SGU Episode 115

Introduction
You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.

Tom Cruise Building a Bunker?

 * www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=484455&in_page_id=1773

Flat Earth

 * Creationist panelist of The View, Sherri Shepard, does not know if world is flat www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehWv_qlKxSg

Fly Boy Follow up

 * www.signs-of-the-times.org/articles/show/140859-Russia:+Airport+toughens+security+after+boy's+plane+wing+flight

Martial Arts Woo

 * scienceblogs.com/neurotopia/2007/10/martial_idiocy.php

Vaccine News

 * www.theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php?p=19 www.theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php?p=17

30 Year Battery
"As a heavy laptop user, the following article linked on digg.com piqued my interest, and I am curious as to the validity. The article even seems to contradict itself, saying the batteries 'do not produce any radioactive or hazardous waste' while later stating 'when they eventually run out of power they are totally inert and non-toxic.' The article gives no citation, and the mere fact that the website features a section on 'free energy' which includes perpetual motion machines makes is all suspect to me. What is your take, and is a long-lasting battery like this out of the realm of possibility? Thanks, Mike Kolodoski Texas www.nextenergynews.com/news1/next-energy-news-betavoltaic-10.1.html   Blog discussing this story community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10006069o--000331777b,00.htm  Nuclear battery www.answers.com/topic/nuclear-battery?cat=technology"

Orthomolecular Medicine
"Dear Dr. Novella, I've been meaning to see an endocrinologist and I ran across what is, to me, a new field: orthomolecular medicine. I looked into it some, but the little information I could find was ambiguous and seemed a somewhat fishy to me. I was wondering if you had any additional info and could shed some light on the matter.  Thanks a lot!  -Fernanda Abdala Brazil"

Interview with Jon Blumenfeld

 * Jon is the former Chairman of the CT chapter of the NESS, he has also joined the SGU team as a contributing blogger for the Rogues Gallery blog, and discusses his research into the life and science of Isaac Newton

Science or Fiction
Question #1: Astronomers have discovered a brief extra-galactic radio-wave burst so powerful it defies natural explanation, causing some leading astronomers to speculate that it may be of artificial origin. Question #2: Researchers estimate that one human language goes extinct about every two weeks. Question #3: New fMRI study shows that doctors are less empathic toward their patient's pain than matched controls.

Skeptical Puzzle
"This Week's Puzzle: For a feline and fowl he is known This styling, for years, he had grown Auras foretold his seizures In the meantime his leisures Would yield fame from these seeds he had sewn Whom is this describing."

Quote of the Week
"'It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.'- Aristotle 384 BC- 322 BC"

== References ==