The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe The Skeptics Guide #1075 - Feb 14 2026
26 snips
Feb 14, 2026 A quick obituary note and viral rumor debunking lead into a roundup of newsy science and policy. A major review of ADHD treatments and drug evidence gets unpacked. The physics and human limits behind quad and potential quintuple jumps are explained. EPA rule rollback and its legal fallout get analyzed. A noisy otter reveal and a science-or-fiction quiz round out the show.
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Short-Term Certainty, Long-Term Unknowns
- The umbrella review shows short-term medication effects for ADHD are strong but long-term (≥1 year) data remain scarce.
- Group-level findings limit subgroup conclusions, so more long-term randomized trials with individual data are needed.
Religious 'Nones' Are Not Uniformly Secular
- The 'nones' (no organized religion) are diverse: many still believe in God or a higher power and often hold conservative views.
- Growth of 'nones' reflects disaffiliation from institutions, not uniform secularization of beliefs.
Why Quads — And Possibly Quints — Are Physics
- Physics explains elite figure skaters' quads and the possibility of a quint: conservation of angular momentum and massive brief push-offs enable extreme spin rates.
- Biomechanical limits likely cap human jumps near the quintuple, making sextuples improbable.
