Skeptics Guide #945

The Skeptics Guide To The Universe

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #945 August 16th 2023 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – Deep Space Network https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2023/08/15/talking-with-webb-using-the-deep-space-network/ News Item #2 – Identifying Misinformation https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/young-people-tell-us-they-need-help-identifying-misinformation/ News Item #3 – Regret and Gender Affirming Care https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/08/no-regrets-gender-affirming-chest-surgery-in-adults-has-long-term-satisfaction/ News Item #4 – Localizing Hidden Consciousness https://academic.oup.com/brain/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/brain/awad197/7236061?redirectedFrom=fulltext News Item #5 – Ice Baths https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2023/08/07/ice-baths-benefits-effects-orig-lbb-contd-vf-na.cnn Segment #2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. Your Question and E-mails Question #1: Metazoans I am a big fan of the SGU and pod! I noticed that on the Aug 12 science or fiction, the item about ctenophores was fiction as stated because it was missing a word. For the item to be science, it needed to be "ctenophores are the oldest extant *metazoan* branch of life" , and by metazoan I basically mean multicellular animal. There are some much older extant branches of non-metazoan life. For example, cyanobacteria and archaea that form stromatolites have been around for a few billion years and can still be found alive in the Bahamas. The source of the ctenophore statement is a recent paper in the journal Nature (Schultz et al. 2023) showing evidence that ctenophores were the first animals, challenging a decades long consensus that sponges were the first animals. Thank you all for this great podcast, community, and outlet for my pedantry! I started listening years ago as a broke grad student, and just became a patron. Lastly, huge congrats to Dr. Santa Maria! Cheers, Lauren Segment #4. 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: Medieval Jesters #1) In medieval Europe women were forbidden from being jesters, as it was unacceptable for a woman to make fun of a man. #2) Jesters typically only worked part time as a jester, while most of the year they would engage in other mundane jobs around the castle. #3) So-called “jester’s privilege” meant that jesters could mock or insult any noble, even the king or queen, without fear of punishment. Segment #5. Skeptical Quote of the Week “The tantalizing discomfort of perplexity is what inspires otherwise ordinary men and women to extraordinary feats of ingenuity and creativity; nothing quite focuses the mind like dissonant details awaiting harmonious resolution.” — Brian Greene