Episode #788
News Items
- COVID-19 Quackery in Afghanistan
- The Russian Vaccine
- CNO Neutrinos
- TESS Exoplanet Mission
- Follow Up on Lava Tubes
Question #1: Benford's Law
- Steve, pretty please with cheese and Jay farts talk about Benford’s Law. Pepe Smith Raleigh, NC/Hong Kong
Science or Fiction
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Item #1
Science
A new review of dinosaurs closely related to birds finds that powered flight evolved independently at least three times in this group. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)30999-4?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982220309994%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
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Item #2
Science
An analysis finds that TSA likely missed 4,600 firearms in carry on luggage for air travel between 2014 and 2019. https://www.informs.org/About-INFORMS/News-Room/Press-Releases/New-Research-Finds-the-TSA-May-Have-Missed-Thousands-of-Firearms-at-Airport-Security-Checkpoints-in-2014-2016
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Item #3
Fiction
A comparison of wheat varieties from 1891 – 2010 finds that modern wheat has as much as 50% more gluten than the older cultivars. https://www.labmanager.com/news/gluten-in-wheat-what-has-changed-during-120-years-of-breeding-23535
Skeptical Quote of the Week.
“To treat your facts with imagination is one thing, but to imagine your facts is another.” - John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist.