Skeptics Guide #1072

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1072 January 22nd 2026 Segment #1. What’s the Word Culture Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Increasing Lifespan https://www.livescience.com/health/tiny-improvements-in-sleep-nutrition-and-exercise-could-significantly-extend-lifespan-study-suggests News Item #2 – AI 2027 https://theness.com/neurologicablog/the-ai-2027-scenario/ News Item #3 – Deep Reading https://theconversation.com/deep-reading-can-boost-your-critical-thinking-and-help-you-resist-misinformation-heres-how-to-build-the-skill-268082 News Item #4 – Spray On Wound Treatment https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-develop-spray-on-powder-that-instantly-seals-life-threatening-wounds/ News Item #5 – Monkeys and AI https://www.stlpr.org/news-briefs/2026-01-13/monkeys-st-louis-ai-images-complicate-search Segment 3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Global Warming Are the studies and grave predictions of global warming falsifiable? There must be other ways to falsify, other than wait for a hundred years or so and measure the changes? I have believed that there was a global warming period within the cycle of ice ages since I was in the first grade in 1966, and we were told that the glaciers were melting. We also learned in the '60s that the cycle of ice ages are roughly 10,000 or 20000 years frequency. I question, if that cycle is already happening, what part does the age of industrialism play in global warming? How would the theory of man-made global warming, or the studies of the subject and the resulting predictions be falsifiable? I don't claim that there is no global warming. Nor do I claim that the industrial age does not contribute. But how would we know whether the predictions in sea level rise, glaciers and ice sheets melting, etc. and everything else are accurate? Whether or not it is manmade? Especially, if it is as grave as it seems to be? How would that be falsifiable? Perhaps what I'm really asking is, how do you find all of the studies that have dealt responsibly with all of the data and calculations. How would I know if I'm looking at a good study or a bad study? And more importantly, how would such a study be falsifiable? I haven't seen a sea level change in southern California ever in 60 years. That's why I picked a hundred or so years to wait and measure. Same thing in Boston as far as I know. UK? Iberian peninsula? The Mediterranean seems to show great changes in sea level, but long long ago. Read any part of this that you please on the show Loving the show since the beginning! Vance in Santa Clarita, California 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: Engineers have developed a robotic hand which is more dexterous than a human hand, and can even detach, crawl across the floor, and retrieve objects. Item 2: A new study finds that disconnecting from media is associated with significant and long lasting reductions in reported stress levels. Item 3: A new analysis finds that ice-age kangaroos, which were more than twice as heavy as the largest extant kangaroos, could still use hopping for locomotion. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "Success in creating effective AI, could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization. Or the worst. We just don’t know. So, we cannot know if we will be infinitely helped by AI, or ignored by it and side-lined, or conceivably destroyed by it.” Stephen Hawking


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