Episode #1008

News Items

      Question #1: Beetles

      • Hi guys, In a recent show, you highlighted that beetles are by far the most diverse insect group (and animal group on this taxonomic level). Well, I have a correction, that is not really a correction for you, but might be of interest. Since SGU is about science progress, I thought about writing anyway. Beetles indeed currently are the most diverse, but will not stay so much longer. Biologists are lately realizing, in large part thanks to molecular methods (yay science!), that there is a big bias in what we know. You can guess it perhaps – if it’s small, it’s less known. There are

      Science or Fiction

      Skeptical Quote of the Week.

      ‘Auditors and journalists and scientists are all supposed to be trained in critical thinking. But they are subject to the same sorts of biases that we all have. And the fact that we get some training about this doesn’t necessarily immunize us against all of the ways in which we can make mistakes.’ Daniel Simons, experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, and Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois.