Dateline: 22November 2011 // Posted by: Bitofaheel Source: Daily Mail Story: “Terror of family who claim their five-year old son is haunted by the ‘man with grey skin’” Summary: This story takes place in Bridlington, Yorkshire,in the United Kingdom. Dave Gerrity claims his son is being pestered by a ghost. He claims an image of this ‘grey-faced’ ghost… [Read more…]
January 10, 2012
Dateline: 18 November 2011 // Posted by: Peter Floyd Source: Daily Mail Story: “Thanksgiving DOES pay off: Why our bodies and brains pay us back for being grateful“ Summary: The article describes how the act of thanking people can directly trigger happiness. The (American) tradition of “Thanksgiving” is apparently very good for people as the act of thanking… [Read more…]
January 10, 2012
Dateline: 3 October 2011 // Posted by: xoxo Gossip Girl Source: Daily Mail Story: “Once-a-day pill means you will never have to go grey” Summary: Scientists with beauty giant L’Oreal believe that a pill containing extracts from an unnamed fruit could prevent the onset of grey hair. They intend to design a pill containing this plant extracts which… [Read more…]
January 10, 2012
Dateline: 23 November 2011 // Posted by: Sinead Kearns Source: Irish Independent, Daily Mail Story: “Can dreaming really make all our worst memories fade away?” Summary: This story was reported in various news outlets and it concerned researchers at the University of California in Berkeley including Els van der Helm and Mathew Walker. The report indicates how these… [Read more…]
December 23, 2011
Dateline: 9 November 2011 // Posted by: Ciaran Murray Source: Daily Mail, The Sun, Huffington Post Story: “Burly rugby player has a stroke after freak gym accident…wakes up gay and becomes a hairdresser” Summary: When a 19-year-old rugby player had a stroke after a freak training accident he awoke from his coma with an extraordinary claim. He claimed… [Read more…]
December 23, 2011
Dateline: 28 October 2011 // Posted by: Mac Source: Daily Mail Story: “Brain scanner ‘reads’ people’s dreams- accurately enough to see what they are dreaming about” Summary: Scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Germany have predicted that it is highly possible that within the next few years we will be able to clearly and easily observe a… [Read more…]
December 23, 2011
Dateline: 24 October 2011 // Posted by: Raquel Avila Source: Daily Mail, ThirdAge.com Story: “Gender-bending chemical that ‘makes girls as young as three, aggressive and hyperactive” Summary: A newly published paper in the journal Pediatrics links Bisphenol A with problematic behaviour in 3-year-old girls. Bisphenol A is a common chemical used in many products such as baby bottles,… [Read more…]
December 23, 2011
Dateline: 4 October 2011 // Posted by: Roisin Moore Source: The Sun, Fox News Story: “Super broccoli to fight the big C” Summary: Super broccoli, or Beneforte as it is marketed, is the latest in the super-foods domain that claim special properties which can cure cancer. The product which we are told in the article went on sale in… [Read more…]
December 23, 2011
Dateline: 20 October 2011 // Posted by: Laura O’Connor Source: Daily Mail, also reported on Science Daily Story: “Want to find a psychopath? Listen carefully…” Summary: According to the article, psychopathy can be identified by analysing a person’s speech patterns. Research has shown that people who use words such as “um” and “ah”, display a lack of emotion,… [Read more…]
December 23, 2011
Dateline: 21 November 2011 // Posted by: Claire Mogan Source: CBS News, Fox News Story: “Is Acupuncture safe for kids?” Summary: The American Academy of Pediatrics has given acupuncture in children the go-ahead, after sixty years of research conducted. They reported that acupuncture is “generally safe for kids when performed by appropriately trained practitioners”. The report which was… [Read more…]
December 23, 2011
Dateline: 1 November 2011 // Posted by: Hannah Pearsall Source: Reuters, Press TV, ONLINE – International News Network Story: “Hypnosis, even in ‘real world,’ may help IBS” Summary: For those with particularly difficult cases of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), standard medical treatment tends not to alleviate discomfort. Studies since the 1980s have documented that with these difficult… [Read more…]
December 23, 2011
Dateline: 16 October 2011 // Posted by: Mary Duggan Source: Daily Express Story: “Back for good: How to beat crippling back pain” Summary: Everyone will suffer from back pain at some point in their lives according to spinal surgeon, Colin Natali, founder of a private clinic that treats back pain called Back2Normal. According to Back2Normal, they offer an… [Read more…]
December 23, 2011
Dateline: 21 November 2011 // Posted by: Catherine Stokes Source: Yahoo! News, HealthDay Story: “Regular Sex May Be Key to Happy Marriage for Seniors” Summary: A study using responses from the 2004 version of the General Social Survey claims that senior adults (people aged 65 and over) who have an active sex life have happier marriages and are… [Read more…]
December 23, 2011
Dateline: 1 November 2011 // Posted by: JBergII Source: Daily Mail Story: “Could zapping the brain with magnets help you overcome aggression and social anxiety?” Summary: Daily Mail correspondent Simon Tomlinson reported on 1 November that scientists have revealed that magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the brain could control human emotion. A study published in Current Biology using TMS reported… [Read more…]
December 22, 2011
Dateline: 12 October 2011 // Posted by: Barbie Source: Daily Mail Story: “Does the pill make you choose a boring lover? Scientists find women who take the contraceptive pick caring and reliable men” Summary: The article reports that scientists have found that women who take the contraceptive pills “ tend to choose reliable, caring and stead chaps… [Read more…]
December 22, 2011
Dateline: 28 October 2011 // Posted by: Anneliz Source: NewsChannel 5, KSDK (St Louis, Missouri) Story: “Titanium Necklaces Become Sensation” Summary: Ten years ago, Major League Baseball players from Japan began sporting titanium necklaces during play. These necklaces have now become all the rage in the United States, not just among Major League Baseball players but other professional… [Read more…]
December 22, 2011
Dateline: 15 November 2011 // Posted by: Julie Source: The Daily Mail, and others. Story: “Girl, 13, left in ‘waking coma’ and sleeps for 23 hours a day after severe reaction to cervical cancer jabs” Summary: After receiving a vaccination that would help protect Lucy Hinks from cervical cancer, her parents believe that it is was the cause… [Read more…]
December 22, 2011
Dateline: 15 November 2011 // Posted by: Kaitlin Hanley Source: Los Angeles Times; Huffington Post; Daily Mail; The Guardian Story: “Optical illusion dampens arthritis pain” Summary: A new study reported at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual conference suggests that mirror therapy, often used as treatment for those who have had an amputation, can also be effective in treating arthritis. … [Read more…]
December 22, 2011
Dateline: 4 November 2011 // Posted by: Kerry McCarthy Source: Huffington Post UK Story: “The Stress of House Buying Can Age You by Two Years” Summary: The article “The Stress of House Buying Can Age You by Two Years” is located in the health section of The Huffington Post UK. This article claims that after a study… [Read more…]
December 22, 2011
Dateline: 24 October 2011 // Posted by: Graham McNamee Source: Science Daily Story: “High Fizzy Soft Drink Consumption Linked to Violence Among Teens” Summary: A study published online in Injury Prevention, a self-described “international peer-reviewed journal for health professionals and others in injury prevention,” found a correlation between amount of fizzy soft drinks (measured in cans of… [Read more…]
December 19, 2011
Dateline: 16 November 2011 // Posted by: Carlos Perez Source: Daily Mail Story: “The dogs that can detect cancer: Meet the four-legged ‘bio-detectives’ who are pioneering a health revolution” Summary: Dogs’ most powerful sense, their sense of smell, is commonly used in drug detection, human rescues, and so on. Now, a group of scientists claim that dogs… [Read more…]
December 19, 2011
Dateline: 10 October 2011 // Posted by: Chelsea Gruenwald Source: Science News, LiveScience, The Huffington Post, Daily Mail, Geological Society of America, National Geographic, Wired Story: “Giant ‘Kraken’ Lair Discovered: Cunning Sea Monster That Preyed on Ichthyosaurs” Summary: A group of mysteriously arranged fossils in Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, Nevada has baffled paleontologists for nearly a century. Why these… [Read more…]
December 19, 2011
Dateline: 11 November 2011 // Posted by: Joanne O’Sullivan Source: The Sun Story: “Why girls have more nightmares” Summary: According to columnist Dr Pam Spurr, women have “wilder” dreams than their male counterparts and suffer more nightmares than men. This is supposedly due to particular female hormones which during the menstrual cycle cause body temperature changes which… [Read more…]
December 19, 2011
Dateline: 9 September 2011 // Posted by: Aine Connaire Source: Daily Mail Story: “Mobile Phones could be ‘health time bomb’: More than 200 academic studies link use with serious illnesses” Summary: The article describes a recently published report which alleges that the British Government is underplaying the potentially huge health risks posed by mobile phones, especially to… [Read more…]
December 19, 2011
Dateline: 26 September 2011 // Posted by: Lauren Fergus Source: Los Angeles Times Story: “Caffeine’s buzz chases away women’s depression” Summary: A recent news article in the LA Times has reported that a new research paper — “Coffee, caffeine and risk of depression among women” (published in the academic journal Archives of Internal Medicine) — reported… [Read more…]
December 19, 2011
Dateline: 9 November 2011 // Posted by: Stephanie Brolsma Source: ExplorerNews.com Story: “‘Emotional acupuncture’ helps vets: Military veterans find relief from PTSD thanks to touch therapy” Summary: Many war veterans return from duty only to experience flashbacks of their time of service. These flashbacks are symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. According to the article,… [Read more…]
December 16, 2011
Dateline: 5 September 2011 // Posted by: NicHeller12 Source: National Public Radio Story: “Why The Trip Home Seems To Go By Faster” Summary: Psychologist Niels van de Ven reports on a study of his which concerns people’s common perception that returning home from a destination always seems to take a shorter time than the original trip… [Read more…]
November 29, 2011
Dateline: 10 November 2011 // Posted by: Deirdre Metcalf Source: Daily Mail Story: “Car fumes are a mild narcotic that help us cope with city stress, claims scientist” Summary: Carbon monoxide (CO) is well known as an odorless, poisonous gas that is fatal to humans. However, a recent study by Professor Itzhak Schnell of Tel Aviv… [Read more…]
November 28, 2011
Dateline: 1 November 2011 // Posted by: KHeintz27 Source: Reuters, PressTV, The Daily Express. Story: “Hypnosis, even in ‘real world,’ may help IBS” Summary: The main point of this article was to explain that hypnosis might be able to help lower some symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. There have been a number of studies since the… [Read more…]
November 28, 2011
Dateline: 12 October 2011 // Posted by: AHJOConnell Source: Forbes Story: “Ray Kurzweil On The Future Of Innovation At Singularity University” Summary: The article tells of Ray Kurzweil speaking to a group of his students at the singularity university in Silicon Valley, California. He is talking about the great strides that have been made in technology… [Read more…]
November 28, 2011
Dateline: 2 November 2011 // Posted by: Aware521 Source: Daily Mail, BBC News, and more. Story: “Do Ghosts Exist or is it ‘All in the Mind?’” Summary: In May of 2003, the BBC reported on research by psychologists from the UK who examined the reports of over 600 volunteers at two of the UK’s most haunted… [Read more…]
October 21, 2011
Dateline: 4 October 2011 // Posted by: Miriam Ondarre Source: Daily Mail Story: “Pill that can wipe away bad memories?” Summary: Scientists have discovered a protein within the mice brains that might be essential in the memory storing process. This protein responsible for the amount of memories we store in our brains is called lipocalin-2. Apparently,… [Read more…]
September 28, 2011
Dateline: 23 September 2011 // Posted by: Brian Hughes Source: Galway City Tribune, Irish Times, The Guardian, NY Daily News, and many more. Story: “Galway Pensioner Dies From Spontaneous Combusion” Summary: A public inquiry into the death of a 76-year-old man in Galway, Ireland, late last year concluded that he was a victim of a… [Read more…]
September 28, 2011
The task of distinguishing science from pseudoscience is known as the demarcation problem. It is not altogether straightforward, because the boundaries within which “science” is defined are themselves vague. However, most philosophers of science agree that the following notions represent relatively good distinctions. I am separating them here into two categories: “differences of principle” (which refer to epistemological issues,… [Read more…]
September 5, 2011
Yes — there is pseudoscience in mainstream media. Sometimes it relates to out-and-out crazy stuff that most people would acknowledge is extremely questionable. But sometimes it relates to iffy (even fishy) science presented as unequivocal fact in media outlets that should really be more critical. This example is from The Irish Times. You can read… [Read more…]
September 5, 2011
Sometimes the media’s coverage of pseudoscience relates to extravagantly unscientific subject matter. It is often difficult to know if such media are genuinely covering the story as if it were true, or whether they are presenting the material essentially for entertainment purposes. Coverage of UFO visitations is a case in point. Does The Sun really believe… [Read more…]
September 5, 2011
[For further information about the above image, see here.] The following explanation of pseudoscience is adapted from Hughes, B. M. (2011). Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Pseudoscience. A practice that has the superficial appearance of a science but which fails to meet the quality standards normally required of sciences. See also: http://www.skepdic.com/pseudosc.html
September 5, 2011
[For further information about the above image, see here.] The following explanation of skepticism is adapted from Hughes, B. M. (2011). Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology. Harlow: Prentice Hall. In science, skepticism is the view that it is reasonable to question and/or investigate any assertion purporting to describe factual information. In this context, skeptics do not accept claims to knowledge… [Read more…]
January 10, 2012
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