NZ Skeptics Articles

Steven Novella

Steven Novella, MD, is an academic clinical neurologist at the Yale University School of Medicine. He is also the president and co-founder of the New England Skeptical Society, the host and producer of the popular weekly science podcast The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe, the author of the NeuroLogica Blog and founder of Science-Based Medicine.

Brain Wave Pseudoscience

1 August 2017

iSynchrony has put together a plausible-sounding bit of bafflegab to justify what it sells. The reality of neurology is against their claims.

Another Anti-GMO Paper Retracted

1 February 2016

Retraction Watch is a great website. As the name implies, it focuses on a key aspect of quality control in science: the retraction of scientific papers that have already passed peer-review and were published when serious concerns about those papers come to light.

Low Energy Sweeteners and Weight Control

1 November 2015

A new systematic review published in the International Journal of Obesity looks at the totality of evidence investigating whether consuming low energy sweeteners (LES), such as aspartame, sucralose, or stevia, is a net benefit or detriment for weight control.

Placebo by Conditioning

1 August 2015

Truly understanding placebo effects (note the plural) is critical to science-based medicine.

Glyphosate: The New Bogeyman

1 February 2015

Dr. Steven Novella breaks down the latest environmental factor that apparently causes autism.

Patterning

1 August 1997

THE line which sharply demarks mainstream medicine from alternative medicine is the line of science. It is possible to cross that line, however. Any alternative treatment which is tested in a rigorous scientific manner and found to be safe and effective will be incorporated into mainstream medicine; it will have crossed the line.