Episode #603
News Items
- Restricting Science Communication
- Fish Scales
- Another Bogus Acupuncture Study
- Video Games and Violence
Who's That Noisy
- Answer from last week: Whale
Science or Fiction
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Item #1
Science
The Great Auk was a large flightless sea bird resembling a penguin but living in the North Atlantic. It was driven to extinction by over-hunting in 1844. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/with-crush-fisherman-boot-the-last-great-auks-died-180951982/
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Item #2
Fiction
The Swift Fox was driven to extinction in the 1930s as part of a deliberate program of predator control in the United States. https://www.thedodo.com/8-endangered-species-making-ep-652564299.html
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Item #3
Science
The Golden Toad was a common species in Costa Rica, but its population steadily declined with the last sighting in 1989. This was the first species extinction blamed on global warming, but later evidence has cast doubt on that conclusion. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2010/03/global-warming-didnt-kill-golden-toad
Skeptical Quote of the Week.
‘ … the Constitution of India, Section 51A … states “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India … to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.” Our aim at the Indian Rationalist Association is to encourage and support people to fulfill this very duty.’ Sanal Edamaruku