In their book Trick or Treatment? Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst evaluate the evidence to support a range of “alternative therapies”. As they write, contrary to common excuses, all of these “alternatives” have been rigorously scientifically tested. As they show, almost none of them measure up to their claims. Some
Perhaps Tim Flannery really is one of Australia’s most accomplished scientists. After all, it’s not many people whose name gets made into a vernacular verb, but an increasing number of Australians have taken to remarking that “It’s really Flannerying down”, when the weather turns wet. A “Flannery”
David Martill University of Portsmouth Cariad Williams University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign David Martill is a Professor of Palaeobiology working mainly on pterosaurs, theropod dinosaurs and exceptional preservation of fossil vertebrates. He is particularly interested in the Cretaceous with projects on the dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight, the Kem
Jonathan Miltimore fee.org Jonathan Miltimore is the Managing Editor of FEE.org. His writing/reporting has been the subject of articles in TIME magazine, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, Fox News, and the Star Tribune. Bylines: Newsweek, The Washington Times, MSN.com, The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller,
Countess Elizabeth Bathory was said to be obsessed with the notion that bathing in the blood of young girls was the key to eternal youth. To that end, legend has it that she murdered as many as 600 girls. It seems that Bathory was a pioneer for today’s wealthy
Dr. Jay Lehr cfact.org CFACT Senior Science Analyst Jay Lehr has authored more than 1,000 magazine and journal articles and 36 books. Jay’s new book A Hitchhikers Journey Through Climate Change written with Teri Ciccone is now available on Kindle and Amazon. As more and more in
There’s an esoteric procedure used by high-level computer experts and engineers which is known to fix the majority of problems with malfunctioning equipment. The high priests of technological wizardry refer to this arcane ritual as “power cycling”. You and I know it better as “turning it off and then
Dr. John Happs PA Pundits – International papundits.wordpress.com Marcus Cicero (106–43 BCE) was a Roman lawyer, statesman, philosopher, skeptic and writer. Cicero was also a senator who wanted a Republic that better served all the people. He was deeply involved in the political conflicts of Rome and questioned
Louis Armstrong famously said, “If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know”. It was, in short, a question of faith: you just knew it when you felt it. The same is true, in a not-so-different way, of God and the soul. The Bible describes the nagging
Dr. Jay Lehr cfact.org CFACT Senior Science Analyst Jay Lehr has authored more than 1,000 magazine and journal articles and 36 books. Jay’s new book A Hitchhikers Journey Through Climate Change written with Teri Ciccone is now available on Kindle and Amazon. I regard consensus science as
Dave Chappelle’s Sticks and Stones comedy special controversially noted that the “unwritten and unspoken rule of show business” is that “you are never, ever, allowed to upset the alphabet people”. On cue, a goodly slice of the “alphabet people” proved his point by completely losing their glitter-sprinkled shit. But
Some of the most stunning archaeological finds are the results of serendipity. Bedouin shepherd boys stumbling on the cave of the Dead Sea Scrolls. A Napoleonic soldier tripping over the partly-buried Rosetta Stone. A warren of bunnies digging up prehistoric British tools. In a first-of-its-kind discovery this month, a herd
Apropos of absolutely nothing at all, a question popped into the brain, “If a bio-plastic is still a plastic, why is it better for the planet?” Followed quickly by, “Is it better for the planet?” So what is a bio-plastic? A common one is made from fermented plant starch from
