Society

When skepticism collides with human experience. The societal implications of scientific skepticism.

Skepticism

Monkey Business: humans aren’t alone in recognising a good bargain

Deborah Hyde - 15th February 2021

Macaques have been observed trading tourists' possessions for food - showing humans aren't the only ones to understand good value

Conspiracy Theories

Nesta Helen Webster: the far-right author who popularised the antisemitic Illuminati conspiracy

Mark Horne - 29th January 2021

The Qanon movement regurgiates old antisemitic tropes that echo back to the Illuminati conspiracy theories pushed by Nesta Helen Webster

Skepticism

Putting Some Skeptical Mantras to Bed

Jonathan Jarry - 28th January 2021

As skeptics, we hear the same sayings and mantras repeated again and again, but we rarely pause to consider if they're useful... or even true

History

Qanon’s references to ‘Adrenochome’ echo old, anti-Semitic Blood Libel myths

Thiago Vahia Malliagros - 20th January 2021

Adrenochrome has become a central part of the Qanon theory, despite 'Q' never mentioning it; its history is long, and deeply anti-Semitic.

Alternative Medicine

Kardecism: the fringe spiritualist doctrine which became the soul of pseudoscience in Brazil

Natália Pasternak, Carlos Orsi - 15th January 2021

Kardecism - an 19th century off-shoot of spiritualism - found fertile ground in Brazil, and grew to wholly undermine trust in science and medicine.

Conspiracy Theories

Cheap talk skepticism: why we need to push back against those who are ‘just asking questions’

Aaron Rabinowitz - 8th January 2021

'Cheap talk' skepticism - coming at little cost to the doubter, but significant cost to others - is undermining genuine skeptical inquiry.

Alternative Medicine

The Outbrain drain: why newspaper sites have run thousands of scam ads

Michael Marshall - 4th January 2021

The news media is in an income crisis, but the solution cannot be for newspapers to lend their reputations to scams and fakers

Health

How to spot medical misinformation in a pandemic: our top 10 tips

Brian Eggo, Matt Kemp - 30th December 2020

As medical misinformation and dubious claims continue to spread, we present our guide to help you separate fact from fiction.

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Should we be skeptical of homeopathy research conducted in India? A look at the evidence

New NICE guidelines on chronic pain fall woefully short – and not just because of the acupuncture

Integrative medicine: Mixing cow pie with apple pie

When it comes to our health, doing nothing is often better than doing something wrong

New NICE guidelines on chronic pain fall woefully short – and not just because of the acupuncture

Rapid Prompting Method: A new form of communicating? Hardly

Virginity testing is as unscientific as it is sexist, but will banning these tests prove effective?

Do we really need supplements? A skeptic’s guide to micronutrients

‘Startling Stories’, illustrating ‘Strangers on the Heights’ by Manly Wade Wellman

Psychics and mediums: Mad, bad, or dangerous to know?

Blackpool’s ‘Chariots of the Gods’ park is built on racist assumptions about the past

When predictions fail: UFO cults, QAnon and cognitive dissonance

The conspiracy theorists who believe ‘traditional masculinity’ is under deliberate, strategic attack

2019’s ‘The Mandela Effect’ is a stylish, shallow exploration of a rather silly conspiracy theory

Can you recognise antisemitism when you see it? An interactive meme adventure

How the conspiracy theorists behind the failed US coup settled on a new date: March 4th

The conspiracy theorists who believe ‘traditional masculinity’ is under deliberate, strategic attack

“Who decides?”: how fair questions can derail meaningful action

Are you smarter than an 800 year-old? Our ancestors were more skeptical than you think

Species, Individual, Gender – biology and taxonomy don’t deal in black and white

University of Liverpool’s proposed redundancies raise serious red flags for academia

The ‘scientist as lone genius’ is a myth that obscures real stories of scientific discovery

Species, Individual, Gender – biology and taxonomy don’t deal in black and white

10 persistent HIV myths we need to move past to break the stigma of the disease

Society

Latest news

Should we be skeptical of homeopathy research conducted in India? A look at the evidence

New NICE guidelines on chronic pain fall woefully short – and not just because of the acupuncture

‘Startling Stories’, illustrating ‘Strangers on the Heights’ by Manly Wade Wellman

University of Liverpool’s proposed redundancies raise serious red flags for academia

The conspiracy theorists who believe ‘traditional masculinity’ is under deliberate, strategic attack

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