Skeptics Guide #977

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #977 March 27th 2024 Segment #1. Special Report Music AI - https://app.suno.ai/create/ Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 – Sweetened Drinks and Atrial Fibrillation https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/sweetened-drinks-and-risk-of-a-fib/ News Item #2 – One Degree https://phys.org/news/2024-03-difference-degree.html#google_vignette News Item #3 – Birth Control Misinformation https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/03/21/stopping-birth-control-misinformation/ News Item #4 – Iridology https://www.yahoo.com/news/iridology-using-alternative-medicine-unlock-133524717.html?guccounter=1 Segment #3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. From Tik Tok and E-mail Question #1: Mel’s Mystery Hole https://www.tiktok.com/@atlantis.official2/video/7342712009198259498 Question #2: Positive Thinking My husband was recently diagnosed with stage 3 cancer, and he’s now in wk 2 of 6 of chemo- and radiation therapy. Nearly everyone we talk to tells us “It’s so important to keep a positive attitude.” But the skeptic in me wonders “What’s the mode of efficacy?” Exactly how is that positive attitude helping, and has it been scientifically tested? To me it seems akin to the so-called power of prayer. You can’t pray cancer away, so why should I believe that a positive attitude will make a difference? In recent yrs I knew a woman who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. No one had a more positive outlook than this woman, and she took on the challenge with a strong “I can do this!” attitude. She died six months later. So, my question, again, is: What’s the mode of efficacy? Exactly how is that positive attitude helping, and has it been scientifically tested? —kai. 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: Energy Item 1: Researchers have developed an implantable battery that is powered by oxygen in the body and capable of producing continuous electricity at 1.3 V. Item 2: Toyota reports its latest hydrogen fuel cell car will average 845 miles on a single tank of hydrogen. Item 3: Engineers have created flexible perovskite solar cells with a power conversion efficiency of 25%, and maintaining 90% of this efficiency after 10,000 bending cycles. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week “The shameful thing is not ignorance -- on the contrary, that is the natural thing. The really shameful thing is not to want to know, to resist finding out when the occasion offers. It is never the ignorant who offer that resistance, but the ones who think they know. That is the shameful thing -- to think you know. He who thinks he knows something, but is in fact ignorant of it, closes the door of his mind through which authentic truth could enter.” - Jose Ortega y Gasset