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Rectal ozone therapy: Brazil’s latest COVID-19 pseudoscience
Brazil's rectal ozone therapy may sound ridiculous, but the reach of the pseudoscience movement is no jokeChiropractors love to claim their treatments are ‘individualised’, but they’re wrong
Although practitioners like to claim chiropractic is individualised, in reality patients are offered the same treatment plan, whatever their complaintNetflix’s (Un)Well leaves me (Un)Impressed
(Un)Well's false balance and fence-sitting is a missed opportunity to demonstrate the real harms of the wellness industryConspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers and alt-med quackery put our pets in harm’s way
Vet Danny Chambers highlights how the aggressive promotion of alternative therapies to prevent and treat animal diseases has become widespread.
- Health
Facebook’s efforts to curb QAnon and anti-vax conspiracies are too little, and much too late
Facebook's bans on anti-vax adverts and QAnon groups fail to deal with how misinformation really spreads on their platformNo, the COVID-19 app does not share your data with the police
Claims that the official COVID-19 app shares information with the police are simply unfounded, and only undermine test and trace efforts.Has the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an increase in ghostly encounters?
With pandemic-related anxiety and stress causing an increase in experience of sleep paralysis, we may well see an uptick in paranormal belief.Rectal ozone therapy: Brazil’s latest COVID-19 pseudoscience
Brazil's rectal ozone therapy may sound ridiculous, but the reach of the pseudoscience movement is no joke
- Paranormal
Has the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an increase in ghostly encounters?
With pandemic-related anxiety and stress causing an increase in experience of sleep paralysis, we may well see an uptick in paranormal belief.Fairies Dancing in a Ring
This image of fairies dancing in a ring comes dates from around 1600 and was in its original form a woodcut, before appearing in an issue of The Strand magazine in 1892.The Atacama mummy: putting together the pieces of an “Archaeology bombshell”
While the Daily Express recently declared mummified remains found in the Atacama Desert to be an "Archaeology bombshell", Archaeologist Paul Duncan McGarrity offers an alternate explanation.Electrician Sheds Light on Viral Birmingham Ghost Mystery
Hayley Stevens explains how the recent ghost captured on a Birmingham CCTV camera may have a far more mundane explanation.
- Conspiracy
Facebook’s efforts to curb QAnon and anti-vax conspiracies are too little, and much too late
Facebook's bans on anti-vax adverts and QAnon groups fail to deal with how misinformation really spreads on their platformThe Curse of Monster Island: a four year experiment in unmoderated free speech
A forum for unmoderated free speech quickly became a place to showcase the worst aspects of human nature, with grim consequences.An Unhealthy Dose of Viral Conspiracy
As conspiracy theories flood social media and users struggle to tell fact from fiction, we need to find better ways to stop misinformation from spreading.Coronavirus, conspiracy, challenges and compassion
Our new editor Michael Marshall talks about the challenge of countering coronavirus misinformation and conspiracy theory, and why compassion is such an important aspect of skepticism.
- Society
Rebecca Fox on… Interpretative Drift
Rebecca Fox - 0Interpretive Drift is a term used by cultural anthropologists to describe how people come to their beliefs - often without conscious deliberation.The Curse of Monster Island: a four year experiment in unmoderated free speech
A forum for unmoderated free speech quickly became a place to showcase the worst aspects of human nature, with grim consequences.Donald Rooum (1928 – 2019): Cartoonist, Campaigner and Skeptic
Deborah Hyde remembers the cartoonist, campaigner, skeptic and humanist Donald Rooum, creator of the long-running Sprite strip for The Skeptic.The Development of the Skeptic Movement – Part 2
Claire Klingenberg continues her look back over the history of skepticism around the world, from the adoption of scientific principles in the 1930s to the movement we see today.
- Science
Are digital pregnancy tests simply taking the pee?
Digital pregnancy tests might look like another example of expensive e-waste, but we should look more carefully about their use and accessibility before we rush to condemn.(False) Memories of Childhood
On 5 October 2017, I, along with four other memory researchers, read out an essay on memory in front of an audience at the...The Death & Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
On the 29th January, 1951, a woman named Henrietta Lacks called into John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, complaining that she felt a ‘knot’ in...Ipso Factoid: Daily Mail in Mildly Educational Shocker
The Daily Mail recently produced a list of questions commonly asked of parents by their naturally curious children about science and the world around...Ipso Factoid: *insert gratuitous sexual pun here*
In a wonderful opportunity (duly ignored) to prove our maturity as a society, both the Times and Daily Mail had headlines declaring "What an...
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Expert skeptical analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal.
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