NZ Skeptics Articles

Maxine misinformation, shooters on the run and an alternative to botox!

8th June 2021

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter.

This Queen’s Birthday weekend I’ve had the pleasure of travelling to Napier to visit my mother. Last newsletter, Mark mentioned sightings of UFOs in Hawkes Bay, which were likely lenticular cloud formations. Alas, this weekend has seen dull grey skies, so no such luck on my part.

Our attention at the moment seems to be very much directed at health-related stories. Alas, there’s much misinformation to be countered. While visiting in Napier, I happened to hear an ad on the radio about COVID, and it saddened me to hear that so much emphasis is being placed on actually dispelling the myths that abound - such as that you can’t get COVID from the vaccine, and that it doesn’t alter your genes! What a sad world we live in!

Craig Shearer

Danger for scientists

Craig Shearer - 8 June 2021

Danger for scientists

We should be worried about the consequences of far-right conspiracy theories. In Belgium, Professor Marc Van Ranst has been the public face of science related to the COVID pandemic and the Belgian government's response.

Anti-vaxxer blood transfusions

Craig Shearer - 8 June 2021

Anti-vaxxer blood transfusions

Sorry to harp on about anti-vaxxers, but there's another story this week that has emerged about prominent American anti-vaxxer Del Bigtree. Bigtree runs ICAN - the Informed Consent Action Network, and has a slickly produced video podcast called The Highwire.

An alternative to Botox

Craig Shearer - 8 June 2021

I rarely watch broadcast TV, but on Wednesday night I happened to see a little of TVNZ's Seven Sharp programme. They featured a segment on acupuncture as an alternative to botox for reducing facial wrinkles.