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Here is a recap of the stories that appeared last week at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo-woo in medicine.

Preventing autism? Not so fast, Dr. Mumper (David Gorski)  http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/preventing-autism-not-so-fast-dr-mumper/ A pediatrician (a vaccine-autism true believer) claims that autism has vanished from her practice since she adopted a modified vaccine schedule, probiotics, breast-feeding, avoidance of Tylenol and antibiotics, and other changes. She published a retrospective study with no control group, based on dubious science, with a poorly defined hypothesis, multiple interventions, sloppy methodology, and questionable statistics. Her study tells us a whole lot of nothing.

When urgency to cure beats research ethics, bad things happen (David Gorski)  http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/when-urgency-to-cure-beats-research-ethics-bad-things-happen/ Two neurosurgeons at the University of California Davis injected live bowel bacteria into the brains of 3 patients with brain cancer, deliberately causing bacterial meningitis with the idea that an infection might stimulate their immune systems, an idea that is even less plausible than Burzynski’s antineoplastons. They gamed the system intended to protect human subjects, and were found to have violated their university’s code of conduct.

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A few days ago I was passing through the tiny town of Guyra in northern New South Wales, Australia. This is an old mining town that is today known for its annual Lamb and Potato Festival, but during the 1920s the town was notorious for being the scene of the legendary Guyra Ghost, Australia’s most infamous poltergeist.

On the night of 8th April, 1921, the Bowen family awoke to “tremendous thumpings” in their little cottage. Over the coming days this developed into the usual poltergeist phenomena. There were knockings on the walls while stones were thrown onto the roof and outer walls of the building. Soon, nearly all of the windows in the cottage were smashed. No one could identify the source of the activity, although it seemed to center around twelve-year-old Minnie Bowen.

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Haunted AmericaJREF is very pleased to announce publication of the latest addition to its growing collection of ebooks.

Karen Stollznow's Haunting America follows the author, a JREF research fellow, as she hits the road to investigate some of America's most haunted places.

From Alcatraz to Coral Castle, the Myrtles Plantation to the Winchester Mystery House, Stollznow leaves no stone unturned and no "spirit" unsettled in her search for the truth behind the scares. She details her use of the best investigative methods to apply scientific inquiry to these paranormal claims.

Haunting America is just a click or a tap away for the Amazon Kindle, and will be coming soon for the Nook and iOS devices. Experience for yourself the book that James Randi says is for those of us who love legends, but also want to know the truth.

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Here is a rundown of the bad, the good and the strange news of the week courtesy of Doubtful News

This huge downer of the week was the death of anti-superstition advocate Narendra Dabholkar in India.   

He was murdered presumably by members of a faction that were against his advocacy of a new law in his local state. His death was not in vain as the legislature pushed through an emergency bill.   Hopefully this tragedy was the spark that will spread a new rationalism. We are still saddened by this loss.

In more promising news, Gary Bolton, another peddler of fake bomb detectors gets sentenced to seven years in jail for his actions.   

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Here is a recap of the stories that appeared last week at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo-woo in medicine.

E-cigarettes: The Growing popularity of an unregulated drug delivery device (David Gorski)  http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/e-cigarettes-the-growing-popularity-of-an-unregulated-drug-delivery-device/ While Jenny McCarthy was campaigning against vaccines because they allegedly contained toxins like antifreeze, she managed to ignore the dangers of the cigarettes she was smoking. Now she is shilling for e-cigarettes, which contain antifreeze. Good evidence is lacking for the safety of e-cigarettes and for their effectiveness as a smoking cessation aid. They are currently unregulated.

Brainwashed: Neuroscience and Its Perversions (Harriet Hall)  http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/brainwashed-neuroscience-and-its-perversions/ Brainwashed, a new book by Sally Satel and Scott Lilienfeld, points out how the findings of neuroscience are often subjected to mindless oversimplification, interpretive license, and premature application in the legal, commercial, clinical, and philosophical domains. They explain how neuroimaging is done and what it can and can’t tell us. Dr. Daniel Amen is offered as an example of someone who is reading more into scans than is warranted.

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