Of thorny bouquets and flaming brickbats
28 November 2022
2022 has been a hell of a year on the skeptical front.
28 November 2022
2022 has been a hell of a year on the skeptical front.
22 November 2021
Craig Shearer announced the winners of our annual awards at the beginning of the second day of our conference, and it was accompanied by the following press release:
6 September 2021
We're currently looking for nominations for our annual awards. Specifically, we have a Bent Spoon award for whoever has “has shown the most egregious gullibility or lack of critical thinking” over the last year, Bravo awards for journalists who have done good skeptical work, and a Skeptic of the Year award for someone in New Zealand who's been active in skepticism and fighting the good fight against nonsense.
4 November 2018
SleepDrops is a New Zealand company which sells small vials of liquid drops which are supposed to help you get to sleep and stay asleep. Their ingredients are a mixture of small doses of herbs and very small (homeopathic) doses of herbs. A look at the Scientific Research page on their website shows that there's a dearth of research for any of the ingredients in the SleepDrops products, and absolutely no research on the SleepDrops formulation.
1 February 2018
For the article “Don't waste money on superfoods and supplements” published in Stuff, 29th Sept 2017.
16 August 2015
A bravo was awarded at last year's conference to Graeme Hill for his ongoing promotion of science and challenging of pseudoscience on Radio Live.
1 November 2012
Vicki Hyde announces the Bent Spoon and Bravo Awards for 2012.
1 November 2007
It's Bent Spoon time again-the time when the Skeptics highlight the worst-and best-of the year's media.
1 May 2002
With winter almost upon us, the time has come to curl up in front of a nice screen and browse the internet. Speaking of which, congratulations are in order to our chair-entity Vicki Hyde and media spokesman Denis Dutton for having their websites nominated in the sixth annual Webby Awards.
1 November 1996
This year has seen one of the most significant discoveries ever made -- the announcement that there are solid indications of life having once existed on another planet. The implications for us all, whether scientific, philosophic or religious, are tremendous.
1 May 1990
At the Annual Dinner on 2 September media excellence awards were made to the following:
1 February 1989
The New Zealand Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (Inc.) seeks nominations for its annual journalism/media awards for 1987-1988. Awards will be presented at the annual meeting of the Committee, held this year at the University of Auckland, August 20-21.
1 February 1988
The New Zealand Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (Inc.) seeks nominations for its annual journalism/media awards for 1986-1987. Awards will be presented at the annual meeting of the Committee, held this year at Victoria University in Wellington, August 29-30.
1 May 1987
Since 1981, recipients of MacArthur Foundation grants, the "genius awards" that permit five years of financial freedom. have included poets and composers, scientists and even a mime. Bula prestidigitator? Last week James Randi, a.k.a. "the Amazing Randi." whose sleight of hand has exposed psychic gimmicks. hoaxes and claims of the paranormal. was among this year's 25 winners, picking up $272,000 for his crusade to protect sick people from unscrupulous faith healers. The award came as a total surprise. "You can bang your head against the wall, call Sophia Loren or take it soberly." he notes. "It takes about 48 hours to settle in. All the time I was saying, 'I really won?' Now that the question has been answered, Randi, 57. is wasting no time in putting the money to work, expanding his office, hiring a full-time researcher, and planning for a college scholarship so that more debunkers can be set to work. The Great Doubter has become a true believer in his benefactors: "They reached very far out, perhaps dangerously so, in giving it to a magician instead of some academic. I feel a great responsibility to the foundation."
1 February 1987
Dear fellow skeptics, please note the following: N.Z.C.S.I.C.O.P. incorporated's first annual convention, University of Otago, 9-10 August, 1986
1 November 1986
Readers are invited to submit nominations for the following awards.