Skeptics Guide #1038

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #1038 May 29th 2025 Guest Rogues: George Hrab and Andrea Jones Roy Segment #1. Quickie with Steve AMOC Time https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01709-0 Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Night Vision Infrared Contact Lenses https://gizmodo.com/infrared-contacts-let-you-see-in-the-dark-even-with-your-eyes-closed-2000604405 News Item #2 – Trees Respond to Solar Eclipse https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241786 News Item #3 – Affective Polarization https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/new-measure-of-affective-polarization/DEF7FCC26D4F09BDE5603BCC02B4765D News Item #4 – The Brain’s Motor Switchboard https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09066-z News Item #5 – New Dwarf Planet Candidate https://www.livescience.com/space/planets/scientists-have-discovered-a-new-dwarf-planet-in-our-solar-system-far-beyond-the-orbit-of-neptune Segment #3. Discussion Topic How has science fiction affected our expectations of technology and the future? Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: HHS Cancels Vaccine Contract Hi all! There's so much stupid (or malevolence?) going on right now, it's hard to keep up. Here's the latest stupid: https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/28/health/hhs-moderna-bird-flu-vaccine Joshua Banta Tyler, TX 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: Jargon Item 1: Solitonic superfluorescence – localized self-sustaining waves in nonlinear systems allowing for high temperature coherent bursts of light from excited molecules. Item 2: Pseudorevertant hyphal morphogenesis – the ability of fungal strains to undergo branching growth due to a novel mutation that replicates the wild-type behavior. Item 3: Indurated leucocratic amphibolite – a class of hydrated calcific minerals formed mainly from underwater volcanic eruptions. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week "The people who are constantly striving to apply skepticism to everything in their lives, the ones who actually care enough about truth and avoid being wrong, and biased, and prejudiced, and clueless; those are the people we need, and need to be." Matt Dillahunty