Posts in category Resources
Climate Change
Climate Change or Global Warming? The terms “climate change” and “global warming” tend to be used interchangeably. This can create confusion and misunderstanding. While the underlying general warming is increasing at a comparatively steady rate due to greenhouse gas emissions, the climate changes triggered by the underlying warming can lead to extreme weather events that […]
Acupuncture
If acupressure works without puncturing a patient, is it not then unethical for an acupuncturist to use invasive and potentially dangerous needles? The US National Council Against Health Fraud has concluded the following: acupuncture is an unproven modality of treatment its theory and practice are based on primitive and fanciful concepts of health and disease […]
Channeling
Penny Torres was, before her decision to become a channeller, a housewife from Los Angeles. The “wisdom” she offers to her followers is precisely what one would expect from such a source. It was quite disconcerting…to see the blind acceptance the believers gave to Ms Torres’ pronouncements on pap and their conviction that what she […]
Colloidal Silver
I thought the [colloidal silver] promoters were ignorant people who had made a terrible mistake, but when I contacted several of them and discovered that they were not interested in hearing my story, they would not change their ads and they refused to include my negative anecdotes along with their positive ones, I knew that […]
Echinacea
As with many herbs, it is unsettled whether echinacea is useful. Also, many herbal products are not standardized as to what is in them, so even if something is useful, you can’t be sure that the quality control or dosage that makes it useful is in the bottle. The FDA does not regulate that. Some […]
Friday the 13th
Things to do Next time Friday the 13th rolls around, keep a journal for a week beforehand and a week afterwards noting incidents you think represent good luck and bad luck on a daily basis. Is there any significant difference on Friday the 13th? Think about your reactions – are you more conscious of what […]
Magnetic Therapy Products
Anyone looking for a health enhancing effect from a shoe magnet might just as well put the fortune from a Chinese fortune cookie in their shoe. It will be equally effective. John W. Farley, Ph.D., Professor of Physics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas There is no scientific basis to conclude that small, static […]
Psychics and the Police
Sensing Murder might be the most important TV show of our times. It all boils down to this: the show is either a colossal fraud, an entertainment conspiracy the size of Watergate, or it’s the most amazing and incontrovertible evidence of paranormal activity ever recorded. And it has to be one or the other. It […]
Astrology
Things to do Read out the horoscope for the wrong sign and see if your listener agrees with it. If you do get a personal astrological interpretation, tape it and listen to see how much information you provided yourself and how specific the astrologer was. Keep the New Year predictions made by astrologers, psychics and […]
UFOs and Aliens
Things to do Try faking a UFO photograph and show it to friends to see their reaction. Spend an evening near an airport and watch the lights in the sky to see how hard it can be to judge size and distance. How is the evidence for UFOs or alien abductions any better than the […]
Critical Thinking
I think it’s much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. Richard Feynman Just because Einstein was controversial does not mean that anyone who is controversial must be another Einstein. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Keep asking questions until you know, or you know that you don’t know! […]
Homeopathy
If homeopathy works, then obviously the less you use it, the stronger it gets. So the best way to apply homeopathy is to not use it at all. Phil Plait Water has memory! And while its memory of a long lost drop of onion juice is Infinite It somehow forgets all the poo it’s had […]