Details
Category: Swift
Hits: 6693

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.  

The future of cancer therapy? (David Gorski) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/the-future-of-cancer-therapy/ CAM providers claim to provide individualized care, but only science-based medicine can offer truly individualized care based on fact. Genomics is a very promising route to individualization that has had a few stunning successes in cancer therapy. More widespread applications will have to wait for major advances to overcome technical difficulties and knowledge deficits.  

Why Do They Do Studies Like This? (Harriet Hall) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/why-do-they-do-studies-like-this/ A recent study claimed to show that a mixture of two herbs improves sleep quality. It had such serious design flaws that its findings were meaningless; it didn’t even use a control group. Why are scarce research dollars being wasted on poor quality studies like this?  

Details
Category: Swift
Hits: 16126

A team of trained investigators sets out to uncover the truth about UFOs. But they’re not just looking for more stories on extraterrestrial activity—they want answers. Risking it all, this team of scientists and UFO researchers investigate and dissect some of the most mysterious sightings on the planet to unearth stunning new evidence. The data they collect on these adventures paints an entirely new picture of what we know about these strange lights in the sky  

Unfortunately, UFO Chasers is just another new “reality” show that recently debuted on television. Skeptics (and even some journalists) have been quick to denounce the show, and the National Geographic Channel, for succumbing to the lure of “unscripted” shows. This is their first foray into pro-paranormal programming, and since the Fox Network Group wants Nat Geo to become more like the History Channel1 this probably won’t be their last.  

Details
Category: Swift
Hits: 12847

Where do I begin? Well, the Amaz!ng Meeting puts me in personal touch with quite a large number of folks from all across the world who share with the JREF a skeptical point of view in regard to the charlatans who happily fleece anyone who comes in range of their nonsense. This crowd is of well-mixed gender, of a great selection of ages, of all colors and shapes, and certainly of varied opinions. That variety of opinions is fascinating to me; TAM would not be TAM without it. Now, those are admittedly obvious factors in my delight and satisfaction when TAM-time rolls around, of course, but they’re only a few threads in the fabric that constitutes the JREF.

Details
Category: Swift
Hits: 7134

Here is a rundown of the top stories in pseudoscience and paranormal news from the past week courtesy of Doubtful News.

Indian skeptic and rationalist Sanal Edamaruku has gotten his story out to the press. After police arrived at his home to arrest him for blasphemy after exposing a miracle hoax at a Catholic church, his story gets posted across the net. This is a five-star example of skeptical activism.

Claims regarding vitamins as helpful treatments did not fare well this week. Pfizer was called out for making health claims  on their vitamin products and in a great tragedy, vitamin therapy was substituted for anti-psychotic medications.

In another tragedy of "mother does not always know best", one woman permanently harmed her child by believing that herbal meds could treat his serious condition. They couldn't.

Details
Category: Latest JREF News
Hits: 5771
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.  

NCCAM on “integrative medicine”: What’s in a word? (David Gorski) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/nccam-versus-integrative-medicine-whats-in-a-word/ Dr. Josephine Briggs, the director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), favors holistic and integrative medicine. Both her facts and her reasoning are faulty. On the NCCAM blog, she and others inadvertently demonstrate the problems with integrative medicine and with the way NCCAM does research.  

Do We Need “Evolutionary Medicine”? (Harriet Hall) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/21546/ It’s essential for doctors to understand evolution, but the need for a separate discipline of “evolutionary medicine” is questionable. All too often, evolutionary reasoning degenerates into untestable “Just So Stories.” Practical applications are few: we can study whether a runny nose is a host defense or a means of viral propagation without understanding how the phenomenon evolved.  

  1. It's Only Natural
  2. It’s What’s Inside that Counts: My Adventures with Colon Hydrotherapy
  3. Skeptic History: Scientology's Summer of Hell?
  4. It's only one week away!