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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 8h

Does she have a sister?

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 1d

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

Amelia Earhart and the Taraia Object: Yet Another Scam

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

open.substack.com

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 2d

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

Facts and Fiction of Polynesian Navigation, Part 2 - Skeptoid

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

skep.us

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 3d

I don’t get that vibe.

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 4d

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

A 140-year-old mystery from Death Valley

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

open.substack.com

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 4d

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 event on October 21, 2025

skeptoid.com

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 5d

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

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 5d

All of those things.

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 7d

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?

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

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

open.substack.com

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 8d

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

Facts and Fiction of Polynesian Navigation, Part 1 - Skeptoid

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

skeptoid.com

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 9d

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

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 11d

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

The newly released secrets of the Amelia Earhart case

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

open.substack.com

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 15d

Some in Congress believes UFOs have undersea bases here on Earth. Do you think those same Congresspeople are aware of America’s “Underwater Area 51”? It’s real, and here’s all you need to know about it:

Just wait until the Congressional UFO Caucus learns about US Navy's "Undersea Area 51"

Some of our elected leaders are unable to discriminate between reality and science fiction. Let's see how they deal with this.

open.substack.com

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 15d

Is it true that if you tried to fly into Area 51, you'd immediately be shot down? Those few people who have found out are the topic of this week's Skeptoid: skeptoid.com/episodes/1007

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 17d

This is the new 2025 RFK Jr Edition® iron lung. One in every household!

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 18d

Tomorrow is the Rapture! Take an old pair of shoes, put a piece of dry ice inside each. Have fun.

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 18d

If true this would be a high bar indeed — but the 119th Congress HAS to be the dumbest one yet. Examples in my Substack today:

Time for IQ tests for US Congress

The stream of consciousness from our elected officials is getting shockingly dumber and dumber

open.substack.com

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 18d

I worked hard all day, so I earned the right to cook myself a proper lumberjack dinner: steak, garlic mash, butter-sauteed mushrooms, and thick gravy.

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 20d

Yea; and he did commence the weekend with a fresh batch of pimento cheese.

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 20d

Time to knock off... What Star Trek TOS episode shall I watch while designing a LEGO torsen differential? (That's my version of a mating call)

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 22d

What's a genetic fallacy?

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 22d

Here are some of the “interesting” supernatural ways to find our lost horse that we’ve been offered by well-wishers on social media.

Horse Hunting Hooey

A magical journey through supernatural ways to find a lost horse

open.substack.com

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 22d

I CANNOT STAND THIS BEARD ANOTHER MINUTE. It’s itchy, it irritates, and it has failed to produce throngs of women knocking my door down. Any arguments for or against, before I do the deed?

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Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 22d

No.

Brian Dunning @briandunning.bsky.social · 23d

Trend followers can be sold just about anything, especially when you put a wild price tag on it and throw in a bunch of sciencey-sounding language. How about water that is more like water than water is? Skeptoid takes on "structured water" this week: skep.us/1006

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