Skeptics Guide #882

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #881 June 1st 2022 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Exascale Supercomputer https://gizmodo.com/supercomputer-exascale-top500-frontier-1848997652 News Item #2 – Dinosaurs Warm or Cold Blooded https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/were-dinosaurs-warm-or-cold-blooded/ News Item #3 – Preventing Violent Crime https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23141405/violence-crime-cbt-therapy-cash-shootings News Item #4 – Revising Evolutionary Trees https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03482-x News Item #5 – New Optical Illusion https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/954419 Segment #2. Quickie with Bob Gato AI https://www.zdnet.com/google-amp/article/deepminds-gato-is-mediocre-so-why-did-they-build-it/ Segment #3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails So in episode, #880, you all talked about how the “gullible acupuncture article” relied on a systematic review that showed significance due certain disorders with acupuncture treatment. You talked very briefly about how that systematic review is not valid as the significance would occur from randomness. Therefore, I’m now very much wondering, which systematic reviews can I and the public trust? What should we look for to see if a systematic review is rigorous or garbage? Especially because I’ve always thought that systematic reviews are one of the more rigorous and trustworthy of scientific papers in general. Thank you for your time Antoni 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. #1) A new analysis finds that the Cueva de Ardales in Spain, famous for it’s many cave paintings, was likely occupied by human ancestors for as long as 500,000 years. #2) In a prospective study, dogs were able to detect asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection with higher sensitivity than nasopharyngeal antigen testing, 97% vs 84%. #3) Scientists have developed a molecular drill that is activated by visible light and rotates at 2-3 million times per second, which can drill through bacterial membranes and can be used as a broad-spectrum rapid acting antibiotic for skin infections. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “When I was a kid, people wanted to be an astronaut. Today, kids want to be famous, and that’s totally the wrong approach. You have to have authenticity in what you’re doing. You have to really care about the core message of what you’re saying, and then everything else will fall into place.” David Copperfield


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