Forensic sciences play a critical role in the criminal justice system. It’s also an integral plot point in all those crime procedurals, true crime docu-series and actual court cases. But not cases, of course.

Prosecutors have complained about the “CSI effect”—jurors demanding scientific evidence like DNA analysis in trials when none was available or appropriate. And a 2008 survey of more than 2,000 jurors found that they were, in fact, increasingly more likely to expect lab-grade evidence from the state, but that the phenomenon wasn’t linked to their TV viewing habits.

But Nautilus makes a point: But how scientific are the methods really? Sara Gordon, a law professor from the University of British Columbia, recently published a trio of deep dives into a few common techniques—which often go unquestioned by judges—and found them quite lacking.

That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not a legitimate mode of scientific inquiry, but a comprehensive 2009 report from the National Academy of Sciences found that “the uncertainties associated with bloodstain pattern analysis are enormous.” It also concluded that the opinions of BPA experts—who Gordon notes aren’t subject to any peer or technical review—tend to be “more subjective than scientific.”

Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, is awake. Six days after the state tried and failed to execute her by lethal injection, her attorneys said Tuesday that the 50-year-old is conscious and speaking in an ICU. Experts say she’s the first person known to survive after the drugs were actually administered.

Here’s what happened: Pike received two doses of pentobarbital, but when it didn’t take, she was hospitalized unconscious and on a ventilator. Her lawyers say she remains handcuffed and shackled to her hospital bed despite “severe damage” to her arms, which were left burned and blistered. Officials haven’t explained what went wrong. Nor have they said whether they’ll try again, reports ABC News. What's clear: Gov. Bill Lee halted executions and ordered an independent review, and prisons chief Frank Strada resigned.

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Nobody is arguing the crime away. The argument now is procedural and constitutional. If Tennessee attempts a second execution, it runs into questions about competency, cruel and unusual punishment and double jeopardy that American courts have essentially never had to answer.

Paramount Skydance closed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday and rebranded the whole thing as Skydance. One company now owns Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., Paramount+ and HBO Max, CBS News and CNN, plus Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, TBS and TNT. That's two of the oldest studios in Hollywood, two of the biggest streamers and two of the three legacy cable news networks, all under one roof.

David Ellison, 43, son of Oracle's Larry Ellison, runs it as chairman and CEO, with Ynon Kreiz (formerly of Mattel) as co-CEO. CBS News put the deal at $110 billion, but getting here took about a year of knife fights. A hostile counterbid beat out Netflix. Thousands in Hollywood signed an open letter opposing the merger. California and 11 other states sued on antitrust grounds, and a last-ditch Supreme Court request was rejected by Justice Elena Kagan.

The settlement that cleared the path comes with strings: minimum annual film releases and editorial independence boards for CNN and CBS News. The exact film quota is murky—CBS News reported 30 movies in each of the first two years, while NBC News described a longer schedule stepping up to 32 a year, with a penalty fee attached.