SGU Episode 179

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

Jeremy Piven’s Mercury Poisoning

 * http://www.momlogic.com/2008/12/jeremy_piven_abandons_broadway.php http://www.nature.com/ncpgasthep/journal/v5/n4/full/ncpgasthep1067.html

What’s the Harm

 * Father Convicted for CAM Abuse http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/fathers-mannatech-mania-hurts-girl/2008/12/16/1229189611237.html LA Wins Suit Against Airborne http://laist.com/2008/12/16/california_sues_wins_airborne_doesn.php http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24755186-1702,00.html?from=public_rss  Chinese Face Transplant Recipient Dies After Rejecting Drugs in Favor of Herbs http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24829166-23109,00.html  Man Dies from Foot Infection http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Healer_dies_after_letting_cut_foot_rot&in_article_id=405720&in_page_id=34

Da Vinci Sketches Revealed

 * http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article5365300.ece

Medium Experiments Follow up

 * http://www.reason9.com/survey/survey.php?sid=060379

Question #1 ET Life
"We frequently hear from scientists that life on other planets would require the presence of water or carbon or a particular range in temperature. This may be true if they are looking for life as we find it on Earth. But is this a parochial bias? Are there reasons why life, which would require molecules with the ability to replicate themselves, cannot be fundamentally differently organized from what we find locally, and exist in radically different conditions? Daniel Robbins New York City"

Question #2 Winter Myths
"http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7789302.stm Hi, This news article talks about commonly held beliefs which the study says are wrong. I wondered if you had seen it and what your thoughts on it were. Regards  Sion Hughes UK"

Science or Fiction
Item #1: In a recent study researchers find that the children of first cousins have an overall lower risk of genetic disease than the general population. Item #2: Researchers have developed a new kind of laser from a device one-tenth the thickness of a human hair. Item #3: Scientists have documented a case of a blind man who can flawlessly navigate an obstacle course without relying upon any other senses.

Skeptical Quote of the Week
"“The truth of things is the chief nutriment of superior intellects.”- Leonardo da Vinci"