Skeptics Guide #962

The Skeptics Guide To The Universe

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 https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/human-brain-supercomputer-coming-in-2024 News Item #2 – Sodium Ion Batteries https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/05/11/1072865/how-sodium-could-change-the-game-for-batteries/ News Item #3 – Lab Grown Coffee https://phys.org/news/2023-12-scientists-recipe-lab-grown-coffee-creation.amp News Item #4 – Lunar Anthropocene https://www.independent.co.uk/space/moon-lunar-anthropocene-new-epoch-b2462403.html 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