantic-current-shutdown.html Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Measles Outbreak https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/health/texas-measles-outbreak-kennedy.html News Item #2 – Reintroducing Wolves https://tinyurl.com/expusrnx News Item #3 – TIGR-Tas Gene Editing https://theness.com/neurologicablog/the-new-tigr-tas-gene-editing-system/ News Item #4 – Blood Donor Who Saved Millions Dies https://gizmodo.com/james-harrison-the-man-with-the-golden-arm-is-dead-at-age-88-2000570772 News Item #5 – Star Mergers https://phys.org/news/2025-03-theory-star-mergers-universe-highest.html Segment 3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Intricate Web I agree with Steve's assessment about the fragility of this beautiful crystal we call human society. Which is one of the reasons I went to school to learn about food production when I was a young man. A resilient society has local food (etc.) capability. A resilient society is much less efficient than the large corporate model - I grow enough fruit on our small farm for only about 3 or 4 dozen households. But, if I go down, there is another orchard 10 miles away that can take up the slack, disperse scion wood, offer classes in fruit tree care. I am certain the value of community resilience will continue to gain traction as time goes on. Thanks for what you do. 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: Hydrogen Item 1: Hydrogen makes up about 10% of the human body by mass. Item 2: Only about 10% of global hydrogen production is considered green hydrogen. Item 3: There are about 17,000 hydrogen-powered cars on US roads, but more than 50,000 hydrogen fuel cell electric forklifts operating in the US. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "Dictators seek to control men’s thoughts as well as their bodies and so they attempt to dictate science, education and religion. But dictated education is usually propaganda, dictated history is often mythology, dictated science is pseudoscience." — Edwin Grant Conklin, 1937
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/35586335
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1025
03/01/2025
Skeptics Guide #1025
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1025 February 26th 2025 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Congestion Pricing https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-widening-highways-doesnt-fix-traffic-but-congestion-pricing-can/ News Item #2 – AI Therapists https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/health/ai-therapists-chatbots.html News Item #3 – Redefining Dyslexia https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/redefining-dyslexia/ News Item #4 – Small Modular Reactors for Cargo Ships https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/korean-smr-powered-container-ship-design-revealed Segment 2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. Interview with Adam Russell 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. Item 1: Researchers successfully used mRNA which produces a tardigrade protein to protect surrounding tissue from radiation damage during cancer treatment. Item 2: Studying a new database of 8.9 million observations of 445 mammalian species found that only 39% had correct diel classification (what time of day they are active). Item 3: A new analysis finds that the vast majority of rogue planetary mass objects form as ejected planets rather than failed stars. Segment #5. Skeptical Quote of the Week "One of the few universal characteristics is a healthy skepticism toward unverified speculations. These are regarded as topics for conversation until tests can be devised. Only then do they attain the dignity of subjects for investigation." Edwin Hubbel, The Realm of the Nebulae (Yale University Press: 1936)
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/35493465
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1024
02/22/2025
Skeptics Guide #1024
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1024 February 19th 2025 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Bird Brain Evolution https://theness.com/neurologicablog/birds-separately-evolved-complex-brains/ News Item #2 – Air Pollution Inside Homes https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/02/250213144623.htm News Item #3 – Abortion Bans Drive Infant Deaths https://undark.org/2025/02/18/some-states-claim-zero-abortions-is-that-possible/ https://www.livescience.com/health/fertility-pregnancy-birth/us-abortion-bans-have-driven-a-surge-in-infant-deaths-study-finds News Item #4 – Black Holes without Singularities https://phys.org/news/2025-02-singularities-physicists-creation-black-holes.amp News Item #5 – Anti-Chemtrail Bill https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/house-gop-seeking-more-answers-as-they-advance-anti-chemtrails-bill Segment 2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Asteroid Hitting the Moon I was reading up on asteroid 2024 YR4, and I came across this on its Wikipedia page: ''Calculations using the observation arc of 55 days as of 18 February 2025 find that 2024 YR4 has a 1-in-32 (3.1%) chance of impacting Earth on 22 December 2032 around 14:02 UT and a smaller possibility of impacting the Moon about an hour later around 15:19 UT.'' I know you've talked about this asteroid before and the potential consequences if it were to hit Earth - not great, not terrible. Given the timeframe, there would at least be some opportunity to evacuate affected areas. But what about the Moon? Since the Moon is much smaller, could a direct hit pose a greater risk of destabilizing Earth's tides, for example? Is this something to be concerned about, and what kind of consequences might we expect if it actually happens? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, and thanks for all the skeptical work you do! Best, Stefan Magnusson Segment #4. Swindlers List Tax Scams 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: GMOs Item 1: According to the USDA, 55% of US cropland grows genetically modified crops, while worldwide the figure is 13.4%. Item 2: Although frequently a target of anti-GMO efforts, there is currently no GMO wheat variety on the market. Item 3: Scientists have developed a “scorpion cabbage” that produces scorpion venom in its leaves, but this has yet to gain approval in any country. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "The kneading of memory makes the dough a fiction which as we know can go on yeasting forever." A beautifully poetic way to phrase the rewriting nature of memory and recall.
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/35389330
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1023
02/15/2025
Skeptics Guide #1023
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1023 February 12th 2025 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Demographics of Misinformation https://theness.com/neurologicablog/who-believes-misinformation/ News Item #2 – The Toll of Fake Research https://www.livescience.com/human-behavior/fake-studies-are-slowing-slowing-lifesaving-medical-research-all-while-fraudsters-are-getting-rich-investigation-reveals News Item #3 – Dangerous Street Drugs https://www.sciencealert.com/theres-never-been-a-more-dangerous-time-to-use-street-drugs-heres-why News Item #4 – Nearby Habitable Exoplanet https://phys.org/news/2025-02-exoplanet-potentially-capable-sustaining-life.html News Item #5 – Reverse Engineering Alien Technology https://www.ft.com/content/7b83f0f5-4d03-40c4-b79d-36cc4e247d54 Segment #2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. Science Quiz Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Starlink Reentries One of the items in last week's Science or Fiction was space junk. Just before I heard that, I read that 4-5 Starlink satellites de-orbit *every day*. That's nuts. I hope they are de-orbited purposefully. https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=07&month=02&year=2025 Bill Wohler Menlo Park, CA SETI Institute/NASA Ames Research Center Software engineer for Kepler, SOFIA, TESS, Ziggy. 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: Biologists have engineered a bacteria that can continuously deliver drugs into the intestine and demonstrated its effectiveness in treating chronic inflammation and obesity. Item 2: In a recent study adults were able to learn absolute pitch after 8 weeks of training to a >90% accuracy. Item 3: Astronomers announce the detection of a super high energy “cosmogenic” neutrino that is the most energetic elementary particle ever detected at 120 PeV. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “One of the problems with anecdotes is that they tend to be provided by the satisfied customers, not the unsatisfied or dead ones.” ― Robert Carroll, Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/35295345
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1022
02/08/2025
Skeptics Guide #1022
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1022 February 5th 2025 Segment #1. Quickie https://www.sciencenews.org/article/nuclear-x-rays-deflect-earth-asteroids Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Asteroid Chance of Hitting Earth https://www.space.com/180-foot-asteroid-1-in-83-chance-hitting-Earth-2032 News Item #2 – Does the Internet Affect Our Memory https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00292-z News Item #3 – The Growing Rat Problem https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/climate-change/rats-numbers-are-skyrocketing-across-us-cities-and-its-only-going-to-get-worse News Item #4 – Do Apes Have a Theory of Mind https://theness.com/neurologicablog/do-apes-have-a-theory-of-mind/ News Item #5 – NASA Harassed by Aliens https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/nasa-astronauts-are-harassed-by-125ft-aliens-with-wings-who-peek-into-space-shuttles 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. Item 1: Scientists have demonstrated the effectiveness of a medicine that prevents and reverses inguinal hernia. Item 2: Archaeologists have identified 4,000 year old writing that likely represents proto-Indo-Anatolian, the language that gave rise to all Indo-European languages. Item 3: Researchers calculate that the probability of reentering space junk entering busy airspace is about 26% annually. Segment #5. Skeptical Quote of the Week "The most important thing that illusions can teach us is that it is possible, at least some of the time, to find in being wrong a deeper satisfaction than we would have found being right.” ― Kathryn Schulz, Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/35203360
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1021
02/01/2025
Skeptics Guide #1021
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1021 January 29th 2025 Segment #1. What’s the Word Geyser Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Self Replicating AI https://www.livescience.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/ai-can-now-replicate-itself-a-milestone-that-has-experts-terrified News Item #2 – DeepSeek https://theness.com/neurologicablog/the-skinny-on-deepseek/ News Item #3 – PEPFAR Freeze https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/28/health/trump-pepfar-freeze.html News Item #4 – Chemical Looping https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.4c02643 News Item #5 – Giant Clams and Tiny Algae https://phys.org/news/2025-01-tiny-algae-evolution-giant-clams.amp Segment 3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: More On Telepathy Tapes 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: The Moon Item 1: The Moon is the densest moon in our solar system. Item 2: A recent analysis finds evidence of geological tectonic activity on The Moon as recently at 160 million years ago, suggesting it might still be active. Item 3: The Moon has a weak magnetic field, measured at the Apollo 16 site at 0.31 microtesla (compared to Earth’s 50 microtesla field). Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “Our beliefs do not sit passively in our brains waiting to be confirmed or contradicted by incoming information. Instead, they play a key role in shaping how we see the world.” ― Richard Wiseman
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/35109215
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1020
01/25/2025
Skeptics Guide #1020
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1020 January 22nd 2025 With Guest Rogue, Andrea Jones Rooy Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Unexpected Scientific Results https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00161-9 News Item #2 – Trust In Scientists https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-02090-5 News Item #3 – FDA Bans Red Dye No. 3 https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/why-did-the-fda-ban-red-dye-3/ News Item #4 – Andromeda Mosaic https://www.sciencealert.com/hubbles-2-5-billion-pixel-mosaic-reveals-andromeda-in-breathtaking-detail News Item #5 – Telepathy Tapes https://inews.co.uk/culture/radio/telepathy-tapes-pseudoscience-autism-3474277 Segment 2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. 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: A cross-national analysis finds that the presence of climate action policy is a stronger predictor of anti-climate action groups than national economic self-interests. Item 2: A recent study of the diet of coyotes in San Francisco found domestic cat remains in almost half the scat analyzed. Item 3: A new framework for simulating optimal pandemic responses finds that in 42% of scenarios it is better to vaccinate high exposure groups prior to high risk groups (as was done during COVID). Segment #4. Skeptical Quote of the Week "We live in an enlightened age, however, an age that has learned to see and to value other living things as they are, not as we wish them to be. And the long and creditable history of science has taught us, if nothing else, to look carefully before we judge to judge, if we must, based on what we see, not what we would prefer to believe." Robert Charles Wilson
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/35004915
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1019
01/18/2025
Skeptics Guide #1019
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1019 January 15th 2025 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Does Fact-Checking Work https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00027-0 News Item #2 – Nuclear Electric Propulsion https://phys.org/news/2024-12-strategic-alliance-high-energy-nuclear.amp News Item #3 – The LA Fires https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/11/climate/wildfire-smoke-risks.html and https://www.sciencealert.com/dumping-seawater-on-la-fires-is-an-experiment-scientists-are-closely-watching and https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/11/24340913/watch-duty-wildfire-tracking-app-los-angeles-nonprofit News Item #4 – Building Materials for Storing Carbon https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq8594 Segment 2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. Interview with Nick Tiller https://www.nbtiller.com/ 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: Death Item 1: The WHO reports that over 5 million snake bites occur each year, resulting in over 100,000 deaths. Item 2: It is estimated that over half a million deaths globally in 2024 can be attributed to extreme weather events. Item 3: In 2021, COVID-19 was the second leading cause of death, just behind ischemic heart disease. Segment #5. Skeptical Quote of the Week "Knowledge is a paradox. The more one understands, the more one realizes the vastness of his ignorance." Spoken by Viktor (also known as the Herald) in season 2 of the hit Netflix show: Arcane - League of Legends.
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/34904940
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1018
01/11/2025
Skeptics Guide #1018
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1017 January 2nd 2025 Segment #1. Quickie with Steve Primate Twins https://www.livescience.com/animals/our-ancient-primate-ancestors-mostly-had-twins-humans-dont-for-a-good-evolutionary-reason Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Mars Sample Return https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/nasa-overhauls-mars-sample-return-plan-rcna186400 News Item #2 – Unique Microbiome https://phys.org/news/2025-01-scientists-unique-microbiome-planet-roof.html News Item #3 – Transatlantic Tunnel https://www.drivingeco.com/en/nyc-londres-48-minutos-podria-ser-posible-gracias-tunel-transatlantico-e20-trillones-segun-elon-musk/#google_vignette News Item #4 – Alcohol Advisory https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/surgeon-general-alcohol-warning/ Segment 3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Bird Flu Vaccine I have a basic question. If we already know bird flu is so dangerous, and that it only takes one mutation to begin to spread person-to-person, then what are we waiting for? Why not sequence the dominant strains in livestock and spin up mRNA vaccines (or old fashioned egg-based vaccines) and start a mass-vaccination program? Sure, the vaccine may not be an exact match for the strain(s) that does leap to humans, but it should be close. Heck, the COVID vaccines we receive are never an *exact* match for the strains that are circulating (i.e., they're always mutating and therefore are always different, ever so slightly, from the vaccine targets at a point in time). So why not head off this bird flu threat and nip it in the bud with vaccines? Thanks for all your great work. Best wishes for 2025! Joshua Banta Tyler, TX Question #2: Cryptid Mascots On a recent segment about Bigfoot, Evan divided people who perpetuate the existence of cryptids into two groups: True believers, and people who profit off of the myth. But I'm hesitant to think in such stark, binary terms. Here in Portland bigfoot is very much a mascot or symbol of the Pacific Northwest regional identity. I don't believe he's literally real, and I don't know anyone who does. But the forest ape shows up again and again in local art, on t-shirts, and as a Portland Trailblazers mascot. My more outdoorsy friends will describe less-travelled trails and camping areas as "bigfoot country," even though they don't actually believe in bigfoot at all. He's a symbol of the wilderness, but not a literal inhabitant of it. What are your thoughts on cryptids as local mascots and regional symbols by people who don't believe they're real? Do you think that practice is wholly negative, or is it okay for a guy in a bigfoot costume to perform during halftime during Blazer games? Big fan of the show. You're far and away my favorite podcast! Best, Joe Streckert 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: CES2025 Item 1: The EcoFlow is a solar-powered hat capable of charging two devices at once. Item 2: The Spicerr is an automatic spice dispenser that holds up to six spices in proprietary sealed (unrefillable) capsules. Item 3: A Japanese manufacturer introduced an electric spoon that it claims will make food taste more salty and savory. Item 4: Swippitt is about the size and shape of a toaster, into which you place a smartphone to swap out its internal battery for a fresh one. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “Those among us who are unwilling to expose their ideas to the hazard of refutation do not take part in the scientific game.” ― Karl R. Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/34816025
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1017
01/04/2025
Skeptics Guide #1017
Segment #1: Psychic Predictions 2024 Segment #2: News Items Item #1: Space Exploration in 2025 https://www.planetary.org/articles/calendar-of-space-events-2025?utm_s... Item #2: Most Likely Emerging Diseases https://theconversation.com/which-infectious-disease-is-likely-to-be-t... Item #3: Dark Energy May Not Exist https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/536/2/1752/7890815 Item #4: Bigfoot Deaths https://www.yahoo.com/news/two-portland-men-die-while-234906572.html Segment #3: Who's That Noisy Segment #4: Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Commonwealth Fusion Systems Question #2: In Memoriam Amended Daniel Dennett, Jimmy Carter Segment #5: Science or Fiction Item #1: Anguiculus dicaprioi, or DiCaprio’s Himalayan snake, was named after actor Leonardo DiCaprio because he helped discover the species while on safari. Item #2: A new species of clearwing moth, Carmenta brachyclados, was discovered in South Wales based upon a picture taken by an amateur and posted on Instragram then seen by an amateur lepidopterist. Item #3: Myloplus sauron is a new species of vegetarian piranha discovered in Brazil and named after Sauron from Lord of the Rings. Segment #6: Skeptical Quote of the Week “Hope & curiosity about the future seemed better than guarantees. The unknown was always so attractive to me...and still is.” - Hedy Lamarr
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/34719785
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1016
12/28/2024
Skeptics Guide #1016
2024 Year End Review; Best of 2024; Science Hero and Jackass of the Year; In Memoriam; Science or Fiction
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/34637410
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1015
12/21/2024
Skeptics Guide #1015
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1015 December 7th 2024 Live from DC Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – The Science of Tipping https://www.sciencealert.com/experiment-reveals-how-pressure-to-tip-can-unexpectedly-backfire News Item #2 – JonBenet Ramsey Case https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/27/us/jonbenet-ramsey-killing-netflix-documentary/index.html News Item #3 – Primordial Black Holes https://theness.com/neurologicablog/finding-small-primordial-black-holes/ News Item #4 – Oldest Alphabet https://phys.org/news/2024-11-oldest-alphabet-unearthed-ancient-syrian.html News Item #5 – Food Distribution https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/08/food-supply-chain-networks-why-sustainable-practices-fail-and-approaches-to-improve-them/ News Item #6 – Goop Spiral https://english.elpais.com/lifestyle/2024-12-02/is-gwyneth-paltrows-business-empire-nearing-its-end-goop-ends-2024-with-lawsuits-and-layoffs.html Segment #2. Live Q&A The Rogues answer several live questions. Segment #3. 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: Winter Item 1: Lightning is just as common during snowstorms as rainstorms, but is harder to see and hear due to the dense snow. Item 2: Although rare, snow has fallen in recent times near sea level in the Sahara desert and the Atacama desert. Item 3: Aomori City in Japan is the snowiest city in the world with an average annual snowfall of about 26 feet. Segment #4. Skeptical Quote of the Week America's leadership must be guided by learning and reason, or else those who confuse rhetoric with reality and the plausible with the possible will gain popular ascendancy, with their seemingly swift and simple solutions to every world problem. John Fitzgerald Kennedy
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/34561390
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1014
12/14/2024
Skeptics Guide #1014
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1014 December 11th 2024 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Have We Achieved AGI https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/10/ai-openai-sora-video-new-frontier News Item #2 – Bird Flu https://www.livescience.com/health/flu/a-single-gene-mutation-could-enable-h5n1-to-spread-between-people-study-finds News Item #3 – Weekend Warrior https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/health-benefits-of-the-weekend-warrior/ News Item #4 – Potential Technosignature https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.18595 News Item #5 – Simulation Again https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a63118352/52-million-lives-a-simulation/ Segment 2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Blood Thicker than Water Segment #4. Interview with Noah Lugeons https://audioboom.com/channels/4829847-the-scathing-atheist 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: A new analysis finds that if existing plans to achieve worldwide net zero carbon emissions were implemented, it would use an area of land larger than the United States. Item 2: Scientists have discovered a new class of magnetism called altermagnetism, and find that it can potentially increase the speed of memory devices up to a thousand times. Item 3: Paleontologists describe a species of flying reptile that is not a pterosaur and is 15 million years older than the oldest pterosaur, making it the oldest known flying vertebrate. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn." attributed to Benjamin Franklin (Poor Richard's Almanac, 1755)
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/34444535
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1013
12/07/2024
Skeptics Guide #1013
Quickie with Bob: Atomic Scale Precision; News Items: Innate Morality, New Space Station, Climate Hot Spots, Orcas Wearing Hats, Evidence Against Water on Venus; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Fisher Scream, CT UFO; Science or Fiction
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/34309780
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1012
11/30/2024
Skeptics Guide #1012
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1012 November 30th 2024 Recorded at CSICon 2024 Special guest: Brian Wecht Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Near Earth Microquasars https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Near_Earth_Microquasar_found_to_emit_powerful_gamma_radiation_999.html News Item #2 – How To Watch Researcher Misconduct https://retractionwatch.com/2024/10/21/reflecting-on-research-misconduct-whats-next-for-the-watcher-community/ News Item #3 – Genetically Modifying Brains https://health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlines/could-a-new-medical-approach-fix-faulty-genes-before-birth/2024/10 News Item #4 – Largest Prime Number https://www.mersenne.org/primes/?press=M136279841 News Item #5 – Magic Amulets https://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/this-magical-amulet-claims-to-protect-you-from-electromagnetic-radiation-why-are-john-tavares-rj/article_11074054-8c9e-11ef-9b50-b35db3c16997.html News Item #6 – Atlantic Current Climate Tipping Point https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/rivers-oceans/key-atlantic-current-could-collapse-soon-impacting-the-entire-world-for-centuries-to-come-leading-climate-scientists-warn Segment #2. Interview with Andrea Love https://www.immunologic.org/ Segment #3. 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: 19th Century Pseudoscience Item 1: Although discredited in the late 18th century, mesmerism survived throughout the 19th century, giving rise to hypnosis and even psychology as an academic discipline. Item 2: Hydropathy was the belief that water could cure most diseases, and involved wrapping patients in wet cloth, cold or hot baths, and drinking vast amounts of water. Item 3: A popular movement applied phrenology to the arts of painting and sculpture as a method of understanding and representing the human form, and was a significant early influence of Picasso. Segment #4. Skeptical Quote of the Week "Skepticism is essential to the quest for knowledge, for it is in the seedbed of puzzlement that genuine inquiry takes root. Without skepticism, we may remain mired in unexamined belief systems that are accepted as sacrosanct yet have no factual basis in reality." Paul Kurtz
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/34208725
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1011
11/23/2024
Skeptics Guide #1011
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1011 November 19th 2024 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Sense of Self https://theness.com/neurologicablog/robots-and-a-sense-of-self/ News Item #2 – America Needs a New Space Station https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-america-needs-space-station-140900715.html News Item #3 – New Energy Secretary https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/18/24299573/donald-trump-energy-secretary-chris-wright-oil-gas-nuclear-ai News Item #4 – Finding Planet Nine https://phys.org/news/2024-11-planet-hundreds-tiny-telescopes.html News Item #5 – Stress and Paranormal Belief https://thedebrief.org/study-finds-people-with-traditional-paranormal-beliefs-feel-more-stressed-than-those-with-new-age-varieties/ Segment #2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Dumb Phrases On Friday's live stream you began talking about phrases like "weigh anchor" and such. It reminded me of a phrase that I think wins the award for the dumbest phrase. That is "You've got your work cut out for you". I lived most my life thinking this phrase meant "you have an easy road ahead". Which is what is should mean. Any project you do that involves cutting, weither that be carpentry, paper crafts, sewing, etc., at least a 1/4 to a 1/3 of the project is cutting the materials to the sizes and patterns you need. So if someone has prepaired the material by "cutting it out for you". the project is suddenly that much easier and going to take less time. I was shocked to learn that it actually means the opposite, which shot that phrase to the dumbest phrase in the english language, as far as I'm concerned. Mike Hampton Segment #4. Interview with Kevin Folta 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: US Trivia Item 1: Kansas is not only the flattest state in the US, it is literally flatter than a pancake, with a flatness score of 0.9997. Item 2: The coastline of Alaska is longer than the coastlines of all the other 49 states combined. Item 3: The first telephone directory in the world was published in New Haven, CT in 1878. The names were not alphabetized and there were no phone numbers included. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "There is only one thing worse than coming home from the lab to a sink full of dirty dishes, and that is not going to the lab at all." Chien-Shiung Wu (Experimental Physicist) - Her nicknames include the "First Lady of Physics", the "Chinese Madame Curie" and the "Queen of Nuclear Research"
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/34118131
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1010
11/16/2024
Skeptics Guide #1010
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1010 November 13th 2024 Segment #1. Quickie with Evan Advertising Magic Banned in Kyrgyzstan https://24.kg/english/311033_Advertising_of_fortune_telling_magic_shamanism_prohibited_in_Kyrgyzstan/ Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Do Armed Police Make Schools Safer https://undark.org/2024/11/06/are-schools-with-armed-police-actually-safer/ News Item #2 – Training Medical Robots https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/11/241111123037.htm News Item #3 – New Imaging Technique https://phys.org/news/2024-11-particle-fossil-species-coelacanth.amp https://cardiovascularbusiness.com/topics/cardiac-imaging/new-imaging-technique-captures-human-heart-unprecedented-detail News Item #4 – Physician Misinformation https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/physician-misinformation/ Segment #3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Mid Atlantic Follow up Segment #5. Interview with Michael Mann Segment #6. 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: Analysis of a Martian meteorite indicates the presence of bodies of liquid water on the surface of Mars as late as 742 million years ago. Item 2: A recent study finds that doctors using ChatGPT Plus as an additional aid did no better at making diagnoses than those using only traditional methods. Item 3: In an animal study, researchers have demonstrated the ability to deliver functional mRNA through inhalation. Segment #7. Skeptical Quote of the Week “I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time - when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness. The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.” - Carl Sagan, Demon Haunted World
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/33954782
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1009
11/09/2024
Skeptics Guide #1009
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1009 November 6th 2024 Cameos by Brian Wecht and George Hrab Segment #1. Quickie with Bob Scientists identify chemical properties of superheavy elements moscovium and nihonium https://phys.org/news/2024-11-scientists-chemical-properties-superheavy-elements.html Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – BioGenome Project https://www.science.org/content/article/once-thought-fantasy-effort-sequence-dna-millions-species-gains-momentum News Item #2 – Ancient Solar Magnetic Field https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024AV001396 News Item #3 – MAHA https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/04/us/politics/trump-rfk-health-fluoride-vaccines-aca.html News Item #4 – Miranda May Have Life https://www.earth.com/news/miranda-uranus-moon-may-have-hidden-ocean-possibly-extraterrestrial-life/ News Item #5 – Club 27 Myth https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-myth-that-musicians-die-at-27-shows-how-superstitions-are-made/ Segment #3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Interview with Brian Cox https://briancoxlive.co.uk/ With special guest, Brian Wecht 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: New research finds that higher penetration of weather dependent renewable energy sources (wind and solar) on the grid does not increase vulnerability to blackouts and reduces their severity when they occur. Item 2: A recent study finds that coyotes are thriving in North America, and in fact direct hunting by humans results in larger populations. Item 3: A population based cohort study of preterm infants finds no significant economic or educational effects lasting into adulthood. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “When you get in a tight place and everything goes against you till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the time and the place the tide will turn.” –Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896), American abolitionist and author
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/33859927
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1008
11/02/2024
Skeptics Guide #1008
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1008 September 4th 2024 Segment #1. Quickie with Bob Predicting Earthquakes https://phys.org/news/2024-08-geophysicist-method-months-major-earthquakes.html Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Cell Phones and Brain Cancer https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/who-systematic-review-of-rf-and-cancer/ News Item #2 – Gold from Earthquakes https://www.science.org/content/article/shake-rattle-and-gold-earthquakes-may-spark-gold-formation News Item #3 – Plastic in the Brain https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/23/health/plastics-in-brain-wellness/index.html News Item #4 – Quantum Neural Network https://techxplore.com/news/2024-08-quantum-neural-network-optical-illusions.html News Item #5 – Marmosets Have Names https://theness.com/neurologicablog/marmosets-call-each-other-by-name/ Segment #3. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Beetles Hi guys, In a recent show, you highlighted that beetles are by far the most diverse insect group (and animal group on this taxonomic level). Well, I have a correction, that is not really a correction for you, but might be of interest. Since SGU is about science progress, I thought about writing anyway. Beetles indeed currently are the most diverse, but will not stay so much longer. Biologists are lately realizing, in large part thanks to molecular methods (yay science!), that there is a big bias in what we know. You can guess it perhaps - if it's small, it's less known. There are two groups that biologists agree on will easily surpass beetles - wasps and kin (Hymenoptera) and flies (Diptera). Both have a crazy amount of tiny species that nobody studied and are super tough to taxonomically treat based on morphology. These are called "dark taxa" and there's a lot of research attention on these recently (yay science!). So, as is the consesus today, flies are the largest insect order, followed by wasps, beetles are third (although species descriptins are slow, so formally it will take a while). There is a similar thing in arachnids with mites. Mites are an order of mostly sub-milimeret animals, the true diversity is likely tens to a hundred times higher. Best, Matjaz Segment #4. Name That Logical Fallacy Love the show, listened since the beginning. What do you call it when a claim is technically true, but deceptive. Example: someone claims that "I have never lost a game of chess". That gives the impression they are a great chess player, but it's simply because they have never played a single game of chess in their life. Is that a logical fallacy, or simply a lie by omission? Mario 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: Science Literacy Item 1: A 2020 National Science Board survey found that 68% of Americans believe that “all radioactivity is man-made”. Item 2: In a 2014 NSF survey, 26% of Americans stated that the sun revolves about the Earth, rather than the other way around. Item 3: A 2015 YouGov online survey found that 41% of people believe dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time, while only 25% answered that they definitely did not. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "Auditors and journalists and scientists are all supposed to be trained in critical thinking. But they are subject to the same sorts of biases that we all have. And the fact that we get some training about this doesn't necessarily immunize us against all of the ways in which we can make mistakes." Daniel Simons, experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, and Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois.
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/33755092
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1007
10/26/2024
Skeptics Guide #1007
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1007 October 22nd 2024 Segment #1. What’s the Word Annular Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Europa Clipper https://theness.com/neurologicablog/the-clipper-europa-mission/ News Item #2 – Illusion of Information Adequacy https://theness.com/neurologicablog/confidently-wrong/ News Item #3 – Seeding the Atmosphere https://phys.org/news/2024-10-diamond-atmosphere-cool-planet.html News Item #4 – Exomoon https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/videos/possible-volcanic-moon-detected-635-light-years-away/ News Item #5 – Psychology of Scare https://theconversation.com/some-people-love-to-scare-themselves-in-an-already-scary-world-heres-the-psychology-of-why-240292 Segment #3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Replaceable Batteries 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: Oldest Item 1: The oldest extant building in the world is the stone circular tower of Tell Quaramel in present day Syria, which is about 12,000 years old. Item 2: The oldest example of metallurgy is copper smithing artifacts from 7,500 years ago in modern day Serbia. Item 3: The oldest example of literature is a 7,000 year old cuneiform tablet, The Goddess of Creation, from Liangzhu culture in modern day China. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "I can live with doubt and uncertainty. I think it’s much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong." — Richard P. Feynman
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/33622827
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1006
10/19/2024
Skeptics Guide #1006
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1006 October 16th 2024 Segment #1. From TikTok Fake Space Station https://www.tiktok.com/@james.1.1.1.1.1.1.1/video/7415844279718776097?_r=1&_t=8qa2MthYQIQ Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – AI Common Sense https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03262-z News Item #2 – Malnutrition in Children https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/14/health/children-malnutrition-africa-unicef.html News Item #3 – Latest Starship Launch https://theness.com/neurologicablog/latest-starship-launch/ News Item #4 – New Metasurface https://www.miragenews.com/kaist-unveils-janus-metasurface-responsive-to-1336942/ Segment #3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Myopia Hey there, I just caught up on the recent episode where you talked about the myopia epidemic. I’m an optometrist, so I’m dealing with myopia every single day. As a public service announcement, I thought you might mention a few points: 1. There are methods and treatments available now that help control (slow down) the progression of myopia (spectacle lenses, contact lenses, eye drops, or combinations thereof) 2. Other than the treatments noted above, other recommendations are: a) kids should be outside a minimum of 2 hrs per day (sunlight seems to have a positive effect) b) frequent breaks from screens (5 minutes of break per 30 minutes of screen time) c) kids should avoid the use of LED lights while studying/reading in the evening One final point: Cara mentioned that it’s not so bad to be myopic, which I suppose is true until you become a strong myope. An increased degree of myopia is directly correlated with medical/eye health problems such as retinal detachment, glaucoma, myopic degeneration etc, so everything should be done to minimize the degree of myopia. Cheers Randy Segment #5. Interview with Christian Hubicki Segment #6. 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: Good News Item 1: The US Geological Survey released a report that conservatively estimates there is enough commercially accessible geological hydrogen to meet current global demand for 1000 years. Item 2: A new review finds that aquaculture reduces demands on ocean fishing and therefore benefits local communities dependent on pelagic fish. Item 3: Researchers have demonstrated bedside rapid quantitative blood biomarker detection using an acoustic pipette to purify and label biomarkers in just 70 minutes. Segment #7. Skeptical Quote of the Week "One of the beautiful things about science is that it allows us to bumble along, getting it wrong time after time, and feel perfectly fine as long as we learn something each time." - Martin A. Schwartz
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/33523832
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1005
10/12/2024
Skeptics Guide #1005
EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/skepticsguide Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1005 October 9th 2024 Segment #1. Another Loch Ness Claim https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/sailor-finds-loch-ness-monster-on-ship-s-sonar/ar-AA1rHqJE Segment #2. News Items Nobel Prizes 2024 News Item #1 – Physiology or Medicine https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2024/press-release/ News Item #2 – Chemistry https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2024/press-release/ News Item #3 – Physics https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2024/press-release/ News Item #4 – Fruit Fly Connectome https://theness.com/neurologicablog/fruit-fly-connectome-completed/ News Item #5 – Shroud of Turin https://www.christianpost.com/news/shroud-of-turin-stains-consistent-with-christs-torture-study.html Segment #3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Hydrogen Cartridges Saw this and thought of you... https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/toyota-s-portable-hydrogen-cartridges-look-like-giant-aa-batteries-and-could-spell-the-end-of-lengthy-ev-charging/ar-AA1rY28d Segment #5. Name That Logical Fallacy I've been reading "The Art of Thinking Clearly" by Rolf Dobelli, and I came across something that (I think) is questionable. This book is a cumulation of chapters about logical fallacies and issues in clear thinking that is right up your alley (although there is a book about that topic I like better, something like The Questioner's Map to the World, or something like that.....). The chapter is about the "Neglect of Probability". He details evidence that people basically discount probabilities. Studies of telling people they have a 50% chance of getting an electric shock, those in the study have the same amount of anxiety and fear as those being told they have a 5% chance of getting the shock, and so on down to 0% (where people's anxiety finally becomes zero). My issue is with one of the examples that he uses (at least I believe it to be his own example). I want to quote the whole paragraph because I think it's important. "To test this, let's examine two methods of treating drinking water. Suppose a river has two equally large tributaries. One is treated using method A, which reduces the risk of dying from contaminated water from 5 percent to 2 percent. The other is treated using method B, which reduces the risk from 1 percent to 0 percent, that is, the threat is completely eliminated. So, method A or B? If you think like most people, you will opt for method B-which is silly because with measure A, 3 percent fewer people die, and with B, just 1 percent fewer. Method A is three times as good! This fallacy is called the 'zero-risk bias.'" It could be that I'm missing something here, but is this not a terrible example? First, I'll be clear this is a hypothetical thought experiment. Nothing in the world is actually this clear-cut, so let's set that aside for a second. I completely understand that method A reduces the risk by 3 percent, which is a bigger decrease than method B, which is a one percent decrease, but is it not better to end at 0% than 2%? Getting cut off.... Segment #6. 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: A new study finds that adrenaline autoinjectors are not effective in preventing death due to allergic anaphylaxis. Item 2: A recent review finds that atmospheric mercury pollution has increased by 20% in North America from 2005 to 2020. Item 3: Researchers find evidence that persistent viral infection with SARS-CoV-2 following clinical COVID may be responsible for some cases of long COVID. Segment #7. Skeptical Quote of the Week "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." Albert Einstein
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/33430432
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1004
10/05/2024
Skeptics Guide #1004
Check out Surfshark https://surfshark.com/sgu The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1004 October 1st 2024 Segment #1. Quickie with Bob Lunar Mantle Partially Molten https://phys.org/news/2024-09-lunar-gravity-hint-partially-molten.html Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Heart Function in Space https://www.space.com/heart-cells-iss-space-medicine News Item #2 – Schizophrenia Drug https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/26/health/fda-schizophrenia-drug.html News Item #3 – Wood Vaulting https://theness.com/neurologicablog/wood-vaulting-for-carbon-sequestration/ News Item #4 – AI Finds Nazca Lines https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/knife-wielding-orca-and-alien-looking-figures-among-300-nazca-lines-discovered-in-groundbreaking-ai-study News Item #5 – LISA Gravitational Telescope https://gizmodo.com/lisa-gravitational-wave-observatory-how-it-works-2000499746 Segment #3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Religious Skepticism Message: Dear SGU, Theo-bros came to my attention as JD Vance adjacent/aligned phenomen. I then found christian's on Reddit arguing against this highly conservative, anti-women, homophobic branch of theology. My question is where might/does/could critical thinking sit in helping religious people push back against extremist religious ideology (but without making an atheist argument). Is this something humanists should be encouraging non-extreme religious people to do. Campbell 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: In a recent survey, 86% of climate experts expressed belief that we will experience >2.0 C of warming by 2100, with a median estimate of 2.7 C, a level projected to have catastrophic consequences. Item 2: A CRISPR-like gene editing system, once thought exclusive to prokaryotes, was recently identified in eukaryotic cells. Item 3: A recent AI-powered simulation based upon current exoplanet data finds that F-type stars, which are slightly more massive than our sun, are likely to host the greatest number of Earth-like planets in our galaxy. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance”. - George Bernard Shaw
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/33339632
info_outline
Skeptics Guide #1003
09/28/2024
Skeptics Guide #1003
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1003 September 25th 2024 with guest Rogue Andrea Jones Roy Segment #1. What’s the Word Pitch Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Crystal Genome Storage https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-case-humans-go-extinct-this-memory-crystal-will-store-our-genome-for-billions-of-years-180985114/ News Item #2 – How Reliable are Presidential Forecasts https://osf.io/preprints/osf/6g5zq News Item #3 – Myopia Epidemic https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/myopia-epidemic/ News Item #4 – Biotwang Explained https://www.livescience.com/animals/whales/mysterious-sound-coming-from-the-mariana-trench-has-finally-been-explained 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. Item 1: A recent analysis finds that mammal-like jaw anatomy evolved first in therapsids, at least 20 million years before the first cynodonts, which were mammalian ancestors. Item 2: Scientists have recently demonstrated that single bacterial genes can flip a portion of their genetic sequence so that they code for a different protein. Item 3: A recent clinical trial shows that a single infusion with gene therapy was able to effectively treat hemophilia B for at least 15 months of follow up. Segment #5. Skeptical Quote of the Week "You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion." L Ron Hubbard
/episode/index/show/skepticsguide/id/33243542