October 2011
1 post
Writers Writing: Whence Our Manufactured... →
I felt like a monster reincarnation of Horatio Algier … a Man on the Move, and just sick enough to be totally confident. Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
(This post is very…
July 2011
3 posts
Antidepressants and Effect Size →
Antidepressant drugs have been getting a bad rap in the media. I’ll just give 3 examples:
On the Today show, prominent medical expert Tom Cruise told us Brooke Shields shouldn’t have taken…
The fruits of immigration →
A tough new law cracking down on illegal immigrants and those who hire or “harbor” them has created a severe shortage of agricultural labor in Georgia right at harvest time.
The head of a…
Notes from the Underground: In Which Dostoyevsky... →
Fyodor Dostoyevsky in 1879
I’m a little over halfway through Notes from the Underground right now. It’s a book I’ve started reading a number of times without ever getting past…
June 2011
3 posts
Scientific or Scientifical? →
About half of all amateur research and investigation groups (ARIGs – those self-forming groups that do ghost hunting, Bigfoot searches, cataloging of UFO sightings, and other paranormalia) on the…
You Have Been Poked By God →
Skeptical pioneer Isaac Asimov (a founder of CSICOP, now called CSI) produced such a staggering library of books (over 500!) that his multiple autobiographies were merely punctuation. I…
Perchance to Dream: Robin Hanson on Sleep-Rape →
Robin Hanson thinks sexsomniacs (people who have sex in a sleepwalking state) should be punished just like regular rapists when they (unknowingly) begin to have sex with someone who does not…
May 2011
2 posts
Choosing the rule for police-created exigencies in... →
Monday’s decision in Kentucky v. King is an interesting example of how the Supreme Court translates constitutional principles into rules.
The issue in King was the test for identifying…
Meaningful clocks in photos →
This photo was taken recently by Sergey Ponomarev in Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan: The line on the wall is the high water mark from the March 11 tsunami and the time on the clock…
March 2011
2 posts
I Can Fly →
That’s right – I can fly, just like Superman (although not as fast – let’s be realistic). I can take off from a standing start and simply defy gravity by lifting off into the air. I can then soar…
Cognitive Biases and Handedness →
One of the mantras of the scientific skeptic is that we need formal logic and scientific methods in order to overcome our cognitive biases. Without a structure to observation and thinking, our…
February 2011
3 posts
Why haven’t we cured cancer yet? →
Why haven’t we cured cancer yet?
If we can put a man on the moon, why can’t we cure cancer?
If we can harness the atom, why can’t we cure cancer?
How many times have you heard these questions, or…
A Good Day to Be an Egyptian →
Well, they did it; and good for them. The people of Egypt finally managed to run Hosni Mubarak out of town on a rail and paved the way for a democratic future—assuming the Egyptian military, which…
Evolution of a Serpent: And You Shall Eat Dust All... →
Whenever one has the audacity to bring up the topic of evolution in front of a Creationist, the Creationist will invariably (if he is somewhat educated) ask to see proof of these transitional…
January 2011
2 posts
Power Balance Admits Fraud →
In our advertising we stated that Power Balance wristbands improved your strength, balance and flexibility.
We admit that there is no credible scientific evidence that supports our claims and…
December 2010
15 posts
The Acupuncture and Fasciae Fallacy →
Shared by EvilMammoth
This is an excellent overview of common misconceptions about acupuncture’s “ancient” history and why our taxpayer money needs to stop being used to fund further research into…
Placebo effects without deception? Well, not... →
In discussing “alternative” medicine it’s impossible not to discuss, at least briefly, placebo effects. Indeed, one of the most common complaints we at SBM voice about clinical trials of alternative…
Buster Keatons Sherlock Jr.: The Inception of... →
Shared by EvilMammoth
This is definitely one of Keaton’s best.
This is definitely one of Keaton’s best.
Google Books Ngram Viewer →
This is my new favorite internet toy – the Google Books Ngram Viewer. You may already know that Google Books is a project to digitize as many books as possible. Many of the recent books have…
Acupuncture and the Hazard of Nonsense →
A recent study published in the Archives of Opthalmology compare patching of one eye vs acupuncture in the treatment of amblyopia in older children, and finds positive results from acupuncture….
Get Low Cost Lab Tests (Seriously) →
Whether you have health insurance or not, lab work can get pretty expensive. If you have insurance but still haven’t paid your deductible, the insured rates for blood tests are liable to cost…
The wind is no longer at Voyager’s back →
Voyager 1 is one of the most successful space missions of all time. Launched in 1977, it visited Jupiter and then Saturn, providing better close-ups of the two planets than had ever been seen…
Cloned Beef →
The controversy over the human consumption of meat and dairy products from cloned cows continues. The UK Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, after reviewing the evidence, concluded…
SBM 1000th Post →
I have the pleasure of announcing that this is the 1000th post of Science-Based Medicine. The first post introducing the blog was on January 1st 2008 – almost three years ago. We have published…
November 2010
13 posts
Puckerberg →
This anti-Facebook editorial in the Guardian was brought to my attention this morning, naturally, via my Facebook feed, specifically my good friend Nate’s Dehumanized Silicon…
Hoooooly shit.
Has Glenn Beck seen this... →
Hoooooly shit. Has Glenn Beck seen this yet? Because let me just spell this out for you: K. Killing-machine
O. Oprah
R. Radicalized
N. Not sure why I sometimes omit letters. Friends, I…
“There is no evolutionary justification for the common assumption that evolution...”
– Richard Dawkins (via travors)
“…and like Goliath, they’ll be conquered.”
– Bob Dylan
What is a Vampire? →
Here is a quick guide for those who’ve forgotten.
Bob Dylan's 2nd Bad Dream: "They Killed Him" →
The second installment in a series about the dark side of Bob Dylan’s catalogue.
September 2010
1 post
Bob Dylan’s 1st Bad Dream: “Man Gave Names to All... →
August 2010
1 post
Mars Defaced →
I don’t know if anyone out there still actually believes in the notorious “Face on Mars” located in the Red Planet’s Cydonia region, but just in case, those of you with any lingering trepidation may put your fears to rest…
March 2010
1 post
Sci-Fi Western Short Film: "Connected" →
Each year, the Academy Awards (mutual masturbation and all) awaken my dormant love for short film, and I begin concocting my own hair-brained plots and script ideas only to have them die slowly over the next few months. GeekTyrant.com featured thi
December 2009
1 post
On a conversation I had when I was a mall Santa
legos:
alanharris:
“And what would you like for Jesus’ birthday, little boy?” I asked.
“For Christmas I want legos!” He said excitedly because children are stupid and get excited over things like that.
“Not world peace?” I said.
“No! Legos!” He yelled.
“What about ending world hunger?”
“NO! I WANT LEGOS!”
“What about solving homelessness? Why there’s little boys just like you that don’t...
November 2009
5 posts
“I worry that, especially as the Millennium edges nearer, pseudoscience and...”
– Carl Sagan, “Science and Hope”, The Demon-Haunted World
