Episode #876
News Items
- Vaping and Brain Inflammation
- Projectile Fusion
- Facilitated Communication Still Pseudoscience
- Gamma Rays and Gravitational Waves
- AI Emotion Detection
Who's That Noisy
- Answer to last week: Instrument
Question #1: Communicating Skepticism
- I work at a not-for-profit (https://www.digitalpublicsquare.org/) and one of things we try to create are interventions when it comes to things like public health. In terms of vaccine misinformation, we have a site that offers information in a quiz-like format (https://knowitornot.com/). Now I know you all have discussed the efficacy of these types of interventions and wanted to know your thoughts. I’ve heard that sometimes these types of true/false paradigms might not be the best and don’t do well to ‘vaccinate’ folks against mis/disinformation. Personally I can see how such a paradigm ‘talks down’ to someone who’s deep in the hole, and it might not communicate the ‘skeptical’ mindset. I’m wondering what the skeptics think of strategies like these, and if there are any particular insights you could offer based on your experiences. Love the show, thanks! Wahid Shafique Toronto
Science or Fiction
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Item #1
Fiction
There are no native mammals in Bermuda, only introduced species such as mice, rats, and feral cats. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology_of_Bermuda
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Item #2
Science
There are more than 300 shipwrecks in the waters off Bermuda, making it the shipwreck capital of the world. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/exploring-five-most-iconic-wreckage-sites-bermuda-180973637/
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Item #3
Science
When Bermuda was first discovered in the 1500s and later settled by Europeans, it had no native or indigenous population. https://www.refworld.org/docid/4954ce0cc.html
Skeptical Quote of the Week.
“Stupid entropy ruins everything.” ― Jennifer Ouellette, The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse