Skeptics Guide #906

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #906 November 15th 2022 Segment #1. Dumbest Thing of the Week Volcanoes and Climate Change https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/the-lies-of-climate-change-denial/ Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Developing New Antibiotics https://www.wired.com/story/the-6-billion-dollar-shot-at-making-new-antibiotics-before-the-old-ones-fail/ News Item #2 – China Completes Space Station https://www.wired.com/story/china-is-now-a-major-space-power-tiangong-space-station/amp News Item #3 – Now 8 Billion People https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/the-world-now-has-8-billion-people News Item #4 – New SARS-CoV-2 Variants https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/11/221115113926.htm News Item #5 – Psychogeneology https://www.marianne.net/societe/sante/la-psychogenealogie-sur-france-culture-une-pseudoscience-a-la-mode Segment #3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Clinically Proven Message: Came across something interesting in my search for mediocre studies to give to my students to critique for exams. One I found was so well done in terms of being designed to look legit, but obviously also designed to get a particular result that I was impressed by the fraud and looked up the author affiliation. And found this gem: https://www.franklinhealth.org/franklin-health-research?fbclid=IwAR24MV9UWbJZqq3fcoKrebRw0yuCVDTYMw83YFVr7_T0zsFi-QoQqDhZ-3k The language throughout the discussion of how they will design a study tailored to give people the results they want is really quite impressive (*negative connotation*). I spent like an hour reading it out to my partner so he could be amazed/horrified with me. Thought it might be of interest to you all for a slow news week sometime. Question #2: Billon Dollar Disasters 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. #1) Researchers find that adults 18-35 years old have more rapid and efficient visual perceptual learning than children 8-11 years old. #2) A recent study finds that the Airpod Pro wireless earbuds performed as well as basic professional hearing aids, and even as well as high end professional hearing aids in most situations, at 1/40th the cost. #3) Scientists find that worldwide sperm counts have declined about 62% since 1950, and this decline is accelerating. Segment #7. Skeptical Quote of the Week We may fondly imagine that we are impartial seekers after truth, but with a few exceptions, to which I know that I do not belong, we are influenced—and sometimes strongly—by our personal bias; and we give our best thoughts to those ideas which we have to defend. — August Krogh


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