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The Power of Replication – Bems Psi Research
I love reading quotes by the likes of Karl Popper in the scientific literature. A recent replication of Bem’s infamous psi research, Feeling the Future, gives us this quote: Popper (1959/2002) defined a scientifically true effect as that “which can be regularly reproduced by anyone who carries out the appropriate experiment in the way prescribed.” The paper is the latest replication of Daryl Bem’s...
Homeopathy’s Recent Woes
Be careful what you wish for. In the last few decades purveyors of dubious medical treatments and products have been trying to go mainstream, and they have had some unfortunate success. They asked for serious scientific investigation into their claims – and they got it. They asked to be treated like real medicine (but not really, they only want the trappings of...
Eggs and Atherosclerosis
The headline of a recent Los Angeles Times article is, “No yolk: eating the whole egg as dangerous as smoking?” The question mark is meant to convey uncertainty or surprise, or perhaps both. The article represents much of what is wrong with science and health reporting by mainstream media. The news report is based upon an article published in Atherosclerosis – Egg...
Are Berries the New Snake Oil?
Are berries a superfood? No, they're just good for you, like all fruit.
Antifluoridation Bad Science
A new review of research out of Harvard University suggests fluoridating drinking water above the EPA limit is a bad idea - which we already knew.
Olympic Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is rife within the sporting world, and reaches its apogee with the Olympic Games.
Holding the Polio Vaccine Hostage
Since the development of the vaccine, perhaps the most effective public health measure we have yet devised, only one human disease has been completely eradicated from the world – smallpox. The last case was reported in Somalia in 1977. Eradication was the result of a deliberate and intense campaign, requiring almost complete vaccination of the population, especially in certain population dense areas....
GSK Pays $3 Billion Fine
The following article is reposted from NeuroLogicaBlog. Happy Independence Day to all our American readers. The pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline, has agreed to pay three billion dollars in fines to settle three charges of fraud brought by the FDA. This is the largest health fraud settlement in US history. What are the implications of this settlement for how the pharmaceutical industry is regulated in...
The Swiss Report on Homeopathy
Proponents of homeopathy claim that a Swiss report published in 2012 vindicates homeopathy. The report was actually authored by homeopaths, who used an artificially low standard of evidence to conclude what they were selling actually works. This ignores the improbability of homeopathy, and the many other reviews that have concluded it is nothing more than a placebo.
Bee Venom Therapy Update
I wrote previously about bee venom therapy (BVT), also called apitherapy or bee sting therapy, as an emerging “alternative” therapy. Both use and research into BVT continue, providing an excellent example of the many things that are wrong with the CAM movement. A recent Reuters article on the topic is also an excellent example of the frequent complete failure of the mainstream media in...