Skepticism
tsmith | July 8, 2006Holy cow, it's Saturday again already. Since this was a short week, I didn't have as much time for posts or for story-gathering, but there are still a few goodies I missed:
I was planning on highlighting this new research that showed, once again, no link between vaccination and development of autism. But then I decided not to re-invent the wheel, as Orac already covered it extensively.
Similarly, Mike highlights a story drawing attention to the under-diagnosis of influenza in children, and its ramifications on the health of the rest of the population.
Malaria continues to be a scourge…
pharyngula | July 6, 2006While I'm announcing a few carnivals, I'll remind all of you readers in West Central Minnesota that there will be a Drinking Liberally tonight at 6:00, in Old #1 on Atlantic Avenue in Morris.
Otherwise, for those of you trapped in the virtual world…
I and the Bird #27
Skeptics' Circle #38
pharyngula | July 6, 2006Martin Rundkvist has some complaints about the Skeptical Inquirer magazine, specifically about their staff and contributors.
They're all men, and their mean age appears to be about 55. This is perhaps not surprising given the age and gender of the editor-in-chief.
Now wait a minute—being in your 40s and 50s and 60s is no problem! It's actually a very sensible age. The lack of female input is a serious shortcoming, but let's not give people grief for their commendable longevity and long-term activism. (Also, Martin seems to have missed that young whippersnapper, Chris Mooney, who has a…
pharyngula | July 5, 2006Oh, no. I've wasted my life prepping students for med school.
(via Skeptico)
pharyngula | July 3, 2006Be astounded: there was actually one astrologer who, in 2000, published a book of advice that specifically said, "Avoid terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001." She didn't fake it, there wasn't any post-event modification of a prediction going on, she actually did it. Can you guess how?
Under the category of "Avoid: Terrorist Attacks" she listed more than 130 dates in 2001.
For September, she listed 16 dates for avoiding terrorist attacks.
This little discovery does omit one peculiar thing, though. If an astrologer tells me to "avoid terrorist attacks," how do I do so? Are there days when…
tsmith | June 28, 2006One of the things that faculty get to do is go to lots and lots and lots of meetings. Today I'm at a 6-hour retreat focused on distance learning, PubMed, and data repositories. (I know, you're all seething with jealousy). I hope to have another post up later this afternoon if I can get to it; in the meanwhile, here are a few notable posts from elsewhere:
Revere at Effect Measure has an overview of H5N1 over the last 6 months, and discusses why SARS and West Nile aren't "false alarms."
Coturnix brings you a potpourri of science news. He also has a DonorsChoose update--check out how…
pharyngula | June 27, 2006Atrios finds it odd that, since 31% of Americans believe in astrology and it qualifies as a mainstream belief, that "people are falling all over themselves to mock someone who had a perfectly mainstream belief apparently shared by millions and millions of Americans."
I just have to say that in my case it's not odd at all. I'm being consistent.
pharyngula | June 26, 2006Well, I've never followed this "Jerome" fellow's stuff at MyDD, with the recent accusations that he may have done some dubious things in the stock market and was a promoter of astrology, but the Commissar thinks I'm going easy on him because the Left thinks astrology is an acceptable pseudo-science, so I'll take a moment to disabuse that silly notion.
I don't expect anyone let alone a right-wing apologist like the Commissar, to be familiar with everything I've written, but no, I have not been kind to woo-woo nonsense, I was shocked at Berlinski's defense of astrology (although he…
tsmith | June 26, 2006...according to a new Nature News story.
Migraine sufferers might soon be able to block an imminent attack using a device that targets the brain with a powerful magnetic field.
The technique, called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), triggers activity in the brain's nerve cells and is already being tested as a way to treat depression. Two small clinical trials have now shown that delivering TMS to the brain in the early stages of a migraine seems to halt it in its tracks.
Since I've dealt with migraines for a long time, this sounds great (though I'll note that the research hasn't yet…
tsmith | June 24, 2006More interesting topics I didn't mention here this week.
Over at Effect Measure is an excellent post discussing a topic I've touched on here mainly just in the comments section: diagnostic testing (and the pitfalls thereof).
Alex depresses me regarding NIH funding stats, but unlike many of us who just grouse about it, he has some interesting suggestions about ways to actually deal with it in the long-term.
DarkSyde interviews physicist Sean Carroll (of Cosmic Variance, discussing the "Big Bang," dark matter, dark energy, and string theory.
Forensics for jr. high and high-schoolers as…
pharyngula | June 11, 2006We wouldn't want to leave everyone with the feeling that YearlyKos was heaven made manifest on earth, so I'll just mention that Socratic Gadfly is blogging up a whirlwind of anti-Kos sentiment. I think it's a bit overdone, but there is a germ of truth to some of his complaints.
I'd worry a little bit about an excess of Kos idolatry, but it was less in evidence than you might think from the name of the conference, and what you might read in dKos diaries. Firedoglake, MyDD, Glenn Greenwald, Atrios, and AmericaBlog were all big players here, and the attendees were highly egalitarian, more so…
pharyngula | June 5, 2006This silly noise about tomorrow being 06/06/06 and therefore tying in to Christian End Times malarkey is all numerological nonsense. There's not going to be anything particularly memorably evil about tomorrow, I suspect.
Except perhaps one little thing.
I'll mention it at 06:06:06am on 06/06/06.
pharyngula | May 26, 2006This is an X-ray of a sick duck with something unusual in its gut.
Aaaaah! It's an alien! Or a demon! Or a run-of-the-mill instance of apophenia. The bird rescue center that discovered it is playing it up as an alien for PR purposes (hey, it's California), but we know better, right?
pharyngula | May 25, 2006Read and discuss:
I and the Bird #24 (illustrated!)
Skeptics' Circle #35 (hosted by a pseudo-Skeptico…or is it a pseudo-pseudo-Skeptico?)
Carnival of the Liberals #13
Or talk about anything you want. The pope's presence annihilates ice cream and tampons. Bill Frist really needs to take a shower before working in the Senate. What kind of penalties would be appropriate for Kenny Boy? I'm sure you can all think of something to talk about—I'm buckling down for a few hours to finish reviewing a paper.
tsmith | May 23, 2006Scary.
A woman is feared to have died from ebola after taking ill on a plane home from Africa yesterday.
Passengers and crew on the flight to Heathrow are understood to be panicking that they have contracted the contagious virus.
They helped the Briton when she was vomiting and bleeding. Some even shared their drinks with her.
Last night, tests were being run to confirm whether she had the haemorraghic fever.
The 38-year-old was on Virgin Atlantic flight VS602 from Johannesburg. It is understood she worked at an embassy in Lesotho.
(Continued after the jump)
First, I'll note that this story…
pharyngula | May 23, 2006It seems that Skeptico has a copy cat—a guy who goes around posting under the name Skeptico, and who has started a blog of his own at skeptico.blogspot.com—but I don't think anyone will confuse the two. This new Skeptico is an evolution denier and global warming denier, and is your typical run-of-the-mill dumbass reactionary. He's more of an anti-Skeptico…no, a mini-anti-Skeptico.
I took a look at the work of the pseudo-Skeptico, and was surprised at his ignorance.
Well, it so happens that I am quite new to the ID-EVO debate, indeed to ID literature itself (although the controversy has…
pharyngula | May 22, 2006Just wait—I have an inside scoop on amazing insights into biology that will definitely win me a Nobel prize. I have to thank Eve for leading me to this incredible prophetic knowledge.
Who among you has heard light lately? Many doubt me. Watch for this: Someday your science is going to show that DNA actually sings! Instruments will show that DNA sings [has vibrations of sound] and you're going to say, "Wow, this sounds like something Kryon told us." [Laughter] Why don't you save some energy and simply believe it now instead of waiting for your scientists to tell it to you? Is it because it's…
tsmith | May 11, 2006I very briefly mentioned new research suggesting mercury fillings aren't harmful back here last month. In Saturday's Guardian, Ben Goldacre (who runs the Bad Science blog) had a short article on the topic. In it, he addresses the lack of coverage of the research in the UK media, despite stories in the last decade suggesting how dangerous mercury was. He notes:
Panorama did an excellently chilling documentary in 1994 called The Poison in Your Mouth. As far as I am aware there is no Panorama documentary in the pipeline covering the startling new research data suggesting that mercury fillings…