Alert reader Atom called my attention to this article from the “education” section of the conservative site WorldNetDaily (WND): “Evolution to fall in 2012?” While the site is conservative, it’s still surprising that it would go after one of the best-established and best-documented theories in biology: evolution. Their article takes off from the recent Gallup […]
by Greg Mayer Jerry has called attention to the problem of theft of rhino horns from museums and other collections in Europe, citing a NY Times piece from Friday. Officials at the Natural History Museum at Tring (Lord Rothschild‘s former private museum) were aware of the problem, and ready for it. Thieves broke into the […]
by Greg Mayer Perhaps just by coincidence, today’s New York Times features two articles concerning snake oil: one about an exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art of posters promoting dubious remedies, and the other about the relationship between Senator Snake Oil, Orrin Hatch of Utah, and the “nutritional supplement” industry. The exhibit at the […]
First, The bad: Vatican brother Guy Consolmagno, a Vatican astronomer much beloved of John Kw-k, spoke yesterday at Winona State University in Minnesota. His topic: “Astronomy, God, and the search for elegance.” I don’t have a transcript of his talk, but the pre-talk publicity was dire, for Consolmagno had the temerity to draw unfavorable comparisons […]
One of my friends describes HuffPo as “the Journal of Boobs and Woo,” and it keeps topping itself on both fronts. Here’s another stupid lucubration designed to delude the casual reader. Robert Lanza, M.D. (described as “scientist, theoretician, author”), has written a post called “Why you will always exist: time is ‘on demand,” using quantum […]
Eunice Sanborn of Jacksonville, Texas, passed away today. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, she was born on July 20, 1896, making her 114 years and 195 days old. (Her family claims she was really 115.) That means she was 7 years old when the first airplane flew, and 18 years old at […]
After the Andrew Wakefield scandal, Jenny McCarthy wrote a piece today, still defending the connection between vaccinations and autism. Where? At The Huffington Post, of course—the newest danger to America’s health. There are no data that will change her mind, or the minds of her anti-vaxer acolytes.
Dr. Mehmet Oz is a cardiac surgeon and science/medicine popularizer who, with the backing of Oprah, got his own syndicated television program, The Dr. Oz Show. He’s also a bestselling author and was named by Esquire as one of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century. He’s also one of the Rock Stars […]
According to Sunday’s New York Times, belief in reincarnation is not only widespread in America—a Pew survey says that nearly one in four of us thinks we lived before—but is becoming part of mainstream psychotherapy. A bunch of quacks now practice “past-life regressions,” in which they help their patients remember who they were in previous […]
From Crispian Jago (also available on mugs and tee shirts). Click to enlarge.
