Episode #787

News Items

    Science or Fiction

    • Item #1 Science

      The oldest masks discovered were found in modern day Israel, and they date back to pre-biblical times, they are roughly 9000 years old.

    • Item #2 Fiction

      In the 14th century, plague doctors wore a mask with a bird-like beak to protect them from The Black Plague, as they believed diseases of the time could be caught from breathing ‘bad air’.

    • Item #3 Science

      In 2021, it is estimated that US manufacturers will collectively produce over one billion N95 masks.

    Skeptical Quote of the Week.

    ‘Carl Sagan always used to say that when he was trying to explain something to someone, he would go back to that time when he didn’t understand it, and then he would retrace his thought steps so that he could make it absolutely clear, and that’s one of the infinite number of things I learned from him.’ - Ann Druyan