Are there any scientific advantages to using a cork to stop a wine bottle?
If a wine maker loves their wine, and their customers, they will use screw caps. All the studies have come back positive for screw caps. See screw cap initiative for starters.

Some main points are:


Corks taint the wine
Corks, real or synthetic, have a very high failure rate. Screw caps are basically 100% effective (maybe too effective)
Wine ages better with a screw cap, as there is no chance of seal failure or tainting
Screw caps have been physically tested for over 30 years, and are designed to last longer than that
You can cellar wine bottles at any angle
The energy used in making a recyclable (aluminium) screw cap is significantly less than used in making a cork
Most corks aren't made in ethical plantations
No special tools are required to open and recap a bottle (cork knives can be a serious health hazard later in the evening).
Wines age more safely. Corks do not breathe, but they may shrink and let wine out (bottles stored on side). Good vineyards will re-cork cellared wine every 20 to 25 years, or when corks start failing. The wine is topped up to the correct level, and often the wine/cork gap is flooded with nitrogen to avoid oxygen contamination which will "soften" the wine.


All in all, some pretty convincing reasons to go with screw caps.