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Probiotics for Mental Health? 26 Aug 2013 | 06:57 pm
I frequently criticize science journalism for falling into one or more common traps – false balance, hyperbole, misleading framing, failure to put one study into the proper context, inappropriate extr...
Should Scientific Skeptics Care About History? 23 Aug 2013 | 12:43 am
Today I’d like to share a slightly adapted version of my introduction to the “Preserving Skeptical History” workshop at The Amazing Meeting 2013 conference in Las Vegas. After the pleasure of introduc...
The serious consequences of scientific illiteracy 21 Aug 2013 | 02:00 pm
In a democracy, it is very important that the public have a basic understanding of science so that they can control the way that science and technology increasingly affect our lives. — Stephen Hawkin...
Some of My Work In Skeptical History 20 Aug 2013 | 04:24 am
Advocating for the importance of skeptical scholarship is a bit of a theme for me—the scholarship practiced by skeptics, and also scholarship about skepticism. In particular, I’ve devoted quite a bit ...
Area 51 Revealed 19 Aug 2013 | 04:35 pm
Area 51 is more than just a subject of UFO conspiracy mongering, it has graduated to a fixture in pop culture. Everyone knows what Area 51 is, or at least what it’s supposed to be. Mention crops up in...
Cultural ignorance and scientific illiteracy 14 Aug 2013 | 02:00 pm
An educated citizenry is the only safe repository for democratic values. — Thomas Jefferson My previous post on “Shark Week” ended up on a thread about American science literacy, so I thought I’d fo...
Discovery Channel jumps the shark 7 Aug 2013 | 02:00 pm
An entirely fictional scene: the fish-reptiles known as ichthyosaurs were extinct 80 m.y. before any large great white sharks evolved. In previous posts, I’ve written about how basic cable channels l...
Changing Your Fate 5 Aug 2013 | 04:58 pm
There is a cartoonish sight gag that I have seen multiple times – a patient lying ill in a hospital bed has some indicator of their health, on a chart or monitor. The doctor comes by an flips the down...
Abominable Science Update 31 Jul 2013 | 11:51 pm
Daniel Loxton (left) and Donald Prothero (right) at The Amazing Meeting 2013. Photo by David Patton Hi, guys! A quick post today to update you about the release of Abominable Science, my big Columbia...
In the belly of the beast 31 Jul 2013 | 02:00 pm
A Review of Among the Creationists: Dispatches from the Anti-Evolutionist Front Lines, by Jason Rosenhouse (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012, 256 pp.) I’ve spent over 40 years of my life wrest...
