This week, Skepticality tackles matters of politics on Earth, and discoveries out in the universe.  First up, environmental engineer Kelly Comstock returns to answer listener questions from our bottled water episode and address concerns about potential dangers lurking in municipal water systems (like chlorine and fluoride). Then, Derek and Swoopy check in with their favorite lobbyist, Lori Lipman Brown from the Secular Coalition for America, regarding ongoing investigations into abuses of non-theists serving in our military, how the question of separation of church and state is being highlighted in recent political debates, and what to look for when the legislature reconvenes in the Fall. Lastly, astrophysicist Dr. Pamela Gay shares her insights about recent media attention paid to NASA troubles, the paper by two German physicists who claim to have broken the speed of light, and the potential discovery of inorganic cosmic dust with lifelike properties.

Put down that designer bottle of H20!  Did you know that If you choose to get your recommended eight glasses a day from bottled water, you could spend $1,400 US dollars annually? That same amount of tap water would cost about 49 cents.  Wealthy nations like the United States have some of the cleanest, cheapest and best tasting tap water in the world.  The US is also the world's largest consumer of bottled water: 8.3 billion gallons in 2006 (about 26 gallons per person)! Will our rising demand for  bottled water harm our nation's aging water distribution and filtration infrastructure?  And why are groups like Presbyterians for Restoring Creation boycotting bottled water? On this week's Skepticality, Derek and Swoopy speak to Kelly Comstock, an environmental engineer and hydrologist who specializes in potable drinking water filtration technology, to answer these questions—and get to the bottom of the bottled water debate.