Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
What do we actually know about Halloween? Most of us happily accept the traditions and do not give too much thought to the origins of it all. Given that today is the day, let’s mull over it all a bit with a couple of questions. Where does the name “Halloween” come from? Traditionally, Halloween is Hallows’ … Read more
It is perhaps now being increasingly appreciated by many people that Homeopathy is utter nonsense and does not work, and yet it has been granted accreditation by the UK’s Government run PSA (Professional Standards Authority). As a quick bit of background, just to be clear, homeopathy really is a sham and does not work … … Read more
Did you know that Harry Houdini and Abraham Lincoln were good friends and would often meet up? For example, see the picture above. There is of course one rather glaring flaw here. Lincoln was rather famously assassinated on 15 April 1865, and Houdini was born after that in 1874. How then is a picture such … Read more
It is almost universally true that truth matters. Think of anything familiar and consider the consequences of what would happen if the wingnut policy of “alternative truth” prevailed … Medicine: If you were diagnosed by a guy who simply made up an illness to explain your symptoms because it felt right then how would you … Read more
Normally C-Span is dull and tedious. The idea that you would grab a clip from C-Span to share on social media and then literally millions would find it utterly mesmerising should be laughably unthinkable … and yet just three letters changed all that. When it comes to ideas such as social justice, tolerance, and also … Read more
I have two climate stories today. Both highlight how climate change is impacting ecosystems. In isolation each is alarming. Put them together and we can view them as signals, a strong warning, that these major and rather important ecosystems are suffering considerable stress and face total wipeout if we continue to do nothing truly meaningful. … Read more