Badastronomy

  • A living world, from 370,000 km away
    A living world, from 370,000 km away
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    In all the solar system, in all the galaxy, in all the Universe, there is but one world we know for sure harbors life. Home. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter took this picture in June 2010. From 373,0…
  • Compasskirt
    Compasskirt
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    I love geeks. I love clever people. I love sciencey stuff. So this fills my heart with squishiness: a skirt with rows of lights that illuminate when facing north: Make those LEDs red and every astrono…
  • WHAM! Bulls-eye!
    WHAM! Bulls-eye!
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    I have a Martian mystery for you today, and one that is writ quite large and dramatically. It seems weird at first, then simple next, but when you dig deeper — literally — things get very weird in…
  • Megameter chasm on an icy moon
    Megameter chasm on an icy moon
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    I know I haven’t been posting much astronomy the past few days — Comic Con, w00tstock, and "Bad Universe" have kept me hopping — so to make up for it a little bit, here’s a lovely image sent b…
  • Flushed with pareidolia
    Flushed with pareidolia
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    Pareidolia is the psychology term for seeing faces in random patterns. This usually gets air time due to some vaguely Christlike shape in a stain or something, but not every instance has to be religio…
  • Lunar triple sunset
    Lunar triple sunset
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    I never get tired of the stunning pictures being sent to Earth from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. This one is particularly cool: It’s a little weird, isn’t it? What you’re seeing is sunset o…
  • AVN now routinely getting publicly humiliated
    AVN now routinely getting publicly humiliated
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    The Australian Vaccination Network, an antivax organization fronted by Meryl Dorey, has long been an antiscience group devoted to spreading any kind of nonsensical rhetoric they can. The good news? No…

skepchick.org

  • AI: Monster Talk
    AI: Monster Talk
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  • Comment o’ the Week!
    Comment o’ the Week!
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    Reminder: nominate your favorite comments by logging in, clicking the little arrow next to them, and writing “COTW” somewhere in your response! I don’t usually give Comment o’ the Week to some…
  • Skepchick Quickies 7.30
    Skepchick Quickies 7.30
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    Afghan women and the return of the Taliban – “The Taliban pounded on the door just before midnight, demanding that Aisha, 18, be punished for running away from her husband’s house. Her in-laws t…
  • Your New Summer Jam
    Your New Summer Jam
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    PZ should take note of this guy’s usage of Comic Sans:
  • AI: Shelvers v. Downloaders
    AI: Shelvers v. Downloaders
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  • Virtual Bake Sale: PIIIIIGS IIIIIIN SPAAAACE!
    Virtual Bake Sale: PIIIIIGS IIIIIIN SPAAAACE!
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    The next item up on the auction block: a Muppets Pigs in Space action playset courtesy of Maria! Maria says it’s a full Swine Trek set that features moving levers, swiveling side panels, retractable…
  • WHOI and the Oil
    WHOI and the Oil
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    I have the privilege of being a graduate student at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the largest private, non-profit oceanographic institution in the world. Called WHOI (“who-ee”) for short,…
  • Skepchick Quickies 7.29
    Skepchick Quickies 7.29
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    Guys on immodesty, lust, and the violence of women’s bodies – “Administered by a Christian website, the survey questions were submitted by “Christian girls” who wanted to know what “Christ…
  • Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom
    Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom
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    Technically, this should be for cute animal Friday but dammit, I’m making today cute cartoon Wednesday! I know it’s not new but I saw it for the first time last week at Wootstock and it made me SO…
  • Skepchick Quickies, 7.28
    Skepchick Quickies, 7.28
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    Genetically altered animals overtake normal animals in UK research. (From Dan.) Could a pick-up artist be charged with ‘rape by deception?’ (From Stevie.) I swear I did not make this up: Canadian…
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Neurologicablog

  • Calcium and the Law of Unintended Consequences
    Calcium and the Law of Unintended Consequences
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    Biological systems are extremely complex. This nugget of wisdom may seem trivial but it is a lesson the scientific and medical communities have been learning over and over again for a couple of centur…
  • Acupuncture Pseudoscience in the NEJM
    Acupuncture Pseudoscience in the NEJM
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    Here is the conclusion quoted from a recent New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) review article on acupuncture for back pain: As noted above, the most recent wellpowered clinical trials of acupunctu…
  • Maloney Declares Victory
    Maloney Declares Victory
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    Christopher Maloney does not get it – on many levels. Some of my regular readers may remember a few months ago when a naturopath by the name of Christopher Maloney frequented the comment section of…
  • Desiree Jennings on 20/20
    Desiree Jennings on 20/20
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    Several months ago I was interviewed by 20/20 for a follow up news report on Desiree Jennings – the cheerleader who claims to have acquired severe dystonia from a flu shot – and that show just air…
  • The Animal Connection
    The Animal Connection
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    We often take our relationship with animals for granted, but humans are unique in their ability to form working relationships with other species. (There are animals that have formed symbiotic relation…
  • Music and Brain Plasticity
    Music and Brain Plasticity
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    A recent review of the literature on music and brain plasticity was recently published in Nature Neuroscience Reviews. The authors address a very interesting question that I have been writing about no…
  • Locked-In Syndrome and the Right to Die
    Locked-In Syndrome and the Right to Die
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    Tony Nicklison, 56, had a stroke in 2005 that left him in a locked-in syndrome. This means he is fully conscious but mostly paralyzed. He is able to move his eyes and, unlike some people with locked-i…
  • Digital Drugs Do Not Cure Stupidity
    Digital Drugs Do Not Cure Stupidity
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    I have never been a fan of the local news, where journalistic standards are often annoying. Often the local news is an exercise in insulting the intelligence of the viewer. But at least the local news…
  • Terrible Anti-Vaccine Study, Terrible Reporting
    Terrible Anti-Vaccine Study, Terrible Reporting
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    One of my goals in writing for this blog is to educate the general public about how to evaluate a scientific study, specifically medical studies. New studies are being reported in the press all the ti…
  • Beware the Nobel Laureate Argument from Authority
    Beware the Nobel Laureate Argument from Authority
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    One of the core components of a skeptical world view is knowledge of logical fallacies – how to recognize and avoid them. And one of the more common fallacies we encounter is the argument from autho…

sciencebasedmedicine.org

Roguesgallery

  • Biggest Star Ever Found Nearby…Only 969,973,186,575,295,200 Miles Away.
    Biggest Star Ever Found Nearby…Only 969,973,186,575,295,200 Miles Away.
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    Scientists have found the biggest star ever, and its a porker. Up until now, If you asked those in the know how big stars can get, you’d likely get answers  around 150 solar masses. One solar mass…
  • Science on the HuffPo
    Science on the HuffPo
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    Science writer JL Vernon has written a post outlining his campaign to have the Huffington Post create a dedicated science section. His suggestion has been met by near universal derision from the scien…
  • A Saudi Arabian Nightmare
    A Saudi Arabian Nightmare
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    This is one of those headlines that sparks your subconscious to instruct your brain to move your head back and forth, with your mouth hung slightly open, and a generally glazed-over countenance. This…
  • How Does Gravity Escape a Black Hole?
    How Does Gravity Escape a Black Hole?
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    We recently received the following question: If, by definition, light cannot escape from a black hole, then how do gravity waves, or gravitons, escape? Bob M. Switzerland Thanks for the question Bob.…
  • Chiropractors Don’t Like Skeptics
    Chiropractors Don’t Like Skeptics
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    A sign of an intellectually healthy institution is transparency and openness to criticism. After all, if one is intellectually honest and rigorous there is nothing to fear from honest and rigorous exa…
  • Good Science, Bad Headline
    Good Science, Bad Headline
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    So according to a BBC news report, Plants ‘can think and remember’. The science reported in the article is fascinating, but I believe an argument can be made that plants are not actually “thinki…
  • Fins To Feet
    Fins To Feet
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    One of the most iconic images of evolution include that of an industrious fish crawling out of the water to be the first animal to walk on land. Details about this transition from water to land are ve…
  • Belief In Nonsense Kills – Yet Again
    Belief In Nonsense Kills – Yet Again
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    Every week there seems to be a new report of people dying due to the harmful effects of irrational beliefs and pseudoscience. However, when a child is killed as a result, it strikes a nerve in people…
  • Geek Fashion Crimes
    Geek Fashion Crimes
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    The debate about wearing cell phones on the hip and fanny packs continues. These are just specific examples of the broader war – fashion vs function. Of course, when both of these goals can be achie…
  • In The Year 2050
    In The Year 2050
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    The English speaking world’s favorite source for news, Telegraph.co.uk, informs their readers that more than 40 percent of Americans believe Jesus Christ will return to Earth by 2050, according to a…

skepticblog.org

  • Skeptologists Usurped?
    Skeptologists Usurped?
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    The Syfy Channel now has their own paranormal fighters; “Fact or Faked” who look amazingly like a younger, hipper version of the Skeptoplogists - and this shows has TWO women! Now that’s prog…
  • Breaking News: The Government Wants to Poison Children!
    Breaking News: The Government Wants to Poison Children!
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    I received this from a listener. She noted the following on the website “PreventDisease.com” (quite the ironically named website): They Just Don’t Learn: CDC Votes To Poison Children Again With…
  • We Have a Winner…
    We Have a Winner…
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    I would like to thank all of you that participated in the logo submission.  We received many great entries in a variety of creative directions.  I can’t express enough appreciation of the hard wor…
  • The Reasonableness of Weird Things
    The Reasonableness of Weird Things
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    The Amazing Meeting (TAM) conference in Las Vegas is always the center of the skeptical universe, and TAM8 was no exception. Bigger and more representative than any previous year (it was co-sponsored…
  • Desiree Jennings on 20/20
    Desiree Jennings on 20/20
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    Several months ago I was interviewed by 20/20 for a follow up news report on Desiree Jennings – the cheerleader who claims to have acquired severe dystonia from a flu shot – and that show just air…
  • Staying Safe in a Toxic World
    Staying Safe in a Toxic World
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    This is the headline of an article in the August 2010 issue of Parents magazine, with the word TOXIC highlighted in red. As you might expect, the accompanying photographs are of a family enjoying dail…
  • I Wasn’t There…But
    I Wasn’t There…But
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    No, I’m not mentioning any names.  No way I’m stepping into that mess again. I want to be absolutely clear that this blog is not about any individual person, rather it is about a set of circumsta…
  • My Dinner (and Drinks) with Christopher (Hitchens that is)
    My Dinner (and Drinks) with Christopher (Hitchens that is)
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    The conjunction of reading Christopher Hitchens’ new memoir, Hitch 22, and the news of his treatment for esophageal cancer, reminded me that I should share my (admittedly limited) experiences of din…
  • Do Script Writers Only Use 10% of their Brains?
    Do Script Writers Only Use 10% of their Brains?
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    If you do a google search on “10% brain” every relevant hit on the first page will inform you that the notion that humans use only 10% of their brain (or some similarly low figure) is a complete m…
  • Octo-Oracle
    Octo-Oracle
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    Now we can add a mollusk to the list of aspiring psychic-super stars! And if the fantasy hungry media is to be believed, Paul the Octopus has put in a most impresseive career. He’s now eight for e…

skeptico.blogs.com

  • Jon Stewart Epic FAIL
    Jon Stewart Epic FAIL
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    The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart is generally a very good interviewer, often asking his political guests some of the more difficult questions while remaining courteous and without making up straw man po…
  • Iran - 2,000 Years Behind
    Iran - 2,000 Years Behind
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    An mother of two has been found guilty of adultery in an Iranian court. Adultery is a crime? Yes, apparently it is in Iran. Sharia law. We know she’s guilty though because she confessed after being…
  • Doctor's Data Sues Quackwatch
    Doctor's Data Sues Quackwatch
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    Here we go again. Another purveyor of a questionable medical therapy, when criticized, rather than refute the criticisms with evidence, attempts to silence its critic with legal action. Via Orac, read…
  • The Vatican - Still Doesn't Get It
    The Vatican - Still Doesn't Get It
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    First some positive news. It seems the authorities in one country have decided that accusations of raping children deserve a proper investigation. Belgian prosecutors this week raided the headquarters…
  • Allison Dubois Reads Newspaper, Tells Police
    Allison Dubois Reads Newspaper, Tells Police
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    On April 8, 2009, eight year old Tori Stafford of Ontario was abducted and murdered. Her body was found in a field by a police investigator, just over three months later on July 21st. A sad and too co…
  • James Van Praagh Missed Barbara Walters' Heart Valve Disease
    James Van Praagh Missed Barbara Walters' Heart Valve Disease
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    Pretend-psychic James Van Praagh is claiming success in predicting Barbara Walters’ recent medical problems. Get a load of this: Two years ago, psychic James Van Praagh privately warned Barbara Walt…
  • Vatican Excuse Bingo
    Vatican Excuse Bingo
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    The excuses the Vatican and its supporters have now come up with to justify its systematic cover up of the rape of children have now officially exceeded the numbers required for a 5x5 bingo card. Cons…
  • Frontline - Jenny McCarthy Changes her Story Again
    Frontline - Jenny McCarthy Changes her Story Again
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    I watched PBS’s Frontline on vaccines last week, and thought it overall pretty good. Not perfect (what is?) but the numerous howls of protest from the crank Age of Autism blog (I lost count of the n…
  • Nailed It
    Nailed It
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    Nailed it so well, I hope Jesus and Mo’s creators won’t mind me reproducing the whole thing:
  • Fine Tuning Arguments
    Fine Tuning Arguments
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    Suppose someone is rolling a set of two dice. He rolls a double six – something with a one in 36 chance of happening. Which is more likely, that the person rolled a set of regular dice and just got.…

badscience.net

  • Boris Johnson and his innovative trial methodology
    Boris Johnson and his innovative trial methodology
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    Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 31 July 2010 It’s the near misses that really make you want to shoot your own face off. This week the Centre for Policy Studies has published a pamphlet on educa…
  • Podcast on government response to SciTech NHS homeopathy report
    Podcast on government response to SciTech NHS homeopathy report
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    I zipped off this quick podcast from my phone on Monday and put it on my secondary blog, which I run for scrappy stuff. People seemed to like it a bit so I’m reposting here. There’s more audio stu…
  • I love research about research
    I love research about research
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    Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 24 July 2010 There is a pleasing symmetry in the ropey science you get from different players. When GlaxoSmithKline are confronted with an unflattering meta-analys…
  • And then I was incompetently libelled by a litigious millionaire
    And then I was incompetently libelled by a litigious millionaire
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    Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Monday 19 July 2010 What do you do, as a campaigner for libel reform, when a litigious millionaire calls you a liar? This ethical quandary was presented to me last week whe…
  • Pharmaco-epidemiology would be fascinating enough even if society didn’t manage it really really badly
    Pharmaco-epidemiology would be fascinating enough even if society didn’t manage it really really badly
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    Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 17 July 2010 This week the FDA voted not to ban GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes drug rosiglitazone (brand name Avandia). Their vote has been reported as a victory for…
  • The bullshit box
    The bullshit box
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    Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 10 July 2010 This week the food and nutrition pills industries are complaining. They like to make health claims about their products, which often turn out to be un…
  • Yeah well you can prove anything with science
    Yeah well you can prove anything with science
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    Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 3 July 2010 What do people do when confronted with scientific evidence that challenges their pre-existing view? Often they will try to ignore it, intimidate it, bu…
  • Nullius in verba. In verba? Nullius!
    Nullius in verba. In verba? Nullius!
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    Hi there, just back from Glastonbury, here’s my column from last Saturday. The Guardian didn’t take it, they said it was too soon to be critical of a Guardian journalist after the column on fish o…
  • Burn the scientists!
    Burn the scientists!
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    Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 19 June 2010 On the 6th of April 2009, an earthquake registering 5.8 on the richter scale hit the town of L’Aquila in Abruzzo, Italy. This was a tragedy, and hu…
  • Superstition
    Superstition
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    Ben Goldacre The Guardian Saturday 12 June 2010 As someone who strives – sanctimoniously – to be right, I’m a masochistic fan of research showing that people who are wrong have better lives than…

randi.org

  • Evidence That Homeopathy Works*
    Evidence That Homeopathy Works*
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    *for some definitions of evidence. Swift reader Jeff (Yes, there is more than one of us) sent this article from the American Journal of Infectious Disease along in response to my Big Homeopathy piece…
  • James Randi Meets the Next Generation of Skeptics at Camp Inquiry
    James Randi Meets the Next Generation of Skeptics at Camp Inquiry
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    For the last two years, I have had the great pleasure of being part of Camp Inquiry.  Camp Inquiry is the summer camp put on every July in Holland, New York by the Center For Inquiry.  The camp, for…
  • Putting Woo to a Good Use
    Putting Woo to a Good Use
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    As an educator I always had to be on my toes, not only to prevent undesirable behavior, but also to be aware of something much more elusive. Teachers are always on the lookout for something called a t…
  • TAM 8 Reviews Galore!
    TAM 8 Reviews Galore!
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    The 'net has been abuzz with reviews and comments about The Amaz!ng Meeting 8. Here's a round up of some interesting ones we've run across. This is by no means an exaustive list, but there's something…
  • Las Vegas Weekly Reviews TAM 8
    Las Vegas Weekly Reviews TAM 8
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    Rick Lax of Las Vegas Weekly attended TAM and was surprised to find what we've known all along – Skeptics aren't the nay-saying curmudgeons that they're made out to be. In fact, he had quite a nice…
  • Big Homeopathy
    Big Homeopathy
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    Homeopathy is safe and has no side effects, yet 'Big Pharama' keeps pushing their poisons on us because they're greedy. Have you heard this before? I have. If modern medicines have side-effects or are…
  • The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe Interviews James Randi and Banachek
    The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe Interviews James Randi and Banachek
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    This week's topics on the official podast of the JREF are: Interview with Randi & Banachek News Items: Report from TAM8 Monster Star Anti-Vax in Oz Kabbalah Bracelet Monkey Fossil Monkeys in the Pants…
  • Another Way to Help
    Another Way to Help
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    Like millions of Americans, I went to the local movie theater last weekend and watched the world bend in the Leonardo DiCapprio movie Inception. And while the movie didn't leave me with much to talk a…
  • Bad Astronomer - Bad Universe
    Bad Astronomer - Bad Universe
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    Unless you are new to the JREF, you know who Phil Plait is. Blogger, skeptic celebrity, and past-president of the JREF, he left the JREF last year to pursue a secret television project, even as he r…
  • To The Good
    To The Good
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    We are here to add to the sum of human goodness. To prove the thing exists. And  however finite each individual act of courage or generosity, self-sacrifice or grace – it still proves the thing exi…

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mixx.com

The Skeptics Guide

  • The Skeptics Guide #263 - Jul 29 2010
    The Skeptics Guide #263 - Jul 29 2010
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    Interview with Jim Underdown; News Items: Homeopathy in the UK, Cosmology with no Big Bang, Ghost Ship, Meat and Weight Control; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Biodynamic Farming, Orgel…
  • The Skeptics Guide #262 - Jul 21 2010
    The Skeptics Guide #262 - Jul 21 2010
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    Interview with Randi & Banachek; News Items: Report from TAM8, Monster Star, Anti-Vax in Oz, Kabbalah Bracelet, Monkey Fossil, Monkeys in the Pants, Libel Tourism Bill; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fi…
  • The Skeptics Guide #261 - Jul 10 2010
    The Skeptics Guide #261 - Jul 10 2010
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    Live Recording from TAM8; News Items: Roswell Remembered, Nuclear Explosion in Space, Pepsigate, Energy Vampires, Gravitons and Black Holes, Obesity and Inactivity, Climategate Update, Planck Image of…
  • The Skeptics Guide #260 - Jun 30 2010
    The Skeptics Guide #260 - Jun 30 2010
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    Guest Rogue: George Hrab; News Items: Fin to Limb Evolution, Pat Boone on Laws of Physics, Ice Patch Archaeology, Stephen Barrett Sued; Your Questions and E-mails: Flag Worship; Science or Fiction
  • The Skeptics Guide #259 - Jun 28 2010
    The Skeptics Guide #259 - Jun 28 2010
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    News Items: Whooping Cough Epidemic, Whaling Film Questioned, Superconductor Roadblock, Call to Ban Homeopathy; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Orbital Periods, Sunscreen; Science or Fic…

Aardvarchaeology

  • KattCon Gaming Convention
    KattCon Gaming Convention
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    I spent Friday and Saturday with Junior at a small gaming convention in Katrineholm, a town two hours' drive from my home. (I stayed nearby in May of last year with my wife.) With less than 100 partic…
  • Continued Afro-Chinese History Manipulation
    Continued Afro-Chinese History Manipulation
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    In the early 15th century, Imperial Chinese mariners under the eunuch admiral Zheng He made great voyages of discovery in enormous ships. Then the Hongxi Emperor decided that what they had found on fa…
  • Jane Austen's Fight Club
    Jane Austen's Fight Club
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    Via Luftwaffe Flak at Boardgamegeek.com Read the comments on this post...
  • Free Books in My Phone
    Free Books in My Phone
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    I got the Aldiko e-book reader for my Android phone the other day - for free over the net. It came with two apparently random free books in epub format: H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man and Sun Tzu's A…
  • Has Robyn Credited Trans-X for the "Cobrastyle" Melody?
    Has Robyn Credited Trans-X for the "Cobrastyle" Melody?
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    The other night my wife suddenly hummed a familiar melody line. After some mental searching I identified it as a slightly modified version of French Canadian synth-poppers Trans-X's 1983 hit Living o…
  • Teaching and Going Home
    Teaching and Going Home
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    Spent 5.5 hours on site in Wales today and 7 hours by car, train and plane to get from there to Skavsta airport. I've got another couple of hours by bus and train before I'm home. The trains I rode i…
  • Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
    Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
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    The Department of History and Archaeology in Chester is moving from their lovely but run-down Georgian building at the north city gate to the main campus. So I spent most of today helping with the mo…
  • Wednesday in the Trenches
    Wednesday in the Trenches
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    Professor Nancy Edwards and associates take stock of the western trench at the end of the day's work. Today offered much better weather, but due to permit trouble very little metal detecting. Instead…
  • Anthro Blog Carnival
    Anthro Blog Carnival
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    The ninety-seventh Four Stone Hearth blog carnival is on-line at Zenobia. Catch the best recent blogging on archaeology and anthropology! The next vacant hosting slot is on 15 September. All bloggers…
  • Digging in Wales, Watching Sb Crisis
    Digging in Wales, Watching Sb Crisis
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    I'm in north-east Wales for a few days' work on a Universities of Chester and Bangor dig. We've had a rainy day, which meant that we couldn't work effectively for very long. But I did some metal dete…

Improbable Research

  • Blob on Bladder Activity
    Blob on Bladder Activity
    click for the buzz
  • Proper opossum gourmet cooking
    Proper opossum gourmet cooking
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    The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is North America’s only marsupial. Should you ever come across one that is homeless, orphaned or otherwise in need of help and could not be taken care of…
  • Blob on Vent and Snout
    Blob on Vent and Snout
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    This month’s Blob of the Month is Professor Richard W. Blob of Clemson University, author of: “Evaluation of Vent Position from Lizard Skeletons for Estimation of Snout-Vent Length and Body Mass,…
  • Proper opossum dental hygiene
    Proper opossum dental hygiene
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    The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is North America’s only marsupial. Should you ever come across one that is homeless, orphaned or otherwise in need of help and could not be taken care of…
  • The Goldilocks Organisation
    The Goldilocks Organisation
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    Are you a business manager? New research suggests that it may be best to avoid staff who are too clever. Dr. Robert Akerlof, Lecturer and Postdoctoral Associate in Applied Economics at MIT’s Sloan S…
  • Improbable Mathematics issue
    Improbable Mathematics issue
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    The special Mathematics issue (vol. 16, no. 4) of the magazine (the Annals of Improbable Research) is now online. The pleasing-paper version was mailed to subscribers a while ago. Click on the magazin…
  • Signs in London, part 2
    Signs in London, part 2
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    Some business signs in London (of which more can be found in part 1), these from Ballou’s Monthly Magazine, June 1861: A stranger is surprised in London by some of the signs, which have been handed…
  • Proper opossum pedicure
    Proper opossum pedicure
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    The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is North America’s only marsupial. Should you ever come across one that is homeless, orphaned or otherwise in need of help and could not be taken care of…
  • Ig Nobel tickets go on pre-sale Sunday
    Ig Nobel tickets go on pre-sale Sunday
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    Tickets for the Twentieth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will go on pre-sale SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2010, at NOON, from the Harvard Box Office online (and later that week, from the ticket office at Hol…
  • July issue of mini-AIR
    July issue of mini-AIR
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    The July issue of mini-AIR just went out. Topics include:  Lab Assistants Named Igor; Wombats From Space; Active Nonsense-Mediated Usage Poet; Drug Snorting Fire-Eater Competition; Manga (with an Igg…

Pro Science

  • Quoted for truth
    Quoted for truth
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    Skepticism is a good thing in science. But when it is applied in only one direction it is not skepticism at all, but indeed, denial.Michael E. Mann, Professor, Dept. of Meteorology, Penn State Univers…
  • Conflict of interest and blogging
    Conflict of interest and blogging
    click for the buzz
    There is currently an exodus going on from ScienceBlogs, where several prominent bloggers have decided that it is time to find somewhere else to blog. As in any such thing, each blogger has his or her…
  • The Periodic Table of Irrational Nonsense
    The Periodic Table of Irrational Nonsense
    click for the buzz
    The ever-brilliant Crispian Jago has made a periodic system of irrational nonsense. It's even available as a t-shirt. Now, I just want to know when one can buy it as a poster (and yes, I would post it…
  • Being more inclusive in music videos
    Being more inclusive in music videos
    click for the buzz
    I have a lot of problems with the video I've embedded in this post, but I applaud the attempt to avoid being hetero-normative, and instead also include gay couples.The singer, Medina, is quite LGBT-fr…
  • Re-post: The Dunning-Kruger effect
    Re-post: The Dunning-Kruger effect
    click for the buzz
    Note: This post is a re-post of my write-up of the Dunning-Kruger effect. Since I wrote it originally, the link to the article in the journal no longer work, so I've changed the link to another locati…
  • Why I consider myself a skeptic, rather than atheist, activist
    Why I consider myself a skeptic, rather than atheist, activist
    click for the buzz
    Last weekend, the Danish Atheist Society (Ateistisk Selskab) and Atheist Alliance International hosted an atheist conference, Gods & Politics, in Copenhagen.I went there, together with a bunch of phar…
  • Just a quick comment on an internet phenomenon
    Just a quick comment on an internet phenomenon
    click for the buzz
    If you follow atheist, skeptic, and science blogs, you will be aware of the concept of a Poe - a commenter named after Poe's Law Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is utter…
  • A very real cost of our consumption
    A very real cost of our consumption
    click for the buzz
    I haven't touched the BP oil spill story, since I didn't feel that I had anything to add to the coverage in the media and in many blogs.Like many people, I feel angry and helpless because of it.Storie…
  • In the pocket of Big Coffee?
    In the pocket of Big Coffee?
    click for the buzz
    Via ScienceDaily I became aware of this special supplement of Journal of Alzheimer's DiseaseTherapeutic Opportunities for Caffeine in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative DisordersThe speci…
  • Ineptitude with numbers
    Ineptitude with numbers
    click for the buzz
    Quite frequently, one comes across comments which clearly demonstrates that a person hasn't got a grasp of the numbers involved, and today I came across one such comment.It was in the comments to a NY…

Crispian Jago

Denialism

  • Calling Facebook on its Empty PR
    Calling Facebook on its Empty PR
    click for the buzz
    Those of you who read Mark Zuckerberg's oped in today's Washington Post might appreciate my take on how Facebook talks about privacy in tomorrow's San Francisco Chronicle: The Privacy Machiavellis. Re…
  • The New Scientist Debates Denialism
    The New Scientist Debates Denialism
    click for the buzz
    Luckily they don't make the mistake of actually debating denialists. The feature of last weeks issue, Age of Denial is a series of articles by skeptics and one laughable rebuttal, discussing the natur…
  • QOTD: Fuckin Magnets, How Do They Work?
    QOTD: Fuckin Magnets, How Do They Work?
    click for the buzz
    A response is requested from a non-scientist. Read the comments on this post...
  • Age and Privacy
    Age and Privacy
    click for the buzz
    Media reports teem with stories of young people posting salacious photos online, writing about alcohol-fueled misdeeds on social networking sites, and publicizing other ill-considered escapades that m…
  • Conservatives and the Census
    Conservatives and the Census
    click for the buzz
    Naftali Bendavid reports today in the Journal on a problem facing conservatives: how should they assure their supporters, many of whom are suspicious of government activity, to participate in the US C…
  • Is This Punk?
    Is This Punk?
    click for the buzz
    What is this business about the Broadway opening of Green Day's American Idiot? Both the Journal and the Times have reported on it, and in the process, defamed an entire genre by describing Green Day'…
  • Christian Libertarian Wefare Queen
    Christian Libertarian Wefare Queen
    click for the buzz
    Shamelessly stolen from Gawker: Brick Fatwa Libertarian Also Gets Fat Government Checks. For what? A preventable disease! Oh, what ever happened to personal responsibility? Illustration: A typical Ame…
  • Surgery
    Surgery
    click for the buzz
    I have now completed almost a year of surgical internship, and as I'm sure you've noticed from my sparse blogging, I've had little free time for writing. It's a shame too because surgery is just so co…
  • Healthcare reform
    Healthcare reform
    click for the buzz
    With the recent victory of this administration in passing health care reform I felt it was time to talk again about the importance of this issue and some of my own experiences in the last year of my s…
  • Hiatus!
    Hiatus!
    click for the buzz
    Dear Readers, we've been completely derelict in maintaining Denialism Blog. Please accept our apologies. Mark is training to be a surgeon, and Chris recently had an enormous baby! We hope to get back…

The Skeptic Exchange

Quackometer

Way Of The Woo

  • Something to be said for Snake Oil
    Something to be said for Snake Oil
    click for the buzz
    One of my favorite quotes on comparing homeopathic remedies with herbal medicine:At least snake-oil has the decency to contain some snake.Matt ParkerThis comes from Parker's excellent article in Times…
  • Mass Suicide Attempt as Protest Against Homeopathy
    Mass Suicide Attempt as Protest Against Homeopathy
    click for the buzz
    This is clever. Some 300 (or more) people in the U.K. will be protesting outside the Boots stores by overdosing on homeopathic remedies!Boots hit by mass homeopathy 'overdose'The protesters will drink…
  • Unidentified Floating Object?
    Unidentified Floating Object?
    click for the buzz
    Not quite - it has been identified:Mystery surrounds the death of a UFO expert who was found dead in the sea.An inquest into the death of Paul Vigay failed to conclude how he came to drown off Eastney…
  • Katie Spotz Rows the Atlantic
    Katie Spotz Rows the Atlantic
    click for the buzz
    Did you know that somewhere on the Atlantic there is a young woman in a row boat attempting to cross the ocean solo? I've been watching her tweets, photos and blog posts (via satphone) over the past w…
  • Priorities
    Priorities
    click for the buzz
    It's nice to see we have our priorities in order.‘Lost’ Fans Can RelaxFans of the television show ‘Lost’ have no fear. The White House does not plan to schedule the President’s first State o…
  • Dark Energy and Neutrinos - Coincidence?
    Dark Energy and Neutrinos - Coincidence?
    click for the buzz
    Could neutrinos present at the Big Bang have kicked off dark energy? It's an interesting idea, but maybe it's just coincidence. From Discovery News,The idea sprang from calculations showing that the d…
  • Bertrand Russel on Skepticism
    Bertrand Russel on Skepticism
    click for the buzz
    From Bertrand Russel's On the Value of Scepticism, the following is something to keep in mind when considering 'science by consensus':The scepticism that I advocate amounts only to this: (1) that when…
  • Why Randi, Why?
    Why Randi, Why?
    click for the buzz
    I have the utmost respect for James Randi. He has done the most of anyone on this planet to promote skepticism and fight the woo. I had the opportunity to meet and talk with him on a couple occasions…
  • Fun Science
    Fun Science
    click for the buzz
    Perfect for parties and sure to get you a date! Richard Wiseman presents fun tricks for the holidays:(thanks Phil, always with the best posts!)
  • Randi on Global Warming - Shockers!
    Randi on Global Warming - Shockers!
    click for the buzz
    James Randi is the world's most renown representative for skepticism. As such, his opinion is highly valued by skeptics from all corners of the globe. Recently, he posted AGW, Revisited - a short disc…

Jack of Kent

  • What Happened to Lance Corporal Mark Aspinall?
    What Happened to Lance Corporal Mark Aspinall?
    click for the buzz
    Please see this.Now read this.Sickening and disappointing.One wonders what the verdict on Special Constable Peter Lightfoot will be.NO COMMENTS UNTIL VERDICT
  • Ian Tomlinson: Why No Cross-Examination?
    Ian Tomlinson: Why No Cross-Examination?
    click for the buzz
    Following on from my blogpost yesterday, can anyone explain why the conflicting post mortem reports could not be dealt with by means of cross-examination at a jury trial?The CPS decision is here.COMME…
  • Ian Tomlinson and Misconduct in Public Office
    Ian Tomlinson and Misconduct in Public Office
    click for the buzz
    Let me introduce you to the offence of Misconduct in Public Office. It is a common law offence, which means it was not created by statute. It is not prosecuted very often, but the elements of the offe…
  • Victory for Gray and Hilton
    Victory for Gray and Hilton
    click for the buzz
    The misconceived libel claim against Labour bloggers John Gray and Alex Hilton has been struck out for abuse of process.(In this case I assisted Robert Dougans, who acted (brilliantly) for Alex.)The j…
  • The background to the Gray and Hilton libel case
    The background to the Gray and Hilton libel case
    click for the buzz
    At about 2pm this afternoon the High Court will rule on whether the libel claim against Labour bloggers John Gray and Alex Hilton can be struck out for abuse of process.My friend Robert Dougans, who o…
  • The meaning of #StupidScientology
    The meaning of #StupidScientology
    click for the buzz
    Let me introduce you to Councillor John Dixon of Cardiff Council.You will like him.On 9 May 2009, John Dixon came to London, and on that day he walked down Tottenham Court Road.As he walked past one p…
  • The Integrity and Honesty of @gillianmckeith
    The Integrity and Honesty of @gillianmckeith
    click for the buzz
    This is a preliminary blogpost. I plan to follow this with a second more substantive blogpost once I have verified various points.Let me introduce you to @gillianmckeith.This is a Twitter account in t…
  • Kaschke v Gray and Hilton - update
    Kaschke v Gray and Hilton - update
    click for the buzz
    On Friday 9 July 2010, the bloggers John Gray and Alex Hilton applied in the High Court to have the libel claim brought against them thrown out.(My friend Robert Dougans, who of course acted for Simon…
  • The Improper and Disgraceful Conduct of Hackney Council
    The Improper and Disgraceful Conduct of Hackney Council
    click for the buzz
    Let me introduce you to the strange world of Hackney Council.Our story begins in May 2010 with Andrew Boff, a Conservative politician seeking election as Mayor of Hackney.It would be fair to say Mr Bo…
  • Why can't Pepsi blog on ScienceBlogs?
    Why can't Pepsi blog on ScienceBlogs?
    click for the buzz
    Pepsi would like to blog about science and nutrition.(For background, see here and links therein.)This is surely a Good Thing. If Pepsi are crap or biased, then we can call them out on being crap and…

The Armchair Skeptic

  • On Vacation
    On Vacation
    click for the buzz
    Mrs. A.S. and I have been on vacation this week, so this post is something of a vacation as well. We're taking a break from the daily grind and getting in some relaxation before the AAI convention thi…
  • The "New" Atheism: Real Progress or Trendy Political Fad?
    The "New" Atheism: Real Progress or Trendy Political Fad?
    click for the buzz
    Mrs. A.S. and I will be going to the AAI 2009 convention at the beginning of October. We have never been to an atheists convention before, and after our experience with some local atheists, we've been…
  • Putting Our Money Where Our Mouths Are
    Putting Our Money Where Our Mouths Are
    click for the buzz
    My post about TAM7 closed with the hope that the JREF would bring in enough money to be able to continue to put on future TAMs. This wasn't an idle thought. With the possible exception of the Center f…
  • Prominent Skeptics: People, Not Heroes
    Prominent Skeptics: People, Not Heroes
    click for the buzz
    Michael Shermer has blogged about politics again, triggering another raft of comments on whether that's an appropriate topic for skeptics. A comment from Jason Loxton warned about the damage that can…
  • Half-Smart
    Half-Smart
    click for the buzz
    During a panel discussion on Skepticism and Magic at TAM7, the often-asked question came up yet again: should skeptics learn something about magic to help them in investigating paranormal claims? The…
  • Notes from TAM7
    Notes from TAM7
    click for the buzz
    Mrs. A.S. and I are leaving Las Vegas today after spending the last four days at The Amazing! Meeting 7, the annual JREF conference. This was our fifth TAM, and the eighth such meeting put on by the J…
  • Nostalgia
    Nostalgia
    click for the buzz
    Ah, the good old days. Remember those? That's the time when just about everything was better than it is today: music, movies, food, the environment, people, culture, life generally. We didn't have the…
  • Politics, Economics, and Social Issues
    Politics, Economics, and Social Issues
    click for the buzz
    Skeptics are generally united when it comes to applying critical thinking to questions about physical reality. Ask a group of skeptics about ESP, dowsing, or chi, and you'll typically find that they a…
  • Mystery Letter
    Mystery Letter
    click for the buzz
    Mrs. A.S. recently received a letter from the Center for Inquiry, the parent organization of the Council for Secular Humanism and the Committee for Scientific Inquiry (formerly known as CSICOP). What…
  • Morality, Ethics, and Religion
    Morality, Ethics, and Religion
    click for the buzz
    One of the common arguments in favor of religion is that people need religion to be moral; without it, anything goes. Of course, this is rubbish. There have been studies that show that there is little…

Young Asustralian Skeptics

PodBlack Cat

The Digital Cuttlefish

  • The worst day of my life so far.
    The worst day of my life so far.
    click for the buzz
    One of the world's truly great men died today, surrounded by his loving family. The world is better off for his having lived, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, who are alive today because of h…
  • Evolution
    Evolution
    click for the buzz
    The emergence of some featureThrough selection of mutationsDoesn’t happen in one creature,But across the populations!Permutations, combinations,Both additions and omissions,Lead to phenotype creatio…
  • Caterpillars?
    Caterpillars?
    click for the buzz
    Oh, HATE!!! Distilled to element—oh, hate; oh, hate; oh, hate-oh!An idealized form of hatred scarcely dreamt about by PlatoI despise the caterpillars that descend on my tomatoesAnd I wish that every…
  • Galileo, again
    Galileo, again
    click for the buzz
    A re-posting, of sorts--I blogged about this last year, but now the exhibit has started. Florence's History of Science Museum (now named, appropriately enough, the Galileo Museum) is giving us the fin…
  • Jellyfish!
    Jellyfish!
    click for the buzz
    With surf and sunIt’s lots of funTo swim at Wallis SandsWield plastic tools,Dig sandy poolsIn which to wash your handsWhere you can shareYour picnic fareWith seagulls, if you wishAnd now, the placeW…
  • Omphaloskepsis
    Omphaloskepsis
    click for the buzz
    The recent farewell post by Bora, and some of the other explanations for departures, have got me thinking. It's not something I do often, or terribly well. But I found a couple spare neurons to rub to…
  • Open Thread For Displaced Pharyngulites
    Open Thread For Displaced Pharyngulites
    click for the buzz
    While Pharyngula's going on strikeYou can hang around here, if you like.Look around, take your time--No, you don't have to rhyme;(And DM? You can go take a hike!)No, I don't expect you to migrate here…
  • On Social Engineering
    On Social Engineering
    click for the buzz
    I wrote this yesterday, I think, on a comment thread that turned into a tone-fight, so I doubt that more than the half-dozen or so participants bothered to read far enough down to see it. So here it i…
  • Two Books
    Two Books
    click for the buzz
    There was a man who had a bookOf Things Which He Believed;He followed it religiously—He would not be deceived.The story in its pages wasThe Truth that he adored—The world outside its ancient scrip…
  • I Will Survive!
    I Will Survive!
    click for the buzz
    My original beef with Libertarians is at a very basic level--I disagree with a great many of their philosophical foundations. Now this--Libertarians are Darwinian? Well, selection might have maimed me…

Australian Skeptics