A Wonderful Artifact
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- Written by James Randi
- Category: Swift
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James Gardner, son of the late Martin Gardner, has sent me a truly wonderful gift, one that I shall always treasure. Forgive me if I’m a bit weepy at the moment, but this memento of my friend of many decades has affected me more than I thought it would. Martin, for those few of you who might not know, was a columnist for Scientific American for many years, a mathematician, a genius, and author of some 70 books and countless articles, some of them on a subject he loved: conjuring.
I spent a lot of time over the long years I knew Martin visiting him and his wife Charlotte at their home in Hastings-on-Hudson, and every time I pulled into that driveway I had to wonder whether he’d chosen the house because of its address: 10 Euclid Avenue. I never asked…
Martin had hundred of drawers of files at his home, and on one visit there I asked for some help preparing a talk I was to give to a huge audience of IBM executives and engineers in San Francisco. The company was concerned with promoting their series-370 business machines, and I asked Martin about that specific number, to see if I might work it into my presentation. "Aha!" he said – thus also inventing a book-title – "370 is one of only four possible numbers– aside from 1 itself – that are the sum of the cubes of their own digits. What's the next highest one?" I had no answer, and felt like a fool when he told me. It’s quite obvious. "And if you're interested in a Spanish connection," he continued, "turn it upside-down." I did, and IBM was very happy with the results. I'm sure Martin could have gone on and on with fascinating facts about any other number I'd have cared to choose....
Questions VS Answers
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- Written by Matt Lowry
- Category: Swift
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Anyone who knows me knows that I have no children of my own, and in all honesty I try to avoid little kids when I can. However, there is one thing I find really endearing about kids, especially the younger ones: their unbridled curiosity and willingness to ask questions.
I think the reason why I like this curious nature in children is pretty simple: to them the world is so new and fresh, everything is wondrous and interesting. In addition, they come at things so much more openly and honestly than most adults, because they are ignorant in the truest sense of the word and have no embarrassment whatsoever about asking direct questions about pretty much anything. To them, no subject is off limits or taboo; they manifest the spirit of free inquiry in its most unblemished sense.
The Ornish Myth
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- Written by Dr. Terry Simpson
- Category: Swift
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It has been 15 years since Dean Ornish published his data showing a 3 per cent reduction in the plaques seen by coronary angiograms on a select group of patients who followed his Ornish diet and “lifestyle” plan. To be exact: the 28 patients who followed his plan had a 1.75% decrease in atherosclerotic plaque after one year and 3.1% decrease after five years. With the control group there was an increase of 2.3% in one year and 11.8% at five years.
In 15 years no one has reproduced that data. No one. Still, from one old paper Dean Ornish has made a career; first being the anti-Atkins, and riding the anti-cholesterol, low-fat band wagon with the same religious fervor as Keyes did thirty years before. Ornish has since become the lead health-blogger for Huffington Post, has influenced Bill Clinton – turning him into a vegan, and is favorably mentioned by Dr. Oz. Ornish then did a few experiments with prostate cancer and aging (telomere length)- to who his lifestyle is good for everything from cancer to aging.
The Marie Laveau Phenomenon
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- Written by Dr. Romeo Vitelli
- Category: Swift
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Attending the recent CSICON in New Orleans last October was a marvelous experience for me since it gave me a chance to meet James Randi. It also let me experience the vibrant New Orleans scene for the first time (and, trust me in this, Halloween is the perfect season to visit) and to become acquainted with the New Orleans voodoo culture.
If you’re going to learn about New Orleans, you have to understand the role that voodoo plays there, both as a religion and as a dominant part of New Orleans life. Not only are voodoo tours popular with tourists but there is also the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, the Voodoo Spiritual Temple, and a range of different voodoo shops, conveniently located just a few streets away from each other. From the upscale Erzulie’s Authentic Voodoo on Royal Street (which boasts that their voodoo is the real thing) to the more touristy places such as Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo and the Reverend Zombie’s Voodoo Shop with its accredited voodoo, vampire, and ghost tours.
Recently at Science-Based Medicine
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- Written by Dr. Harriet Hall
- Category: Latest JREF News
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Shilling for traditional Chinese medicine: Nature leaves its readers a lump of coal before Christmas (David Gorski) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/shilling-for-traditional-chinese-medicine/ The respected journal Nature has sold out. It published a supplement on alternative medicine that was paid for by a Japanese supplement manufacturer and was essentially an advertorial for their point of view. It attempts to show that traditional Chinese medicine is evidence-based and cutting edge, but most of the articles are full of fallacies.
Inflammation: Both Friend and Foe (Harriet Hall) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/inflammation-both-friend-and-foe/ Inflammation has become a buzzword and has been implicated as causing numerous diseases. The inflammatory process is complex and essential to health, and interfering with it could be counterproductive. A recent article suggests that inflammation, rather than causing diabetes, actually promotes control of blood sugar levels.
What Is an Antivaxer? (Steven Novella) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/what-is-an-antivaxer/ There is a spectrum of attitudes about vaccines, from concerned parents with doubts to vaccine denialists. Antivaxers oppose vaccines, abuse science, use bad logic, believe conspiracy theories, and spread misinformation. Science clearly shows that vaccines are safe and effective.
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