Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1071 January 15th 2026 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Donut Lab’s Solid State Battery theness.com/neurologicablog/is-donut-labs-solid-state-battery-legit News Item #2 – Artemis Update News Item #3 – EPA Change nytimes.com/2026/01/12/climate/trump-epa-air-pollution.html News Item #4 – Life On Red Dwarf Planets phys.org/news/2026-01-complex-life-planets-orbiting-galaxy.html News Item #5 – Malaysia Air Search Resumes cbc.ca/news/world/mh370-search-malaysia-airlines-ocean-infinity-9.7030011 Segment 2. Special Report RFK Jr’s Recent Anti-science sciencebasedmedicine.org/rfk-turns-food-pyramid-on-its-head sciencebasedmedicine.org/rfk-decimates-vaccine-schedule Segment 3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Birding and Memory I've been listening to you guys for many years, and now I have published a paper that you might find interesting. Hope you enjoy, particularly Steve since I know he loves birds 🙂 Kudos lay summary: link.growkudos.com/1exuym2jp4w Open-access paper on the OSF: osf.io/wgpnq/files/cfjy2 Thanks for all that you do! Best wishes, Vanessa 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: Animals 2025 Item 1: Scientists have discovered a “death ball” sponge (Chondrocladia sp nov) which, unlike most sponges which are filter feeders, is predatory, feeding mostly on small crustaceans. Item 2: Scientists have discovered a new species of box jellyfish, Tripedalia maipoensis, with 24 eyes which are capable of forming low resolution 360 degree images. Item 3: Researchers discovered an entirely gynomorphic species of spider in Thailand, Damarchus inazuma, which is half orange (the female side) and half blue (the male side). Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “There is no such thing as a scientific truth believed by one person and disbelieved by the rest of the scientific community; an idea becomes a truth only when a vast majority of scientists accept it without question. That is, after all, what we mean by the expression 'scientific contribution': an offering that is accepted, however provisionally, into the common fund of knowledge." -Robert K. Merton
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1071 January 15th 2026 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Donut Lab’s Solid State Battery theness.com/neurologicablog/is-donut-labs-solid-state-battery-legit News Item #2 – Artemis Update News Item #3 – EPA Change nytimes.com/2026/01/12/climate/trump-epa-air-pollution.html News Item #4 – Life On Red Dwarf Planets phys.org/news/2026-01-complex-life-planets-orbiting-galaxy.html News Item #5 – Malaysia Air Search Resumes cbc.ca/news/world/mh370-search-malaysia-airlines-ocean-infinity-9.7030011 Segment 2. Special Report RFK Jr’s Recent Anti-science sciencebasedmedicine.org/rfk-turns-food-pyramid-on-its-head sciencebasedmedicine.org/rfk-decimates-vaccine-schedule Segment 3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Birding and Memory I've been listening to you guys for many years, and now I have published a paper that you might find interesting. Hope you enjoy, particularly Steve since I know he loves birds 🙂 Kudos lay summary: link.growkudos.com/1exuym2jp4w Open-access paper on the OSF: osf.io/wgpnq/files/cfjy2 Thanks for all that you do! Best wishes, Vanessa 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: Animals 2025 Item 1: Scientists have discovered a “death ball” sponge (Chondrocladia sp nov) which, unlike most sponges which are filter feeders, is predatory, feeding mostly on small crustaceans. Item 2: Scientists have discovered a new species of box jellyfish, Tripedalia maipoensis, with 24 eyes which are capable of forming low resolution 360 degree images. Item 3: Researchers discovered an entirely gynomorphic species of spider in Thailand, Damarchus inazuma, which is half orange (the female side) and half blue (the male side). Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “There is no such thing as a scientific truth believed by one person and disbelieved by the rest of the scientific community; an idea becomes a truth only when a vast majority of scientists accept it without question. That is, after all, what we mean by the expression 'scientific contribution': an offering that is accepted, however provisionally, into the common fund of knowledge." -Robert K. Merton
