Skeptic Society Magazine

Cable News Looks for Ratings Rebound

Whatever partisan leanings the cable news networks may or may not have, they’re likely united on one thing about Tuesday’s midterm election: They hope it’s more like 2018 than 2022. And with Donald Trump pretend-on-the-ballot, they just might get their wish. The 2018 midterms were dramatic, with Democrats gaining a House of Representatives majority and ending a Republican trifecta in Congress and the White...

Plants Experience Optical Illusions, Too

Optical illusions can be a little frustrating. You know that the two lines are the same length, or the image isn’t moving, etc., but you can’t force your brain to process the information that way, no matter how hard you try. Per a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, even organisms with no brains, like plants, can get fooled...

Are 2 Mike Rogers staffers registered agents for Israel?

Claim: Two staffers for Mike Rogers, Michigan’s Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, are registered as agents for the Israeli government. Rating: Context The claim stems from a report by Drop Site News, an independent investigative journalism organization. Snopes verified the existence of two filings that comply with the Foreign Agent Registration Act of 1938. Those filings confirm that Abigail Ronson and Jesse Stokes, both...

Why the AO3 Outage is a Big Deal

Fanfiction writers and readers are mourning. Archive of Our Own, or AO3, had to shut down without warning due to a hacking event. The site that boasts 11 million registered users and 18 million works of fanfic might be down for weeks. Fanfiction readers are legion, and these works have become a major force in reading culture. As English professor Anne Jamison, author of...

Yes, You Did See Oxfords at the NYC Marathon

If you missed the memo, marathon footwear just got a lot more interesting. On Sunday in NYC, Italian footwear brand Santoni sent out three racers in suits, ties, and its new ultra-light Oxfords. The Easy Run shoes weigh just 295g, the average weight of a running shoe, and evidently they live up to their name. Aside from their featherweight, they are a classic lace-up...