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When it comes to our health, doing nothing is often better than doing something wrong
Most of the time, being proactive can be a good thing, but when it comes to healthcare, doing nothing is better than doing something stupid.Fecomagnetism: how Spanish alternative therapists promoted our hoax faeces-based cure-all
Two bored Spanish students invented a hoax therapy to demonstrate how misleading alt-med could be... then therapists asked if they could sell it.Health food stores, a danger to public health?
A Canadian study showed that health food shops were overwhelmingly likely to give misleading advice on cancer - are things any better here?How the Society of Homeopaths had their accredited status suspended
After years of anti-vaccine misinformation and bogus claims to cure autism, the Society of Homeopaths has lost its accredited status
- Health
Activated charcoal is increasingly popular, so let’s talk about what makes for a good toothpaste
The alternative medicine community is very fond of their charcoal toothpastes, but the vast majority offer zero protection to teeth10 persistent HIV myths we need to move past to break the stigma of the disease
It's a Sin showed us how much our understanding of HIV has changed, but social attitudes to the disease still remain mired in stigmaHeadlines calling HPV swabs “home smear tests” risk putting people off cervical screenings
When the media refers to new home swabs for HPV as "home smear test", they risk discouraging people from attending cervical screeningWhen it comes to our health, doing nothing is often better than doing something wrong
Most of the time, being proactive can be a good thing, but when it comes to healthcare, doing nothing is better than doing something stupid.
- Paranormal
Blackpool’s new ‘Chariots of the Gods’ park is sadly built on racist assumptions about the past
Mark Horne - 0By celebrating the long-debunked claims of Erich von Däniken, Blackpool's new entertainment park perpetuates deeply racist assumptionsWhen predictions fail: UFO cults, QAnon and cognitive dissonance
When their predictions don't come true, cults are faced with a choice: accept reality, or rationalise the failure. Which road will Qanon take?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.
- Conspiracy
Can you recognise antisemitism when you see it? An interactive meme adventure
After Disney dropped one of their stars over antisemitic social media posts, we look at common problematic tropes in 'anti-globalist' imageryHow the conspiracy theorists behind the failed US coup settled on a new date: March 4th
When the attempted coup of January 6th failed, supporters of Qanon picked up the Sovereign Citizen belief that the revolution would take place on March 4thThe carefully-woven conspiracy theories behind the attempted coup of January 6th
The forces that made the attempted coup of January 6th inevitable are still around - give them another spark and it will explode again.Beware the ‘They’: once we believe in hidden, evil cabals, we can be convinced of anything
By blaming an unseen "They" for all that's wrong, conspiracy theories block any genuine skepticism - and that's what makes them so dangerous
- Society
How the conspiracy theorists behind the failed US coup settled on a new date: March 4th
When the attempted coup of January 6th failed, supporters of Qanon picked up the Sovereign Citizen belief that the revolution would take place on March 4thWhen shows like Pod Save America run pseudoscience ads, they undermine their credibility
Podcast hosts have a real intimacy with their listeners - that trust is eroded when they advertise snake oil supplements and pseudoscienceThe carefully-woven conspiracy theories behind the attempted coup of January 6th
The forces that made the attempted coup of January 6th inevitable are still around - give them another spark and it will explode again.Monkey Business: humans aren’t alone in recognising a good bargain
Macaques have been observed trading tourists' possessions for food - showing humans aren't the only ones to understand good value
- Science
10 persistent HIV myths we need to move past to break the stigma of the disease
It's a Sin showed us how much our understanding of HIV has changed, but social attitudes to the disease still remain mired in stigmaToxoplasmosis: how worried should we be about the ‘mind-control parasite’ spread by cats?
Lydia Hemus - 0While TED talks and internet memes spread fears we're being mind-controlled by our feline friends, the reality might be somewhat less dramaticA doomscrollers guide to climate hyperbole: countering the doomism of Deep Adaptation
Ted Lefroy - 0'Deep Adaptation' is a perfect example of how climate doomsayers and denialists both use similar methods to tilt reality in their favourIs 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 program
- Reviews
- About us
Expert skeptical analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal.
editor@skeptic.org.uk