Episode #370
News Items
Who's That Noisy
- Answer to last week: Alan Shepard
Science or Fiction
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Item #1
Science
An instrument aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has detected helium in the Moon’s atmosphere. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/helium-detected.html
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Item #2
Fiction
A recent lost letter study, in which stamped and addressed letters are dropped on the street and their fate recorded, demonstrates that wealthier neighborhoods are less altruistic. http://phys.org/news/2012-08-lost-letter-wealthy-london-neighborhoods.html
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Item #3
Science
Researchers have discovered the code by which the retina communicates to the brain, leading to a retinal prosthesis that has restored near normal vision to a blind mouse. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120814213326.htm
Skeptical Quote of the Week.
“For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise.” - Benjamin Franklin