Mick West examines the history and criticism of the “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” maxim, showing how its vagueness invites accusations of unfairness from UFOlogists and parapsychologists. He argues that skeptics should move beyond catchphrases and instead apply Hume’s principle of proportioning belief to evidence, stressing that claims violating established science demand especially strong proof.

Read this article and find accompanying references at:

https://skepticalinquirer.org/2025/08/is-extraordinary-evidence-unreasonable/

About the Author:

Mick West is a writer, investigator, and debunker who enjoys looking into the evidence behind conspiracy theories and strange phenomena and then explaining what is actually going on. He runs the Metabunk forum, tweets @mickwest, and is the author of the book “Escaping the Rabbit Hole”.

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Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition is a production of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Center for Inquiry.

Dan Wilson explains how proposed 44% cuts to NIH funding could devastate lifesaving research and stall future medical breakthroughs. He highlights past NIH-supported discoveries like CRISPR and Gleevec that have already transformed deadly diseases into treatable conditions.

Read this article and find accompanying references at:

https://skepticalinquirer.org/2025/08/nih-funding-cuts-hurt-basic-research-and-patients/

About the Author:

Dan Wilson earned his PhD in biological sciences from Carnegie Mellon University. He currently works as a scientist in industry and spends some of his free time debunking vaccine and medical misinformation on YouTube with his channel, Debunk the Funk with Dr. Wilson.

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Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition is a production of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Center for Inquiry.

Bill Nye gave the following speech on March 7, 2025, as part of the Stand Up for Science rally held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Read this article and find accompanying references at:

https://skepticalinquirer.org/2025/08/we-must-stand-up-for-science/

About the Author:

Bill Nye (The Science Guy) is chief executive officer of The Planetary Society. He learned his love of astronomy from Carl Sagan while earning a mechanical engineering degree at Cornell University. He was the writer, producer, and on-air talent for the Emmy Award-winning Bill Nye the Science Guy TV series from 1992–1998. More recently his program 100 Greatest Discoveries aired on the Science Channel. He is a Committee for Skeptical Inquiry fellow and was the keynote speaker at the recent Center for Inquiry/CSI/CSH Summit Conference in Tacoma, Washington.

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Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition is a production of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Center for Inquiry.