Hi guys!
You will probably have noticed, if you're familiar with this blog, that there haven't been many articles under any category other than 'Mini-Essays' and 'Entertainment', for several months.
I have, in fact, still been reading things that i would love to pass on to you, the wonderful public of the World Wide Web. And you might have noticed me posting a fair few things on Tumblr, and adding to playlists on YouTube. They're just easier than finishing off articles for the blog.... this blog.
In future, there will be no return to last year's pattern of a weekly article under every category - it put me under too much pressure to find something worth telling, for every category, every week.
Instead, i'm going to 'stockpile' things that are worth passing on, and when i've got enough to make a full post with, an article will appear under that heading. This is what i've done with the latest Pseudoscience article, as an example.
'Pseudoscience stuff from the period 28/1 - 21/6/13'
This means some sections will be 'articled' more than others, but at least they will be there - i can blog a lot more casually, if i know i don't have to worry too much about timing - i can just leave it a week, and add a couple more stories in.
You might also have noticed that i've added a link to the Atom feed, under "About Me".
You can copy it into the URL bar, or you can click here: http://tapejarascience.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
Or you can go to the bottom of the page and click there.
I case you don't know how Feeds work: You'll get a bookmark folder (in Firefox, at least), in which a new bookmark will appear, every time a new post does. This makes it easier to follow blogs, for their new articles. Try it!
[Screenshot of what it'll look like, and the link at the bottom of the page]
{I've checked Internet Explorer, and it isn't as good as in Firefox, which is what i use. Evidently ^ .}
I gesturally wish you happy blogging :-)
Hi, Dawkinsians
This week, i discovered this tumblr:
'Dawkins on Twitter'
http://dawkinsontwitter.tumblr.com/
"Richard Dawkins says some very odd things on Twitter. This is my attempt to catalogue some of these gems."
Dawko uses his incisive intellect, not just to eviscerate asinine arguments in a staid academic way, but also to satirise brilliantly.
...in other words, he's got a great sense of humour :-P
"Vertebrates generally know how to copulate without instruction or example. Do naive human couples? Any evidence from e.g. Victorian diaries?"
What the heck's going on after 4:50 in this video, however... you'll have to try to work that one out for yourself!
http://dawkinsontwitter.tumblr.com/post/53757177649/so-this-isnt-a-dawkins-on-twitter-thing-but
It has not evaded my awareness that Dawko is subject to a lot of offensive behaviour, from many flanks of your human culture.
The reason - i think he's become the subject of popular prejudice - like gas station sandwiches, coffee, and... Americans.
Every human gets to feel smug and knowledgeable and chummy with their friends when they all agree that Starbucks' coffee is less like coffee, and more like frothy water.
Except drinkers, including flying reptiles, generally don't drink coffee for the taste - they drink it for the caffeine hit - bitter coffea solution is what we pay for, and bitter coffea solution is what we get.
Starbucks' coffee complies perfectly with our requirements, and yet slagging it off is widely popular.
It's better than challenging ourselves as to whether our opinions of liking/disliking coffee/Dawko are at all justified though, isn't it.
If people accept that they drink a horrible drink despite not liking it, they'd realise they have a problem. {[nudge]... caffeine addiction]
If people accept that what Dawko says is regularly erudite and insightful, then they'd realise that they have a problem. {Their own lack of understanding with which to challenge his}
Cue flack for myself, for being a fanatical supporter - which i'm not - i don't do fanaticism, because emotion smothers rationality and obscures the truth.
Live long and prosper :-P
------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff
'10 new bets that you will always win' - Richard Wiseman
{Having done the toilet roll one, i've noticed that it requires a firm, stiff surface, otherwise the roll bounces around too much or not at all. If you read this before watching the video... hehe, i bet you're intrigued now :D}
http://youtu.be/UXfIRHoJu-o
'Did My Wife Cheat On Me?'
Dark Antics makes semi-seriously investigates whether his son is not actually his. And by "semi", i mean "not at all" :-P
http://youtu.be/5KkwOrEq6cw
'My Room Tour - Boris Johnson // Bad Teeth'
http://youtu.be/TiVObqaMnxk
'The (Walrus) Housing Crisis Solved - The Now Show - 21 June 2013'
{My upload}
http://youtu.be/jogFR1kcAlo
'Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull Evil Geniuses or Idiots? You Decide!'
Urmmm... idiots.
http://youtu.be/E2rrBI1lOqk
------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks
Word Of The Week: beeturia -- a phenomenon whereby lack of beetulain metabolism results in urine and/or stools are dyed red. This sometimes happens, after eating beetroot, for example
Headline Of The Week: "Cattle exports axed over cruelty claims"
Expression Of The Week: "not on your nelly!" -- an emphatic form of 'no'
Etymology Of The Week: mastication -- through french, from greek - 'mastickhe' meaning 'to chew'; same origin as the tree resin - mastic - used in some chewing gums
Quote Of The Week: “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” - Mae West
Fact Of The Week: There is a Jewish prayer - a blessing from the Talmud - that involves thanking Yahweh for not making them a woman
------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff
Get him!
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/53591145007
Oh dear...
http://www.boredville.com/35469/You-Had-One-Job
50 brilliant pub chalkboards :-D
http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2013/05/06/50-brilliant-pub-chalkboards/
More pareidolia - happy car headlights :o)
http://www.myconfinedspace.com/2010/08/19/troll-face-car/celica-troll-jpg/
British Ham:
http://cruelmemez.tumblr.com/post/53053607795
Seal proselytism:
http://cruelmemez.tumblr.com/post/52818792869
Adverts for sex shops - highly amusing :o)
http://copyranter.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/if-you-dont-like-these-sex-shop-ads-you.html
All kinds of legolas:
http://www.generalnonsense.net/showpost.php?p=293763&postcount=13614
I'm not going to Indiana - the cats are humungous, over there!!!
http://www.reddit.com/r/Indiana/comments/1h6tlh/according_to_indot_your_truck_clearance_is_that/
'How to Solve a Physics Problem'
http://jakespurlock.com/2013/06/how-to-solve-a-physics-problem/
"You
know how sometimes you’re browsing in a DVD shop, and you notice that
the little divider things with the film names on them are telling you a
short story? … Poor old Jane."
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/54244068963/you-know-how-sometimes-youre-browsing-in-a-dvd
[+ video] 'Gaze-Activated Dresses'
When i read the title, i was perplexed by all the possibilities that a gaze-responsive dress could employ: it could change colour, change pattern... or fall off [nudge nudge, wink wink, say no mowar] but no - what it actually does, is move around, a bit, in a manner as unconvincing of enthusiasm as the girls that modelled it. Rather disappointing...
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unusual-art-and-fashion/gaze-activated-dresses/
Is that a thirty-foot-long pole i your pocket, Mr Wallenda, or are you... oh, it is just a pole. And you're going to do what with it?!
'Nik Wallenda High-Wire Walks Over the Grand-Canyon!'
My hands are clammy, just having watched him!
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/incredible-feats/nik-wallenda-high-wire-walks-over-the-grand-canyon/
Fake Science catch-up!
I think there's a slight misunderstanding of Schrödinger's Cat going on, here :D
http://fakescience.org/post/48624870706/a-good-scientist-is-careful
How to deal with bad breath:
http://fakescience.org/post/48941366098/dont-get-caught-with-bad-breath
How to use a microscope:
http://fakescience.org/post/50100869630/using-your-microscope
Relatively rare neurological disorders:
http://fakescience.org/post/51737820398/relatively-rare-neurological-disorders
Better than balloon animals!
http://fakescience.org/post/53371667561/better-balloon-animals
Let's go for a dip! A guide to public swimming pools:
http://fakescience.org/post/53857174062/lets-go-for-a-dip
Ladies and gentlemen - Victor Borge!
If you want to see a musical farce nowadays, the best i can suggest to you are Igudesman and Joo, with their 'A Little Nightmare Music' show
'Victor Borge Hands off! The funniest night at opera you could get'
http://youtu.be/QMKIE8vjBQI
'Victor Borge corrects a mistake'
http://youtu.be/3fEy9g2T1l8
'Victor Borge Dance Of The Comedians'
I'm sure that first violinist's Elton John!
http://youtu.be/wGESFaMl84U
'Victor Borge - His Greatest Piano Jokes'
http://youtu.be/NMVatrCsz0Y?t=1m36s
Hi, summerians
Felicitations to everyone in the Southisphere - having just passed the Winter Solstice, you're due favourable (brighter) prospects for the coming six months.
For Northispherians like me, however, having just passed the Summer Solstice... doom and gloom. This is the best it's gonna be, and it's all downhill from here....
Pessimist? Me? Nah....
If you'd like to make use of the Summer Solstice, Thunderf00t and thegentlemanphysicist need you, to help them replicate the measurement of Earth's size that was made by Eratosthenes more than 2200 years ago.
'How to Measure the size of Earth!'
http://youtu.be/HX-UtuZeysM
All you have to do is measure some shadows and record your position.
You might not have noticed that i've finally finished a News article - for the Pseudoscience section - but there's a lot to catch up on, so don't read it all at once!
'Pseudoscience stuff from the period 28/1 - 21/6/13'
http://tapejarascience.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/pseudoscience-stuff-from-period-281.html
Also, it's Alan Turing's 101st birthday anniversary today.
He's the man who demonstrated that the spots on 101 dalmatians can spontaneously develop from uniformity.
And he was a Disney fan, so i hope he'd like that reference :-P
Have you ever wondered what scientists do in their spare time?
Well, this is what epidemiologists get up to, LOL
'New Zealand Mid Year Meeting, March 2010'
http://youtu.be/JYyggOs7khc
------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff
'Almost losing an eye in a chemistry lab!'
How to convince someone that, when you are using a remote-controlled toy car to trigger a nerf gun to fire explosive metal into water, that it is actually both a safety feature and real science!
http://youtu.be/fkZjzrpKyuQ
'Trololo - Anthony Head Vers. // Bad Teeth'
Mr Gently Benevolent's full rendition of Eduard Khil's trololo song :-D
http://youtu.be/xJsZkMMcYAM
What's that, in the sky? Is it a plane? Is it a train? ...yes!
'TWIE 149: Balloon Internets - YouTube | Contact Lens Display | Plane And Train Combo | Liquid-free Lithium Batteries | Kilometre Elevator Cables | Interplanetary Robot Submarine'
http://youtu.be/jwtcfjXlTn4
What's that, in the sky? Is it a bike? Is it a plane? ...it's a kind of not-quite-hovercraft not-quite-bike thingamyjig?!
'Flying Bicycle'
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unbelievable-but-true/flying-bicycle/
'In A Car Park - The Lion Sleeps Tonight'
The big guy at the back has such pizazz! :D
http://youtu.be/IxnB1gAUTwc
Another illusion, via Richard Wiseman:
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/53662956020/concentrate-on-the-black-spot-in-the-corner-and
A couple of uploads by me on YouTube:
'Richard Saunders - Skeptic's horoscope'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpp1qEAjcXE
'Mitch Benn - The Delicate Souls, At The Controls (The Now Show 7th June 2013)'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV6xeFnIX5Y
------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks
Quotes Of The Week:
Rapunzel: "Don't touch my extensions!"
Prince Charles, heir to the throne of Great Britain: "What is wrong with people, nowadays? Why do they all seem to think they're qualified to do things far above their capabilities? This is all the consequence of a child-centred education system which tells people, without the natural ability, that they can become [King]"
{Oh, no - sorry - he actually said that! Except his retort ended "pop stars, high court judges, or brilliant TV presenters", which, arguably, is even funnier}
Robert Maxwell: "...yes, i feel fine. Positively buoyant! Now, let me get on my yacht..."
Word Of The Week: dyskeuomorph -- a word coined by New Scientist's Feedback column, for an anachronistic recreation of a flawed technology e.g. snow in broken YouTube links
Expression Of The Week: "Gordon Bennett", "Christchurch Cathedral", "For Fudge's Sake", etc -- exclamations invented to disguise commenced-swearing, into vanilla phrases
Etymology Of The Week: imminent -- from latin via imminere meaning 'to hang/be near' from in + minere meaning 'to jut out' relating to 'mons' meaning 'hill'
Quote Of The Week: "Good breeding in cattle depends on physical health, but in men on a well-formed character" - Democritus
Fact Of The Week: In 1988, a card magician performed an act at the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques that was so good that the judges thought he must have been using stooges to shuffle the cards. In 1991, he got them to shuffle, and he won
Acronym Of The Week: IPCRESS -- Induction of Psycho-neuroses by Conditioned Reflex under strESS (technically not a proper acronym)
Cocktail Of The Week: Horse's Neck
------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff
Feedback excerpts:
READER Richard Mallett is impressed by the capabilities of his Russell Hobbs microwave. As shown on page 14 of the instruction manual, the device can be set to operate at 0 per cent cooking power (see bit.ly/zeropower).
"I have tested this," Richard says, "and I can confirm that the 0 per cent power mode actually works. I 'heated' a cold glass of water for a minute and it remained cold."
He points out that the oven's turntable still spins food around on this setting, but no microwave power is frivolously wasted on heating it up – thus saving on energy bills.
18 May
READER Paul Adkin was feeling a bit under the weather, so his wife gave him a bottle of Source of Life multivitamin and mineral food supplement purchased at their local health food shop.
Examining the label, he was delighted to discover that it contained, among other things, "proprietary soluble whole food complex of prehistoric trace element concentrate".
He had no idea whether this would be good for him or bad for him, but reports that "at least it tastes like it should be doing me some good".
18 May
Readers might be able to help Feedback solve a recursivity problem.
Catherine Walter writes from Oxfordshire in the UK asking for our advice on following her partner's horoscope, published in her local newspaper, the Didcot Herald.
The horoscope read: "Things don't and can't always go to plan, but as long as you keep your sense of right and wrong to the fore then your journey can be a good one. In fact, by trusting in your own instincts and not others' advice you can put your life on a far better path this week."
Catherine wants to know whether or not her partner should trust this advice not to trust other people's advice.
18 May
The screenshot Hugh Lawton sent us shows that his download of the 39.5 megabyte MacKeeper program got to "4,100% complete" before he stopped watching it and did something else
25 May
READER Richard Sturch forwards an email from his cousin Peter Dyer, who bought a remarkable bottle of water with his breakfast in Bacalod airport on the island of Negros in the Philippines.
"I didn't realise what a find it was until reading the label later," he says.
His email quotes the label on the bottle in full – and exactly the same claims are on the company's website at people-water-station.com: "People's Purified Water undergoes a state-of-the-art multi stage water treatment process that includes carbon, micro, ultra and hyper filtration via a double reverse osmosis, sterilised through ultra violet and oxygenated and stimulated by vortexing process and vitalised through a bio-resonance and quantum science process."
Can anyone tell us what on earth they are talking about?
25 May
Generously, Naomi Ives gives us the chance to take advantage of the offer emailed to her by catalogue company La Redoute: "00% off your favourite item"
1 Jun
ON A pack of colour laundry detergent capsules from Morrisons supermarket, Don Wycherley found, in addition to the standard health and safety warnings, the words "NOT FOR EMERGENCY USE" in large capital letters.
Don says he is now condemned to sleepless nights worrying about what kind of emergency might tempt him to (mis)use a Morrisons colour detergent capsule. And what dire consequences might follow if he did?
He is now thinking of buying some other brand of detergent that does not carry this warning, so that he will be prepared if the worst happens.
1 Jun
The email Adept Science sent Chris McManus began: "Seeing as you've unsubscribed from our email newsletters, you won't have heard about our ultra topical upcoming event..."
Chris asks: "What is it about the word 'unsubscribe' that they don't understand?"
1 Jun
{They might be adept at Science, but clearly little else!}
Brian Robinson sends us a photo of a large sign outside a showroom in what he describes as "rural Virginia". It says: "Antique tables made daily"
8 Jun
A SIGN in Roger Calvert's local ASDA supermarket proclaims "Tried, Tasted and Chosen by You". The two displays it refers to, Roger tells us, are for liquid laundry detergent and plastic bin bags.
8 Jun
What a difference a missing hyphen can make. Anthony Brookes has discovered that his local supermarket sells a product labelled "Lacura Anti-Skin Ageing Sun Cream".
15 Jun
It's been quite a while since i've posted News under any section, so there's quite a plethora of stories for you to choose from.
There is a variety of article-types - videos and written, as well as some podcasts - and i've stratified the stories so that the post's not just a looooooong list of titles, descriptions and URLs. I find that very tiring to read!
The sections will be:
General (6 articles about pseudoscience and how it works)
What's New in Pseudoscience? (7 articles about general changes and developments in the world of made-up nonsense)
Paranoia and conspiracy (7 articles about psychogenic illness and conspiracy 'theories')
Steiner-Waldorf (5 articles about the anthroposophical cult that controls various schools)
Non-alt Non-med (14 articles about non-alternative non-medicine)
Diets (11 articles about non-alt non-med and other dietary pseudosciences)
James McCormick (4 articles about the guy who sold dowsing rods as bomb detectors)
Marketing nonsense (8 articles about spurious claims in marketing)
The anti-vaccine cult (9 articles about the ant.. yeah, you guessed it)
Assorted other rubbish (9 articles about assor... yeah, you got that one too)
Doubtful News (links to all of Swift (on the JREF site) blog's catch-ups with what's been reported on the Doubtful News site, written by Sharon Hill herself (she runs DoubtfulNews.com) over the last 20 weeks.
Oh, btw, the chronological order of the stories got scrambled in the editing process, so if that kind of thing bothers you... sorry.
General
[video] ''science' of the gaps' - Theramin Trees
I classify Religion under pseudoscience, and pseudoscience under superstition. Other than that slight difference in classification, i opine that Theramin Trees has produced another astounding video.
http://youtu.be/dgN7a_vdIIc
[video] "From Witch Burning to'God-men: Supporting Skepticism Around the World" - TAM 2012'
Leo Igwe and Eran Segev discuss with Brian Thompson, about what's been going on in the world - from Leo, across Africa - and from Eran, across Australia.
Leo talks emotively about the problem of witchcraft, and all kinds of Religion-anchored beliefs which lead to murder, violence, and abuse, across the continent, including blasphemy laws, but also how the activities are not limited to Africa - the problem is global.
Eran talks about anti-vaccers, water diviners, how much harder it is for Leo, with the immediate threat of physical violence, free speech in Australia, and pharmaceutical companies.
http://youtu.be/rWU9gDKYTfM
This one came up on phys.org - naughty naughty!
'How to get a great night’s sleep: could less mean more?'
This 'study' is from 'The Sleep Council'. Who are The Sleep Council? They're a front group for the bed industry, of course!
And what do they advise? Well, they waffle on a bit about CBT and anxiety, and then they eventually advise that you should replace your bed every seven years. The side-effect of inflating their turnover is irrelevant, i suppose! <s>
http://www.sleepcouncil.org.uk/2013/02/how-to-get-a-great-nights-sleep-could-less-mean-more/
Here's a criticial thinking skills test, for you. What's wrong with this study?
'Preference to save the best for last fades with age, study finds'
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-age.html
The answer: It didn't test for changes - it took a snapshot, and assumed that the older people's preferences were as a result of ageing, which they could easily not have been.
The only way to find out how people change as they age, is to watch them change as they age! This would require a longitudinal study - not a sample of 90 people, one afternoon.
What you'd really need is a study like this one:
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/news/2013/165.html
[video] 'inFact: 5 Ways to Tell Science from Pseudoscience'
Brian 'Brian Dunning of skeptoid.com' Dunning shows us five ways to identify pseudoscience. It's not a concise list, but it's a useful one for novices.
http://youtu.be/e3SLiQFdKnA
'Bailing out of conspiracy ideas'
The intellectually suffocating environment of a superstition, in this case a superstition of conspiracy - a 'conspiracy theory' - is a difficult one to break free from. But sometimes people are responsive to evidence. So don't give up on humanity!
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/05/struggling-to-understand-getting-sucked-in-and-bailing-out-of-modern-conspiracy-ideas/
'Another Acupuncture Meta-Analysis – Low Back Pain'
Steven takes a chance to explain how the scientific method works, in the epidemiological context of pseudo-medicine.
"The
current data show that acupuncture is ineffective for low back pain, as
it is indistinguishable from sham treatments in blinded comparisons.
Acupuncture is therefore not recommended as a treatment and has no role
to play in a science-based treatment plan for low back pain. Given the
amount and quality of existing data, in addition to the low prior
probability, no further research is warranted and in fact would be
ethically dubious at this point. In view of the refractory nature of
chronic low back pain it would be extremely counterproductive to waste
any more time or resources on this dead end."
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/another-acupuncture-meta-analysis-low-back-pain/
And here are a couple of comic guides to pseudoscience, both by Crispian Jago:
‘The Venn Diagram Of Irrational Nonsense’
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/53514380592/the-venn-diagram-of-irrational-nonsense-by
‘Find Your Ideal Alternative Therapy’
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/53514376359/find-your-ideal-alternative-therapy-by-crispian
What's New in Pseudoscience?
[video] There's a relatively new line in quackery - doing things medical people should be doing, but without really knowing how, and still taking wodges of cash for it.
Teeth-whitening, Botox, LASER treatments - these are all dangerous procedures that should be done by qualified, practiced medical professionals, and not by goons in salons, or parlours, or by nurses in their spare-time, or... you get the idea.
{The Checkout is an Australian public service show involving three of The Chaser (so it takes a satirical stance).}
'YOU BEAUTY | The Checkout'
http://youtu.be/D9sKWyb3jJ0
'The deceptive rebranding of naturopaths'
Naturopaths are rebranding real medicine so that they can claim it as their own.
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-deceptive-rebranding-of-aspects-of-science-based-medicine-as-alternative-by-naturopaths-continues-apace/
'The death-throes of AIDS denial'
The denial that AIDS is caused by HIV is dying off... as the proponents die off, of course!
That hasn't stopped Peter Duesberg from trying. All these years later, he's still trotting out counter-factual claims, in the superstitious hysteria that AIDS has 'got to be' something else.
"The identification and characterization of HIV followed by the development of highly effective ART to treat it is one of the stunning science success stories of the last 30 years. In one generation HIV has gone from a death sentence to a manageable chronic illness.
Instead of celebrating this triumph of modern medical science, denialists make up conspiracy fantasies, and then desperately cling to their absurd beliefs while the rest of the world moves on. Along the way, however, they were responsible for many premature deaths (most notably in Africa where both HIV and HIV denial remain a serious problem)."
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2053-hiv-denial-in-the-21st-century.html
'China And Superstitions'
Chinese culture is one that exhibits many and powerful superstitions, not least Communism itself.
The Chinese State is still struggling to overcome various superstitions, an example given here being the case of now-disgraced former Rail Minister Liu Zhijun, who commissioned a Feng Shui charlatan for guidance as to 'auspicious dates' for beginning major construction projects!
Let's not pretend superstition is peculiar to Asian States, though - stock-marketeers in 'The West' still believe in nonsense techniques to model economic growth - HR departments still use graphology - the current Health Minister in the UK believes in magic (shaken) water - the list goes on.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2120-china-and-superstitions.html
'Journalist and psychiatrist awarded prize for bravery'
"DEATH threats and libel suits are not usually the stuff of a career in science. But this week two people who have faced violence and intimidation simply for trying to uphold scientific values became the first recipients of the John Maddox prize, an award that recognises exceptional courage and bravery in science anywhere in the world."
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628903.200-journalist-and-psychiatrist-awarded-prize-for-bravery.html
An interview with one of them: 'Fraud fighter: 'Faked research is endemic in China''
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628910.300-fraud-fighter-faked-research-is-endemic-in-china.html
'WDDTY #9 - Taking Stock'
The Nightingale Collaboration takes stock of cases dealt with, dodgy supplements, and finally, some positive action from Holland & Barrett:
http://www.nightingale-collaboration.org/news/143-wddty-9-taking-stock.html
In a post last month, i cajoled UK readers to follow me in assisting the Nightingale Collaboration to report CNHC-registered (that's the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council) quacks who breach their own guidelines.
Well, the NC doesn't need any more - they've already submitted more than a 100 select reports to the CNHC - those reports cover every area of quackery that the CNHC attempts to make legitimate.
"Some, we believe, are even illegal, with claims about cancer and using the protected title 'physician'. Most proudly display the CNHC's 'quality mark'."
No surprise there, for Skeptical Rationalists, who are familiar with pseudo-scientific behaviour!
Here's the full report:
'Endemic Problems With CNHC Registrants'
http://www.nightingale-collaboration.org/news/148-endemic-problems-with-cnhc-registrants.html
Paranoia and conspiracy
'The sickening truth about wind farm syndrome'
It's strange, but it's true - people manage to convince themselves into generic illness (headaches, nausea, joint-pain - that kind of thing) from fear of all kinds of things.
Wind-farms are the most recent in a long-list of new technologies that have become the victim of pseudo-maladies, created and exacerbated by superstition and propaganda.
"Opponents readily concede that only a minority of those exposed report being ill but explain this via the analogy of motion sickness: it only happens to those who are susceptible. How then to explain that whole regions and indeed nations, have no susceptible people? The key factor seems to be the presence or absence of anti-wind activists, generally from outside the area."
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628850.200-the-sickening-truth-about-wind-farm-syndrome.html
'Study concludes wind-farm syndrome's psychogenic'
Australian windmill study concludes health complaints are psychological and determined by people telling each other that they should be getting sick.
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/03/australian-windmill-study-concludes-health-complains-are-psychological/
'Death as a Foodborne Illness Curable by Veganism'
Red meat might be bad for your bowels and heart, but fruit is bad for your teeth. The standard advice since time began has always been "eat a healthy, balanced diet".
There is no such thing as 'a diet'; there is no such thing as 'a superfood'; no-one should eradicate an entire food-group from their diet unless they're severely allergic to all of it, which is incredibly unlikely.
Vegetarianism is generally not a good idea; and veganism is positively dangerous - it can make women severely ill, and kills children.
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/death-as-a-foodborne-illness-curable-by-veganism/
Hold it, though - the danger of eating red meat might have been over-estimated - there are covariant variables that might be making red and 'processed' meat look more dangerous than it really is ('processed' usually just means it's got more salt in it - the salt obscures blandness of taste).
'Death by Meat'
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2043-death-by-meat.html
'What happens when you study conspiracy theories? The conspiracy theorists make up conspiracy theories about you!'
http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2013/02/26/what-happens-when-you-study-conspiracy-theories-the-conspiracy-theorists-make-up-conspiracy-theories-about-you/
[video] 'Conspiracy theories conspiracy'
The wonderful potholer54 talks about how commonplace conspiracy theories are, and how lazy 'conspiracy theorists' are at validating them. There have been real conspiracies, and there are probably some going on right now, but a 'conspiracy theorist' will not be the guy to find out about them!
http://youtu.be/EhWpP-vPUcQ
'Alternative Medicine and the Vulnerable Child'
VCS is a disturbing psychological phenomenon, deriving from the anxiety of parents who get over-protective of their progeny. Protectiveness is understandable, and reasonable, but irrational degrees of it can be, and sometimes are, harmful to their children.
Where non-medicine comes in to it, is that they proponents are all too willing to 'confirm' the parents' suspicions that there is something not-quite-perfect about their little darling, and the quack always has a cure for that problem.
'Alt-med'-ers always 'have' a cure - their fields are supposedly panaceic - and there is always something wrong... supposedly. In VCS, there is not. This is disastrous for both the mental health of the parents, and the health of the child who is at the centre of the phenomenon.
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/alternative-medicine-and-the-vulnerable-child-2/
Steiner-Waldorf
[video] "Biodynamic" farming: Steiner nonsense from the BBC
A lunatic farmer, in one of the most nutrient-rich regions of the world, attributes his success to some bizarre superstition!
http://youtu.be/oBlcTWRafEc
{Listen out for the scornful condemnation of chemicals, while carrying a massive bag full of thousands of chemicals, in the form of cow shit!}
'Tories offer state funding to schools linked to ‘occult society’'
http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/18/tories-offer-state-funding-to-schools-linked-to-occult-society/
'The true nature of Steiner (Waldorf) education. Mystical barmpottery at taxpayers’ expense'
http://www.dcscience.net/?p=3528
'The Steiner Waldorf cult uses bait and switch to get state funding'
http://www.dcscience.net/?p=3595
'Steiner Waldorf Schools Part 3. The problem of racism'
http://www.dcscience.net/?p=3853
{Thank you heartily to Professor David Colquhoun for writing these articles}
Non-alt Non-med
[+ video] I suppose you have to laugh:
'Face-slapping, a Thai beauty treatment, supposed to shrink pores, combat wrinkles'
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/face-slapping-thai-beauty-treatment-fix-wrinkles-article-1.1191100
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMweFtFdqUY
[video] 'COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINES | Ep1 | The Checkout'
In this skit, Craig takes a look at the way 'Complementary Medicines' (which are neither) are treated by businesses and, more importantly, by regulatory bodies.
http://youtu.be/_vPha4usTtI
...a follow-up:
'Nicole Kidman Joins The Checkout + Dodgy Swisse Labelling'
http://youtu.be/12ww26sQF7E
'Acupuncturist sued for giving people HIV with standard acupuncture'
A quack-upuncturist is being sued, having given some HIV with their needles. Are we really surprised? Acupuncture is not science, so should we expect those who practice it to keep to medical standards? When do you see them wearing gloves? When do you see the massive pile of empty packets, from which they got the sterilised needles? You don't. Why? Because they don't undergo such safety procedures. Medical standards were never in contention in this, another, realm of quackery.
I wouldn't be surprised if he'd transferred the HIV from one -patient- victim to another, by re-using the needles! Incompetence is everywhere, in the quasi-world of pseudo-science.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/31/unlicensed-acupuncturist-hiv-infections-switzerland_n_1844403.html
'Dr. Oz sued for typically-dodgy advice'
Dr. Oz is being sued because he advised his listeners to cook their feet in rice... and then one of them got burned! This is another inevitability - if you hand out dodgy medical advice, that involves people performing procedures on themselves, and involve cooking parts of their bodies, you're going to get cases like this.
For those who have never heard of Dr. Oz, he's a one-time proper doctor who wandered into the world of pop pseudoscience, and now uses his radio show to mis-advise people, into the world of non-medicine.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/nyc-lawsuit-filed-dr-oz-sleep-tip-18762403
[+ audio] 'Cupping for the Cure'
Brian 'Brian Dunning of skeptoid.com' Dunning explores the baffling background behind the pseudo-medical practice of Cupping - the modern-day bloodletting.
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4359
Modern-day bloodletting (not for the squeamish):
http://malformalady.tumblr.com/post/49644409987/blisters-sustained-during-cupping-therapy-more-on
Lying in a coffin to make yourself feel better? Riiiight... [backs away slowly]
http://www.odditycentral.com/news/patients-lie-in-coffins-to-die-as-part-of-chinese-psychological-treatment.html
Very pretty; can potentially cause burns; and certainly has no medical benefit whatsoever!
'Fire Facials – Setting Your Face on Fire in the Name of Beauty'
http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/fire-facials-setting-your-face-on-fire-in-the-name-of-beauty.html
Alternatively, you can go to Japan, and get baked instead of roasted:
'Bathing in Fermented Sawdust – The Latest Bizarre Beauty Treatment from Japan'
http://www.odditycentral.com/news/bathing-in-fermented-sawdust-the-latest-bizarre-beauty-treatment-from-japan.html
Whereas in 'western' bullshit, you can get gassed and tumourised to health, with a dose of radon gas!
'Healing caves that give you cancer'
Follow the link through, if you will, to a credulous article at the Daily Fail.
If you're exposed to radon gas, at work or at home, evacuate - it's not safe!
http://uniquedaily.com/2013/04/healing-caves/
An introduction to 'therapeutic touch' which is neither therapeutic, nor does it involve touch!
'TT' is basically like Reiki (the eastern equivalent of 'faith healing') but without even touching the patient. Ludicrous!
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/jref-news/2096-therapeutic-touch-put-to-the-test-tomorrow-learn-about-it-today-on-qconsequenceq.html
Here's another non-medical superstition that's new to me: Gua Sha (called 'coining' or 'spooning' in English).
The superstition involves rubbing areas of skin with a heated spoon or coin, until the area burns red, and is used in attempts to treat cold, flu, headache, fever, pain, cough, or low energy.
http://malformalady.tumblr.com/post/49820126369/coining-or-cao-gio-pronounced-gow-yaw-is-a
See how quackery and scamming go hand in hand -- by posing as market researchers, they hunted down the vulnerable in order to sell them their nonsense products:
'Quacks a-calling'
http://noodlemaz.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/quacks-a-calling/
Diets
[video] 'Debunking The Detox Myth'
http://youtu.be/qJG34iZV6Rk
'The mysterious origins of the “8 glasses of water a day” rule'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/43004124366/8-glasses-of-water-rule-debunked
'Does the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet work?'
A cursory review of the literature, by people at the NHS, has found that claims regarding the 5:2 diet have not been researched i.e. they are superstitious - not based on evidence.
This means you're best-off sticking to the simple rules of: consume fewer calories; use more calories in daily activity; eat a healthy, balanced diet; keep a record of your weight, and join a weight-loss group, which will help you achieve your goal.
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/01January/Pages/Does-the-5-2-intermittent-fasting-diet-work.aspx?
Cranberry juice for urinary tract infections? Nope.
http://therapeuticseducation.org/podcast/episode-196-drink-or-not-drink-cranberry-juice-urinary-tract-infections
[+ audio] Can shrink-wrapping help you lose weight? Nope.
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/questions/qotw/question/1000102/
[video] 'SUPERFOODS | The Checkout'
http://youtu.be/fPGnBkH3fBg
'Coffee Pseudoscience'
From pick-me-ups to enemas, whichever orifice you put your coffee in, there will be accompanying and utterly bogus claims about it.
The fact that caffeine is an addictive and legal component is one that allows quacks to access a burgeoning market. The 'high' amplifies placebic effects when added to concoctions (we've likely all seen it mixed in with aspirin, on supermarket shelves) and the withdrawal effects keep us going back for more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2109-coffee-pseudoscience.html
'Cranberry, the alt-med zombie « Science-Based Medicine'
Does cranberry juice, extract, or supplement help people who have UTIs (Urinary Tract Infections)? No - they don't.
The proposed mechanism is insufficient to deal with the whole infection - it effects only uncommon bacteria, and so can't deal with the whole UTI.
The best available meta-analysed data says that it doesn't work; and the quantities that would have to be consumed, under the vendors' claims, would give you a 1 in 12 chance of avoiding a UTI, cost $180, and fill you with 45,000 calories - several pounds' worth of fat.
"Finally, let’s look at the alternatives to the alternative. Antibiotics taken for the prevention of UTIs are very effective, reducing the risk of an infection by up to 95%."
Cranberries for UTIs? Na-ah. Use the anti-biotics... as long as the bacteria aren't resistant, of course.
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/cranberry-the-alt-med-zombie/
'Kombucha: A symbiotic mix of yeast, bacteria and the naturalistic fallacy'
Now here's something i'd never heard of before! Kombucha - a heady, fermented concoction that poses no known medical benefit, usually doesn't taste nice, and might just kill you off with anthrax infection! No benefit, but with a risk of death - what does that remind me of? But even Russian Roulette doesn't leave a nasty taste in your mouth.
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/kombucha-a-symbiotic-mix-of-yeast-bacteria-and-the-naturalistic-fallacy/
'Coconut Oil'
Coconut oil is touted as a healthy alternative to animal and trans fats in cooking, and is claimed to treat (take a mental breath, now!) "viruses, bacteria, yeast, fungi, and candida; boosts thyroid function; improves blood sugar control and reduces the need for insulin; increases energy and endurance; increases digestion and improves absorption of vitamins; lowers cholesterol; helps control weight; has anti-aging effects; is good for skin and hair; and is quite safe to take in reasonable amounts. The Wellness Mama website lists 101 uses for coconut oil, including treating sunburns, athlete’s foot, Alzheimer’s disease, nasal allergies, arthritis, insomnia, autism, heartburn, hemorrhoids, depression, acne, cellulite, mosquito bites, and lice."
The trouble is, there is no evidence regarding its application in medical situations, apart from as a sterile alternative to distilled water, and although not considered to be as harmful to health as it used to be, it's still not considered to be as healthy as claimed.
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/coconut-oil/
'How to Really Eat Like a Hunter-Gatherer: Why the Paleo Diet Is Half-Baked'
The Paleo Diet is fanciful because we don't know how/whether our biology's changed in the last few hundred thousand years, and we don't know what homo sapiens' diet was really like back then. I mean, they obviously didn't eat Mars bars, or drink Coca Cola, but we have no idea what proportions they ate different food-types in, or whether species have been lost in the intervening years, which used to be a staple.
Need i remind that there is no such thing as 'a diet'? Always eat "a healthy, balanced diet".
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-paleo-diet-half-baked-how-hunter-gatherer-really-eat
James McCormick
'James McCormick guilty of selling fake bomb detectors'
While the article condemns McCormick profusely, for deceiving them, it was an astounding display of incompetence - an astounding lack of skepticism - that led to them falling, hook line and sinker, for his scam.
All he did was to replace the stickers on a golf-ball finder. The 'devices' are still being used in Iraq, today. The reason: staggering incompetence at distinguishing truth from fiction.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22266051
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829165.900-hunt-for-car-bombs-using-lasers.html
'The Randi Show - ADE 651'
"McCormick is responsible for many deaths... and yet the UK government could only convict him on charges of fraud... he goes to jail for five years and he will make over seven and a half million dollars a year, just waiting in jail for his sentence to come up!"
http://youtu.be/i163sq2SIHw
'Bomb detection device procurement under investigation in Thailand'
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/04/bomb-detection-device-procurement-under-investigation-in-thailand/
'Iraqis Continue To Use Fake Bomb Detectors'
Superstitionists in both Iraq and Kenya are still very willing to use McCormick's dowsing rods as if they work. They do not. They never will. To convince themselves otherwise is pure self-deception.
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/04/iraq-security-continues-to-use-fake-bomb-detectors/
Marketing nonsense
[video] 'Molly Crockett: Beware neuro-bunk'
No-one wants to be stupid. No-one wants to be thought stupid. So there's a big market in cognitive enhancement. Unfortunately, all the products are pseudo-scientific - there's no verified mechanism to enhance all-cognition abilities by food/Nintendo!
http://youtu.be/b64qvG2Jgro
Incidentally, i did a mini-essay about Lumosity's particular brand of brain-training bunk, to vent my frustration. In science, 'brain training' is called... 'learning'.
'Comment #20: -- Lumosity And The Brain-Training Bunk'
http://tapejarascience.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/comment-20-lumosity-and-brain-training.html
[video] Nurofen 'targeted' pain relief? It does nothing of the kind - it's not 'targeted' at all!
'CHRONIC PAIN | The Checkout'
http://youtu.be/tfNqBP900L8
'Tobacco industry myths'
http://www.cancercampaigns.org.uk/ourcampaigns/theanswerisplain/tobaccoindustrymyths/
Cancer Research UK has been pushing the UK government to go through with legislation to compel tobacco companies to remove the colourful packaging from their packets, and instead colour them plain grey.
Unfortunately, the current UK government is a bunch of soppy-minded conservatives, easily manipulable by industry lobbyists, who've propagandised in favour of their heinous industry - making people sick via addiction, for profit - for more than a century.
If you're UK-based, you can e-mail your local MP, as part of Cancer Research UK's campaign, here:
https://action.cancerresearchuk.org/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=149&ea.campaign.id=16993
Feeling poorly? Maybe you've not been earthed properly. It's the brown cable, you know - not the blue one or the green and yellow one!
'WDDTY #7 - Going to Ground?'
http://www.nightingale-collaboration.org/news/141-wddty-7-going-to-ground.html
'WDDTY #8 - Quantum Flapdoodle'
Quantum flapdoodles and quantum competence:
"[The] ad claimed: Melatonin Zn Se is freely available in Italy and is now available for the first time under article 1 of the treaty of Rome direct from Italy to you!
This is odd given that, according to the ASA, the advertiser is based in Belize in Central America, they have a PO Box on Sark in the Channel Islands, their domain name is registered in Panama and their parent company is also based in Panama, yet give a London contact phone number. The website mentioned in the ad, www.melatoninznse.com, is registered to an address on Sark and gives the same London telephone number.
Regardless, because it is an unlicensed medicine in the UK, it is prohibited to market it in the UK, regardless of where it comes from."
http://www.nightingale-collaboration.org/news/142-wddty-8-quantum-flapdoodle.html
[video] Baldness treatments: do the claims stack up, or are they just pulling the wig over your eyes?
'THE BALD FACTS | The Checkout'
http://youtu.be/AyI17dpFVLg
Grapefruit juice boosts cancer drugs, claims the Daily Express. Are they right?
No. The study showed no such thing, and the researchers didn't claim it. The hacks on the Health column have to take responsibility for this dangerous claim.
If they aren't shills for the quackery industry, they're doing a damn good impression!
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2012/08august/pages/grapefruit-juice-boost-cancer-drugs.aspx
The anti-vaccine cult
[video] 'Flu Vaccine Statistics and NaturalNews'
An example of how pseudo-scientific propagandists, like those at Natural News, mis-state (i.e. lie) to make their superstitious, prejudicial beliefs look good, rather than to identify/communicate the truth.
http://youtu.be/l0amsNuApkU
'An Introduction To The AVN Through Dr. Rachie's Reports'
[audio] Major advances have been made against the ludicrously-named AVN - Australian Vaccination Network - which is the organisation that's responsible for thousands of global deaths and millions of unnecessary disease contractions, through their anti-vaccination propaganda, largely orienting around autism.
Hear Dr Rachie recount the story to Richard Saunders, on The Skeptic Zone:
http://skepticzone.libsyn.com/the-skeptic-zone-232-30-march-2013
Further update, from Dr Rachie:
http://skepticzone.libsyn.com/the-skeptic-zone-238-12-may-2013
And in this episode she reports on the AVN's recent court case, in Adelaide:
http://skepticzone.libsyn.com/the-skeptic-zone-243-16-june-2013
The AVN have been encouraging their followers to join their 'Church of Conscious Living' to bypass law (which Religious organisations are allowed to do, like no other) so that they can continue to cause suffering to millions.
'The Church of Anti-vax in Australia'
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/05/the-church-of-anti-vax-in-australia/
Like all superstitions, antivaccine pseudoscience propaganda is geographically specific. Science is Science everywhere.
'How vaccine scares respect local cultural boundaries.' - Ben Goldacre
"…Before we begin, it’s worth taking a moment to look at vaccine scares around the world, because I’m always struck by how circumscribed these panics are, and how poorly they propagate themselves in different soils. The MMR and autism scare, for example, is practically non-existent outside Britain, even in Europe and America. But throughout the 1990s France was in the grip of a scare that hepatitis B vaccine caused multiple sclerosis (it wouldn’t surprise me if I was the first person to tell you that).
In the US, the major vaccine fear has been around the use of a preservative called thiomersal, although somehow this hasn’t caught on here, even though that same preservative was used in Britain. And in the 1970s – since the past is another country too – there was a widespread concern in the UK, driven again by a single doctor, that whooping-cough vaccine was causing neurological damage."
"And in an article from Scientific American in 1888 you can find the very same arguments which modern antivaccination campaigners continue to use today..."
http://www.badscience.net/2013/04/how-vaccine-scares-respect-local-cultural-boundaries/
'Austrialia’s Daily Telegraph launches vaccination campaign'
In the wake (wake-field?) of recent anti-vaccine propaganda, it has become necessary to make a concerted effort to step-up our checks against diseases. I didn't expect a Newspaper to to do that stepping up though - they usually come down on the side of fatuous controversy and facetious balance.
It is simply unacceptable for people to go unvaccinated, when the healthcare organisations have vaccines hanging around, waiting to be used, and the diseases they would immunise against are so dangerous.
As the article outlines, it is a matter of importance that individuals are immunised when they can be, to protect everyone else along with them. Libertarianism be damned - diseases are dangerous - the bigotry of individuals should not be allowed to endanger their peers.
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/05/austrialias-daily-telegraph-launches-vaccination-campaign/
'Anti-vaccination campaigns is a major threat to WHO hopes to eradicate measles'
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/05/anti-vaccination-campaigns-is-a-major-threat-to-who-hopes-to-eradicate-measles/
'Measles in the UK'
The current measles epidemic in the UK has been caused, almost single-handedly, by ex-doctor Andrew Wakefield (he was struck off for his crimes). He produced a fraudulent paper, pushed it under the media's nose, and caused an epidemic that is still worsening, even as vaccination rates rise back.
You would have thought that someone in his situation would show some contrition, some remorse, for what he's done. But no - he's kept right on, ordering the UK government to give him a multi-million pound contract for the single measles vaccine that he owns a patent for (as opposed to the joint MMR - measles, mumps and rubella jab) and has continued to support the vaccine cult.
"Wakefield continues to claim that MMR is not safe, that it causes autism, and that the government is to blame for unfairly silencing him. He wants to use this episode to continue to spread his nonsense and fearmongering, but the UK government wisely won’t let him. So now he is desperately trying to paint himself as the victim... Apparently he has not realized or accepted that he is now nothing more than a comic sideshow – a cautionary tale of science and ethics gone horribly wrong, and the public harm it can cause. That is his legacy. It is insufficient punishment, in my opinion, for the public harm he has caused."
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2097-measles-in-the-uk.html
Assorted other rubbish
'A Toilet-Like Vortex of Bad Astronomy'
Corkscrew solar system, in a corkscrew galaxy? Na-ah! Spiritualist bullshit again - people running with what gives them a warm, fuzzy glow, despite being utterly wrong:
http://blissy-leaves.tumblr.com/post/44569906122/jtotheizzoe-a-toilet-like-vortex-of-bad
[+ audio] 'Facts and Fiction of the Schumann Resonance'
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4352
'11 Most Bizarre Hoaxes People Actually Believed' - fullpunch.com
http://www.fullpunch.com/random/11-most-bizarre-hoaxes-people-actually-believed.html/
'Mayo Clinic Study Finds Electric Car Does Not Interfere with Implanted Cardiac Devices'
http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2013-sct/7363.html
Yet more pseudoscience in the Journal Of Cosmology. Algae in meteorites? Puh-lease...
'Astrobiologists claim meteorite carried space algae'
http://phys.org/news/2013-03-astrobiologists-meteorite-space-algae.html
'Monday’s medical myth: crossing your legs is bad for your health'
Chiropractic tells you it's bad for your health; Religion tells you its immoral. That's pretty-much all the proof you need that leg-crossing is either not bad for you, or is actually good for you.
http://theconversation.com/mondays-medical-myth-crossing-your-legs-is-bad-for-your-health-12697
'Monday’s medical myth: stress can turn hair grey overnight'
"The biology of the phenomenon suggests that a mixture of hormones and cognitive bias is responsible for the myth."
http://theconversation.com/mondays-medical-myth-stress-can-turn-hair-grey-overnight-12151
[+ video] 'The Aquatic Ape Theory' - skeptoid.com
Not a theory! Just an idea. And a wrong one.
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4357
'Is An Alien Message Embedded In Our Genetic Code?'
Um... no! Discovery.com piling on the bullshit, yet again...
http://abaldwin360.tumblr.com/post/47778076147/is-an-alien-message-embedded-in-our-genetic-code
Doubtful News
(this section is in chronological order, starting with the oldest report)
Psychic fails to foresee she wouldn't get the prizemoney from a psychic competition; Buddhism leaves a woman defrauded and holding a paper bag; acupuncture makes celebrity ears bumpy; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2001-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
USS Hornet Museum tries to promote Science with a 'paranormal investigation' (ghost hunt); the egos of pseudo-scientists the Van Praags and Dr Oz are shown at full mast; superstitionists confuse hydrogel beads for alien eggs; Zimbabweans claim a beheaded goblin exploded, destroying their house and killing five; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2008-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
Theist considers redundancy over filling out a tax form with 'the number of the beast' on it; asian astrological wisdom delivers bullshit claims of disaster for 2013; Islamic factionalists in Nigeria kill 9 women for providing polio vaccines; four charged for selling bleach as miracle medicine; Daily Mail claims there's an "evil patch" in the brain that makes people eeeeeeviiiiilll.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2018-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
Melba Ketchum's Bigfoot paper stalks the land, but we only know so by its footprints and the fibres it leaves behind; God sends lightning for displeasure with himself for making his Pope resign; more psychics facing legal bills for their immoral activities; Mercola says fluoride makes you stupid on the Huff Poo, then gets Slated; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2024-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
More psychic shenanigans - psychic store robbery goes unpredicted, two arrested for fraud, and the UK TV channel Psychic Today breached regulations; three stories of mass psychogenic illness from around the world; frogspawn mistaken for alien 'green goo' after Russian meteor strike; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2031-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
Dowsing for hepatitis-C in Egypt; the bizarre beliefs of ufologists; Melba's study trashed by scientifically literate people who read it, apart from the April Fools' jokes she mistakenly used as references; Jesus appears to mankind again... in birdshit; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2039-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
Russell Crowe does the UFO thing; edible shampoo - anti-gluten hysteria; the hoaxful chemistry of the crystal skulls; the fortune-tellers who evaded fraud charges by giving their criminal gains back; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2047-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
Obstreperous acupuncturist throws his toys out of the pram at being criticised; lawyers fall for Nigerian scam to the tune of at least $70 million; no, there are not dolphins with guns on their heads loose in the Black Sea; rap artist tries to sacrifice his friend to appease the Illuminati; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2056-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
Chicken lays giant three-egg egg; the dangerous ingredients in herbal medicine; penis thefts in the CAR; HIV transfer to widows in Malawi through 'cleansing'; the shape-shifting alien in the US' Secret Service; 'real' psychic fraudsters condemn 'fake' psychic fraudsters; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2065-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
On the subject of eggs, here's one that was laid without a shell:
http://malformalady.tumblr.com/post/46668894823/egg-laid-without-a-shell-the-incidence-of-these
A bunch of thoroughly unmysterious mysteries; 'Animal Planet' who have never found Bigfoot, release their oh-so-ironically-titled book 'Finding Bigfoot'; people who get wet for the Turin Shroud need reminding that it was made in the 13th/14th century CE; naturopath sued for dangerous 'natural' birth; the camera that always comes back... eventually; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2076-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
Loads of non-miraculous miracles; Bigfooters fooled by April Fools' prank claiming the 'Animal Legal Defense Fund' wants Bigfoot to be a protected species; cooking with Gwyneth Paltrow's new quackbook; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2088-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
A 22-foot wasp nest; aeroelastic flutter makes plant wave for attention; Andrew Wakefield shamelessly exploits the UK's measles outbreak, which he caused; stinky demons cause a theological mess in Romania; a $1,000,000 Bigfoot hunt that the Bigfooters won't win; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2092-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
The Noah's Ark zoo; Forbes contrasts Burzynski’s clinic with respected medical center; astrologer postdicts MIT shooting; Faith-healer family lose second child to prayer; the Elvis impersonator who sent ricin letters to Obama believed he had uncovered a conspiracy to sell body parts; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2099-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
The Wakefield Effect kills a baby in Florida; Christian infant sacrifice in Chile; the people who don't have cancer but do have your money; a real Latvian whirlpool; heading down the Hudson river; that 4th grade Religionist Science test; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2106-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
The 6" alien that isn't, but might be human; McCormick's dowsing rods still being exhorted in Iraq and Kenya, with the cost of lives, and millions of dollars; Graphology is alive and well in France and Canada, despite being the proverbial posterior animal emission; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2112-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
A piece of 100 million year old land is not ANYTHING like ATLANTIS; San Francisco gives up on cell phone radiation warnings; tongue acupuncture child abuse; charlatan 'healer' poisons two women in Zimbabwe; paranormal group in Brazil offers $1000 to be human bait for the 'Caboclo D’Água'; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2121-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
Pigeon-blood wart cure that only works for Jews; the Swedish man who didn't have sex with a hornets' nest; interminable apocalypse predictor Harold Camping fails to predict demise of own radio show; herbal non-medicine cancer quack sentenced for fraud, tax evasion, and witness tampering (bullying); Hollywood psychics rebranding; Bigfoot in Science class; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2127-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
The 'faith healing' Churches that have killed 22 children through prayer; Nigerian herbal non-medicinist child trafficking; Religionist Templeton Foundation gives $2.4 million to research immortality; man arrested for calling 911 more than a hundred times in a month, about the satellites that are not controlling his body; have some cinnabar mercury pills to cure your insomnia... permanently; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2134-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
A 'natural' birth in the presence of a huge marine predator; the supplement and herbal medicine takers who emburden poison control centres; the 23 pregnant Nigerian girls murdered by herbal medicine; Kent Hovind still thinks the law of dehydrated desert goat-sacrificers trumps the federal law of the USA; the mammalian animals of Mars; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2140-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
The Turkish “Barbie doll” giggle girls being used to sell Islamic Creationism; the devil in the details... of yoga; the woman who believes she's a plant; more goblins in Zimbabwe; and more.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2145-this-week-in-doubtful-news.html
Well, if you read through all of that in one go... you probably need some sleep. Now go to bed :-P
Prolix posts in the other sections will appear in turn.
That turn being completely random and liable to change at the whim of... pretty much anything, actually. But they will come. Promise ;-)
Hi, 00-guages
I wandered over the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) web-site this week (it used to be called MI6).
It's funny - all the ideas that Film & TV presents us with, about what IOs have to be like - and they're mostly wrong.
Here's the SIS' own intro to what being an 'Intelligence Officer' is all about:
https://www.sis.gov.uk/careers/roles/intelligence-officers.html
I found their skills test quite fun...
https://www.sis.gov.uk/careers/roles/intelligence-officer/test-your-skills.html
I memorised almost all of the information, and was eventually caught out by my date of birth!
That's not a fact that most people get wrong [mwa-mwa-mwa-mwaaa]
Still - i did a lot better than i thought i would - 7 out of 8 :-)
It doesn't take very long, but i'll advise you to have a go - it's good fun :-)
I'm sorry for the lack of article, last week, btw - my aforementioned computer problems worsened, and, well, you can fill in the rest of the story :-(
Good news for the future, though - ISIHAC's coming back for Series 59!
https://twitter.com/ISIHAClue/status/345512743610236928
------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff
'"Hello, NSA" by Roy Zimmerman'
{The NSA is the USA's 'National Security Organisation'}
http://youtu.be/YMJ2VDTQWSI
'Barking Dog (slow motion) - Periodic Table of Videos'
Warning! This is not an ordinary barking dog! This is CHEMISTRY...
http://youtu.be/c3fJRRCAIdk
'Agnieszka Radwanska 2013 Sony Open Tennis Hot Shot'
...this is why i love her, haha <3
http://youtu.be/i8KvrhP1DtE
'BNP Paribas Open Top 8 Women - Fun Facts Challenge'
Aggie and Sam 'the body' Stosur are in this one. Move over, Elle Macpherson - Sam has your title now! ..."probably me", LOL... :D
http://youtu.be/jNnrtwLol2k
'Number Trick - Numberphile'
"...and you can look like a mathematical genius!"
http://youtu.be/nd_Z_jZdzP4
'Canada & The United States: Bizarre Borders Part 2'
http://youtu.be/qMkYlIA7mgw
'SURICATE - S.O.S Retard'
The company 'SOS Retard' comes up with a horrifying way to solving the problem of employees sleeping in!
http://youtu.be/DjuJxXAXsfE
'Ripley’s newest acquisition - a 4-pound tiger hair-ball!'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/53099785069/ripleys-newest-acquisition-a-4-pound-tiger
------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks
Scientific Paper Title of The Week: 'Destruction of Nuclear Bombs Using Ultra-High Energy Neutrino Beam'
If a title like that doesn't get you interested in Nuclear Physics, then nothing will. Mwahahahaha... :D
Word Of The Week: extemporaneous -- Spoken or done without preparation
Expression Of The Week: "Bloody Nora!" -- Nora is a woman invented through mispronunciation of "horror" - 'blood and horror' became 'bloody Nora'
Etymology Of The Week: "spick and span" -- meaning clean and fresh; both 'spick' and 'span' used to have multiple meanings, making it difficult to tell which combination originated the term
Quote Of The Week: "Nothing exists except atoms and empty space, everything else is opinion" - Democritus
Fact Of The Week: Lamborghini became a car company when its founder (a tractor manufacturer) was told he didn't know anything about cars by Ferrari
------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff
Play Cellcraft! An on-line game that will teach you the biology of cells as you play :-)
http://www.kongregate.com/games/cellcraft/cellcraft
The area of a pizza with radius 'z' might surprise you:
http://scienceisbeauty.tumblr.com/post/52147218083/seems-faultless-if-you-have-a-pizza-with-radius
A glorious ice cave in Russia's far-eastern Kamchatka Peninsula:
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/04/a-gorgeous-ice-cave-in-kamchatka.html
Where the Namib Desert meets the sea:
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/04/where-namib-desert-meets-sea.html
'It’s a fire-breathing dog!'
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/its-a-fire-breathing-dog/
[+ video] The do-hit chair - a 110 Kg hollow steel cube, that you hit with a hammer to form a chair.
Oh, and the hammer's included in the price.
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unusual-art-and-fashion/do-hit-chair/
Here's some weird stuff, mostly from Doubtful News - much of this will be familiar if you read the up-coming Pseudoscience article. It will probably be finished within a week... I promise ;-)
Welcome to the UK, part 2 - the home of quality journalism :-D
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/51994457910
...speaking of quality journalism.
The
Daily Fail thinks there's an "evil patch" in the fictional "central
lobe" of the brain, which makes people eeeeeeviiiiiiil!!!
'Neuro-babble: Where does evil live? [At the Daily Mail?]'
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/02/neuro-babble-where-does-evil-live-at-the-daily-mail/
A woman won an uncritical psychic challenge but didn't foresee she wouldn't get the prize money. D'oh! LMAO
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/01/i-should-have-known-i-wouldnt-get-the-prize-money-psychic-doesnt-say/
Zimbabweans claim a beheaded goblin exploded in their house, destroying it and killing five.
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/01/goblin-beheaded-in-zimbabwe-house-explodes-killing-five/
Ah - the incompetence of Bigfoot believers. Melba Ketchum is the world's leading 'studier' of Bigfoot people, and in her recent shash of a paper, she cited an April Fools' joke as evidence of existence!
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/02/ketchum-uses-april-fools-paper-as-reference/
The shape-shifting alien in the US' Secret Service:
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/03/oh-those-shifty-secret-service-alien-agents/
Aeroelastic flutter FTW!
'Spooky waving plant attracts attention: “Hi! Come look at me!”'
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/04/spooky-waving-plant-attracts-attention-hi-come-look-at-me/
'Kickstarting Noah’s Ark as a zoo'
Some Christians in America wanted to build a giant Ark, and use it as a zoo, by just stuffing the animals in without care for living conditions, presumably with a little indoctrination on the side.
The necessary budget for this project? $1.5 million. The amount raised? $825. I do not need prompting to laugh :-D
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/04/kickstarting-noahs-ark-as-a-zoo/
A real Latvian whirlpool, formed over a sinkhole:
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/04/latvian-whirlpool-who-pulled-the-plug/
'Heading' down the Hudson river...
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/04/heading-down-the-hudson-river/
A paranormal group in Brazil has offered $1000 for people to be human bait for the 'Caboclo D’Água' - a river-monster blamed for the biting-off of men's testicles while they wade in the water. It's also accredited with increased fishing stocks when sacrificed to.
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/05/local-group-attempts-to-capture-a-chupacabra-of-the-water-in-brazil/
The woman who believes she's a plant:
http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/06/shes-going-to-soak-up-the-sun/
The Barbie-doll woman who believes she's perfect
"Many people say bad things about people who want to perfect themselves"
In
what sense is the way she looks "success"? In what sense is the way she
looks "perfect"? Sure, some people will like her look, but objectively
perfect?! This girl's clearly delusional...
"She says she is a singer
and also teaches at School of Out-of-Body Travel where she shows
students how to leave their physical body and travel in their spiritual
body, where you can visit any place on the planet and in the universe."
...um, yeah. Delusional. QED.
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unusual-art-and-fashion/real-life-barbie/
'The triple-egg egg that was laid by a chicken, in China'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/53105165295/the-triple-egg-egg-that-was-laid-by-a-chicken-in
Animals!"Oh, hello there!"
http://malformalady.tumblr.com/post/52230463069/a-swan-floats-passed-a-window-during-flooding-in
Hello... um... run!!!
http://malformalady.tumblr.com/post/52586373726
The penguins are coming!! Aaaargh... ...awwww.
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/53057218414
Ever seen a rabbit take a bath? Well, you're about to have done so, now...
http://youtu.be/3_J0AMPPD34
And to finish, a tap-dancing seagull:
http://youtu.be/k8pwrjYsyVs
