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RichardDawkins.net : The Latest Updates
Taner Edis should write a book
Consider this the promised Part III in a series....
Disease Cause Is Pinpointed With Genome
Two research teams have independently decoded the entire genome of patients to find the exact genetic cause of their diseases....
Richard Dawkins - Sunday programme
The best known biologist on the planet talks about his new book - 'The Greatest Show on Earth-the evidence for evolution....
ABC Nightline: Preaching Hate in Uganda
March 10, 2010 on ABC Nightline...
Ahern proposes Autumn referendum on blasphemy
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Public Statement Concerning Science and Christian Faith
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Skeptic.com
IN THIS RIVETING STORY about his remarkable discoveries from the Gogo fossil site in the Kimberly district of Western Australia, the Australian paleontologist John Long, now Vice President of Research and Collections at the Natural History Museum of L.A. County, takes us beyond just reconstructing animal morphology and into the...
Adventures Among the Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions
INTREPID INTERNATIONAL EXPLORER, biologist, and National Geographic photographer Mark W. Moffett, “the Indiana Jones of entomology,” takes us around the globe on a strange and colorful journey in search of the hidden world of ants. In tales from Nigeria, Indonesia, the Amazon, Australia, California, and elsewhere, Moffett recounts his entomological...
How the Economy Works: Confidence, Crashes & Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
In this lecture based on his new book, How the Economy Works, one of our leading economists, the UCLA professor Roger Farmer, provides a jargon-free exploration of the current crisis, offering a powerful argument for how economics must change to get us out of it....
On Fact & Fraud: Cautionary Tales from the Front Lines of Science
FRAUD IN SCIENCE is not as easy to identify as one might think. When accusations of scientific misconduct occur, truth can often be elusive, and the cause of a scientist’s ethical misstep isn’t always clear. In his lecture based on his new book, On Fact and Fraud, Caltech physicist David...
The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives
A DRUNKARD’S WALK is a type of random statistical distribution with important applications in scientific studies ranging from biology to astronomy. Mlodinow, a visiting lecturer at Caltech and coauthor with Stephen Hawking of A Briefer History of Time, takes us on a walk through the hills and valleys of randomness...
Does God have a Future? A Great Debate Filmed by ABC’s Nightline
Does God Have a Future? Deepak Chopra and Jean Houston debate the question with Michael Shermer and Sam Harris....
NeuroLogica Blog
Neuroscientists are making steady progress in mapping the brain using fMRI and other new techniques. Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL (University College London) have been publishing a steady stream of interesting results. It has been known for some time that the hippocampus, a small structure in...
Acupuncture Does Not Work for IVF
Acupuncture is a so-called complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modality I frequently tackle because it often provides excellent teaching points on the relationship between science and the practice of medicine. My reading of the literature is that acupuncture is highly implausible and the evidence does not support its efficacy for...
I received the following question from an SGU listener: Recently when I visited a neurologists with my daughter to seek help for her migraines the doctor prescribed something that caught me off guard and in my research since the visit I still have not convinced myself of the validity. The doctor...
It seems as if the wave of H1N1 pandemic flu has passed, so it is a good time to get up to date on the status of the pandemic. For background, the H1N1 is a strain of influenza A that cropped up about a year ago. It was declared a...
A Utah company, Manna of Utah, is planning on building a plant in Odessa MO that will, among other things, build generators for home use. I wrote recently about another home generator company, Bloom Box, cautioning against accepting corporate hype at face value. Bloom Box appears to be a legitimate...
Reaching Scientific Consensus – On Dinosaurs
Controversies in science are fun, and the spectacle of such controversies being worked out by competing groups of scientists is a wonderful way to learn about the process of science. But as science progresses, we hope to occasionally resolve controversies and come to a reasonable consensus. One such controversy that I...
Skepticblog
I Was a Skeptic Too Until I Tried…
We’ve all heard the infamous anecdote used in a multitude of advertisements for various flavors of woo, “I was a skeptic too until I tried (insert your favorite alternative woo product here).” It’s an effective and compelling sales pitch to laypeople, so much so that it’s become so old and...
A victory for reality in Texas
I am pleased to write that the creationist and generally anti-reality Don McLeroy has lost his bid for re-election to the Texas State Board of Education! Yay! The man who ousted him is Thomas Ratliff, who is — gasp! — an actual educator who has vowed to try to remove the politicization...
Pentagon Gunman a Conspiracy Theorist & 9/11 Truther
What’s the harm in believing nonsense? I get asked this all the time: “Oh come on Shermer, let people have their delusions, what’s the harm?” I have a laundry list of retorts to this challenge, from the value of living in a rational world that is based in reality to tales...
A Utah company, Manna of Utah, is planning on building a plant in Odessa MO that will, among other things, build generators for home use. I wrote recently about another home generator company, Bloom Box, cautioning against accepting corporate hype at face value. Bloom Box appears to be a legitimate...
I’m not normally prone to mystical cats or too much Internet craziness, but since I’ll be off on the Skeptics of the Carribean cruise with Randi and lots of other fun loving folks next week, I thought I would leave you all with some silliness to ponder. We all need some time off and...
Even before I started writing Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be I knew that it would very briefly mention religion, make a mild assertion that religious questions are out of scope for science, and move on. I knew this was likely to provoke blow-back from some...
Science After Sunclipse
In the past, I have vented at rather excessive length about how science blogs are fragmented and ephemeral. It often seems like the only time we write in parallel is when something happens that's so bad we all have to talk about it at once. And whatever we...
Book Announcement: Mathematical Methods for Optical Physics and Engineering
Greg "Dr. SkySkull" Gbur, my fellow physics writer and Prisoner aficionado, has just gotten the official go-ahead to hype his forthcoming textbook, Mathematical Methods for Optical Physics and Engineering. One of the biggest problems in teaching mathematics is making the connection between the math itself and the application of said math....
Predictable People are Predictable
Jeffrey Shallit calls our attention to the recent antics of Suzan Mazur, a journalist well-known among science bloggers for, well, getting everything wrong. The best parts of any conspiracy theory are those which sound reasonable upon a first hearing, and Mazur is no exception. Among the bits not...
The Best Thing About This Season is the Music
Little-known "fact": the reason physicists are trying to create a black hole at the LHC is because it's the only weapon powerful enough to defeat Cthulhu. Read the comments on this post......
. . . And I Grew Up Just Fine!
The Intertubes are filling up with arguments just not worth having. Sigh. You know what I need? Yeah: (Reliving one's childhood can be a scary business. And on a related note: if my generation was raised by television, and everything on TV then is available on the Internet...
In Which I Am Less Than Courteous
Deepak Chopra is, basically, a parasite. He takes scientific discoveries made through hard work and sacrifice, strips them of all context and meaning until only jargon is left, and uses the fruits of his petty thievery to add spurious credibility to the mystical snake oil he peddles. Like certain others...
The Rogues Gallery
The Rogues Gallery is now back up and at a new home. The new URL is http://www.theroguesgallery.org/. Please make sure you update your bookmarks and RSS feeds to get the new content. Thanks The Rogues, The Roguette and The Roguie....
We recently received the following email question: I have been studying quantum physics for a bit now and was hoping that Bob could give his explanation of The Uncertainty Principle and Wave/Particle duality. My first question is… Is the drawing of a wave (on paper) just a 2D representation of a more abstract...
People’s Choice Awards For Podcasting
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe has been nominated by our listeners as the people’s choice for best podacst in education. From the website PodCastAwards.com This is the Fifth annual event that will recognize the best podcasters in the world by allowing the people (Listeners and Podcasters) to nominate, and then vote...
Don’t you love sleeping and dreaming? I’ve loved it since I was a kid. Not just the act itself though but the whole ritual; the moment you say to yourself “Yup, today is essentially over and I’m going to bed”, the ablutions, slipping under the covers (I like lots of covers),...
Rotten Eggs, Flatulence, and Suspended Animation
We recently received the following email about suspended animation: A Big hello to SGU from Darwin Australia, I am writing in to seek your opinion on something I came across on a paranormal and believers pod cast…As painful as it is to listen to them, in the interest of being a...
Fantasies Are Good For Your Math Skills
Who says skeptics should not indulge themselves in fantasies? Stoic, rational, logical, critical, evidence-based, scientific are just a few of the adjectives that help define us. But in the context of skepticism, you seldom hear a skeptic embracing fantasy as a practical tool on our skeptical utility-belts. It’s time to...
James Randi Educational Foundation
Hastily Scribbled Notes From The Amazing Adventure, 5 (Volume I)
This is our second full day at sea. I’m sitting in a corner at the back of the Augustus conference room on Deck 5 of the Costa Fortuna, trying to be inconspicuous. Kitty Mervine is preparing to give a lecture on — what? Who knows? I suspect pirates will be...
Last Week In Science-Based Medicine
Here is a recap of the stories that appeared last week at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo in medicine. The future of the Science-based Medicine blog: SBM is recruiting new bloggers (David Gorski) The departure of Dr. Tuteur is an opportunity to fill...
Randi welcoming the Amazing Adventurers to the Isaac Asimov Library Last night, we had a reception at the James Randi Educational Foundation for those folks who are joining us on the Amazing Adventure 5: Skeptics of the Caribbean, which sets sail today. We are off for a week of fun and...
For Good Reason: Science-Based Medicine with Harriet Hall
Harriet Hall, MD, The SkepDoc, discusses her column in O, The Oprah Magazine that focuses on debunking medical myths. She contrasts science-based medicine and “complementary and alternative medicine,” and tells why she objects to the latter term. She details why homeopathy elicits more moral outrage from her than other kinds...
A Brief Report On The Finances of The World-Controlling Atheist Cabal
I recently had the pleasure of dealing with a very polite young woman who wanted to give me a flyer about a presentation by Eric Hovind, son of the more (in)famous Kent Hovind. A snippet of our conversation went something like this: Me: Has this been experimentally demonstrated? Her: Oh, yes....
Once again JREF is issuing a call for papers to those who would like to share their work or accomplishments at the eighth annual Amazing Meeting, July 8-11, 2010 in Las Vegas. Anyone may submit a request to present a paper. If your proposal is accepted you will be allotted 20...
Skepfeeds-The Best Skeptical blogs of the day
Why secular ethics is superior to religious ethics
As an atheist I usually have to face an iteration of the without-god-there’d-be-no-morals argument. My usual tactic in handling such arguments has been based on Hitchens famous challenge: show me one moral action that an atheist cannot engage in. Now, I’m taking a bit of a different approach. While sticking...
Court ruling unfortunate but not unexpected
A San Francisco federal appeals court has ruled against Michael Newdow in his law suit challenging the constitutionality of the words “Under God” in the pledge of allegiance. In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected arguments by Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow that the phrase violates...
That’s what I’ve been saying all along!
The Vatican’s chief exorcist has said the devil resides in the Vatican, which is what people like me have been saying for a while. He also claims to have done 70,000 exorcisms. There’s a bit of a problem with the math there as Evan of the SGU Rogues points out....
‘No evidence’ acupuncture boosts chances of IVF baby
READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT BBC NEWS There is no evidence acupuncture or Chinese herbal medicine increase the chance of getting pregnant through IVF, fertility experts say in new guidance. The methods are increasingly offered as a way of boosting the chances of a baby, but the British Fertility Society suggests couples...
SEC says ‘psychic’ scammed investors
READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE NYPOST Too bad he couldn’t foresee getting caught. Federal regulators filed suit today against a self-proclaimed psychic who allegedly scammed $6 million by conning suckers into believing that his extrasensory abilities would make them “piles of money” by trading foreign currencies. Sean David Morton — who bills...
This is horrible, really, really horrible! I’d ask for my money back. Filed under: Skepdude Tagged: cold reading, James Van Praagh, psychic, psychic powers, Psychics ...
Bad Astronomy
A few weeks ago, International Space Station astronaut Soichi Noguchi took an amazing picture of Endeavour re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. He has been busily snapping away at the Earth and posting the pictures on his Twitter feed. You really should be following him! Recently, he unknowingly did me a big favor by...
Via Emily at the Planetary Society blog comes this amazing animation, a three-dimensional flyover of Candor Chasma on Mars generated using HiRISE data. Holy cow. And the timing of this video… will some kid in middle school watch this video, wonder what it would be like to really do this,...
Well, isn’t this flattering? The Times Online science blog, called Eureka Zone, picked Bad Astronomy as one of its top 30 best science blogs. It’s always nice to get some recognition, even if it doesn’t come with a wheelbarrow full of money and a free trip to Tahiti. You listening, Times...
Hot on the heels of the post the other day about the winds on Mars blowing the sand dunes and visibly moving them across the planet’s surface comes this new satellite image of a huge sandstorm raging across the planet: Of course, I’d forgive you if you interpret my saying "the...
Deforestation reveals an old scar
The BBC is reporting that a previously unknown potential impact crater has surfaced in the Congo. This region was heavily forested, hiding the crater, but recent widespread deforestation has revealed the ancient impact scar. Obviously, I’m conflicted about this. If this is an impact crater (it has not yet been confirmed),...
Religious antivax sect implicated in deaths of 100 children
Word from New Zealand Zimbabwe is that a religious sect there — which believes in prayer over vaccinations — may be responsible for the deaths of over one hundred children from measles. I believe people have the right to practice their religious beliefs… up until they start to hurt others. It...
Respectful Insolence
2010: Another bad year for the anti-vaccine movement, as the Special Masters rule
Perhaps you've heard of the case of Poul Thorsen. Perhaps not. Either way, that anti-vaccine movement was making a huge deal over this Danish psychiatrist and researcher for two reasons. First, he has become embroiled in some sort of scandal involving research funds at his former place of employment, Aarhus...
Do you believe autism and vaccines are linked?
Of course, the best way to decide such questions is to vote, right? I know, I know, I've complained about poll-crashing before, but, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Read the comments on this post......
Well, this certainly explains a lot...
...about the internecine warfare that breaks out from time to time around ScienceBlogs. At times we do appear to be a lot like professional wrestling. Can you find Orac in there? Read the comments on this post......
Better late than never (the announcement, I mean): The 131st Meeting of the Skeptics' Circle
My apologies to Romeo Vitelli, but somehow two weeks ago it totally slipped my mind to announce his 131st Meeting of the Skeptics' Circle, which is a fine addition to the Skeptics' Circle canon. Read. Enjoy. Read the comments on this post......
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Poul Thorsen: The fine art of distraction from inconvenient facts
My first big splash in the blogosphere will have occurred five years ago in June, when I first discovered the utter wingnuttery that is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. It was then that I wrote a little bit of that not-so-Respectful Insolence that you've come to know and love entitled Salon.com...
Elsevier to Medical Hypotheses editor Bruce Charlton: Enough is enough
These days, I'm having a love-hate relationship with Elsevier. On the one hand, there are lots of reasons to hate Elsevier. For example, Elsevier took payments from Merck, Sharp & Dohme in order to publish in essence a fake journal designed to promote its products, and then got caught doing...
Derren Brown Blog
Bottled Air Offered To Stressed Workers
“Bottled fresh air from some of the country’s favourite beauty spots is being given out to stressed city workers by the National Trust. The air, which was collected from seaside and rural areas around the UK, comes in several scents, including the seaside smell of Townend, and the lakeside aroma...
Why Surprises Temporarily Blind Us
“Reading this story requires you to willfully pay attention to the sentences and to tune out nearby conversations, the radio and other distractions. But if a fire alarm sounded, your attention would be involuntarily snatched away from the story to the blaring sound. New research from Vanderbilt University reveals for the...
The Octopus: All Brain, No Personality?
“Octopuses make for discerning TV viewers: it seems they prefer high-definition to traditional cathode ray images (CRT). What’s more, the first study using video to trick octopuses, finds that they may be the Jekyll and Hydes of the oceans: aggressive one day, shrinking violets the next. “People have been trying for...
Einstein’s Theory Of Relativity On Display
“JERUSALEM — There are pasted-on half pages, numerous cross-outs and insertions in meticulous penmanship and an open acknowledgment that some of the mathematics was beyond even him. Albert Einstein personally rewrote the laws of physics in a sparsely furnished central Berlin apartment nearly a century ago and the resulting manuscript,...
Last night was especially fun. A day off (Wednesday had been a travelling day from Eastbourne to Hull) always brings a slight scattiness to the performance, which was all part of the fun created by a terrific audience. Eastbourne crowds are lovely but famously quiet, so it was encouraging to...
Artist travels world fixing crumbling monuments with Lego
“Jan Vormann, 26, has taken his project from its humble beginnings at an art fair in Rome and brightened up thousands of people’s days with his brightly coloured plastic version of Polyfilla. From the old quarter of Tel Aviv in Israel to the grand Bryant Park of New York, Mr...
Bad Science
Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 13 March 2010 “2,000 bugs taking a ride in every train compartment” said the Daily Mail. “Cockroaches cluster on trains“, scuttled the Telegraph. “Commuters share trains with 1,000 cockroaches, 200 bedbugs and 200 fleas” said the Evening Standard. The figures were all very specific and very...
Is it okay to ignore results from people you don’t trust?
Ben goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 6 March 2010 If the media were actuarial about drawing our attention to the causes of avoidable death, your newspapers would be filled with diarrhoea, Aids, and cigarettes every day. In reality we know this is an absurd idea. For those interested in the scale of...
Obvious quacks: the tip of a scary medical iceberg
Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 27 February, 2010 After the Science and Technology committee report this week, and the jaw dropping stupidity of “we bring you both sides” in the media coverage afterwards, you are bored of homeopathy. So am I, but it gives a very simple window into the wider...
The BBC have found someone whose cancer was cured by homeopathy
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have hit the bottom of the barrel. Homeopathy cured my cancer, on BBC News....
Parliamentary Sci Tech Committee on Homeopathy
Here’s the report, press release below. It looks like pretty sensible stuff to me, homeopaths can’t expect special treatment among all forms of medicine, if the evidence actively shows it doesn’t work, then that’s that. I have to say what really frightens me about all this is the MHRA: if...
Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 20 February 2010 You might have read the case of Ying Wu this week: a fully qualified traditional chinese medicine doctor operating out of a shop in Chelmsford who for several years prescribed high doses of a dangerous banned substance to treat the acne of senior...
skeptic cat
He skipped the bit about the tickets ....Old Spice Guy Does CommercialIs there anything manlier than going on Ellen?Old Spice - The Man Your Man Could Smell LikeOld Spice Commercial ft Bruce CampbellOld Spice Neil Patrick Harris CommercialOld Spice Swagger | "LL Cool J"...
Charlie Schmidt's Keyboard Cat REINCARNATED!REJOICE!!! The waiting is over! As predicted by Keyboard Cat Church...He is back!!! Fatso is reincarnated as "Bento". He comes with Fatso's approval, support, talent and spirit. It is truly time to celebrate! Much more to come!Cool stuff at:www.zazzle.com/charlieschmidtwww.keyboardcatchurch.comiphonekeyboardcat.comcharlieschmidt.complayhimoffkeyboardcat.comPlay Helen off Keyboard Cat. And then join...
Cubicle War 2006Dirk and Brent have way too much time on their hands.Cubicle Wars 2010Dirk and Brent are four years older but they haven't grown up....
Flight Of The Conchords - Bret, you got it going onHey there Bret, I see you looking down.Don't want to see my little buddy there with a frown.Just because I get more women than you, well that's only because they don't know you like I do.Sure, you're weedy and kind...
Today's Roundup (March 13, 2010)
Texas Board of Education cuts Thomas Jefferson out of its textbooksWhere'd the white dog poo go? So-called mommy blogs "a cultural force to be reckoned with"Two Jets, Two Protons, Nothing ElseThe Mad Hatter's Secret Ingredient: MathThis Week in the Future, March 8-12, 2010Court: Vaccine Doesn't Cause AutismFossil Bird Eggshell Provides...
Boobies & KittensBoobies & KittensTwo great tastes that taste great together ... No that came out wrong ... ...
New Urban Legends
Is your pet snake sizing you up as its next meal?...
Photograph purportedly shows a pregnant woman waiting to welcome home a husband who couldn't have fathered the child she's carrying....
Rumor claims WalMart has authorized U.S. law enforcement to enter their stores and arrest any illegal immigrants found within....
Video clip purportedly shows a wrecking ball smashing into a passing van....
Rumor claims President Obama has announced plans to ban recreational fishing in the U.S....
Musician finally masters extraordinarily difficult guitar part he heard on a record, only to learn the recording had been made with more than one guitar....
Unreasonable Faith
March Madness at Scotteriology
by VorJack I’ve drawn from the blog Scotteriology a couple of times now. Scott has a knack for finding the absolute worst videos of Christian worship, theology and entertainment. He’s the one who first posted the Holy Ghost Hokey Pokey, which he describes as, “Perhaps the saddest, lowest, most...
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Religious Leaflet Claims “Ungodly” Dressed Women Provoke Rape
Religious fundies are giving out tracts that claim women who dress “ungodly” are asking to be raped: Nineteen-year-old Keshia Canter handed three burgers, fries and milkshakes to a car-load of Tuesday afternoon customers at the Hi-Lo Burger’s drive-though window. A lady sitting in the backseat leaned forward, between the two men...
by VorJack I have achieved a minor milestone — this will be my one hundredth post on Unreasonable Faith. That’s one hundred posts in almost exactly a year — my first post was on March 2nd of last year. That’s hardly a record — and Daniel has something over...
Suicide Bombers Go to Heaven; Er, Hell!
A Muslim scholar has issued a fatwa saying that suicide bombers go to hell: Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri condemned terrorism and criticized Islamic extremists who cite their religion to justify violence. Ul-Qadri’s 600-page fatwa is “arguably the most comprehensive theological refutation of Islamist terrorism to date,” according to the Quilliam Foundation, a London...
This is a song by ApologetiX, a Christian Weird Al wanna-be band. “Bone Digger” is a parody of Kanye West’s “Gold Digger”… though I think it parodies itself more, if such a thing is possible....
Science-Based Pharmacy
Vaccine Fears: What is the Pharmacist’s Role?
It’s Pharmacy Awareness Week. You’re probably not aware of this, neatly illustrating the challenge pharmacists have in raising their professional profile with the public. Despite what you may read here in this blog (written by me), pharmacists do a lot more than sell unproven supplements. Beyond their important role in...
British MPs Tell Gov’t: Stop Funding Homeopathy
In a clear statement on the absurdity of public funding and regulation of homeopathy, British MPs instructed government to stop paying for homeopathy, shut down homeopathic hospitals, cease all homeopathy clinical trials, and to crack down on homeopathic efficacy claims. Committee chairman Phil Willis MP said; “We were seeking to determine...
Does Coenzyme Q10 Relieve Statin-Induced Muscle Pain?
Editor’s Note: Today’s guest post is from a pharmacist who blogs under the pseudonym Avicenna, who looks at the evidence supporting the use of Coenzyme Q10 to treat statin-related muscle pain. My pharmacy stocks plenty of natural health products (NHPs) and ensuring they can be used safely is challenging, given the limited...
In pharmacy-speak, “part fills” allow a pharmacist to divide a prescription into smaller amounts. In the case of Science-Based Pharmacy, I’m going to use the label to highlight hot topics, related reading, and relevant material on other blogs. I hope you find these links informative: Homeopathy: After the 10-23 protests that...
Neti Pots for Sinus Congestion: Validated science?
Neti pots have moved from the fringe to the mainstream over the past few years. Traditionally used to treat sinus problems, their popularity exploded in 2007 when Oprah covered them on her show. Requests flooded the pharmacy I worked at. The pharmacy’s owner ordered in a case, and they disappeared in days. Given Oprah’s poor record...
Pharmacies Targeted in Mass Homeopathy Overdose
Hundreds of protesters will gather outside Boots pharmacies on January 30 to swallow entire bottles of homeopathic remedies and embarrass a profession that sells them in the absence of any evidence of efficacy. A few weeks ago, I blogged about the 10:23 protest which was gathering momentum in the United Kingdom....
Scepticon
A man is the sum of his memories, you know, a Time Lord even more so. The Doctor, in “The Five Doctors” We all know that our memories can’t always be trusted, time and life tends to erode the confidence we have in our memories. At least that is the case for...
Intelligence, Monogamy and Journalistic Licence
Last week news came out about a study linking intelligence with liberal attitudes and atheistic beliefs, oh and in men an increased tendency for monogamy. Today I read the NZ Herald’s short take on the study, a semi-chauvinistic piece pointing out how we evolved intelligent men can think our way...
New Zealand Pharmacy Ethics in Relation to Homeopathy in the Wake of Homeopathy Report
Earlier this year I wrote a post (along with fellow Sciblogger Grant) concerning the sale of homeopathic remedies in pharmacies. Monday night saw the release of England’s Science and Technology Committee’s “Evidence Check 2″ report on Homeopathy (also ably covered by Grant). One of the issues covered by the...
Facilitated Communication Case Fails to Deliver
The indefatigable Dr. Novella has been keeping track of the Facilitated Communication case of Rom Houben and via his blog I have learned that further investigation into the case has failed to deliver the goods. As a refresher, late in November last year the news broke of a man who had...
How is it that I’ve never heard this cool phrase before? Well not so cool for the species it applies to but still, someone was having a good brain day when that one was coined. The idea of an extinction vortex has been around for almost 25 years but I’m...
What is the Harm of Alternative Medicine?
Yesterday fellow Sciblogger Grant posted about homeopathic medications in pharmacies and questioned the legitimacy of reputable organisations selling such patent snake oil. The comments to this entry reveal one of the most frustrating aspects of speaking out against unscientific medicine and can be summarised thusly: “I’m far too sophisticated to...
williamlobdell.com
I’ll be at Cal State Bakersfield to give a talk Thursday, Jan. 14. If you are in the area, please drop by....
Rev. Pat Robertson can work miracles. He can get me out of semi-retirement. This effing douche commented on the Haiti 7.0 earthquake that killed more than 100,000 by saying: “Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it,” Robertson said on his Christian...
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and a snake. So many photo caption possibilities …...
OK, gang. I’m back. Here’s what I love about Christopher Hitchens and his take on Christmas. I never cease to be amazed by how little the Bible-believing Protestants, who constitute most of the soldiery in the Christmas wars, know about their own tradition. Under the rule of the Puritan Revolution in...
“Losing My Religion” honored as one of the top 10 religious books of 2009
From Booklist: Lobdell’s trajectory from agnosticism to belief to atheism, prompted by covering religion for the Los Angeles Times, is fascinating, ironic, even astonishing....
(Another) smoking gun found in Cardinal Mahony’s mishandling of sexually abusive priests
Mahony ignored church policy and didn’t inform parishioners about allegations of clergy sexual abuse, one of his top lieutenants testified. In an institution that supposedly devotes itself to God and truth, you had to wonder: When would someone within Cardinal Roger M. Mahony’s inner circle break ranks and tell the truth...
Overcoming Bias
Maybe not “worship” exactly, but at least great respect and deference. By “efficient” I mean that it increases economists’ standard “cost-benefit” concept of welfare. That is: as usually estimated, the benefits of deferring greatly to distant ancestors far outweigh its costs. And while this does suggest that we should defer...
Parable of the Multiplier Hole
Imagine that we discovered a “hole in space”, through which we could see an alternate Earth, filled with people recognizably like us, though different in many ways. Those people could also see us. While no objects could move from their side of the hole to ours, small items (but not humans)...
More wisdom from Hard Facts: We … [did] research to discover if courteous clerks fueled sales. … We ultimately found little if any evidence that courtesy increased store sales. …The main finding … was that clerks in stores with more sales were actually less courteous. Apparently, the crowding and long lines...
In 2005, Boston-based doctors published the very first clinical trial of alcohol-based hand sanitizers in homes and enrolled about 300 families with young children in day care. For five months, half the families got free hand sanitizer and a “vigorous hand-hygiene” curriculum. But the spread of respiratory infections in homes...
Conventional wisdom tends to treat President Hoover as a clueless advocate of laissez faire who refused to stimulate the economy in the dramatic downturn. Franklin Roosevelt, on the other hand, was the heroic leader who both saved the day and transformed the American economy through his promotion of the New...
More wisdom from Hard Facts: Harvard Business Review has published at least three articles on incentive pay and organizational performance in the past decade. … Each makes a similar point: compensating people for only individual performance creates more problems than it solves, so rewards should emphasize organizational, not just individual, performance....