The Ockhams 2012
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- Alternative Medicine
Kardecism: the fringe spiritualist doctrine which became the soul of pseudoscience in Brazil
Kardecism - an 19th century off-shoot of spiritualism - found fertile ground in Brazil, and grew to wholly undermine trust in science and medicine.The Outbrain drain: why newspaper sites have run thousands of scam ads
The news media is in an income crisis, but the solution cannot be for newspapers to lend their reputations to scams and fakersBrazilian Congress turns green – not for the environment, but for homeopathy
Brazil continues to make baffling healthcare decisions, including lighting up the Brazilian congress buildings... in honour of homeopathyBeyond COVID-19: the issues skeptical activists across Europe are facing
COVID-19 is understandably getting all the headlines, but there are plenty more fronts in the pan-European battle against pseudoscience.
- Health
Is community testing the answer to managing the COVID-19 pandemic effectively?
Understanding the accuracy of PCR and Lateral Flow tests - and how they compare - is key in assessing the UK's community testing programWell-designed patient outreach can help tackle misinformation where it does the most harm
Engaging directly and openly with patients can have a lasting effect - for both the patients and the scientists trying to help them.Pandemic prediction problems: meet the psychics who claim to have predicted COVID-19
Brian Eggo - 0Psychics and astrologers now claim to have successfully predicted the pandemic, here's what their 2020 predictions actually saidWhat does Covid-safe dentistry look like?
Dentists are quite literally in the firing line when it comes to COVID-19, but we're taking every precaution possible to treat patients safely.
- Paranormal
Pandemic prediction problems: meet the psychics who claim to have predicted COVID-19
Brian Eggo - 0Psychics and astrologers now claim to have successfully predicted the pandemic, here's what their 2020 predictions actually saidKardecism: the fringe spiritualist doctrine which became the soul of pseudoscience in Brazil
Kardecism - an 19th century off-shoot of spiritualism - found fertile ground in Brazil, and grew to wholly undermine trust in science and medicine.Have we seen the last of the vanishing phantom hitchhiker?
Familiarity and caution may have killed off the story of the phantom hitchhiker, but our draw towards creepy tales will always find an outlet.Is the US government in contact with an alien “galactic federation”?
Haim Eshed, former head of Israel’s Defense Ministry, claims aliens are working with the US government. I'd like to see some evidence.
- Conspiracy
Qanon’s references to ‘Adrenochome’ echo old, anti-Semitic Blood Libel myths
Adrenochrome has become a central part of the Qanon theory, despite 'Q' never mentioning it; its history is long, and deeply anti-Semitic.David Icke’s 2018 tour sowed the seeds for a return to the conspiracy mainstream
David Icke's 2018 tour sanitised some of his more outré claims and played to the free speech gallery, readying his return to the mainstream.Meet the conspiracy theorists who believe Covid isn’t real… because viruses don’t exist
In the world of the virus deniers, not only is the novel coronavirus fake, but viruses themselves don't actually exist.Cheap talk skepticism: why we need to push back against those who are ‘just asking questions’
'Cheap talk' skepticism - coming at little cost to the doubter, but significant cost to others - is undermining genuine skeptical inquiry.
- Society
Qanon’s references to ‘Adrenochome’ echo old, anti-Semitic Blood Libel myths
Adrenochrome has become a central part of the Qanon theory, despite 'Q' never mentioning it; its history is long, and deeply anti-Semitic.Kardecism: the fringe spiritualist doctrine which became the soul of pseudoscience in Brazil
Kardecism - an 19th century off-shoot of spiritualism - found fertile ground in Brazil, and grew to wholly undermine trust in science and medicine.Cheap talk skepticism: why we need to push back against those who are ‘just asking questions’
'Cheap talk' skepticism - coming at little cost to the doubter, but significant cost to others - is undermining genuine skeptical inquiry.The Outbrain drain: why newspaper sites have run thousands of scam ads
The news media is in an income crisis, but the solution cannot be for newspapers to lend their reputations to scams and fakers
- Science
Is community testing the answer to managing the COVID-19 pandemic effectively?
Understanding the accuracy of PCR and Lateral Flow tests - and how they compare - is key in assessing the UK's community testing programWell-designed patient outreach can help tackle misinformation where it does the most harm
Engaging directly and openly with patients can have a lasting effect - for both the patients and the scientists trying to help them.We all need good hand hygiene, but antibacterial soap is a waste of time
My partner recently bought antibacterial handwash. It turns out I have unnecessarily strong feelings on antibacterial soap.If Google’s Alphafold2 really has solved the protein folding problem, they need to show their working
If Alphafold2 is as transformative as its makers claim, keeping its knowledge secret is troubling - especially when medical advances could be made if this technology is as good as they claim.Four perspectives on peer review: why it goes wrong, and why we need to fix it
The peer review process is vital, but it is riddled with errors and issues; the quality of future science depends on trying to improve it
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Expert skeptical analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal.
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