Episode #380
News Items
Who's That Noisy
- Answer to last week – revealed in three weeks
Science or Fiction
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Item #1
Science
The hagfish can rapidly produce as much as 20 liters of slime as a defense against predators. http://www.southernencounter.co.nz/seanews_whatsnew.htm
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Item #2
Science
The oldest fossil hagfish is 300 million years old and shows remarkable similarity to modern hagfish, demonstrating unusual evolutionary stability. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/254/5032/701
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Item #3
Fiction
Molecular analysis has confirmed that hagfish are transitional between vertebrates and invertebrates. http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090909/full/461164a.html
Skeptical Quote of the Week.
‘The Web is great for finding a list of the ten biggest cities in the United States, but if the scientific literature is merely littered with wrong facts, then cyberspace is an enticing quagmire of falsehoods, propaganda, and just plain bunkum. There simply is no substitute for skepticism.’ - Samuel Arbesman