Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

3

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 17h

My confidence in this flight is shaken, and stirred...

1 1 3

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 1d

Tell him to let go of the fear and spread his wings.

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 1d

I would say yes. I’ve never had an issue with my 5-year-old Model 3‘s range, which is the only thing that non-EV owners seem to care about. But occasionally, it does not behave wonderfully in social situations with other drivers.

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 2d

What’s stopping him?

That's what I heard online, so I did the math. I was surprised.

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 2d

A friend of mine runs a landscaping business and their gimmick is all electric equipment. Their business is smoking.

1 1

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 3d

Even better when they put both Dr and PhD.

2

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 4d

Burning Man is too deadly and must be banned. Right?

Pop Quiz: 19 Years of Skeptoid - Skeptoid

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 4d

How is this going to be brought to an end?

Jeff Yang @originalsp.in · 5d

ICE arrested comedian Robby Roadsteamer for singing a parody of Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” in a Jeffrey Epstein the Giraffe costume outside their facility.

He sings “If you hate brown people / and you are a Nazi” and ICE thugs grab him and drag him into detention. No violence—just speech.

1 2

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 5d

In 2025, can you tell fact from misinformation?
Well then, put yourself to the test, right here: skep.us/1010

A pop quiz of trivia from the previous 19 years of Skeptoid shows! Can you beat the masters?

skep.us

No, scientists aren't "raising alarms" about SpaceX satellites falling out of the sky

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 7d

Hey look, a shocking headline that’s also BS. Are the satellites really falling at a record pace? Are scientists really raising the alarm? I explain it all in today’s Substack (free):

That's what they're supposed to do.

$2000 Reward: Help Bring Cinnamon Home

2 5

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 9d

If you live in Oregon, or if you love horses, or if you know anyone who does either, please share this page to help my daughter bring home her lost horse Cinnamon before the snow: findcinnamon.com

We are offering a $2000 reward for help finding our lost horse Cinnamon, missing in the Mt Washington Wilderness of Central Oregon.

findcinnamon.com

1 1 5

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 9d

Wow. I had no idea just how bad Columbus really was. My friend Kurly breaks it down incisively: kurlytlapoyawa.medium.com/trump-and-th...

Trump and The Cult of Christopher Columbus

It was October 9th in Washington, DC, and the orange-tinted manchild sat hunched in the Oval Office, surrounded by the usual clown show of…

kurlytlapoyawa.medium.com

Amelia Earhart and the Taraia Object: Yet Another Scam

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 10d

Does she have a sister?

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 11d

Just when you thought the Amelia Earhart conspiracy theories couldn’t get any stupider, they got the stupidest yet:

With all the actually important things that are going on, the Amelia Earhart revisionists are at it AGAIN.

Facts and Fiction of Polynesian Navigation, Part 2 - Skeptoid

4

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 12d

This week we completed our Polynesian Navigation series on Skeptoid with part 2: the "incredible, amazing, intricate, elegant, and wonderful skills" employed to navigate the world's largest ocean with no instruments and no system of writing: skep.us/1009

The actual wayfinding methods used by the ancient Polynesians to navigate between islands and settle the entire Pacific Ocean.

skep.us

1 4

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 14d

I don’t get that vibe.

A 140-year-old mystery from Death Valley

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 14d

Here, in this desolate place, I found the most terrifying creature in my life:

Did one of the Chinese borax laborers become history's most infamous monster?

Skeptoid event on October 21, 2025

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 15d

𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘!!
We've had to include a critical update to the upcoming Skeptoid Adventure to Death Valley. Please see the WARNING on the event page: skeptoid.com/events/30309

Death Valley 2025

skeptoid.com

1 1 3

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 15d

What are you reading?
Me - Ghost Wars (Steve Coll, 2004)

4 3

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 15d

All of those things.

Has the ignition source of Will-o'-the-wisps been solved?

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 17d

This week @science.org published an odd blurb promoting a new paper that claims — very dubiously — to have figured out what ignited the Will-o’-the-wisps of legend. It’s a terrible paper, IMHO. It’s an explanation in search of something to explain. Take a look and let me know what you think?

No. No, it hasn't. Because there's no reason to think they're a thing to begin with, and this paper was shite.

Facts and Fiction of Polynesian Navigation, Part 1 - Skeptoid

3

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 18d

Some have claimed ancient Polynesians weren't capable of navigating the vast Pacific; others have spread falsehoods about how they did it. The real facts of ancient Polynesian wayfinding (Part 1) are on this week's Skeptoid: skeptoid.com/episodes/1008

Nearly as much mythology as science surrounds the techniques used by early Polynesians to navigate the South Pacific.

skeptoid.com

The newly released secrets of the Amelia Earhart case

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 19d

Check out Malaga-Nice, your Skeptoid Adventure of a lifetime: skeptoid.org/adventures

1 3

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 21d

What will Trump’s promised release of the Amelia Earhart files reveal? I tell you here exactly what it will reveal:

Trump has promised to reveal all the secrets. What will they tell us?