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Oct 1, 2012 54 min

Skeptic Check: Mysterious Illness

from Big Picture Science Hosted by Big Picture Science

Stuttering speech and facial tics are among the strange symptoms that swept through a New York high school. Discover what’s behind the odd outbreak, and why one sociologist sees parallels to Salem, Massachusetts 300 years ago. Also, an update on the cellphone cancer debate, and why one congressman wants warning labels on all new phones. Plus, the ultimate cleanse: giving up on food to survive on light and air. We investigate the claims of Breatharians. It’s Skeptic Check … but don’t take our word for it! Guests: • Dennis Kucinich – U.S. Representative, Ohio’s 10th congressional district • Joshua Muscat – Epidemiologist, professor of public health sciences, Penn State at Hershey College of Medicine • Michael Wyde – Toxicologist, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences • Robert Bartholomew – Sociologist, Botany College, Auckland, New Zealand, author of Outbreak! The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior • Gordy Slack – Science writer • Benjamin Radford – Deputy editor, Skeptical Inquirer magazine

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Skeptic Check: Mysterious Illness

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This episode was published on October 1, 2012.

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