Skeptics Guide #1112

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1112 October 29nd 2026 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Red Flags for Bad Journals https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03325-3 News Item #2 – Comets and the Origin of Life https://theness.com/neurologicablog/study-suggests-comets-did-not-deliver-prebiotic-molecules/ News Item #3 – Schooling and Dementia https://www.sciencealert.com/these-1970s-kids-had-to-stay-in-school-for-1-year-longer-decades-later-the-results-are-dramatic News Item #4 – Trapping Antimatter https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-trapped-a-particle-of-antimatter-and-kept-it-caged-for-months Segment 2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: CT Haunting Right in your backyard. In the Hartford Courant. Very disappointing - the whole thing is presented as completely normal. "Paranormal activity found at abandoned CT hospital, investigators say. Spirits have ‘had a lot to say.’" https://www.courant.com/2026/10/20/paranormal-activity-found-at-abandoned-ct-hospital-investigators-say-spirits-have-had-a-lot-to-say/?lctg=1e45539724f2beb35167d250df1f80cc&active=no&utm_campaign=trib-hartford_courant-breaking_news-nl&utm_content=alert&utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_cluster=TRIB&utm_profileID=6a5f208c42a47c409d6323f4 Jeff Hintzke California Segment #4. Interview with Andrea Jones Rooy www.politicalrealitypodcast.com 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. Theme: Vampire Animals Item 1: The vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) draws blood from its prey using large suction cups on its tentacles, then drinks the blood through two long, retractable feeding filaments. Item 2: The East African vampire jumping spider (Evarcha culicivora) feeds on vertebrate blood by preferentially hunting female mosquitoes that have recently consumed a blood meal. Item 3: Male vampire moths (Calyptra) are essentially salt vampires, piercing the skin of mammals to drink their blood, but retaining up to 95% of the salt while passing most of the blood's protein through their digestive systems undigested. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “Science isn’t about being right forever. It’s about being less wrong than yesterday." - Uknown


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