Episode #462
News Items
- Afterlife Debate
- Five Fingers Shoes Settles Fraud Charges
- Graphene and Heat
- Correlation and Causation
- Lab Grown Vaginas
Who's That Noisy
- Answer to last week: Vomit Comet
Interview with Massimo Piggliucci
- Response to Neil deGrasse Tyson http://scientiasalon.wordpress.com/2014/05/12/neil-degrasse-tyson-and-the-value-of-philosophy/
Science or Fiction
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Item #1
Science
There is no significant evidence that flossing reduces plaque or the incidence of caries. http://www.nature.com/ebd/journal/v13/n1/abs/6400835a.html
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Item #2
Science
Antibiotic prophylaxis is no longer routinely recommended prior to dental procedures for those with heart murmurs, valve disease, or most other heart conditions. http://www.uptodate.com/contents/antibiotics-before-procedures-beyond-the-basics
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Item #3
Fiction
Daily tooth brushing is associated with an increased risk of receding gums. http://ebd.ada.org/en/evidence/evidence-by-topic/periodontics/does-tooth-brushing-influence-the-development-and-progression-of-non-inflammatory-gingival-recessio?Tab=2
Skeptical Quote of the Week.
“Science is more than a body of knowledge. It is a way of thinking; a way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility. If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then, we are up for grabs for the next charlatan (political or religious) who comes rambling along.” – Carl Sagan