MetaFilter posts tagged with pseudoscience

the squidgy 1.5kg lump of pink stuff in our heads

cthuljew — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 22:23:58 -0800

NeuroBollocks: Debunking pseudo-neuroscience so you don't have to.

The Plough and Potato have had a football team since Roman times, so they must be better at it than modern teams!

acb — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 17:53:06 -0800

A primer in the rhetorical tactics of pseudoscience advocates in the form of an inane pub argument about football.

Research In Progress

Blasdelb — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 09:52:20 -0800

Things about the research in progress.

Don't even Blink...

Artw — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 00:04:22 -0800

Your brain on pseudoscience: the rise of popular neurobollocks

Excess heat without light

fantabulous timewaster — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 01:04:31 -0800

Martin Fleischmann, who with Stanley Pons claimed in a press conference to have observed sustained nuclear fusion in a room-temperature experiment, died on August third at age 85. Fleischmann and Pons were immediately criticized for having announced their breakthrough at a press conference rather than in the peer-reviewed technical literature, criticism which was apparently justified when hundreds of independent efforts over the next year completely failed to produce any convincing evidence for the effect. Despite the lack of experimental evidence, the immense commercial potential of low-energy nuclear fusion sustains a small community of researchers who interact intermittently with the mainstream physics community. New claims for cold fusion appear occasionally and are treated with extreme prejudice. A 2002 claim of neutron production in collapsing bubbles led, after several years of scientific and ethical investigations, to the principal investigator being barred from receiving federal funding. A machine operated in early 2011 (previously) as a "demonstration" of excess energy production was "slated for mass production" by the end of 2011, but has not, shockingly, materialized.

Who the hell is ‘Prof. Brian J. Ford’? And did he say this in 1900?

brundlefly — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 08:50:26 -0800

Aquatic dinosaurs? Not so fast!

"Bad books" and how to spot them.

Sticherbeast — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 07:05:43 -0800

"The world is full of 'bad books'; not just uninteresting, or ill-informed, or morally repugnant books, but books that set out to present or defend positions that are insupportable in logic….Often these bad books become quite popular, and frequently gain a wider audience than good books on the same subjects. In discouraging my students from relying on such bad books, I began to wonder why they are popular." Lovers of "bad books" may wish to consult the terrific answers in this somewhat related AskMe question. In particular, I draw the reader's attention to Ken Hite's Eliptony Core Samples, "eliptony" being his word for "apophenic secret history/knowledge, 'magical thinking' of an ironic-credulous Fortean sort."

"Here, eat this root."

zarq — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:44:58 -0800

The Triumph of New-Age Medicine "Medicine has long decried acupuncture, homeopathy, and the like as dangerous nonsense that preys on the gullible. Again and again, carefully controlled studies have shown alternative medicine to work no better than a placebo. But now many doctors admit that alternative medicine often seems to do a better job of making patients well, and at a much lower cost, than mainstream care—and they’re trying to learn from it." Single Page Version Responses to the article will be posted each day (one per day) for the next couple of weeks at Fix or Fraud, a debate on Alternative Medicine. There is currently one response, with a reply from the article author: * Don't Dismiss These Treatments as Placebos (Taxpayers are funding major studies on alternative medicine -- and for good reason) by Josephine Briggs, M.D., and Jack Killen, M.D. The author's reply is here.

National Academy as National Enquirer?

scodger — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 12:47:34 -0800

Caterpillars evolved from onychophorans by hybridogenesis. Caterpillars did not evolve from onychophorans by hybridogenesis. In the November 24, 2009 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), two papers were published side by side. The first, by Donald Williamson, claimed that caterpillars and other insects which go through a "grub" stage, were not evolved conventionally, but arose as the by product of interspecies mating between onychophorans and an ancestral insect. This paper was submitted through "Track I", a controversial method which allowed members of the NAS to shepherd papers into the journal more easily than standard peer review. The second paper was a spirited rebuttal of the first, with the same title except for the words "did not" inserted. The publication of such a controversial paper in the well regarded PNAS journal lead to a number of critical responses, including a news and views article, again in the same issue of PNAS that concluded: "Perhaps the most amazing thing from this article is not the bold proposal, but the fact that the author believes that there is a research program behind his claims: “As an initial trial, it should be possible to attach an onychophoran spermatophore to the genital pore of a female cockroach and see if fertilized eggs are laid”. I am not sure this can be taken seriously." Track I submission has since been discontinued.

THAT'S A BONE

The Winsome Parker Lewis — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:58:28 -0800

Few phenomena have the power to confound as many different types of people as pareidolia. It doesn't discriminate by culture or religion. It causes Christians to see Jesus and Mary, Muslims to see the names of Allah and the Prophet, Jews to see the Star of David, Hindus to see the monkey-god Hanuman, and Buddhists to see — you guessed it — the Buddha. Even atheists who haven't devoted themselves to skepticism have puzzled long and hard over the famous face, and more recently, Bigfoot, on Mars. Now video has surfaced on YouTube of pseudoscientist and perennial attention-seeker Richard Heene (yes, Balloon Boy's dad) seeing things on the red planet too. If you'd prefer the filler edited out, the remix is highly entertaining. Previously on MetaFilter: Par ei dol ia. Electronic voice phenomenon. Reverse speech. It's all in your head.

What the pangeaists don't want you to know

Lorc — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 11:51:09 -0800

Don't continue fooling yourself. The earth is growing and expanding rapidly. Despite plate tectonics' popular acceptance in the 60s, Samuel Warren Carey, the father of modern expansion tectonics, was publicly promoting his theories of an expanded earth as late as 1981. One of the theory's most prominent modern spokesmen is comics artist Neal Adams, who has created a number of informative videos about a new model of the universe that even manages to explain why the dinosaurs died out. If you're wondering where the extra mass comes from, some put it down to thermal expansion of the core and accretion of matter at the surface. Neal prefers pair production to explain the phenomenon (related: prime matter). There are other mass-expansion theories, but for at least one it's just a matter of perception. Dr James Maxlow too waves the expanding-earth flag. Here you can watch Yes! The Earth is expanding, his presentation on expansion tectonics. Previously.

Weird Forgotten History

The Winsome Parker Lewis — Thu, 13 May 2010 15:51:25 -0800

Before David Koresh, there was simply "Koresh." Cyrus Reed Teed was an eclectic physician from New York who experienced a "divine illumination" (Google Books) in 1869. He recruited over 200 followers to settle a utopian commune in Estero, Florida based on his revelation of a unique hollow-earth theory called the Cellular Cosomogony. Elaborate experiments showed conclusive "proof" that the world's surface was a concave sphere. Despite this, his movement failed to gain traction; relations grew increasingly strained between the Koreshans and the Lee County locals. In 1906, the aging Dr. Teed was severely beaten in a Ft. Myers street brawl (PDF, see pp. 12-14) and died from his injuries on December 22, 1908. His martyrdom sealed, the Koreshans refused to bury the remains (PDF) in the belief that their messiah would be resurrected on Christmas Day. The commune has been preserved as a state historic site where Floridians can learn more about the cult leader in their backyard. But that's just one part of the story. Word of the Cellular Cosmogony spread to Europe, where the Third Reich's Peter Bender adopted Teed's theory as the Hohlweltlehr, or Hollow World Doctrine. A Nazi engineer discovered Bender's writings and conceived the Magdeburg Project, for which he was granted 25,000 Deutsch marks to launch a rocket straight up from Germany in hopes of impacting New Zealand. After several failed attempts, the project was abandoned in 1933.

Simon Singh's last column

homunculus — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:51:58 -0800

Simon Singh: This is goodbye. Being sued for libel is not only ruinously expensive, writes Simon Singh, it takes over your whole life. Which is why this will be his last column. Previously.

Amerithrax case closed

cgs06 — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:00:42 -0800

The investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks (dubbed "Amerithrax" by the FBI) is now closed. Yesterday, the Department of Justice released a 92-page summary [pdf] of their investigation. Their conclusion -- that USAMRIID scientist Bruce Ivins was the culprit -- was backed by an impressive amount of evidence, including microbiological detective work (p. 23 ff). But some of the investigation was downright bizarre.... On page 59, the FBI starts deconstructing the language of the (very short) anthrax notes, and soon devolves into a Bible-Code-like hunt for hidden messages in the NBC note. After having read Douglas Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach, a copy of which Ivins had tossed in the garbage can, the FBI concluded that Ivins had hidden either the message "FNY" or "PAT" in his letter. Of course, the FBI misunderstood GEB, interpreting a whimsical demonstration of Cantor's diagonal argument for a steganographic how-to. Even Hofstadter himself says that the supposed connection was a "red herring." This is not the only example of how the FBI, even when it has highly-sophisticated scientific techniques at its disposal, can't let go of pseudoscientific, mystical thinking. Their reliance on the polygraph, for example, will continue undiminished even though Ivins, like other high-profile criminals before him, passed a polygraph test (p. 84).

"Thomas Edison has said 'The doctor of the future will give no medicines.' "

inoculatedcities — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:50:12 -0800

Desiree Jennings is a 25-year old marketing manager (and Redskins "Ambassador cheerleader") who claims that in August she received a seasonal flu vaccine at a grocery store that caused a never-before-seen dystonia. While saturating media outlets and drawing the support of celebrity anti-vaccinationists, she shunned the doctors who treated her at Johns Hopkins University who (along with other neurologists who have seen footage of her) judged that she was suffering from a psychogenic disorder. The premier anti-vaccination/vaccine-autism link-alleging parental advocacy group, Generation Rescue, came to the rescue to deliver Jennings to Dr. Rashid Buttar (twitter), a physician whose license has been threatened by repeated investigations of misconduct including treating cancer patients with IV hydrogen peroxide. But have no fear! Buttar has amazingly "cured" Jennings' permanent brain damage through chelation therapy.

Keep Libel Laws Out Of Science campaign

memebake — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:25:06 -0800

Simon Singh is being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association (previously on metafilter). A pre-trail ruling by the judge caused much concern in the scientific community and elsewhere. On the 4th of June Singh announced that he was applying to appeal against the pre-trial ruling, and Sense About Science launched a Keep Libel Laws Out Of Science campaign (T-shirts, badges and mugs available). The Streisand effect really started to kick in when Simon Perry screen-scraped 400 uk chiropractic web sites, searched for claims about the treatment of colic, and mail-merged letters to various Trading Standards officers. Over 240 letters were sent. This led to an interesting response. On the 8th of June, the McTimoney Association sent an urgent email to all its members: "Because of what we consider to be a witch hunt against chiropractors, we are now issuing the following advice: ... If you have a website, take it down NOW ... REMOVE all the blue MCA patient information leaflets, or any patient information leaflets of your own that state you treat whiplash, colic or other childhood problems in your clinic or at any other site where they might be displayed with your contact details on them. DO NOT USE them until further notice ... IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THIS ADVICE, YOU MAY BE AT RISK FROM PROSECUTION." Their claims of a 'witch hunt' are discussed in this Guardian article by Chris French: "Challenging unsubstantiated treatment claims does not seem to me to qualify as a witch hunt." Simon Perry's blog has a lot of detail about the responses he has had to his complaints. He also submitted 56 individual complaints to the General Chiropractic Council, and sent the whole list of web sites that make claims about colic to the Office of Fair Trading. Over 12,000 people have so far signed up to the Keep Libel Laws Out Of Science campaign, and there is also a statment of support from senior parliamentarians. After the pre-trail ruling, BCA President Dr Tony Metcalfe said, “The BCA brought this claim to preserve its integrity and reputation. I’m delighted that the Judge has vindicated the BCA’s position.”

Simon Singhs the Blues

Dumsnill — Sat, 09 May 2009 18:01:45 -0800

Simon Singh, author of Fermat's Last Theorem and The Code Book, was sued for libel by The British Chiropractic Association for comments he wrote in a column in The Guardian: The British Chiropractic Association claims that their members can help treat children with colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma and prolonged crying, even though there is not a jot of evidence. This organisation is the respectable face of the chiropractic profession and yet it happily promotes bogus treatments. As part of libel litigation, the court does have to rule as to the meaning of the relevant passages. "The ruling was by Sir David Eady, the presiding judge. He has decided the "meaning" which should be given to the passage complained of in Simon Singh's original article. So what should he do now?

Pseudoscientists Win Prizes When Pigs Fly

jonp72 — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:54:45 -0800

On April Fools Day 2009, the James Randi Educational Foundation announced the Pigasus Awards for 2008 for the worst in pseudoscientific irrationality. The Scientist award was given to Dr. Colin A. Ross for his claims that he can shoot electromagnetic energy beams from his eyes. The Funding Organization award went to Walt Ruloff and his co-producers for bankrolling the Intelligent Design documentary, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. The Media award went to cable channels such as Comedy Central that still run ads for Enzyte even though the company's owner is now serving a 25-year sentence for fraud. The Perfomer award was typically awarded in the past to cheesy psychics such as Uri Geller or Sylvia Browne, but this year the (dis)honor goes to actress/spokesmodel Jenny McCarthy for her antivaccination activism, a stance that inspired the Jenny McCarthy Body Count. Finally, a new award for "most persistent refusal to face reality" was presented to infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau, who continues selling his books on "natural cures" despite a judge slapping him with a $37 million fine for false claims.

Ig Nobel

Skeptic — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:42:57 -0800

Professor Luc Montagnier, 2008 Nobel Prize Laureate for Medicine, is no stranger to controversy. Recently, he has been touting his approval for the ignominiously debunked "water memory" theories of the late French immunologist Dr. Jacques Benveniste. This is not altogether surprising, given that Montagnier has filed a patent application for a method for characterising "biologically active biochemical elements" based on Benveniste's more outlandish theories. But there's more... First of all, the patent examiner who has drafted the International Search Report, in his Written Opinion on patentability, seems less than impressed by Montagnier's invention. The killer quote comes in page 10: "This is all the more problematic since: (i) the invention is based on phenomena which contradict the basic principles of physics and of chemistry, i.e. the existence of a biological activity or effect without an active molecule, and (ii) no explanation or theoretical basis makes it possible at the current time to explain the results obtained." Secondly, a man called Bruno Robert claims that Montagnier stole the invention from him. Most disturbingly, Robert filed a nearly identical patent application right before Montagnier. BTW, this may not be Montagnier's first brush with quackery.

Spooky Action At A Distance: $245

Potomac Avenue — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 17:14:22 -0800

The newest Wholphin DVD contains the instructions for an experiment called "Select Your Intention," created by a company called Psyleron. Psyleron is the result of efforts by former research scientists at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research laboratory— (1979-2007) an interdisciplinary group of physicists, psychologists, engineers, and humanists, that explored the ability of the human mind to interact directly with the physical world. (VIDEO) "Now anyone with a home computer can explore the direct impact of consciousness with the portable, adaptable, and responsive Psyleron REG-1." And now, try new Pocket Reg! Other products with which to enjoy your new found psychic prowess: The Alerter! The Mind-reading Robot! and the astounding MIND LAMP!!!!! Previously (two, three, four, five)

How Much

homunculus — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:55:56 -0800

Quantum of culture. Terminology from quantum theory shows up frequently in art, films, poetry and sculpture. Robert P. Crease gauges the impact of quantum mechanics on popular culture. [Via]

Captain Kirks Alien Mysteries

Artw — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:00:05 -0800

With all the crystal skulls, nazca lines and such at the box office these days now might be the ideal time to reacquaint yourself with the theories of Erich von Däniken. What better way to do it than by watching William Shatners Mysteries of the Gods ( Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 4, Pt. 5, Pt. 6, Pt. 7, Pt. 8, Pt. 9, Pt. 10)(MULTI LINK YOUTUBE SHATNERFEST)

Science and Pseudoscience

Wolfdog — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 07:20:22 -0800

Science and Pseudoscience - a 1973 lecture from Imre Lakatos.

Biologists Helping Bookstores

corpse — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 08:02:47 -0800

Can't ever find what you are looking for at the bookstore? Tired of seeing pseudoscience or pop psychology books in the science section? Join a grassroots effort to re-shelve books to the appropriate section of the store: Biologists Helping Bookstores.

Mongolian Death Worm!

unreason — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:39:15 -0800

Bigfoot? Meh. Real Pseudoscientists hunt the MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM! Watch out for its acid spit! And the electricity it shoots out of its eyeballs. Now, see Richard Freeman's tireless search for this mighty beast in "The Lair of the Red Worm". (Part 1)(Part 2) Flee for your lives!