SGU Episode 445

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

This Day in Skepticism

 * January 25, 1945: Grand Rapids MI, first city to fluoridate their drinking water

Cosmic Web

 * http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25809967

Exorcism Deaths

 * http://ca.news.yahoo.com/exorcism-claimed-murders-two-maryland-toddlers-021808136.html

Ball Lightening

 * http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24886-natural-ball-lightning-probed-for-the-first-time.html#.Ut8WuRAo5Sr

Kepler Update

 * http://www.nasa.gov/kepler/kepler-mission-manager-update-invited-to-2014-senior-review/#.Ut_QCdIo6Hshttp://www.nasa.gov/kepler/a-sunny-outlook-for-nasa-keplers-second-light/#.UuBGcBAo5So

Creationism in Texas

 * http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/01/creationism_in_texas_public_schools_undermining_the_charter_movement.html

Who's That Noisy

 * Answer to last week: mushroom

Name That Logical Fallacy
"What kind of logical fallacy is it when a person argues against something on the basis of what the consequences would be as a result of the point being true?Say for example, Donald tells his physician that hamburgers can't be bad for him, since hamburgers are tasty and it would suck for hamburgers to make him chubby-wubby.JulianOhio"

Karen Stollznow

 * http://www.karenstollznow.com

Science or Fiction
Item #1: A new study finds that even positive civil comments can undermine the effectiveness of online public service announcements. Item #2: Scientists find that taking fever-reducing medication when sick with the flu increases the spread of the disease and leads to more flu-related deaths. Item #3: A new analysis concludes that US carbon emissions can be reduced by 40% if all passenger vehicles by 2050 were fully electric.

Skeptical Quote of the Week
"'On my 70th birthday, I was asked how I felt about mankind’s prospects. This is my reply: We are behaving like yeasts in a brewer’s vat, multiplying mindlessly while greedily consuming the substance of a finite world. If we continue to imitate the yeasts, we will perish as they perish, having exhausted our resources and poisoned ourselves in the lethal brew of our own wastes. Unlike the yeasts, we have a choice. What will it be?” ~ Farley Mowat"