Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 6h

DC locals, come to the "I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost" SkepTour 2025 on Wednesday, October 22 at 7 p.m!

The National Capital Area Skeptics will go on a 2-hour stroll to a dozen or so spooky and sciencey spots in the heart of Washington, DC.

Use the code DCSKEPTOUR2025 to get tickets for $5.00!

“I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost” SkepTour 2025

NCAS invites you to a walk around downtown DC, highlighting locations relating to science, pseudoscience, folklore, and just plain weirdness

www.eventbrite.com

1 3

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 1d

It's World Octopus Day!

AI generated image of an octopus floating in space with its head shaped like the Earth.

2 2 14

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 1d

I think spacing out vaccines is a way to plant a tiny anti-vax seed in parents. They don't get that one shot and nothing bad happens. No big deal, right? So what if they miss a couple others?

The "space" is more time when the child can catch the disease and potentially die.

1 1

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 1d

"One estimate, by vaccine expert Paul Offit of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, suggests 11 vaccines given to an infant at one time would temporarily "use up" only 0.1% of the child's immune system."

Four vaccine myths and where they came from

This is how the most widespread misconceptions got started

www.science.org

2

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 1d

The idea seems reasonable, but I'm not aware of any evidence supporting it. Our immune systems deal with hundreds of threats every day.

2 1

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 1d

Yes. They already are. It will only get worse.

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 2d

The MMR vaccine is safe and effective. This is just an anti-vax ploy. Children will die.

Acting CDC director calls to 'break up' the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into three shots

Individual vaccines for each virus aren't available in the U.S., and no published scientific evidence shows a benefit to separating the combined vaccine.

www.nbcnews.com

8 22 74

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 5d

Live now!

Mythbusting AI (Jim Harris)

YouTube video by National Capital Area Skeptics (NCAS)

www.youtube.com

1 3

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 5d

"A baby in Mississippi has died of whooping cough, the Mississippi State Department of Health announced on Monday, marking the state’s first whooping cough death in 13 years. The infant was less than two months old and was not old enough to receive the pertussis vaccine, the agency said."

Dr.hello @drhello.bsky.social · 5d

Mississippi Baby Dies of Whooping Cough Amid Rising Cases share.google/B3m2xJkXkXbN...

Mississippi Baby Dies of Whooping Cough Amid Rising Cases

A baby in Mississippi has died of whooping cough for the first time since 2012. The baby was less than two months old—too young for vaccination.

share.google

3 3

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 6d

There's also a Skepticamp tomorrow on the West Coast!

SkeptiCamp 2025 – Santa Cruz County Skeptics

www.sccskeptics.org

1

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 6d

National Capital Area Skeptics is holding an in-person and livestream event tomorrow at 1:30 pm Eastern! #AI

Saturday, Oct 4, 2025

[updated title] A Skeptic's Guide to Mythbusting AI James E. Harris, Jr., CISSP Virtually every product and service advertised today claim...

www.ncas.org

2 6

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 6d

Our "leaders" are certainly working on it.

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 6d

COVID and flu immunized!

I had to "consent" to the shot because the political leaders of the CDC are anti-science.

8

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 6d

"If outbreaks continue around the country until the end of January, the United States will lose its status of having had eliminated measles 25 years ago."

Where is measles spreading? Here's what to know.

The country is four months away from possibly losing its measles elimination status.

www.nbcnews.com

1 3 3

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 9d

Great video! The connection between eugenics in the book and Epstein's eugenics is an interesting coincidence.

Epstein reportedly hoped to develop super-race of humans with his DNA

Registered sex offender hoped to seed human race with his DNA by impregnating 20 women at a time, New York Times reports

www.theguardian.com

1

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 9d

With a four-hour video, I could go on, but you get the idea. Watch it!

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 9d

"I appreciate the poeticism of ending the book with Jordan Peterson, especially after starting with Richard Dawkins, a formerly respected science communicator and critic of religion. Jordan Peterson is a religious man who believes a bunch of unscientific ideas."

1 1

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 9d

"The pioneer fund was to 'The Bell Curve' as the Human Diversity Foundation is to 'The War on Science' or at least the parts of it concerned with dodgy race science anyway. And as it turns out, this is more than a coincidence...."

1

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 9d

"These days, Winegard works for an online scientific racism magazine and podcast called Aporeia. He is the executive editor. He works there alongside editor Noah Carl, someone who we also see turn up in the war on science. Jerry Coyne quotes him and links to two of his articles."

1

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 9d

"I started to see the same few names crop up again and again. The first of these was the name Bo Winegard. Alan Sokal quotes Winegard who he describes as a psychologist... Jerry Coyne and Luana Maroja mention Winegard... Anna Krylov and Jay Tanzman point to an article Bo Winegard published..."

1

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 9d

"Dawkins has already put his finger on the scale by saying 'in mammals.' He can't say in animals because then the species of fish where the males get pregnant would make this statement untrue. Even so, there are several mammal species in which we do see paternal lactation. The Dayak Fruit Bat..."

1

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 9d

Some contributors insist that sex is binary:

"Trying to so strictly define groups and cross out anything that falls outside of those groups as a mistake, that feels like a creationist denial of evolution to me. Regardless, we have introduced their standard for biological sex, the gamete binary."

1

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 9d

Continuing the list:

"An almost insurmountable evil. How Obama's deep state defiled the Catholic Church and executed the Wuhan plandemic.

Beyond the Stethoscope: Miracles in Medicine

The 1896 prophecies, 10 predictions of America's last days."

And of course, "The War on Science"

1

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 9d

"before we get started, I need to include a note here about the publisher of the book, which is Post Hill Press, because there are a few strange things about Post Hill Press. Let me read you some of their other recent releases:

Star-Spangled Blessings: Devotions for patriots."

1

Behrens Science Museum @bsmuseum.org · 9d

"I wouldn't be surprised if you found that list of topics confusing... When you heard 'the war on science, scientists speak out about current threats to free speech and the scientific process,' you probably imagine something rather different than cancel culture and diversity programs, right?"

1