1. Number of people who became ill, suffering from headaches,
nausea and respiratory problems after inhaling fumes
from a 65 ft wide crater made in Peruvian soil by a meteorite:
over 200
2. Size of the family home currently being constructed for
Arnold Chase, an American businessman, whose property is set
to contain a 103-seat cinema: 50,853 square feet,
approximately equivalent to 2.2 Wembley football pitches
3. Number of couples who simultaneously participated in a
ten-second kiss on September 1st 2007, in an attempt to
establish a new Guinness World Record: 6,980
4. Average length of a giraffe’s tongue: 19 inches
5. Fastest recorded running speed of a giraffe: 34.7 mph
6. Lowest rate of success in correctly identifying the
presence of cancer using mammograms, as found by a
longitudinal study of 72 US health facilities: 27%
7. Date upon which the BBC declared in their radio bulletin
“There is no news”, promptly deciding to play piano music
instead: April 18th 1930, Good Friday
8. Number of complaints received by police during a 20-mile
naked walk in Dorset, raising money for the Marine
Conservation Society: 18
9. Charge for attendance at a two-hour ‘psychic training
workshop’ run by the Psychic Sisters Consultation Service in
Selfridges, Oxford Street: £30 per person
10. Maximum number of people permitted to attend each training
session: 8
11. Length of the adult education course entitled “An In-Depth
Study of Psychical Research” run by Prof Archie Roy at Glasgow
University, advertised with the tagline “Paranormal phenomena
do occur”: 20 weeks
12. Cost for the course, in which Roy addresses topics such as
hauntings, apparitions, mediumship, and reincarnation: £120
13. Number of toilets contained within the new Wembley
Stadium: 2,618
14. Combined size of the two giant screens in the new Wembley
Stadium: equivalent to 1200 television sets
15. Length of the average blink: 0.3 seconds
16. Cost to provide a cow to a Malawian dairy farmer through
Oxfam: £250 per month
17. Total amount of water used in the production of I kg of
beef: between 13,000 and 100,000 litres, depending on
production techniques
18. Total amount of water used in the production of lkg of
wheat: between 1,000 and 2,000 litres, depending on production
techniques
19. Mass of grain fed to a cow in order to produce lkg of
beef: 7kg
20. Number of bottles of probiotic drinks sold annually in the
UK: 830 million
21. Proportion of probiotic drinks which do not contain
sufficiently ‘robust’ bacteria to even survive the digestive
process, according to the Food Standards Agency: one half
22. Percentage of medical practitioners registered in the
Chicago district who, in a survey by peers, admitted to having
placebo treatments: 45
23. Most money ever spent on the internet in one minute, the
“Mega Minute”, as recorded by Retail Decisions, an internet
monitoring company: £767,500
24. Longest episode of hiccups, recorded in Charles Osborn
from Iowa: 68 years
25. Half-life of human taste buds: 10 – 14 days
have been identified as detrimental to the health of the human
body: saturated fat, drinking alcohol, not drinking alcohol,
not sleeping enough, sleeping too much, masturbation, Cliff
Richard and smoking, to name but a few. Interestingly though,
Korean nationals can add another item to that list,
specifically the humble fan. Writing in 2004 for the popular
conservative Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo, writer Grant
Surridge noted that there were generally in Korean newspapers
“each summer from 1990 to 2004, about 10 stories related to
someone dying in the presence of an electric fan”. Although I
would perhaps expect greater mortality rates among
enthusiastic listeners of Richard’s Mistletoe and Wine (I am
assured there are such people) than among responsible users of
electric fans, Korean society has seemingly genuinely
assimilated the legend that, in some cases, fans can cause
death.
for fans to cause these deaths. Doors and windows must be
sealed creating a closed, and possibly airtight, room. The
demise of the victim is supposedly caused either through
hypothermic effects, asphyxiation due to the creation of an
airless vortex (sometimes surrounding the victim’s face),
asphyxiation due to ever-depleting levels of oxygen (and/or
increasing levels of carbon dioxide), or some bizarre
combination of all of those. Belief in the phenomenon is not
confined to specific circles either. Fan death has been
‘endorsed’ by some high-profile and well educated figureheads,
while reports in the news and media are certainly not a
rarity. So, why has fan death become such an entrenched
belief?
School, wrote in a column on the topic, “It’s not like Korea’s
air is any less oxygen rich”. His personal theory is that in a
country which already holds a belief in killer fans, making
such conclusions is perhaps easier than examining the evidence
for other causes of death. I also wonder though if fan death
could be used as an explanation of certain types of suicide,
in order to spare the emotions or social stigma for family
members and to avoid wider disclosure of a clearly sensitive
issue?
true love been more directed by the stars than in the case of
P. Selvakumar, a 33-year-old Indian farm labourer who recently
married a dog. Of course, when I said “true love” I actually
meant nothing of the sort. Selvakumar actually approached his
astrologer with a tale of cruelty and karma. As a teenager he
found two dogs mating, so in an episode he has yet to explain,
he decided to suspend their bodies from a tree, and stone and
beat them to death. He stated, as reported by the Telegraph,
that promptly afterwards “my legs and hands got paralysed and
I lost hearing in one ear”. His wise astrologer obviously
interpreted this as Karmic consequence, advising Selvakumar
that he would need to atone for his actions in order to avoid
future adverse health and alleviate his disability.
decisions, though. The penance Selvakumar was directed to
suffer in order to atone for his sins and improve his karma,
was that of marrying and maintaining his marriage to a further
dog. Exactly how such an action is even remotely supposed to
impact upon poor health is immediately questionable, but the
penance is also fundamentally selfish, designed solely to
negate the supposed moral consequences of Selvakumar’s past
behaviour.
establishes, one important method of reducing recidivism lies
within the acceptance that a particular act is legally or
morally wrong. An inter-species arranged marriage simply does
no such thing; it neither establishes responsibility nor does
it instil any sense that stoning and beating two dogs to death
(a method often used to kill dogs when they are to be eaten,
due to the belief that the stress hormones released during the
process will make the meat taste nicer) is actually wrong.
What motivated the teenage Selvakumar to commit the actions he
did is a question which remains open for explanation, but
aside from the rather slim possibility of a rather substantial
placebo effect, I sincerely doubt his new bride ‘Selvi’ will
be the talisman to good health for which he had hoped. Either
way, I pity Selvi and her future prospects.
It always happens. Your least favourite child bought you a
pair of novelty socks for Christmas when in fact you really
wanted a pendant, an electronic gadget or a secret elixir to
prolong and preserve your health. Your disappointment on
squeezing those socks through the wrapping was almost visible
to the little one. Thankfully Q-Link, a Bristol based company,
has the product for you. It’s a pendant, an electronic gadget
and a secret elixir to prolong and preserve your health.
scientific approach to their products which work “at the
deepest or quantum level”, produce a range of pendants which
protect the wearer from terrifyingly harmful electromagnetic
radiation. Endorsed by, among others, the Times, the Mail and
television’s London Today programme, few could fail to be
convinced by the sculpted casing which hides a shiny,
symmetrical circuit board. The manufacturer claims that “The
Q-Link acts as a tuning fork that resonates with the ideal
frequency at which the body’s own energy system should
vibrate.” To me, the method through which this is achieved
still seems a little fuzzy, however. The Q-Link Classic, for
instance, contains a circuit board with etched pads as
expected, in addition to a single component: a zero-ohm
resistor. In essence, the pendant contains some metal and a
bit of wire, all of which doesn’t actually connect to
anything.
guarantee, and for up to £119.95, promises to literally do
something. Thankfully, with an order for the Q-Link Polished
Silver Pendant, we will never again have to be concerned about
the horrific nature of EMF radiation (such as light?). You’re
protected. That said, the possibilities to play practical
jokes on radiographers who fail to take one visible x-ray
while you’re wearing the pendant are limitless.
With George Bush’s final presidential term coming to an end
on the 20th January 2009, focus is inevitably being given to
the policies and politics of his potential successors. Yet, to
date, no Science and Technology policy debate has ever been
held with hopeful candidates. With that in mind, now is the
perfect time for the emergence of Sciencedebate.
scientists and other concerned citizens”, Sciencedebate 2008
aims to bring together the presidential candidates for the
largest debate into what the organisers believe is possibly
“the most important social issue of our time”. Although none
of the candidates address all of the eight primary areas of
science and technology in their proposals, the topics of
energy, the environment and digital technology are among the
most contested, while Clinton is notably the only candidate to
address the topic of space. Sciencedebate has attracted
high-level support from Nobel Laureates, scientists, business
leaders, university deans, writers and many other signatories,
though no formal arrangements have been made for the debate.
In the current climate, a mass-scale debate on science is
essential. It would reveal which candidates are best suited to
and most capable of addressing the urgent and contentious
issues facing society, while raising scientific awareness
especially within the American public.
and it is possible to do exactly that by visiting
The Skeptic is changing…
Your favourite 20-year-old British sceptical magazine is
changing. As we approach our 21st birthday, we think the time
is right to find out what you like and what you don’t like
about the magazine so that we can give you more of what you
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word “sceptic”. Although we feel that such attitudes are based
upon misunderstanding a new, more universally acceptable title
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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SKEPTIC (21.1, Spring 2008)
Features:
Reincarnation: Overview of the work of Ian Stevenson
(1918-2007) (Leonard Angel)
Exposing the Myth of Alcoholics Anonymous. Part 2: Cult not
Cure (Steven Mohr)
Amazon’s Amazing Admission (Mark Newbrook)
Columns:
Editorial (Victoria Hamilton and Chris French)
Hilary Evans’s Paranormal Picture Gallery
Hits and Misses (Wendy M. Grossman)
Philosopher’s Corner (Julian Baggini)
Sprite (Donald Rooum)
From Michael Heap
Letters
Reviews:
Ghost Hunters: The Victorians and the Hunt for Proof of Life After Death by Deborah Blum
How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic by Madsen Pirie
Phantasmagoria: Spirit Visions, Metaphor and Media into the Twenty-first Century by Marina Warner
Bad Medicine: Doctors Doing Harm Since Hippocrates by David Wootton
SOURCES FOR SKEPTICAL STATS
1 Yahoo; 2 ABC News; 3 Telegraph; 4, 5 San Diego Zoo; 6
Chicago Tribune; 7 BBC News Newswatch; 8 BBC News; 9 Channel 4
News – Online; 10 AOL; 11 Scotsman.com; 12 Glasgow University;
13, 14 WNSL; 15 Bristol Neuroscience; 16 Oxfam; 17, 18, 19
Vegetarian Society; 20, 23 The Times; 21 The Guardian; 22
Reuters; 24 Guinness World Records; 25 Petersen, O.H. (2006),
Human Physiology, p. 160.
ADMINISTRIVIA
Thanks to this issue’s clippings contributors: Mark Williams,
with suggestion for this copy from John Roberts. A special
thank-you to Sid Rodrigues, who persistently and indefatigably
keeps filling The Skeptic’s blog (http://skeptic.org.uk/news)
with news stories and pointers.
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SKEPTICS IN THE PUB
Skeptics in the Pub, London meets (usually) on the third Tuesday of
every month at 7:00pm at the The Penderel’s Oak, 283-288 High
Holborn, London WC1V 7HP (Nearest tube: Holborn and Chancery
Lane).
A £2 donation is requested to cover the guest speaker’s travelling expenses and sundries. All are welcome. Turn up at any time during the night. Detailed directions, a listof upcoming speakers and a map of how to get to the pub can befound at http://skeptic.org.uk/pub. Further information and mailing list announcements available from pub[at]skeptic.org.uk.
Tuesday 6th May 2008
Mahlon Wagner: “Chiropractic – A 113 year struggle from
pseudoscience to legitimacy”
Tuesday 20th May 2008
Richard J. Evans: “Holocaust denial and freedom of speech”
Tuesday 17th June 2008
Dr. Ciarán O’Keeffe and Steve Parsons: “How not to investigate
the Paranormal”
Skeptics in the Pub, Leicester (usually) meet at 7:30pm on the third Tuesday of every month in The Rutland & Derby Arms pub to discuss the paranormal, alternative medicine, psychic powers, pseudo-science, UFOs, alien abductions, creationism, religion and any other cultural beliefs.
A guest speaker is invited each month, to talk on a topic of interest. All are welcome.
Tuesday 20th May 2008
Dr Simon Singh: “Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial”
Tuesday 17th June 2008
Prof Chris French: “The Psychology of Anomalous Experiences”
Tuesday 15th July 2008
Doug Ellison: “The Truth About Mars”
Detailed directions, a list of upcoming speakers and a map of how to get to the pub can be
found at http://skeptic.org.uk/leicester
To find out more information send an email to:
leicesterskeptics[at]googlemail.com
The talk will be followed by informal discussion in a relaxed
and friendly pub atmosphere. Skeptics in the Pub is a regular
evening for all those interested in and/or skeptical of the
paranormal, alternative medicine, psychic powers,
pseudo-science, UFOs, alien abductions, creationism, Fortean
phenomena, cult religions, water-divining, lost civilizations,
etc. Suggestions for speakers or offers to speak are gladly welcomed.
Skeptics in the Pub Outing to the Mystic Arts psychic fair at
Olympia
CFI London event ‘The Sources of the Book’. An Anatomy of the
Literary Beginnings of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Six
evenings at Conway Hall, London. Registration fee £30. See
http://www.centerforinquiry.net/london/events/the_sources_of_the
_book/ for details.
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