The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe
Dr. Steven Novella
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is a weekly science podcast discussing the latest science news, critical thinking, bad science, conspiracies and controversies. -The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: Your escape to reality - Produced by SGU Productions, LLC: https://www.theskepticsguide.org
Recent Episodes
20 episodesThe Skeptics Guide #1077 - Feb 28 2026
Swindler's List: Tax Fraud; News Items: Universal Nasal Respiratory Vaccine, Origins of COVID, Reusing Spent Nuclear Fuel, Birding Brain Boost; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Starting A Skeptical Group; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1076 - Feb 21 2026
News Items: Banana Resistance to Fungal Disease, Drug Advertising, AI Powered Prosthetics, Laser Written Glass Storage, UFO Balloons; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Mental Illness and Culpability; Name That Logical Fallacy; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1075 - Feb 14 2026
Quickie with Evan: Erich von Däniken dies at 90; News Items: Review of ADHD Treatment, Religious Nones, EPA Ends Endangerment Ruling, The Physics of the Quintuple Jump, Crotchgate; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: More on the yellow sun, The Turkey Illusion; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1074 - Feb 7 2026
Quickie with Bob: The Death of 8k TV; News Items: Faith-Based Addiction Programs, Noise and Sleep, A Fully Renewable Grid, Moltbook for AI Agents Only; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Corrections; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1073 - Jan 31 2026
News Items: Artemis Getting Ready for Launch, New Extinct Branch of Life, Why We Need Wikipedia, Ideological Bias in Research, Expanding the Habitable Zone; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Kesterite Solar Panels; From TikTok: Coincidence?; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1072 - Jan 24 2026
What's the Word: Culture; News Items: Increasing Life Expectancy, AI 2027, Deep Reading, Spray on Wound Treatment, Monkeys and AI; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Global Warming Falsifiable; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1071 - Jan 17 2026
News Items: Donut Lab's Solid State Battery, Artemis Update, EPA Change, Life on Planets Around Red Dwarfs, Malaysia Air Search Resumes; Special Report: RFK on Vaccines and the Food Pyramid; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Birding and Memory; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1070 - Jan 10 2026
Live From Not-A-Con 2025, with guests George Hrab, Andrea Jones-Rooy, Brian Wecht, and Adam Russell; What Are You Most Proud Of; What Is Your Quirky Pet Peeve; If You Could Change One Thing; Here Me Out; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1069 - Jan 3 2026
Psychic Predictions for 2025 and Rogue Predictions; News Items: Psychology Intervention for ADHD, Biological vs Artificial Consciousness, Fentanyl Vaccine, Possibility of Orbital Disaster; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1068 - Dec 27 2025
2025 Year End Review, with special guest Ian 🍉; Best of SGU; Best Science of 2025; Skeptical Hero and Jackass of the Year; In Memoriam; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1067 - Dec 20 2025
News Items: Animals Adapting to Humans, Pig Organ Transplants, Japan Plans to Beam Energy from Space, Ant Yogurt, First Evidence of Fire Making; Your Questions and E-mails: Mercury in Fish, Compounding Pharmacies; From TikTok: Inventor of the Diesel Engine; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1066 - Dec 13 2025
News Items: Young Cancer, Adapting to Modern Life, Safety of mRNA Vaccines, Cosmic Rays Ground Aircraft, Reverse Aging Claim; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: EU Gene Editing; Who Said That; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1065 - Dec 6 2025
News Items: Cognitive Legos, China's Planting Lots of Trees, Misinformation and Birth Control, Dark Matter Detection, Asteroid Bennu Ingredients for Life; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Climate Denial, Calcium Cardiac Scans; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1064 - Nov 29 2025
Quickie with Bob: Helion Fusion Update; News Items: CRISPR Wheat Sources Nitrogen, LLMs and Collective Intelligence, Origins of Theia, Holiday Scams, Hypervelocity White Dwarves; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Cellulose Correction; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1063 - Nov 22 2025
Dumbest Thing of the Week: Noah's Ark; News Items: Using AI to Design Viruses, Creatine for Cognitive Function, Earth Digital Twin, Quiet Supersonic Jet, Tet For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Wolf Tool Use; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1062 - Nov 15 2025
Live from Kansas; Special Segment: Nightmares; News Items: The NeuroWorm, Ant Gives Birth to Different Species, Primordial Black Holes, Cultish, Tooth Eye, Snake Oil, Flowing Water on Asteroid; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1061 - Nov 8 2025
Quickie with Bob: Nanotech Cancer Drug; News Items: NEO Robot, UN Climate Report, Human Toolmaking, Worst Panspermia Headline Ever, AI-Powered Wound Healer; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Horse Evolution, Stranded Taikonauts; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1060 - Nov 1 2025
News Items: Therapeutic Nanoparticles, What Killed Napoleon's Forces, Making Better Photosynthesis, Second Generation Black Holes, More on 3I-Atlas; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Human Instinct; Name That Logical Fallacy; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1059 - Oct 25 2025
What's the Word: Peristalsis; News Items: Dimming the Sun, LLMs Will Lie to be Helpful, Should We Stop Quest for Superintelligence, CT Ghost; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: COVID Vaccines; Science or Fiction
The Skeptics Guide #1058 - Oct 18 2025
News Items: Why People Believe Misinformation, Measles on the Rise, Is Therapy Speech, Solar Activity Increasing, Possible Wormhole; Who's That Noisy; Name That Logical Fallacy; From TikTok: Earth in a Vacuum; Science or Fiction