Tag: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

A woman lies face down on a massage table with several acupuncture needles inserted into her bare upper back, receiving acupuncture treatment. A white towel covers part of her body, and she appears relaxed.

More credulous nonsense about acupuncture, this time from National Geographic

PNAS recently published credulous nonsense about acupuncture so bad that I thought it couldn't be topped. "Hold my beer!" cried National Geographic, as it proceeded to top PNAS.

/ May 11, 2026
Acupuncture for xerostomia

PNAS Publishes Rank Pseudoscience

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences recently published an article on acupuncture. It's a highly credulous take that tries to convince the reader that acupuncture is more than just a highly theatrical placebo. Quackademic medicine continues apace.

/ April 29, 2026

Did Facebook and PNAS violate human research protections in an unethical experiment?

Ed. Note: NOTE ADDENDUM I daresay that I’m like a lot of you in that I spend a fair bit of time on Facebook. This blog has a Facebook page (which, by the way, you should head on over and Like immediately). I have a Facebook page, several of our bloggers, such as Harriet Hall, Steve Novella, Mark Crislip, Scott Gavura, Paul...

/ June 30, 2014

High dose vitamin C and cancer: Has Linus Pauling been vindicated?

Treating cancer with high-doses of vitamin C is a zombie idea that began with Linus Pauling, and has failed to die ever since. But has new research vindicated this idea? No. No in any meaningful way. This work is the very definition of a long run for a short slide.

/ August 18, 2008