“She has a message for other tourists considering a trip to America: “‘Don’t go – not with Trump in charge. It’s totally out of control over there. There’s no accountability. They don’t seem to need a reason for detaining you.’”

I’m not a fan of Spanish beach volleyball. But, you know, don’t hate la playa, hate the game.

Dimethyl sulfide from space – a sign of extraterrestrial life, or something else? | Georgy Kurakin In April, astronomers detected the presence of dimethyl sulfide on an planet K2-18b, amid speculation that it might be signs of extraterrestrial life.

Objectively, now, the funniest thing he could do would be to hang himself in jail.

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Skeptics with a K: Episode #452 Mike looks at why there are =so many spurious equals signs littering = the Epstein Files. Note: This episode contains references to the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, including passing references to child sex abuse. www.merseysideskeptics.org.uk/podcasts/ske...

The dangers of flawed clinical trials | Edzard Ernst Medical researchers who cannot or will not design a clinical trial with rigour enough to avoid faulty conclusions have no place in professional science.

From the archives: Physics in the New Age – the misappropriation of quantum | Tim Axon From the archives in 1992, Tim Axon concludes his series, asking whether mystical interpretations of modern physics make sense.

Palantir co-founder says it exists to kill communists.

My latest for The Skeptic, on what the Epstein files show, what they don't show, and what they mean for the figures in the skeptical movement who appear within the latest documents.

To give you an idea of how deranged the UK has become about gender stuff, here's Enid Blyton - the absolute avatar of classic English conservatism and a huge fan of racist "gollywogs" - casually describing a gender non-conforming kid in the 1940s and having their friends be totally cool with it.

Does anyone have to listen to Joe Rogan? I thought @mrmmarsh.bsky.social and Cecil Cicirello had launched @knowrogan.bsky.social so the rest of us don‘t have to.

The Skeptic Podcast – Episode 051 Featuring articles from Dave Hahn (December 2021), Michael Marshall (July 2024), Sarah Hearne (October 2021), and Tom Ruffles (January 1990).

The “Greatest Ghost Sighting ever”: the Grey Lady of the Theatre Royal, Bath | Andy Owens Considered by some the greatest ghost sighting ever recorded, the Grey Lady of the Theatre Royal, Bath is alleged to have been witnessed by 850 people at once.

Please listen to this. @mrmmarsh.bsky.social is a master of distilling his deep dives. Not only for skeptics.

This week, I look at the Epstein files - what's in them, what's not in them, which viral stories are true, and what they say about Epstein's associations with prominent men... including those around the skeptical movement.

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Quite a few of us were warning people about Vinay Prasad before it was cool. He might have looked like a respectable physician driven by an EBM mindset, but he was a COVID anti-vaxxer fuelled by a contrarian streak. The "respectable" ones may be the most dangerous in terms of public health.

The digital doppelgänger: how algorithms decide who we become | Dion Stephan Baldsing Invisible social media curation by algorithms can reach beyond tailoring content and even start to shape users' beliefs and identity.

I dedicate this to every single human who has posted something about Joe Rogan suggesting that he is coming around……No he is not. Anyone who takes Joe Rogan seriously is an idiot……

And it was cheered on by some of the very people it would harm, because of the groundwork laid by Marc Andreessen on the Joe Rogan Experience, as we covered here: www.knowrogan.com/marc-andrees... I described it at the time as a fox trying to convince you your fences are oppressing your chickens.

From the archives: Physics in the New Age – chaos, order, and the paranormal | Tim Axon From the archives in 1992, Tim Axon discusses the trend of New Age believers misappropriating aspects of modern physics

This is the episode I trailed on Tuesday. In it, you'll hear Joe frame the killing of Alex Pretti in terms of the 'rampant' fraud in Minnesota, speculate as to the gun misfiring, and do his upmost to make it clear that everyone was to blame for the killing, other than the men who pulled the trigger.

6/ “When I arrived every night I cried and now I don’t sleep well, I felt that being here was my fault and I only wanted to be on vacation like a normal family.” 9-year-old Maria Antonia Guerra Montoya, detained on her way to Disney World, spent 113+ days at Dilley.

These are reports from concentration camps. There is no two ways about it.

4/ “Mi Familia,” by 5-year-old Luisanney Toloza from Venezuela, who had recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border

3/ “I have never been separated from my siblings and its honestly sad because they are little and they need their mom and sister.” From 14-year-old Ariana V.V, whose U.S.-citizen siblings are 2 and 5 years old. Detained for 45+ days

2/ “I miss my school and my friends I feel bad since when I came here to this Place, because I have been here too long.” From 9-year-old Susej F, detained for 50+ days

This ep makes a few things clear, and is really worth your time: - Joe Rogan will do anything other than blame ICE for the killing of civillians - The media stories about Joe criticising ICE were wrong -He's gone out of his way to interview a right wing troll to prove that - Joe is v Christian now

Not to go all Anti-Free Speech, but the guy who started this argument publicly was back on Question Time last week, and a prominent supporter of it has a decent chance of winning a by election. Those two facts are connected.

Weird things that have happened to me this week: 1) appearing the Epstein files as Krauss brainstormed with Epstein how to discredit me 2) logging into the Cursed Site to find a noted transphobe casually transvestigating me, in a “I have imagined some things about him and they were disgusting” way.

In case you missed it, the idea--widely repeated in the medical literature--that Henry Beecher was the first to substitute saline for morphine while treating soldiers in WWII keeps hitting a wall. We now know a Jesuit nightwatchman witnessed this... in WWI. www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

NEW: I spent hours combing through the references to #MeToo in the latest tranche of Epstein files. I found Epstein closely tracked the fallout of #MeToo, joked about being in a "pariahs club," and advised men accused of misconduct behind the scenes 19thnews.org/2026/02/jeff...

This is an excellent documentary on the dangers of Ayurveda and AYUSH. It’s in Hindi but with English subtitles too. Really important topic, really hope it gets a lot of attention, especially in India. youtu.be/YYajiruQoMI?...

The Skeptic Podcast – Episode 050 Featuring articles from Deborah Hyde (October 2021), Sarah Hearne (March 2021), Aaron Rabinowitz (October 2021), and Tom Ruffles (March 1990).

Generative AI is only a threat to writers if they’re not paid for the use of their work | Sofie Rainier The legality of generative AI's reliance on published works isn't settled yet, but writers' work is valuable and they should be compensated.

You can also support Merseyside Skeptics at www.patreon.com/merseyskeptics

You can support the show and the hosts by signing up for the Skeptics with a K Patreon at patreon.com/skepticswithak.

Skeptics with a K: Episode #450 Alice gets angry about 'one simple thing they don't want you to know about maxing', which pushes simple answers to problems which may or may not exist. Meanwhile, Marsh tries hard to dismantle a bed. www.merseysideskeptics.org.uk/podcasts/ske...

In 2023, no-one died In 2024, no-one died In 2025, no-one died In 2026, *someone* died In 2027… I mean I could go on

I really want to write to the publisher of Chiropractic Weekly magazine, to ask them if they have any back issues

Intellectual humility doesn’t require us to be open to absolutely anything being true | Aaron Rabinowitz It is right to have epistemic humility, and awareness of the limits of our knowledge - but that doesn't mean we need to be open to absolutely every possibility.

yeah i hate those celebrity comedians who lecture people about their pet causes

Patrons can access extensive bonus segments for every show, for as little as $1 per episode - which also gets you an early, ad-free version of every show. This week, it's 35 mins, including their unexpected etymology of the name 'Christ'. www.patreon.com/posts/aaron-...

The Know Rogan Experience Podcast #0053 - Aaron Rodgers Michael Marshall and Cecil Cicirello break down Joe's August 2022 interview with Aaron Rodgers. AUDIO - www.knowrogan.com/0053-aaron-r...

It’s so funny that this guy’s entire thing is “Oh are you triggered by what I have to say about marginalized people” but he loses it when someone more well-liked than he will ever be talks about an actual injustice

What I would like to know is, of the people who doubted my account of witnessing Krauss at that Melbourne conference: how do you feel knowing now that the rebuffs and defences you were mindlessly repeating were, it transpires, written in collaboration with the world's most famous sex criminal?

Taylor Swift isn’t “MAGA-coded”, she is a lightning rod for conspiracist grievances | Dave Hahn Conspiracy theorising around Taylor Swift being "MAGA-coded" is designed appeal to those who have already decided they dislike the pop megastar.