Step into the weird and wild history of medicine, where treatments often sounded more like horror stories. Imagine being dunked into freezing water unexpectedly or having powdered mummy mixed into your chocolate as a cure-all! This video from the Weird History Channel explores the horrifying medical practices of the past—from injecting milk into veins to soaking in decomposing whale carcasses.
Discover how desperation, creativity, and mysticism led to these bizarre remedies, and marvel at how far we’ve come.
News stories about the likely existence of extraterrestrial life, and our chances of detecting it, tend to be positive. We are often told that we might discover it any time now. Finding life beyond Earth is “only a matter of time”, we were told in September 2023. “We are close” was a headline from September 2024.
It’s easy to see why. Headlines such as “We’re probably not close” or “Nobody knows” aren’t very clickable. But what does the relevant community of experts actually think when considered as a whole? Are optimistic predictions common or rare? Is there even a consensus? In our new paper, published in Nature Astronomy, we’ve found out.
During February to June 2024, we carried out four surveys regarding the likely existence of basic, complex and intelligent extraterrestrial life. We sent emails to astrobiologists (scientists who study extraterrestrial life), as well as to scientists in other areas, including biologists and physicists.
In total, 521 astrobiologists responded, and we received 534 non-astrobiologist responses. The results reveal that 86.6% of the surveyed astrobiologists responded either “agree” or “strongly agree” that it’s likely that extraterrestrial life (of at least a basic kind) exists somewhere in the universe.
Less than 2% disagreed, with 12% staying neutral. So, based on this, we might say that there’s a solid consensus that extraterrestrial life, of some form, exists somewhere out there.
Scientists who weren’t astrobiologists essentially concurred, with an overall agreement score of 88.4%. In other words, one cannot say that astrobiologists are biased toward believing in extraterrestrial life, compared with other scientists.
When we turn to “complex” extraterrestrial life or “intelligent” aliens, our results were 67.4% agreement, and 58.2% agreement, respectively for astrobiologists and other scientists. So, scientists tend to think that alien life exists, even in more advanced forms.
These results are made even more significant by the fact that disagreement for all categories was low. For example, only 10.2% of astrobiologists disagreed with the claim that intelligent aliens likely exist.
Optimists and pessimists
Are scientists merely speculating? Usually, we should only take notice of a scientific consensus when it is based on evidence (and lots of it). As there is no proper evidence, scientists may be guessing. However, scientists did have the option of voting “neutral”, an option that was chosen by some scientists who felt that they would be speculating.
Only 12% chose this option. There is actually a lot of “indirect” or “theoretical” evidence that alien life exists. For example, we do now know that habitable environments are very common in the universe.
We have several in our own solar system, including the sub-surface oceans of the moons Europa and Enceladus, and arguably also the environment a few kilometres below the surface of Mars. It also seems relevant that Mars used to be highly habitable, with lakes and rivers of liquid water on its surface and a substantial atmosphere.
It is reasonable to generalise from here to a truly gargantuan number of habitable environments across the galaxy, and wider universe. We also know (since we’re here) that life can get started from non-life – it happened on Earth, after all. Although the origin of the first, simple forms of life is poorly understood, there is no compelling reason to think that it requires astronomically rare conditions. And even if it does, the probability of life getting started (abiogenesis) is clearly non-zero.
This can help us to see the 86.6% agreement in a new light. Perhaps it is not, actually, a surprisingly strong consensus. Perhaps it is a surprisingly weak consensus. Consider the numbers: there are more than 100 billion galaxies. And we know that habitable environments are everywhere.
Let’s say there are 100 billion billion habitable worlds (planets or moons) in the universe. Suppose we are such pessimists that we think life’s chances of getting started on any given habitable world is one in a billion billion. In that case, we would still answer “agree” to the statement that it is likely that alien life exists in the universe.
Thus, optimists and pessimists should all have answered “agree” or “strongly agree” to our survey, with only the most radical pessimists about the origin of life disagreeing.
Bearing this in mind, we could present our data another way. Suppose we discount the 60 neutral votes we received. Perhaps these scientists felt that they would be speculating, and didn’t want to take a stance. In which case, it makes sense to ignore their votes. This leaves 461 votes in total, of which 451 were for agree or strongly agree. Now, we have an overall agreement percentage of 97.8%.
This move is not as illegitimate as it looks. Scientists know that if they choose “neutral” they can’t possibly be wrong. Thus, this is the “safe” choice. In research, it is often called “satisficing”.
As the geophysicist Edward Bullard wrote back in 1975 while debating whether all continents were once joined together, instead of making a choice “it is more prudent to keep quiet, … sit on the fence, and wait in statesmanlike ambiguity for more data”. Not only is keeping quiet a safe choice for scientists, it means the scientist doesn’t need to think too hard – it is the easy choice.
Getting the balance right
What we probably want is balance. On one side, we have the lack of direct empirical evidence and the reluctance of responsible scientists to speculate. On the other side, we have evidence of other kinds, including the truly gargantuan number of habitable environments in the universe.
We know that the probability of life getting started is non-zero. Perhaps 86.6% agreement, with 12% neutral and less than 2% disagreement, is a sensible compromise, all things considered.
Perhaps – given the problem of satisficing – whenever we present such results, we should present two results for overall agreement: one with neutral votes included (86.6%), and one with neutral votes disregarded (97.8%). Neither result is the single, correct result.
Each perspective speaks to different analytical needs and helps prevent oversimplification of the data. Ultimately, reporting both numbers – and being transparent about their contexts – is the most honest way to represent the true complexity of responses.
For today’s edition of “Deal of the Day,” here are some of the best deals we stumbled on while browsing the web this morning! Please note that Geeks are Sexy might get a small commission from qualifying purchases done through our posts. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ever wondered what happens when a Hollywood action scene goes totally off the rails? Movie Effects Gone Wrong serves up an hilarious ride where a former child star is tasked with saving San Diego from a tidal wave of jellyfish—but first, he has to figure out which wire to cut! Between missed cues, chaotic VFX mishaps, and a seriously confused hero, this short film is a funny peek behind the curtain of what could go wrong on set.
From FORTRAN to Python and beyond, watch the rise () and fall () of the most popular programming languages from 1958 to 2025! This incredible timeline by Data is Beautiful combines decades of surveys, book publications, tech mentions, and modern data like GitHub trends to show how coding has evolved over the years. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just tech-curious, this video offers a great look at the languages that shaped the world of software.
TikTok is back, America! Less than 24 hours after being banned, the app has returned, proving you can’t keep Gen Z’s favorite time-waster down for long. On January 18th, TikTok went dark thanks to a Supreme Court decision over national security concerns about its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. Cue chaos: influencers panicked, businesses scrambled, and millions of users were left staring at their phones wondering if they’d have to download LinkedIn RedNote for entertainment.
Following some intense negotiations with President-elect Donald Trump, the app is now coming back online, giving its 170 million American users reason to celebrate and resume their endless scrolling. For an app that started with silly lip-syncing videos, TikTok has evolved into a global powerhouse. From launching careers like Addison Rae’s (who’s now starring in movies like Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving) to letting small businesses thrive, TikTok has become America’s go-to for procrastination and innovation.
In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.
It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.
The ban also affected ByteDance’s Marvel Snap, a popular digital card game, which shut down unexpectedly. It’s likely the game will follow TikTok’s lead and return soon.
So, what’s next? ByteDance might have to sell its U.S. operations, but negotiations are ongoing. In the meantime, TikTok is back in action, and America can return to its regularly scheduled scrolling. Let’s just hope this saga doesn’t turn into a Black Mirror episode.