Skeptics Guide

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #962 December 13th 2023 Segment #1. Scams Zelle Scam Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 - Human Brain Supercomputer interestingengineering.com/in... News Item #2 - Sodium Ion Batteries www.technologyreview.com/2023... News Item #3 - Lab Grown Coffee phys.org/news/2023-12-scienti... News Item #4 - Lunar Anthropocene www.independent.co.uk/space/m... Segment #3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Questions and E-mails Question #1: Nazis and Synthetic Gasoline Segment #5. Who Said That 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. Theme: 2023 #1) Vinyl record sales topped CD record sales for the first time since 1987. #2) Over 10,000 journal articles were retracted in 2023, more than twice as many as any previous year. #3) More than 10% of people in Japan, the oldest country in the world, are over 90 years old. Segment #7. Skeptical Quote of the Week “I’d rather live in a world where I get to love the moon than in one where I don’t, even if the moon won’t return the feeling.” - Alex London, American writer

[@Xsetsu]

As a fan SGU and How to ADHD, so glad to hear Jessica on the show and glad to know that she is a listener as well. Great interview.

[@Xsetsu]

Although not the same thing, skepticism was also was huge in helping me working through some mental health issues. Glad to know that it is a shared experience. It certainly made navigating it far easier when you tend to second guess so much.

[@seanbradley2712]

I had a "MS tech" call from India, of course, about my "infected" computer. I was directed to open an IP address, simultaneously, I was doing a IP lookup on it as well. It took too long, and he got mad. He indignantly said, "I think you are messing with me," and hung up on me. A friend of mine just talks to them in Spanish, which is extremely effective since the UK doesn't have a significant enough Spanish speaking population for the scam centers to have callers that speak English and Spanish. Meanwhile, his wife is yelling at him to hang up since she can understand him perfectly. He said, "After a minute they hang up on me. I don't know if I should be offended."

[@dctv9968]

Can you give up some trunk space to add more batteries? How about loosing the back seat for a super battery? Or perhaps pulling a small trailer full of batteries for cross country trips? The trailer would have to be hardened for safety. Just some thoughts.

[@bobbygriffith9890]

Coffee riots? East Berlin wasn't that far away for a while....

[@WholeCosmos]

BTW Epoch is pronounced the same as epic. It's the context that makes the meaning. As the SGU resident pun master Evan this is an EPIC fail. LOL