badscienceblogs

Aggregating the best of the blogs on science and pseudoscience

May 17, 2008

TED Sunday #005: Paul Ewald on whether we can domesticate germs?

SkeptoBot by Lave

I'm really looking forward to this one. Domesticating Germs for our own benefit! Could we exploit evolution to encourage diseases to evolve to mildness. I've always been of the view that if we don't play God, who will. We just need to be very smart, an... read more>>

May 16, 2008

The Future of Work

Letting Off Steam by jaycueaitch

In the May issue of Analog magazine, editor Stanley Schmidt discussed population growth and migration. He made one point that struck this long time SF reader as rather familiar.  He wrote:- It seldom occurs to us that we could … decide that there’s not enough necessary work to go around, so we should ...read more>>

Superfoods

jdc325's Weblog by jdc325

The nutritionistas and health food stores (not to mention the press) would have you believe that there is such a thing as a ’superfood’. There isn’t. Not pomegranate, not walnut, not even any kind of special berry harvested by Tibetan monks and recommended by Patrick Holford or Gillian McKeith. The Birmingham ...read more>>

Patrick Holford Shares His Wisdom in May 2008 Newsletter

Holford Watch: Patrick Holford, nutritionism and bad science by dvnutrix

Visiting Professor Patrick Holford distributes a newsletter to the subscription members of his 100%health club. The newsletter typically contains errors and not infrequently they indicate that whoever whoever writes them does not read research papers properly, misunderstands them or miscommunicates the findings. read more>>

Integrative baloney @ Yale

DC's Improbable Science by David Colquhoun

The extent to which irrationality has become established in US Medicine is truly alarming I wrote about Quakademics in the USA and Canada on my last trip to the USA, and on my May trip I visited Yale, where I ...read more>>

Brilliant satire: God-Man, omnipotent superhero.

SciencePunk by Frank the SciencePunk

I’m not usually one to poke fun at religion unless it creeps into the science sphere, but this is too funny not to share: God-Man, omnipotent superhero. By Ruben Bolling. read more>>

May 15, 2008

Science games: Fold It!

Science and Progress by coracle

read more>>

Sir Alan Sugar’s The Apprentice features a visit to The Energy Clinic: do Sugar and the BBC really believe in this stuff?

Holford Watch: Patrick Holford, nutritionism and bad science by jonhw

What was the BBC thinking about when it allowed Sir Alan Sugar to plug the Energy Clinic on The Apprentice? read more>>

Nadine Dorries makes an attempt to look at the evidence. She fails. [updated]

Hawk/Handsaw by Paul Wilson

Nadine Dorries seems to have realised that simply dismissing as 'desperate tosh' a study in the British Medical Journal won't cut the mustard. The study looked at survival rates of premature babies in the Trent region of the UK, concluding that surviva... read more>>

May 14, 2008

Whoops!

We sell dreams in a bottle by valueaddedwater

Lets make this clear. I like the idea behind the Dove adverts. The idea of using everyday women to advertise your ...

How Life Healthcare Coped with the Terror of an ASA Investigation.

the quackometer by Le Canard Noir

The Advertising Standards Authority is one of the few regulatory bodies in the UK regularly prepared to tackle the ...

The media’s ‘Silly Season’ begins: Aliens and Jesus and the Nibiru invasion.

SkeptoBot by Lave

As the sun is coming out so the collective media's mind turns to mush. As the stories they deem 'silly' ...

Boots zapped by Advertising Standards Authority

DC's Improbable Science by David Colquhoun

After writing the recent post Boots reaches new level of dishonesty with CoQ10 promotion, I sent a complaint about the ...

May 13, 2008

Embryos and Parliament - Part Three (last one, I promise… well, maybe not…)

consider, evaluate, act by teekblog

Turns out that not all MPs turned out to vote on this new Embryology Bill, as flagged up by benb ...

The Curse of the Paleolithic Diet: When Studies Go Bad

Holford Watch: Patrick Holford, nutritionism and bad science by jonhw

A break from our usual Holford coverage, to discuss a recent EJCN Short Communication on “Effects of a short-term intervention ...

Embryos and Parliament - Part Two

consider, evaluate, act by teekblog

So as my last blog entry suggests (blimey, six months without a peep and then two posts in two days ...

Bright green puppy born in New Orleans

SciencePunk by Frank the SciencePunk

After the man with green sweat, and medical case notes on an incidence of green blood, SciencePunk is proud to ...

May 12, 2008

Embryos and Parliament - Part One

consider, evaluate, act by teekblog

My thanks first and foremost to Ben Goldacre for advertising the second reading of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill ...

Briefly: An Example Of Why We Need An Ethical Language of Bullshit

jdc325's Weblog by jdc325

In September last year, blogger Nicholas Marsh posted an article discussing the need for a Language of Bullshit and I was reminded ...

May 11, 2008

How to remove the RFID chip from an Oyster card

SciencePunk by Frank the SciencePunk

Kudos to Chris Woebken and Skeptobot for laying the groundwork. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BT6MU3gH80

I should certainly be mobbed

jdc325's Weblog by jdc325

I was reading a book on Porton Down called From Biological Warfare to Healthcare when I came across a letter ...

May 10, 2008

Mad Nad

Pyjamas in Bananas by pj

Via Hawk/Handsaw, Nadine Dorries shares her unique perspective on the BMJ study of survival rates in preterm infants: "No improvement ...

TED Sunday #004: Brian Cox on the LHC

SkeptoBot by Lave

After a short break, this week we've got Brian Cox talking about the LHC. Mainly to tie in with this post, ...

May 9, 2008

The Embryo Research Bill (and a little bit about Murphy-O’Connor’s ‘Evil Atheists’ Comments)

jdc325's Weblog by jdc325

On Monday, there will be a show of support for the Embryo Research Bill outside Parliament. There are concerns that sense ...

The futility of transcendental speculations

What the hell is this? by What the hell is this?

Lionel Milgrom's latest paper, “A New Geometrical Description of Entanglement ...

Project Ladybird Update: borked!

SciencePunk by Frank the SciencePunk

Update on Project Ladybird: Having retrieved an intact chip from the body of a London Transport Oyster card, I set ...

Yes, but what about the evidence? Nadine Dorries and the BMJ

Hawk/Handsaw by Paul Wilson

This morning my Grauniad was carrying a story about new research, published in the BMJ, that suggests survival rates for ...

May 8, 2008

BBC Breakfast Promises to do Better

A canna’ change the laws of physics by apgaylard

The BBC's Editiorial Complaints Unit (ECU) has just published its final ruling on two complaints I made last year. ...

Experts: hired lackeys - & moon made of cream cheese.

Dr Aust's Spleen by draust

It is a bit of a tough gig being an “expert” these days. Not so much in what I do, of ...

Time-lapse Vid of Dissolving an Oyster Card in acetone (aka nail varnish)

SkeptoBot by Lave

Disclaimer: Just to cover my back, be aware that TFL probably won't like you doing this. So get permission first ...

The Blogs...