Archive for April, 2010
Free Speech Hustings and Libel Reform
Posted by Mike in Libel Reform, Skepticism on April 20, 2010
When: Wed, Apr 21, 2010 6.30 – 22.30 PM
Where: The Crown Hotel, 43 Lime Street, Liverpool
Streaming live direct from the debate in London, the Merseyside Skeptics will be hosting a live broadcast of the The Free Speech Hustings – your chance to watch Jack Straw from Labour, Dominic Grieve from the Conservatives, and Evan Harris from the Liberal Democrats go head to head over libel law reform and protecting our freedom of speech.
The Free Speech Hustings bring together scientists, writers, human rights activists, journalists, bloggers and most importantly… voters – to put the difficult questions to the candidates about free speech and libel reform, counter-terrorism, privacy and religious hatred.
Each of the main parties will be represented, and will be answering questions on the libel law, free speech and what their party will do to protect and serve if elected.
- Representing LABOUR… Jack Straw
- Representing the CONSERVATIVES… Dominic Grieve
- Representing the LIBERAL DEMOCRATS… Evan Harris
For more information, see libelreform.org.
The Power of the Placebo: a skeptical view
Posted by Mike in Medicine, Pseudomedicine, science on April 20, 2010
Something has always bothered me about the placebo effect. And I don’t just mean the way it is co-opted by advocates of pseudomedical bollocks to justify their claims. I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve heard defend homeopathy or acupuncture with the statement “It does work – it just works through the placebo effect”.
Well, no. If something works as well as a placebo, that’s the same as saying it doesn’t work. If a plain sugar pill works as well as a homeopathically treated sugar pill then – whatever else might be helping the patient feel better – it is not the homeopathy.
No, my problem is why a placebo helps at all. How can actively doing nothing be different from passively doing nothing? Mind over matter? I’m skeptical.
Of Needles and Dentistry
Posted by Colin H in Acupuncture, Dentistry, Pseudomedicine on April 19, 2010
Last month the BBC news website published an article about recent research on the use of acupuncture in treating phobias, particularly dental phobia – a fear of going to the dentist’s.
The research was published in the international peer-reviewed journal Acupuncture in Medicine, and was carried out by eight dentists, including the research leader Dr Palle Rosted. It involved twenty people, each of whom spent five minutes recieving treatment in the chair prior to their check-up, with needles placed at two specific acupuncture points on their head reputed to aid relaxation Read the rest of this entry »
What Is It? #10
What Is It? #10
Well, once more it’s that time of the week – the time we ask you the age-old question: What Is It? Admittedly, throughout the ages it’s been applied to grandiose things like planets, comets and tiny tiny dogs (seriously, a pomeranian? What the hell IS that?), yet here at the MSS we use the question to usher in Prof. Dowling’s latest teasing photograph. As ever, tell us what you think this photo is.
Last week we showed you this photo, and asked you what it is. The answer? Pure fakery! Neither are penned by President Truman nor by founding father of the US,- Ben Franklin as they claim – instead they were penned by none other than Dr Joe Nickel of the Centre for Inquiry. Joe’s something of a skeptical hero, with having spent many decades and countlessTV appearances investigating paranormal claims.
A genuine Joe Nickel Fake
Winner this week was, well, no-one. The nearest was Jon D, who jokingly suggested the Franklin letter might be a fake expenses claim, although still penned by Franklin. No-one posted a right answer, in fact hardly anyone posted an answer at all this week! We are very disappointed. We’re crying but you just can’t see us.
We need to up the game. We mentioned pomeranians earlier. Right, for every What Is It that goes unanswered, we drown a pomeranian. Or at least hold one over some water. So, save the pomeranians and post your answers below…
Dowsing For Danger: Is The ADE651 Still On The Market?
Posted by Marsh in Divination, Pseudoscience, science, Skepticism on April 12, 2010
A little while ago, our good friend and past guest speaker Trystan Swale covered the ADE651 – the so-called bomb detector that didn’t, well, detect bombs. The story had been widely reported, with prominent skeptic Bruce Hood working with the BBC to expose the inefficacy of the devices, culminating in the arrest of ATSC CEO Jim McCormick. James Randi, of course, had long since identified the ADE651 as little more than a dowsing device, having slapped the $1million challenge on the table if McCormick were able to prove him wrong – an offer which was, unsurprisingly, refused.
All this is well-known, and can be found in greater detail elsewhere on the web, so I won’t bore you by re-hashing the details. However, there is something I can add to the story – we here at the MSS were recently contacted by a journalist wanting to know a little more about the device, specifically if it’s still on sale. Always happy to oblige, I got to doing a bit of digging, and having found – unsurprisingly – the ATSC’s website down ‘for repair’ (I can only assume it’s the company’s morals that are undergoing repair), I was kindly pointed in the direction of the online trade outlet ecplaza, and specifically the page for the ATSC ADE 651.
Well, what better way to find out if this disgraced and disproven device is still on sale, than to call up the manufacturers directly? Luckily enough, ecplaza lists the phone number for the sales department of WooBombDetectorsRUs as +44 207 681 2036… which is a number out of service. Presumably, the phone lines are also down for repair. Still, on the page there’s this lovely, shiny, inviting orange box titled ‘Inquire Now’… so I did. Presumably, I thought, if the website is down and the CEO under investigation for fraud, then the email enquiries would either bounce back an auto-reply saying ‘this device is no longer on sale’ (or word to that effect), or it would simply disappear into a black hole.
As it turns out, I was wrong Read the rest of this entry »
What Is It? #9
What Is It? #9 (click to enlarge)
What Is It? #9 (click to enlarge)
It’s that time of, erm, let’s just say ‘week’ again – time for our sort-of-regular What Is It? competition, courtesy of Prof. Dowling. You may remember the rules from last time, if not don’t worry, they couldn’t be simpler:
1. Look at these photos
2. Guess what these photos show
3. Tell us
Easy! So, get cracking.
Last time out we showed you this photo, and asked you who it is. Unbelievably, none of you were able to recognise that it was none other than the self-appointed superhero Mike Adams, Health Ranger. Mike is the charming, educated and definitely-not-a-lunatic behind the Natural News website – the one stop shop for all your anti-vaxx paranoia.
Mike Adams Health Ranger
He’s also got a sideline in anti-vaxx pop classics, such as his hit ‘Don’t Inject Me (The Swine Flu Vaccine Song)‘. Toe-tapping, I’m sure you’ll agree.
None of you got it. None. Must. Try. Harder.
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