Episode #1088

Episode #1088

News Items

• The Interstitium and Acupuncture
• Climate Change Food Insecurity
• Neanderthal Dentistry
• Tiny Robots
• More UFO Nonsense

Your Questions and E-mails

Follow up on AI and consciousness.

Science or Fiction [ Show Answers ]

• Item #1 Fiction

  The earliest direct evidence for suturing of wounds dates back 12,000 years in Gobekli Tepe in the region of modern-day Turkey. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgical_suture

• Item #2 Science

  Scientists have reported evidence for a successful surgical amputation of a lower limb 31,000 years ago, with the individual surviving at least 6-9 years afterward. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05160-8

• Item #3 Science

  As early as 1,000 BCE, Indian and other ancient cultures used ant jaws as surgical staples to close wounds, allowing live ants to bite the wound edges. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24304118/

Skeptical Quote of the Week.

“Nothing more strikingly betrays the credulity of mankind than medicine. Quackery is a thing universal, and universally successful. In this case it becomes literally true that no imposition is too great for the credulity of men.” – Henry David Thoreau