August 22, 2008
Prometheus brings us the best article I've seen to date on why the new push for a mitochondrial basis for autism is total nonsense.
Once I saw this push from denialists like David Kirby towards a link between mitochondria and autism I knew we were in for a world of trouble. If only because…
August 21, 2008
I agree with our buddy Ben Goldacre when he says Bill Nelson wins the internet. I can not begin to describe the hilarity of this video but first a bit of background.
Bill Nelson is a quack who's been running a Rife-machine scam. That is, for many thousands of dollars you can purchase and use his…
August 8, 2008
This is meetup weekend for the sciencebloggers and remember, we're planning to hang out with readers at 2:00 pm on Saturday, August 9, at Social (795 8th Ave).
Drop by, say hello, and meet the scibs!
August 1, 2008
The archived reports of the OTA are on a new site hosted by the Federation of American Scientists.
You may remember that we're big fans of the OTA as we feel that scientific assessment of government policy and guidance of legislation is key to having an efficacious, informed congress. In our…
July 28, 2008
Everyone this morning should check out a new favorite website of mine the International Journal of Inactivism. Frank Bi has created a wonderful little catalog of global warming conspiracy theories that nicely illustrate the fundamental defects of reasoning used by the denialists. In particular, I…
July 24, 2008
Who wrote this?
As someone who spends a substantial portion of his professional time teaching medical students, I can tell you that this kind of attitude-that physicians are gods, not mere mortals, and wield power over other human beings that no one dare question-is inculcated in them from the very…
July 21, 2008
Any native New Yorkers out there that read denialism blog? If so, I'll be in town for the Sb meetup in NYC on August 9th. If anyone would like to meet me or the other sciencebloggers, let us know. And if you have a good idea where a bunch of people could find an air-conditioned space to do it,…
July 21, 2008
Those reading Deltoid's coverage of the APS fiasco are probably up to date on this issue, but I feel like we need to discuss the APS failure in more detail. For those unaware of the latest in global warming denialist nonsense, the American Physical Society made the foolish mistake of entertaining…
July 8, 2008
Complementing Pal's essay on Gardasil yesterday is our buddy la Pobre Habladora guest blogging on Feministe.
Which, I think, brings us to a new angle on anti-vax denialism because as Pal mentions, the motivations behind harping on Gardasil are different than the usual nonsense. Gardasil, to…
June 27, 2008
What Chad said.
Fastest post ever.
June 27, 2008
I must admit I'm a bit surprised to see the Supreme Court overturning the handgun ban (full ruling - PDF). I thought the court would have to take the position that gun ownership may be a right but one in which the state had enough of a compelling interest to regulate that bans like DC's could…
June 20, 2008
Surprisingly, it's not due to the horribly misguided abstinence education nonsense. In fact, I can't even begin to wrap my mind around this one.
As summer vacation begins, 17 girls at Gloucester High School are expecting babies--more than four times the number of pregnancies the 1,200-student…
June 20, 2008
Reading Ed Brayton's discussion of the contrasting behaviors of our two presidential candidates with regards to law and Supreme Court decisions, I couldn't resist comment.
One of the few advantages of medschool is that it keeps me from reading the news while I'm studying for exams, most recently…
June 12, 2008
The WSJ brings us news of increasing opposition to laws that would protect faith healing. Or as I call it, negligence. As usual it has required the death of innocents before people will come to grips with common sense.
The recent death from untreated diabetes of an 11-year-old Wisconsin girl has…
May 24, 2008
It's a must read over at action skeptics. Dirty limerick skepticism!
Of note, Orac on quackademic medicine, and Greta Christina on the science of sexuality.
May 19, 2008
But why? Why does Brawndo have electrolytes?
Because you need electrolytes to live. Every cell in your body uses electrolytes like sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg) and other critical ions for cellular functions, proper osmotic gradients, enzymatic activity and even…
May 12, 2008
So on the blog birthday we asked our dear readers what they've learned over the last year, and as a test we gave them this crank who attacks the bisphosphonate anti-osteoporosis drugs in his article "the delusion of bone drugs".
I think the reader with the best grade is LanceR or Martin, but…
May 12, 2008
I'm sorry I've been buried the last couple weeks, as I've just started my general medicine rotation. Today is my post-call day, which means I get to sleep in and then study all day long. The fire hydrant of information is cranked open full bore again, and the shelf exam for medicine is supposed…
April 30, 2008
Today represents one year since we joined scienceblogs, and I think we've had a great deal of success in defining the problem of denialism, establishing a new vocabulary for dealing with the problem of pseudoscience, and establishing uniform standards for what is legitimate scientific discourse and…
April 29, 2008
No time for blogging today but make sure to welcome ERV, on of my favorite bloggers, to the network.
Welcome ERV!
April 28, 2008
How else can you describe a site that regularly publishes David Kirby's anti-vaccination denialism, Jennifer McCarthy's insanity, and conspiracy theories from the like of Diedre Imus?
The latest this weekend is the goalpost-moving from David Kirby, which based on the egregious misinterpretation…
April 24, 2008
Andrea's Buzzing about the latest skeptic's circle.
I'd point out in particular Blake Stacey's discussion of the real expelled, scientists who challenge creationism.
And I'd also recommend the Pap smear to Skepchic. It makes sense in context.
April 24, 2008
Dude. If you thought Vox Day (the guy with the minge haircut) was crazy, check out what his crazy dad has been up too since he fast captured last year:
The trial of millionaire tax protester Robert Beale turned bizarre even before jury selection began Monday as the prosecutor announced the arrest…
April 24, 2008
Here's one of the more amusing news stories I've seen. Apparently Al Qaeda is irritated with Ahmadinejad's 9/11 conspiracy theories. It turns out the people who committed the atrocity are quite proud of it, and don't want people to forget it.
Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader issued a new audiotape Tuesday…
April 23, 2008
I've been reluctant to write about Expelled from the perspective of their abuse of the memory of the Holocaust. Ever since I learned that they were going to recycle the ludicrous Darwin-caused-Hitler argument I've been sending out emails to asking other experts their take on whether or not it…
April 22, 2008
With the news that in addition to John McCain both Clinton and Obama have now pandered to anti-vaccine denialism I think it's time to reiterate there isn't a political party in this country that has a truly sound grasp on sound science. And in this instance it is clear that both sides are more…
April 18, 2008
Yes, that's right, the Holocaust denier who brought us the international meeting of Holocaust deniers has slipped naturally into trooferism.
Earlier Wednesday, Ahmadinejad called the 9/11 attacks a "suspect event" in a speech at a public rally in the holy city of Qom.
"Four or five years ago a…
April 17, 2008
Slate has a series of three articles on what editor Daniel Engber refers to as "the paranoid style". Starting with A crank's progress, sliding into a review of Doubt is their product, and finishing with a spot-on review of Expelled he runs the guantlet of modern denialism. He also happens to hit…
April 17, 2008
One of the most salient features of cranks is their inconsistency. A major difference between someone who is trying to reason scientifically and someone who has a fixed belief they are trying to defend against rational inquiry is the scientific thinker is looking for synthesis. They want things…
April 15, 2008
Sometimes I just can't get too angry about some particularly insane rant from a denialist. In this case, HIV/AIDS denialist, scientific medicine denialist and all-around crank Mike Adams rants about the prospect of food sterilization by irradiation:
Let's be blunt about this: The corporations…
