Archive for category science
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 »
Climate Change In Canada
Posted by Chris in Climate Change, Media, science on February 16, 2010
In its continued exploitation of the oilsands of Alberta, Canadia may have recently surpassed even the US in its ability to ignore climate change science in the name of making economic gains. It was a pleasant surprise, therefore, to find an opinion piece published in the Globe and Mail, a Canadian national newspaper, supporting the work of scientists as “square-jawed heros” of current crises.
Effectively a firm rebuttal of the idea that just because of a few poorly-worded emails from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia the entire climate science paradigm (or even the broader scientific establishment) has collapsed, the author highlights the vital work of scientists and the robustness of the system within which they work.
In the Hollywood version of how science influences policy, the brilliant scientist has a eureka moment in the lab and calls the president, who promptly dispatches a square-jawed hero to save the day. In the real world, both science and politics are enormously more complicated.
It is in this real-world context that we must place the imbroglio surrounding the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s research. Breathless media claims that the scientific consensus supporting the reality of climate change and its causes has collapsed are simply untrue.
At its heart, the debate centres on the role and process of science in creating a platform for human progress. If anything has been “revealed,” it is the challenge of communicating complex science to a media world that requires scientists to reduce their research to a sound bite.
I highly recommend reading the full article.
Mad Journalist Syndrome
Posted by Colin H in Conspiracy Theories, Government, Journalism, Media, Public Health, science on February 9, 2010
On the 14th January, Simon Jenkins published an article online at the Guardian’s Comment is Free section entitled: “Swine Flu is as Elusive as WMD. The Real Threat is Mad Scientist Syndrome.”, in which he criticised both scientists and the government for what he saw as scare tactics and misinformation in the handling of the swine flu outbreak. The article annoyed me a little, but I had food in the oven, and as I’m a man who lives on his stomach (to paraphrase Dr. Bruce Banner, you wouldn’t like me when I’m hungry), I forgot about it and went about my merry way.
A week later, the article began to surface from the sea of my subconscious and I grew increasingly irked. I gradually came to realise that it was a much more frustrating article than I had initially given it credit for. Read the rest of this entry »
I Wonder: Real Medicine
Posted by Marsh in 10:23, Pseudomedicine, science, Skepticism on January 4, 2010
Sometimes I wonder about wonder. I’ll clarify – lately I’ve been hearing the same kind of sentiment expressed in many different ways, and from sources ranging from woo-peddlers to people I love and respect: ‘The thing that gets me about skeptics and skepticism is they take the wonder out of life’. The notion of taking the wonder out of life has never sat easy with me – for one thing, I feel like life becomes more wonderful when you take the mysticism and superstition out of it. What’s more, once you’ve removed those extraneous distractions you’re able to appreciate the world for how it really is, and see the wonder that exists in reality. And in my eyes, somewhat ironically, one of areas where the wonder of a mysticism-free reality is most apparent is the very same area that tends to get the most criticism leveled at it: the defence of real medicine against the pseudomedical.
Right now, here at the Merseyside Skeptics Society, we’re well underway with our plans for the 10:23 campaign – a campaign which will become more vocal in the early parts of this year, and one which has had a somewhat mixed response in some circles. The reason for much of the criticism (excepting that of the predictably irate and irrational homeopathic community), arises where perhaps the intention behind the campaign is misunderstood. Because we’re looking to ‘take on’ homeopathy and the claims made by homeopaths, this is seen by some as an act of aggression and negativity. Plaintiff calls of ‘Leave them alone, everyone has a right to believe what they want!’ and ‘People should be free to choose what they like’ ring out in our general direction. But I think these complaints perhaps miss the point being made – it’s not a case of attacking pseudomedicine, it’s a case of defending conventional medicine from the attacks of those of the alternative industries. While doctors and surgeons and nurses save lives, homeopaths and chiropractors and acupuncturists lambast what they see as the failures of medicine, to the detriment of the reputation of real healthcare. Read the rest of this entry »
Darwin, Evolution, Hitler and the Public Misunderstanding of Science
Posted by Chris in Evolution, science, Skepticism on November 24, 2009
Chuck D
Some of you may know that this year is the anniversary both of 200 years since Charles Darwin’s birth and 150 years since the publication of his seminal work, On the Origin of the Species. That book was in fact published 150 years ago TODAY, 24thNovember 1859. I’m afraid that this has turned into more of an essay than a blog post and for that I apologise. I hope you think it’s worth it! Given the occasion I think an essay on Darwin is forgivable… First, I want to make a few specific comments about a newspaper article on the abuse of evolutionary theory. I will then provide a brief summary of an article that answers many of the points raised in terms of science in general. I’ll move onto a specific discussion on evolution before providing the other side of the evolution-ethics debate (too-rarely promoted) in the final section.
The Trouble with “Darwinism”?
An article on the Times website recently highlighted the links between high school shootings and the theory of evolution. A point by point rebuttal of the article is not really necessary. The piece is well-written and (on the whole) accurately reported. However, it is also solely directed towards getting a controversial, narrow point of view across and is, therefore, extremely biased. While an article on the good and evil associated with the theory of evolution would provide a fascinating read, the tramping out of menacing photographs of youths pointing guns at cameras, students in tears in the aftermath of a shooting and a shrine set up to the dead alongside quotes from those same gun-toting students, ignorant American celebrities and those who have a vested interest in discrediting evolutionary theory only serves to obscure and sensationalise the debate. The author is simply piggy-backing on the emotional outcry that followed those earlier stories. The dubious links between scientific theories and hypotheses and their application to the real world were the story of the twentieth century and continues to dog us to this day. Read the rest of this entry »
Public Opinion On Science: Who To Trust And When?
Posted by Chris in Climate Change, Pseudoscience, science, Skepticism, vaccination on November 11, 2009
MSS-member and recent émigré to Canada Chris Hassall takes a look at how public perception of science is distorted, and the role of skepticism in combating the distortion.
People go about their daily lives making decisions on the basis of beliefs about the way the world works. Their epistemological framework is a complex architecture of foundations and interconnecting supports on which rest concepts held to be “true”. While some beliefs may have little consequence for the person holding that belief, others have the potential to seriously impact the lives of both the believer and, through the actions that those beliefs precipitate, the rest of mankind. When we come to examine issues of such magnitude, we see a difference between the beliefs held by the general public and those which are held by the majority of experts in the respective fields. To understand why this is the case, it is informative to consider two claims that have been made in recent years and the variation in the reception that each has received from the public. Read the rest of this entry »
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