Pictures don't lie, right? Of course they do. And they were deceiving us long before Photoshop made the manipulation of images almost child's play. Today, nobody would bat an eye at a ghostly image ... (1003 words)

As someone currently enduring a bout of shingles I have a few comments to make on the excellent article on the bad science behind the vaccine scare (NZ Skeptic 100). Further to benefits of ... (666 words)

Alison Campbell looks at a new 'resource' for New Zealand schools, helpfully provided by the creationist movement. A little while ago Ken Perrott, who writes the Open Parachute blog, alerted me to an ... (544 words)

Alison Campbell finds the creationists are still trying to get into our schools. A friend of mine, who happens to be a biology teacher, recently forwarded me an email. Quite apart from the fact that ... (647 words)

In an occasional feature we look back at issues from the early days of NZ Skeptic. Twins, souls and abortion I wonder if scepticism toward pseudoscience has any contribution to make to the abortion ... (233 words)

Evolution - What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters. Donald R Prothero, Columbia University Press. Reviewed by Louette McInnes. If your local library doesn't have this book, go out right now and ... (414 words)

February 12 is Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, and the old guy, or at least his ideas, are still in pretty good shape. While evolutionary theory has been broadened and elaborated extensively in the ... (415 words)

Why do men have nipples? Nikos Petousis, in his article Skepticism Greek-style answers many questions which have previously puzzled me, for which I thank him sincerely. In return, may I answer one of ... (236 words)

If students are to pursue careers in science, they need to be able to see themselves in that role. One way to encourage this may be through the telling of stories. This article is based on a ... (3474 words)

Bob Brockie thinks he can explain why the Skeptic editor gets woken up at 2am every Saturday morning Doctors have a name for impulsive, over-energetic, risky, unpredictable, posturing, defiant ... (420 words)

A Waikato University website on evolution has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from teachers, says biological sciences lecturer Alison Campbell. "We held a teacher meeting in April for the ... (671 words)

Our acceptance of evolution brings with it moral obligations, believes geneticist Professor David Penny, who has been fighting for greater consideration to be given to the well-being of the great ... (2655 words)

A DEVIL'S CHAPLAIN: Selected Essays. Richard Dawkins. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003. ISBN 0 297 82973 4. We Dawkins fans have been waiting since "Unweaving the Rainbow" in 1998 for this. Unlike its ... (344 words)

It's often claimed either that science doesn't have the tools to identify ESP, or that scientists have a prejudice against the whole idea. But American researchers have recently confirmed that ... (136 words)

If I Could Talk to the Dead Animals Pet psychic Carol Schultz of Chicago has been gaining a lot of international attention, with identical reports featured in June editions of the Cairns Post and ... (914 words)

There has been a considerable easing of international tensions since the dark days of the mid-twentieth century. John Riddell thinks he knows why. Take Two Dictators and Call Me in the Morning AT the ... (702 words)

The Crucible of Creation: The Burgess Shale and the Rise of Animals, by Simon Conway Morris. Oxford University Press. Cradle of Life: The Discovery of Earth's Earliest Fossils, by J William Schopf. ... (293 words)

EVERYTHING was roses and buttercups until that fateful day. An omen, it was, for sure. In July, on Friday, only 17 days before the 13th, we had born on our humble dairy farm a calfie. She had four ... (597 words)

The largely unremarkable hairless apes of Sol 3 really are largely unremarkable: the myth of the wandering womb. Botulin Saxx Institute for Exobiology, Proxima Centauri 4 Introduction On his ... (1684 words)

Post-mortem on the autopsy or autopsy on the post-mortem? Post-mortem undoubtedly. There could hardly be a deader duck than the supposed Roswell autopsy film, whatever species of being or inanimate ... (383 words)

On Thursday, 19 August 1993, the Christchurch Press carried a full-page advertisement for the initial New Zealand opening of the "Matrol Opportunity". The product, Matrol-Km, was described as "a ... (1897 words)

Hail Guns? Several of my friends are orchardists, and two of them lost their crop last year due to a hailstorm. The hot topic at present is "hail guns." Do they work? How do they work? There seems to ... (353 words)

Rejuvenation! The wish of many a tired old man, and not so old: to regain the physical and sexual vigour of youth. During the early decades of this century it was widely though not universally ... (1692 words)