Skeptics Guide #1020

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1020 January 22nd 2025 With Guest Rogue, Andrea Jones Roy 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


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