Skeptics Guide #950

The Skeptics Guide To The Universe

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #950 September 21st 2023 Segment #1. News Items News Item #1 – CAR-T Therapy https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/immune-cells-to-fight-cancer/ News Item #2 – Martian Life https://www.space.com/nasa-may-have-unknowingly-found-and-killed-alien-life-on-mars-50-years-ago-scientist-claims News Item #3 – Oldest Wooden Structures https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/archaeology/wooden-structure-that-predates-modern-humans-found/ News Item #4 – Mexican Alien Bodies https://www.vox.com/culture/23875671/aliens-mexican-congress-real-or-hoax-peru-nazca-mummies-jaime-maussan-fraud-scam News Item #5 – The Tong Test for Artificial General Intelligence https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S209580992300293X?via%3Dihub Segment #2. Who’s That Noisy Segment #3. 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: Climate Change #1) According to the most recent statistics, deaths due to extreme weather have almost tripled between 1970 and 2019. #2) 2022 saw both global coal consumption and CO2 emissions hit an all-time high. #3) The Earth is losing 1.2 trillion tons of ice each year, and this pace is accelerating. Segment #4. Skeptical Quote of the Week “What is at stake here is whether our country will follow science or superstitions and quackery.” Alejandro Frank, professor of mathematical physics at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)