Special Guest: Christian Hubicki; Quickie with Bob: Meteor over New England; News Items: While House Proposal on Science Funding, Medical Aid in Dying, AI Attention, Expensive Audio Cables; The Science of Survivor; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fiction
I Learned Today: How Toilets Flush; News Items: Autism Clinics, Errors in Climate Change Database, Weekly Exercise, Why Birds Fear Women, Latest Ebola Outbreak; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fiction
News Items: Sleep and Aging, Mental Number Maps, Digital Privacy, ArXiv Bans AI Produced Work, T-Rex Leather; Who's That Noisy; Obsoletely; Name That Logical Fallacy; Science or Fiction
News Items: The Interstitium and Acupuncture, Climate Change Food Insecurity, Neanderthal Dentistry, Tiny Robots, More UFO Nonsense; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: AI Consciousness; Science or Fiction
Interview with Philosopher David Kyle Johnson; Quickie with Bob: Exotic Matter; News Items: When Are Screening Tests Necessary, Dawkins Writes LLMs are Conscious, Iron Flow Batteries, Haunting with Friends; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fiction
Back to Basics: Pareidolia and Apophenia; News Items: Smart Watch Health Metric Errors, Space Debris Hitting the Moon, Evolvable AI, Merging Quazars, Longevity Escape Velocity; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Stem Cell Hype; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics' Guide dissects cryptomnesia, the phenomenon of mistaken originality, drawing connections to memory biases and pseudoscientific beliefs like past life regression. The discussion shifts to a concerning report on widespread belief in unproven health claims, exacerbated by political figures, and the critical need for scientific literacy. Listeners also hear about groundbreaking research on genetically modifying humans for limb regeneration, the molecular physics explaining rubber's strength, and compelling evidence for the efficacy of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
News Items: Artemis Recap, AI Biology Research, AI Security Disruption, Superconductivity Breakthrough, Red Light Therapy; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Mach, Missing and Dead Scientists; Science or Fiction
Dumbest Thing of the Week: Waffle House Teleportation; News Items: Artemis II Heat Shield, Fairness in the Brain, Genetic Engineering Humans, Self-Healing Composite; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fiction
Quickie with Bob: Transporting Antimatter; News Items: Artemis II Launches, Can AI Predict Science Replication, Smart Drugs, Nuclear Electric Propulsion, Underwater Fairy Circles; Who's That Noisy; Name That Logical Fallacy; Science or Fiction
Back To Basics: Confirmation Bias; News Items: NASA Announces New Moon Plans, The Limits of Cloning, Giant Insects, Pushing Exorcism, Update on 3I-Atlas; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fiction
Interview with Professor Kristian Andersen; Update on Conspiracy Teacher; News Items: Cannabis Review, AI Agents Breaks Out Of Testing Area, Life On Exomoons, Man Producing Carbon Fiber, Bigfoot Hoax Revealed; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fiction
Back to Basics: Fundamental Attribution Error; News Items: Improved Photosynthesis, Birth of a Magnetar, US Bioweapons Research, False Health Information from Chatbots; Your Questions and E-mails: Consistency; Name That Logical Fallacy; Science or Fiction
Quickie with Bob: Thatcher Effect; News Items: Lunar Chickpeas, Sea Level Rise, Latest Study Shows Reiki Does Not Work, Brain Cells Playing Doom; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Glyphosate Safety; Science or Fiction
Swindler's List: Tax Fraud; News Items: Universal Nasal Respiratory Vaccine, Origins of COVID, Reusing Spent Nuclear Fuel, Birding Brain Boost; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Starting A Skeptical Group; Science or Fiction
News Items: Banana Resistance to Fungal Disease, Drug Advertising, AI Powered Prosthetics, Laser Written Glass Storage, UFO Balloons; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Mental Illness and Culpability; Name That Logical Fallacy; Science or Fiction
Quickie with Evan: Erich von Däniken dies at 90; News Items: Review of ADHD Treatment, Religious Nones, EPA Ends Endangerment Ruling, The Physics of the Quintuple Jump, Crotchgate; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: More on the yellow sun, The Turkey Illusion; Science or Fiction
Quickie with Bob: The Death of 8k TV; News Items: Faith-Based Addiction Programs, Noise and Sleep, A Fully Renewable Grid, Moltbook for AI Agents Only; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Corrections; Science or Fiction
News Items: Artemis Getting Ready for Launch, New Extinct Branch of Life, Why We Need Wikipedia, Ideological Bias in Research, Expanding the Habitable Zone; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Kesterite Solar Panels; From TikTok: Coincidence?; Science or Fiction
News Items: Artemis Getting Ready for Launch, New Extinct Branch of Life, Why We Need Wikipedia, Ideological Bias in Research, Expanding the Habitable Zone; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Kesterite Solar Panels; From TikTok: Coincidence?; Science or Fiction
The SGU team discusses the ongoing saga of a teacher promoting moon landing hoaxes, the complex etymology and various definitions of the word "culture," and a new study on the synergistic benefits of minor lifestyle adjustments for extended health and life expectancy. They also delve into an AI expert paper outlining a plausible future where AI could endanger humanity, a rapid spray-on wound treatment, and the challenges of misinformation, particularly with AI-generated images. Finally, the episode highlights "deep reading" as a crucial method to boost critical thinking and resist deceptive narratives, emphasizing its role in a passive, digital media landscape.
News Items: Donut Lab's Solid State Battery, Artemis Update, EPA Change, Life on Planets Around Red Dwarfs, Malaysia Air Search Resumes; Special Report: RFK on Vaccines and the Food Pyramid; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Birding and Memory; Science or Fiction
Live From Not-A-Con 2025, with guests George Hrab, Andrea Jones-Rooy, Brian Wecht, and Adam Russell; What Are You Most Proud Of; What Is Your Quirky Pet Peeve; If You Could Change One Thing; Here Me Out; Science or Fiction
Psychic Predictions for 2025 and Rogue Predictions; News Items: Psychology Intervention for ADHD, Biological vs Artificial Consciousness, Fentanyl Vaccine, Possibility of Orbital Disaster; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fiction
2025 Year End Review, with special guest Ian 🍉; Best of SGU; Best Science of 2025; Skeptical Hero and Jackass of the Year; In Memoriam; Science or Fiction
News Items: Animals Adapting to Humans, Pig Organ Transplants, Japan Plans to Beam Energy from Space, Ant Yogurt, First Evidence of Fire Making; Your Questions and E-mails: Mercury in Fish, Compounding Pharmacies; From TikTok: Inventor of the Diesel Engine; Science or Fiction
News Items: Young Cancer, Adapting to Modern Life, Safety of mRNA Vaccines, Cosmic Rays Ground Aircraft, Reverse Aging Claim; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: EU Gene Editing; Who Said That; Science or Fiction
News Items: Cognitive Legos, China's Planting Lots of Trees, Misinformation and Birth Control, Dark Matter Detection, Asteroid Bennu Ingredients for Life; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Climate Denial, Calcium Cardiac Scans; Science or Fiction
Quickie with Bob: Helion Fusion Update; News Items: CRISPR Wheat Sources Nitrogen, LLMs and Collective Intelligence, Origins of Theia, Holiday Scams, Hypervelocity White Dwarves; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Cellulose Correction; Science or Fiction
Dumbest Thing of the Week: Noah's Ark; News Items: Using AI to Design Viruses, Creatine for Cognitive Function, Earth Digital Twin, Quiet Supersonic Jet, Tet For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Wolf Tool Use; Science or Fiction
