Guest instructor Faye Flam, a science writer from the Philadelphia Inquirer and professional blogger, talked in class Tuesday about how one of my students was misled by a superficially reliable source. The student post itself, the subsequent comments and then the class discussion prompted Faye to write it all down.
Bottom line: seek independent views; watch for uncritical press releases; extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence.
And for me, a fantastic story to teach next year.