Skeptic (Altadena, CA) articles from September 2008

Skeptic (Altadena, CA) archives from September 2008

A new president for JREF.('Twas Brillig ...)(James Randi Educational Foundation )
September 22, 2008... The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is pleased to announce that Dr. Philip Plait--renowned astronomer, author, and skeptic--will be taking on the role of President of the JREF effective immediately. The goals of the JREF are to bring...

Another Bigfoot hoax grabs headlines.('Twas Brillig ...)
September 22, 2008... When some folks get themselves revved up on a specific farce, they can't stop. One such unfortunate, a former Las Vegas promoter named Tom Biscardi, is currently wondering whatever happened to his two "partners" who accepted from him a $50,000...

Apollo astronaut spaced out.('Twas Brillig ...)(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I first refer you to tinyurl.com/594kgk, where you'll read Phil Plait's overly-kind but honest reference to the latest nonsense to come from former astronaut Edgar Mitchell, one of only twelve persons ever to...

What about acupuncture?(The SkepDoc)
September 22, 2008... BY DEFINITION, "ALTERNATIVE" medicine consists of treatments that have not been scientifically proven and that have not been accepted into mainstream medicine. The question I keep hearing is, "But what about acupuncture?. It's been proven to...

The evolutionary 16: shaping a new evolutionary synthesis while keeping the looneys at bay.(Essay)
September 22, 2008... EVERY MATURE FIELD OF SCIENCE IS characterized by an established conceptual framework--what philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn called a "paradigm." Every now and then, according to Kuhn, scientists encounter a series of problems that cannot be...

Creationism and evolution beliefs among college students.
September 22, 2008... Abstract FIVE HUNDRED AND NINETY-ONE college students at three colleges were questioned about their beliefs about the age of the earth, the origin of humans, and the origins of all living things. Survey results indicate that few college...

What if ET doesn't want to call?(FORUM)(extraterrestrial intelligence)
September 22, 2008... Michael Shermer likes to call humans "pattern-seeking" animals, and rightly so. Similarly, and no doubt with some overlap, we are also answer-seeking animals. Humans have both the curiosity to seek loose ends and the desire to tie them up. Thus...

Acupuncture and English chauvinism.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2008... In her review of a book by R. Baker Bausell ("Read This Book!", SKEPTIC Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 65-67), Dr. Harriet Hall writes: "Studies from non-English speaking countries are notoriously unreliable for various reasons--98% of acupuncture studies...

Thank God for evolution.(FORUM)(Essay)
September 22, 2008... In his review of Thank God for Evolution (SKEPTIC, Vol. 14, No. 2) Michael J. Booker (an academic philosopher) took me to task for writing that "evolution is a fact." This is hardly a controversial claim, and in the book I support it with...

Flagella myths: how Intelligent Design proponents created the myth that bacteria flagella look like man-made machines.
September 22, 2008... IN 1996 A PROFESSOR OF BIOCHEMISTRY AT Lehigh University named Michael Behe published Darwin's Black Box, (1) in which he outlined his concept of "irreducible complexity" (IC). Behe and his Intelligent Design (ID) colleagues claim that IC is...

"I reject your reality": germ theory denial and other curiosities.(Essay)
September 22, 2008... ON AN EPISODE OF MYTHBUSTERS, ADAM Savage was shown a video clip that contradicted his memory of something he had said. He responded, "I reject your reality and substitute my own." He was joking. Unfortunately, the world is full of people who...

En-twinned lives: twins experts Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr. and Nancy L. Segal of the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart re-unite to discuss behavior genetics and evolutionary psychology.(Interview)
September 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THOMAS J. BOUCHARD, JR., is Professor of Psychology at the University of Minnesota and Director of the Minnesota Center for Twin and Adoption Research. He is best known for initiating and carrying out the Minnesota...

When is an OBE not an OBE? A new look at out-of-body experiences.(out-of-body experience)
September 22, 2008... IN 2002, A STUDY BY OLAF BLANKE AND colleagues drew wide-spread media attention. Reported in the journal Nature, it described the induction of an out-of-body experience (OBE) through electrical stimulation of the angular gyms of the right...

NDE redux: skeptics need to reclaim, redefine and embrace near death experiences.(near death experiences)(Essay)
September 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I AGREE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT WITH everything Dr. Crislip wrote in his recent article about Near Death Experiences (NDE), published in SKEPTIC (Vol. 14 NO. 2.). In fact, I have coauthored a forthcoming book chapter...

The new revisionism: what if Hitler won the war? Mark Weber, David Irving, and the Institute for Historical Review take on Winston Churchill, Pat Buchanan, and American foreign policy.(Essay)
September 22, 2008... SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 2008. COSTA MESA, CA. In this coastal city in Southern California about 80 people--an assortment of devoted fans, sycophants, acolytes and financial supporters of David Irving and of Mark Weber's Institute for Historical...

Whatever happened to Stephen Wolfram? A new kind of science revisited.(Critical essay)
September 22, 2008... THE PUBLICATION OF STEPHEN WOLFRAM'S A New Kind of Science (NKS) in 2002, (1) stimulated much research and debate on complexity theory and computability theory, with much of the debate centered around the possibility of the applications of...

Doubting altruism: new research casts a skeptical eye on the evolution of genuine altruism.
September 22, 2008... AS WE SOAR INTO AN INSPIRING NEW ERA OF genomics, genetic manipulation, and, potentially, the directed evolution of our own species, naturalists urge us to remain partially grounded--to keep digging for long-buried evidence of key...

Deconstructing the hoax.(Beyond the Hoax: Science, Philosophy and Culture)(Book review)
September 22, 2008... A review of Beyond the Hoax: Science, Philosophy and Culture, by Alan Sokal. Oxford University Press, 2008. 448 pps., $39.93 ISBN: 978-019-923-920-7 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE BEAUTY AND POWER OF A well-executed hoax is that it reveals...

Fire in the sky.(A Sumerian Observation of the Kofels Impact Event)(Book review)
September 22, 2008... A review of A Sumerian Observation of the Kofels impact Event by Alan Bond and Mark Hempsell. Alcuin Academics/Writers' Printshop, 2008. $24.00, 113 pp. ISBN 978-1-904623-64-9. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ACCORDING TO THIS BOOK, AN asteroid...

From science fiction to science fact.(Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel)(Book review)
September 22, 2008... A review of Physics of the impossible: A Scientific Exploration of the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation and Time Travel by Michio Kaku. Allen Lane/Penguin, 2008. 352 pp., $26.95 ISBN 9780715999921 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Pyramidiots, Nazis, and post-modernists.(Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public)(Book review)
September 22, 2008... Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public, edited by Garrett G. Fagan. Routledge, 2006. 436 pp. $49.95 ISBN 0415305934. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ARCHAEOLOGICAL FANTASIES IS AN...

Quackery then and now.(Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam)(Book review)
September 22, 2008... A review of Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock. New York: Crown Publishers, 2008. 304pp., $24.95 ISBN: 10-0307339882 ISBN: 13-978-0307339881 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Lying for God: the Dover debacle.(The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town America)(Book review)
September 22, 2008... A review of The Devil in Dover: An insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town America, by Lauri Lebo. New Press, 2008. 256 pp., $24.95. ISBN-10: 1595582088, ISBN-13: 978-1595582089 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE VERDICT FOR...

Swayonomics.(Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior)(Book review)
September 22, 2008... A review of Sway: The irresistible Pull of irrational Behavior, by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman, Currency/Doubleday, 2008. 224 pp., $23.95, ISBN: 978-0-385-52438-4 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN THE "PARABLE OF TALENTS" in Matthew 25: 14-29,...

Great American skeptics.
September 22, 2008... HELLO! I'm Daniel, the Editor of JUNIOR SKEPTIC. This is my brother James Loxton, the guest writer For most of this issue on great American skeptics. Hi! It's an honor to be here. We chose this issue's theme purely for fun-of...

National lampoon meets creationism.(Flock of Dodos: Behind Modern Creationism, Intelligent Design, and the Easter Bunny)(Book review)
September 22, 2008... A review of Flock of Dodos: Behind Modern Creationism, Intelligent Design, and the Easter Bunny, by Barrett Brown and P. Alston. Cambridge House Press, New York, 2007. 155 pp., $16.95 ISBN-10: 0978721306 ISBN-13: 978-0978721305 ...