Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1082 April 2nd 2026 Segment #1. Quickie with Bob Antiproton Trap techspot.com/news/111845-cern-scientists-successfully-turned-antiproton-trap-moving-appliance.html Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Artemis II Launches nasa.gov/news-release/liftoff-nasa-launches-astronauts-on-historic-artemis-moon-mission News Item #2 – Can AI Predict Science Replication nytimes.com/2026/04/01/science/ai-experiments-replication.html News Item #3 – Smart Drugs sciencebasedmedicine.org/smart-drugs-are-here News Item #4 – Nuclear Electric Propulsion aviationweek.com/space/launch-vehicles-propulsion/nasa-aims-demonstrate-nuclear-electric-propulsion-late-2028 News Item #5 – Underwater Fairy Circles ecoticias.com/en/they-are-called-donuts-and-look-like-fairy-circles-underwater-but-science-is-baffled-because-no-one-yet-knows-what-mechanism-draws-these-perfect-giant-rings-on-the-seabed-off-the-co/30064 Segment 3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Name That Logical Fallacy An addicted listener since 2006 and Patreon supporter for many years. Your recent discussion about Lyme disease reminded that I’ve often thought that I don’t know a handy term to cover common cases that seem to have a lot in common with what in formal logic is called “undistributed middle term”—namely the conclusion that shared properties argue for a strong link, even a shared identity. When there is sequence, we have “post hoc”. Some cases are “pareidolia”. Some cases of “Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy” seem close. Is there a more general informal term, though, one that would help explain, for example, a lot of conspiracy theories? For example: The Elders of Zion hold secret meetings; these power figures are holding secret meetings, Therefore… etc. Theo 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: Corals Item 1: Corals are actually colonies of tiny animals known as polyps, each of which is similar to and closely related to jellies. Item 2: Some living corals today grow on reef structures that have persisted for over 400,000 years. Item 3: Corals get their nutrients from a combination of symbiotic algae (autotrophic) and feeding (heterotrophic), with different species varying from 100% autotrophic to 100% heterotrophic, and everything in between. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." - John Kennedy, Sept 12, 1962,
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1082 April 2nd 2026 Segment #1. Quickie with Bob Antiproton Trap techspot.com/news/111845-cern-scientists-successfully-turned-antiproton-trap-moving-appliance.html Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Artemis II Launches nasa.gov/news-release/liftoff-nasa-launches-astronauts-on-historic-artemis-moon-mission News Item #2 – Can AI Predict Science Replication nytimes.com/2026/04/01/science/ai-experiments-replication.html News Item #3 – Smart Drugs sciencebasedmedicine.org/smart-drugs-are-here News Item #4 – Nuclear Electric Propulsion aviationweek.com/space/launch-vehicles-propulsion/nasa-aims-demonstrate-nuclear-electric-propulsion-late-2028 News Item #5 – Underwater Fairy Circles ecoticias.com/en/they-are-called-donuts-and-look-like-fairy-circles-underwater-but-science-is-baffled-because-no-one-yet-knows-what-mechanism-draws-these-perfect-giant-rings-on-the-seabed-off-the-co/30064 Segment 3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Name That Logical Fallacy An addicted listener since 2006 and Patreon supporter for many years. Your recent discussion about Lyme disease reminded that I’ve often thought that I don’t know a handy term to cover common cases that seem to have a lot in common with what in formal logic is called “undistributed middle term”—namely the conclusion that shared properties argue for a strong link, even a shared identity. When there is sequence, we have “post hoc”. Some cases are “pareidolia”. Some cases of “Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy” seem close. Is there a more general informal term, though, one that would help explain, for example, a lot of conspiracy theories? For example: The Elders of Zion hold secret meetings; these power figures are holding secret meetings, Therefore… etc. Theo 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: Corals Item 1: Corals are actually colonies of tiny animals known as polyps, each of which is similar to and closely related to jellies. Item 2: Some living corals today grow on reef structures that have persisted for over 400,000 years. Item 3: Corals get their nutrients from a combination of symbiotic algae (autotrophic) and feeding (heterotrophic), with different species varying from 100% autotrophic to 100% heterotrophic, and everything in between. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." - John Kennedy, Sept 12, 1962,
