Alison Campbell learns some interesting facts about water chemistry Following recent events in Hamilton I've found myself involved in several debates on the merits of fluoridated water lately. This ... (712 words)

Siouxsie Wiles takes a look at a new medical journal - available at all good supermarkets. I'm a scientist. I know that the word journal has several meanings, but when I use it I'm referring to a ... (657 words)

Matthew Willey finds it difficult to get into the spirit of the holiday season. It's over now. But Christmas for me is an annual ordeal. I loathe it. But even typing this admission, I hear the intake ... (1366 words)

Janelle Wallace reviews Salt Sugar Fat: How The Food Giants Hooked Us, by Michael Moss. Random House Publishing, 2013. Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Michael Moss' book takes a ... (182 words)

Keith Garratt finds the NZ Homeopathic Society is capable of change. On 2 October 2013, I received this email: Dear Keith, We acknowledge receipt of your letter 16th September 2013. The changes you ... (1114 words)

Michael Edmonds reports on his successful complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority over the dubious science used to promote BioMag underlays. For more on BioMag see NZ Skeptic 91. The BioMag ... (548 words)

The Advertising Standards Authority provides an accessible platform for members of the public to take on the merchants of woo. This article is based on a presentation to the 2012 NZ Skeptics ... (1184 words)

Ian Luxmoore investigates the claims for BioMag underlays. I hear and see advertising for the BioMag Underlay on a regular basis in New Zealand media. They advertise extensively on TV and radio and ... (1889 words)

While we were in Fiji recently there was a dengue fever alert. This unpleasant virus is carried by mosquitoes and naturally we were careful to use insect repellent. We stayed in a Suva hotel; in the ... (125 words)

Psychic scammer Maria Duval failed to foresee trouble over 'her' misleading advertisements. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is funded by the advertising and media industries, and has the ... (572 words)

On 14 June 2005 the Advertising Standards Complaints Board met to consider Complaint 05/116, filed by Martin Craig for the Consumers' Institute, concerning the Maria Duval psychic services ... (1539 words)

Another Alternative to Evidence Based Medicine Vehemence based medicine: The substitution of volume for evidence is an effective technique for brow-beating your more timorous colleagues and for ... (1058 words)