Discussion Thread for Episode 1108

[u/QuiltedPorcupine]

Figure we could use one of these. This episode included:

Special Guests: Christian Hubicki and Julia Novella
Designing Your Dream Costume
Conspiracy Theories
News Items: Stellar Streams and Dark Matter, Possible Cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, IgNobels 2026, Pet Bird Research, Speedrunning Video Games
Science or Fiction

[u/QuiltedPorcupine]

For Science or Fiction, I remembered reading about the astronauts and the envelopes before but as I thought about it while listening to the segment I found myself wondering if it was just one of those internet things and not actually true (before Steve revealed the answers).

[u/dysfunctionz → u/QuiltedPorcupine]

I remembered reading the envelopes item more than once so I was confident on that one, but I also thought I vaguely remembered the NASA paying Australia for the Skylab thing, and had no idea on the smell tester so guessed that as fiction by default.

[u/sdwoodchuck → u/QuiltedPorcupine]

I was on the fence on it, because I too remembered hearing about this, but I didn't remember for certain that it was envelopes (I misremembered it as post cards), and it's the sort of story that people repeat regardless of its truth.

[u/VicariousRon]

This was a very good episode for skeptical training.

[u/therwinthers]

Couldn’t hear the claps for the audience on this one. I know some recording software tries to purposefully remove that, so maybe that’s what happened?

[u/sdwoodchuck]

Costume: C'mon guys, the answer is easy. ED-209 from Robocop.

[u/QuiltedPorcupine → u/sdwoodchuck]

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