Category Archives: Skeptic

Kids! Freak out your parents!

With one of these bad boys: Evil Baphomet Goat Head Ouija Board Satanic Nemesis Man, why couldn’t Parker Brothers make ‘em like this? That’s just gorgeous. And the name! Good gravy, its enough to cause pause for even the most … Continue reading

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Things that won’t kill you in Australian waters: plesiosaurs

This week we’ve introduced the kids to Walking with Dinosaurs, which takes you to a place and time were reptiles were huge and CGI budgets were relatively small. We were two episodes into the the six-part series when the five … Continue reading

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Near Death Experiences not paranormal, just a wiring issue

Near death experiences always seem start out the same way — there was a tunnel, then a light… Paranormalists often point to the commonalities of near death and out-of-body experiences as evidence of the proof of an afterlife or astral … Continue reading

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UPDATE: Cancelled! One Month Only: The $100 Psychic Challenge!

I have in my grubby little hands a slip of paper that could grant your favorite charitable organization $100. Last night, I did the somewhat unthinkable (or at least, unreasonable) for a self-avowed skeptic: I bought a Powerball ticket. I … Continue reading

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And Louie, Louie Gets Me Hot Just Thinking about It

Interesting press release in my morning Eurekalert! feed In an article published in the April 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers found that teenagers who preferred popular songs with degrading sexual references were more likely to … Continue reading

Posted in Dumb thoughts, General stuff, PR Guy, Science/Geek, Skeptic, Uninformed Critic | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

To Uninspire a Nation

The Constitution Center in Philly is asking people to come up with six words that Pres. Obama should add to his inaugural address. Mr. Obama will face a crowd of millions, with tens — if not hundreds — of millions … Continue reading

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Everything you know about acupuncture is wrong

While I’m in the skeptical mood, a nice post from Steve Novella of the New England Skeptical Societ y Harriet Hall: “Alternative” medicine is by definition medicine that has not been scientifically proven and has not been accepted into mainstream … Continue reading

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A Very Necessary Primer on How to Read Health Science Studies Or, at Least, Reports On Health Science Studies

…in the New York Times today. I like the lede here, comparing how scientists view their own research versus, oh, say, Frankie Avalon shilling for vitamin supplements: Then came three large, rigorous clinical trials that randomly assigned people to take … Continue reading

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And now it has officially gone to far…

Large Hadron Collider hysteria is funny, to a point. I mean, the notion that physicists are a hair away from destroying existence is kind of cool. The notion that all of this nonsense is being pushed by a misguided — … Continue reading

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Tierney’s top 10 things you oughtn’t worry about

In today’s NYTimes, John Tierney stirs up trouble with a list of popular scaremongering tactics you shouldn’t really be concerned about. Hysteria sells politics and papers. Tierney’s fun and often polarizing. His blog is fun to follow, especially the comments. … Continue reading

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