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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 in medicine.

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This Hallowe’en marks the 84th anniversary of the death of the legendary escape artist, Harry Houdini. While on a major North American tour, Houdini was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, after days of suffering high fevers and abdominal pain. Doctors removed his burst appendix, but knew that, his body already wracked with peritonitis, he was beyond saving. His wife, Bess, was told he would not live out the night; the all but indomitable Harry, an extraordinary physical specimen at age 52, somehow fought off the grim reaper for a week, finally telling his wife he could no longer keep up the fight, and succumbing on October 31st, 1926.

Eighty-four years later, Houdini remains the most famous magician of all time — albeit that many experts and enthusiasts in the world of magic resent this status, since Houdini achieved his greatest performing success as an escape artist, even though he loved magic. His final tour consists of a show in three parts — escapes, magic, and a lecture/demonstration segment exposing the methods of fraudulent séance mediums — in effect, neatly highlighting the three chief elements of Houdini’s extensive career as a live performer.

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This is a day for all of humanity to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

The ABC News website ‘ABC.go’ recently posted an article explaining that the meme-worthy and oft-referenced Mayan Apocalypse of 2012 appears to have been postponed. It seems that a misinterpretation of the Mayan system of calculating dates may have bumped the destruction of everything back by one hundred years.

The internet can wait while your jubilations are exhausted.

A reader merely skimming the text may feel better as a result, but it seems equally likely that a torrent of drool ought to have shorted out their netbook. This could be, a more tolerant reader might add, just news fluff and of no harm at all. This is possible, but there is something about the piece that is just not right. A quality persists, like an ephemeral scent in the air. The text seems innocuous enough albeit silly, but the nostrils of this particular analogy still flare at the hint of that scent.

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Pareidolia is the psychological phenomenon whereby a random image or sound is perceived as significant. It is the basis for seeing Jesus on a tortilla and for the EVP electronic voice phenomenon where people interpret random noise on an audio recording as voices from the spirit world.

There is a YouTube video with a hilarious example of audio pareidolia. They have listened to the Latin text of Carmina Burana (by Carl Orff) as if it were English (Watch it here)

“O fortuna” becomes “Oh, Four Tuna.” Other phrases are interpreted as “Saucy codpiece,” “Suck juice for moose” and “They’ll give you gonorrhea.

The video cleverly provides pictures to illustrate each phrase. After watching and listening, you will probably never be able to hear the real Carmina Burana again. Once the spurious interpretation is in your head, it’s practically impossible to overcome. This is a great illustration of how illusions like EVP can mislead people.

PS. If you want to know what they are really singing, the lyrics can be found  HERE.

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Category: Newsflash
Hits: 6943

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 in medicine.

  1. Are We Alone? (In Thinking Critically…)
  2. Women's Exposition 'Woo'-fully Sad
  3. EYES ON THE SKIES!
  4. Oprah & Dr. Harriet Hall: Not BFF