A woman and a man sit facing each other, both with their hands raised towards a bright, glowing light between them. Large, ethereal hands hover above, enhancing the glow. A small plant is visible to the side. The scene suggests healing or connection.

EMDR Is Still Dubious

A recent meta-analysis of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy concludes that the evidence “confirms” EMDR is effective in treating depression. It is a great example of the limitations of meta-analysis, and how easy it is to create essentially a false narrative using poor quality research. EMDR was “developed” by Dr. Francine Shapiro in 1987. It is the notion that bilateral...

/ October 23, 2024
Plasmid is dynamite, not killer rabbit.

“And we’d better not risk another frontal assault. That plasmid’s dynamite.” Antivaxxers vs. plasmid DNA

Ever since recombinant DNA has been used to develop and manufacture vaccines, antivaxxers have portrayed it as evil. This weekend, an antivaxxer decided that fear mongering about SV40 in COVID-19 vaccines wasn't enough. Here we go again...

/ October 21, 2024

Dr. Sunetra Gupta Versus Dr. Sunetra Gupta

WWTI doctors' cared only about infecting unvaccinated children with SAR-CoV-2, and they were willing to blatantly contradict themselves and make things up achieve this goal.

/ October 18, 2024
Close-up of a hand performing acupuncture, carefully inserting thin needles into a person's skin. The background is softly blurred, emphasizing the focus on the acupuncture practice.

Latest Acupuncture Pseudoscience

JAMA Internal Medicine just published an article titled: Acupuncture vs Sham Acupuncture for Chronic Sciatica From Herniated Disk, A Randomized Clinical Trial. In an accompanying editorial comment, Jerard Z. Kneifati-Hayek and Mitchell H. Katz write: “This was a methodologically rigorous study; there were multiple experienced acupuncturists, the comparison group used a well thought-out sham control, and patients were followed up for 1...

/ October 16, 2024

Hungover

Hangovers: a problem with only one solution.

/ October 15, 2024
Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (RFK Jr.)

Antivaxxers easily see through the misdirection of RFK Jr.’s MAHA

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been antivax for two decades. His fellow travelers are not happy about his leaving out vaccines in his "Make America Healthy Again." To them it's an obvious misdirection, and they are turning on him.

/ October 14, 2024

The President of Stanford Is Unsure Which Number is Larger, 9 or 133

It doesn't bode well for the future that leaders of major American institutions say naked emperors are wearing beautiful clothes.

/ October 11, 2024

Elderberry (What is it good for)

Accumulated evidence does not demonstrate that elderberry has meaningful beneficial effects.

/ October 10, 2024
Diagram showing the worm C. elegans with focus on nervous and muscle systems (A), genetic differences in lin-4 and lin-14 mutants (B), and research contributions by Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun on microRNA lin-4's interaction with mRNA (C).

microRNA – 2024 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine

The 2024 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine goes to two researchers, Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, for their work on microRNA. They began their research in the same lab in the late 1980s as postdoctoral fellow, and then continued to collaborate after they each started their own labs. Their research involves a key question about multicellular life. Every cell in the...

/ October 9, 2024
Controlled opposition running limited hangouts

Antivax as ideology: “Limited hangouts” run by “controlled opposition”

Antivax is more ideology and conspiracy than science. The recent accusation that antivax influencers are running "limited hangouts" as part of "controlled opposition helps illustrate this characteristic, in which the insufficiently radical are portrayed as useful idiots for the enemy or even heretics.

/ October 7, 2024