Skeptics Weekly Newsletter - Thursday, October 30, 2014

Top new questions this week: Is there a cure for Ebola? Wikipedia's page on "Ebola Virus Disease" states: No specific treatment for the virus is available. Wikipedia's page on "Ebola Virus" also states: There is no cure for Ebola, but if people ... [ ebola ]   asked by accurate opinion 25 votes answered by stonemetal 29 votes Are Jim Rogers, George Soros, Warren Buffet converting their stocks into cash holdings? According to the article "Buffett's $55 Billion Gamble is a Bet on U.S. Collapse, Warns CIA Economist", a number of billionaires have taken a cash position on their holdings at the expense of stocks. ... [ united-states ] [ economics ] [ money ]   asked by Brian M. Hunt 10 votes Did the US Government invent ebola to test bioweapons in Africa? It has been going around that the US government was responsible for creating Ebola in order to test their Bioweapons as stated by CBS news: The largest newspaper in Liberia published a conspiracy ... [ united-states ] [ biology ] [ terrorism ] [ ebola ]   asked by Luke 9 votes answered by Brian S 25 votes Is a Boeing Honeywell 'Uninterruptible' Autopilot System pre-installed on any in-service airliners? Some sites make the claim that Boeing has installed an uninteruptible ground-controlled autopilot in aircraft such as the 777 with registration 9M-MRO used for missing flight MH370. Notable claims ... [ aviation ]   asked by RedGrittyBrick 8 votes Is "Dabiq" an ISIS-produced magazine? The magazine Dabiq is generally thought to be a propaganda magazine produced by the proponents on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (a.k.a. ISIS, ISIL or IS). The Islamic State (ISIS) regularly ... [ media ] [ isis ]   asked by Andrew Grimm 6 votes Does Lego increase a child's IQ? The Sun reports: PLAYING with Lego can make people BRAINIER, bosses claimed yesterday. A study found that those who are experts with the toy building bricks are more agile with their hands and ... [ intelligence ]   asked by user1298069 6 votes Is this video of a man pouring boiling water on himself real? He calls it the "Boiling Water Challenge". Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev-E6F1g3NE If it is real, what condition is this man in now? I would guess that he'd be lucky to be alive. [ video ]   asked by Brian 5 votes Greatest hits from previous weeks: Can cats survive a fall from any height? So here's the premise. A cat reaches its terminal velocity after around 10meters of free fall. A cat can survive a landing from a speed equal to its terminal velocity. Therefore a cat can survive a ... [ physics ] [ animals ]   asked by user2869 30 votes answered by Kit Sunde 33 votes Did Frane Selak survive a fall from a plane? Frane Selak has been dubbed the "world's luckiest man" for his frequent, apparent escapes from death. One, in particular, strikes me as straight-up absurd: the one about him falling out of a plane ... [ aviation ]   asked by Dois 9 votes answered by Abel 9 votes Can you answer these? Would Mefloquine be approved under today's regulations? The anti-malarial drug Mefloquine (aka Lariam, Mephaquin or Mefliam) is known to frequently induce strong neurologic side effects. I have heard a number of times that this drug would fail to get ... [ medical-science ] [ law ] [ drugs ]   asked by Hepedza 4 votes Is concern for equality linked to logic, not emotion? From Concern for equality linked to logic, not emotion by Lisa Wade, PhD, May 6, 2014, at 09:00 am A new study finds that people with high "justice sensitivity" are using logic, not ... [ psychology ] [ politics ]   asked by Andrew Grimm 1 vote Are the top ten flashlight apps maliciously stealing data and sending it to China, India, and Russia? There's an interesting report from a company called SnoopWall that is detailed in this YouTube video from a Special Report with Bret Baier with Fox News. In the report "Cybersecurity Expert" Gary ... [ mobile-phones ] [ security ] [ malware ]   asked by fredsbend 2 votes

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