Randi in Holland, last week. Interviewed by Mr. Martijn van Calmthout, photographed by someone or other, and publicly overdosing on homeopathic sleeping pills. Don't worry, folks: He's okay. (And sorry about the shaky camera in the last cut -- for various reasons, I had to carry our tiny little camera in one hand.) - BKT
In an effort to make our extensive video library available online free of charge, The James Randi Educational Foundation is posting high quality digital video lectures and sessions from previous Amaz!ng Meetings and other events on randi.org. Check back often to see the latest video content.
Tim Farley of What's the Harm?offers plenty of practical advice for effectively using the internet to advance the message of skepticism in the Web 2.0 world in this talk presented at the Amaz!ng Meeting 6.
Here is a recap of the stories that appeared recently at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo in medicine.
Here is a recap of the stories that appeared recently at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo in medicine.
Seven Deadly Medical Hypotheses revisited (David Gorski) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/seven-deadly-medical-hypotheses-revisited/ Follow-up on an article in Skeptical Inquirer by Reynold Spector. Several skeptics criticized his article, and he responded. His response misses the point and is arguably more objectionable than his original article.
Are Prenatal Ultrasounds Dangerous? (Harriet Hall) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/are-prenatal-ultrasounds-dangerous/ An article by a pediatric chiropractor amounts to irrational fearmongering about ultrasounds. Prenatal ultrasounds are a vital adjunct to obstetrical care. There is no evidence that they are harmful, but experts recommend not doing them for frivolous reasons.
I acknowledge that professor Iain Graham has a difficult task before him. He has to come up with some way to defend the practice of his university (Southern Cross University, SCU, in Australia) of teaching pseudoscience as if it were real medicine. This is no easy feat (at least not for the intellectually honest and rigorous).
Universities in Australia have been coming under fire recently for teaching so-called alternative medicine. A group called the Friends of Science in Medicine formed to publicly complain about the slipping science standards represented by the infiltration of medical pseudoscience into universities. Of course, proponents are not backing off voluntarily. They are marshaling all the logical fallacies and distorted facts in their arsenal to defend their profitable nonsense.