So after a break of almost 13 months, fluoride is now back in Hamilton's water supply. It was 5 June last year that the council, after three months of public consultations, submissions and hearings, ... (401 words)

At TAM 2013 the last talk was by Peter Boghossian and it was on Authenticity. One of the take-away messages I got from that talk was that you should stand by your words and if someone is offended by ... (2142 words)

The New Zealand Skeptics Society supports the scientific consensus on Climate Change. There is an abundance of evidence demonstrating global mean temperatures are rising, and that humans have had a ... (49 words)

Human carbon emissions have been described as a planet-wide experiment with a sample size of one. Are there ways for science to accept uncertainties and just point at what could happen, while not ... (2062 words)

It is difficult to know where to begin in response to Jim Ring's letter (NZ Skeptic 110), but somewhat reluctantly, here goes. He writes, "But he never makes a case; he only quotes opinion". Well, I ... (1020 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)

Keith Muir responds to Barry Brill's article, A Climate of Hope, in NZ Skeptic 108. In his article A Climate of Hope, Barry Brill makes the following statement: "It's pretty clear that the ... (891 words)

If climate scientists were credit-rating agencies, climate sensitivity would be on negative watch, says a recent article in the Economist. Barry Brill looks at recent climate sensitivity estimates ... (682 words)

Do you believe in climate change? Based on my past readings of NZ Skeptic of course not. After all this is the skeptic's magazine. I consider whether you believe in climate change is the wrong ... (473 words)

Sodium monofluoroacetate (1080) is a proven tool in the New Zealand pest control arsenal, but significant opposition to its use continues, much of it irrational. This article is based on a ... (2184 words)

Earth scientists can forecast the size and frequency of the aftershocks following Canterbury's September 2010 earthquake. But this is very different from earthquake prediction. This article is based ... (2742 words)

Top scientist turns to alternative medicine Prominent physicist and science commentator Sir Paul Callaghan is resorting to vitamin C megadoses and Chinese medicine to treat his terminal cancer ... (1250 words)

Fake bomb detector leads to deaths One of the main reasons for the success Al Qaeda has had in getting bombs past checkpoints in Iraq is that the main device used to detect explosives is a uselss ... (1276 words)

Vicki Hyde hands out this year's Bent Spoon and Bravo Awards A documentary which highlights the "distress, cruelty, horror, ecocide, cover-ups and contamination" involved in 1080-based pest control ... (763 words)

<<img class="g-image g-image--lazy g-image--loading" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg fill='none' viewBox='0 0 615 463' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' ... (829 words)

When it comes to environmental issues, it's not always easy for a skeptic to decide where to stand Over the last few years, there has been a growing community of "environmental skeptics", who ... (2189 words)

Given his ratings, only a tiny handful of you probably saw Paul Holmes in his new slot on Prime a few weeks back, talking to Don Maisch, described as an Australian expert on the health effects of ... (484 words)

Dr Robert R Holcomb was in Wellington in January to announce a technological breakthrough. Before an audience of New Zea-land government, business and environmental leaders, he announced for the ... (261 words)

Global Warming Mechanisms -- Room For Debate When I sent my letter to the NZ Skeptic (Spring 2003), I did not expect vehement denials in the next issue. Such debate is, of course, healthy and ... (2027 words)

I've just witnessed a miracle. Probably. On January 2 I took part in a trip to the outer Hauraki Gulf to search for a bird that until recently had not been seen since the nineteenth century. Three ... (414 words)

Global Warming -- Where Should Skeptics Stand? Although I have been receiving free email alerts for a long time, I am a (very) new member. Among the goodies which I received a couple of days ago was ... (2218 words)

Environmental issues have played an increasing role in skeptical subject matter over recent years, ranging from calls for biodynamic possum peppering earning Jeanette Fitzsimons the Bent Spoon last ... (834 words)

Skeptics Blown It? Prior to attending the NZ Skeptics conference in Wellington this year, I read the discussion paper on the role of science in environmental policy and decision making, Illuminated ... (1149 words)

Claire Le Couteur reports from the 2003 Skeptics' Conference in Wellington. This year's conference, held at Victoria University, began with a social gathering followed by a presentation by artist and ... (739 words)

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is calling for submissions on the role of science in environmental policy and decision-making. This article is based on a paper presented at the ... (1277 words)

True Home of Father Christmas Discovered! I am always astonished that famous mystical persons, such as the Virgin Mary (who was transubstantiated into an Australian fencepost in February) reveal ... (580 words)

Alternative Child Healthcare The following correspondence between nursing lecturer Sue Gasquoine and Skeptics' chairentity Vicki Hyde is reproduced with the permission of the participants -ed. Hello ... (1343 words)

The Painted Apple Moth spraying programme in the western suburbs of Auckland has generated considerable controversy. An alternative programme was evaluated at last year's Skeptics The Painted apple ... (952 words)

Skeptics in the Greenhouse I attended the recent Christchurch Conference and greatly enjoyed the excellent standard of presentation and discussion. One small item, however, left me wondering about ... (777 words)

Ritalin and ADHD Professor JS Werry deserves thanks for his contribution in these pages regarding the present use/abuse of methylphenidate (Ritalin) and ADHD. Despite the Professor's reassurances ... (443 words)

Howard Bezar and Denis Curtain Scientific support for organic farming isn't all it seems An article appeared in the Canterbury Digest in December, 2000, claiming organic foods have 'superior ... (827 words)

That was never six months just then -- it felt much longer. Banised to the depths of New Zealand, in Tuatapere (almost as far south west as you can get in the South Island), life took on a gentler ... (517 words)

The Swedish chemist Berzelius coined the term "organic" for substances that could only be made by living organisms and not synthesised by humans. His German friend Wöhler synthesised urea in 1828 ... (2659 words)

I have just visited another universe; it seems a much more interesting place than the dull old world we are forced to inhabit. "What is it like?" you ask eagerly, "and how did you get there?" ... (464 words)

Home water treatment systems are often promoted on the basis of the purported health (rather than aesthetic) benefits of using them. This is particularly in relation to urban drinking water given the ... (1480 words)

Guidelines For Testing Psychic Claimants by Richard Wiseman and Robert L. Morris, 1995, 72pp., University of Hertfordshire Press, Hatfield, UK, (pound)7.00. Reviewed by Bernard Howard When author ... (659 words)

Picking Winners? When the short list for the Booker prize was announced there was much chortling about the fact that Jill Paton Walsh had been unable to find a publisher in Britain for Knowledge of ... (1351 words)

The New Zealand Herald of 5 September carried the headline "Ozone gap to lift skin cancer 7 per cent". Then followed a report from Dr Richard McKenzie of the National Institute of Water and ... (522 words)

What is the link between chemicals and cancer? Forty years ago, Bruce Ames was a young microbiologist working at NIH in the day and enjoying Scottish country dancing in the evening, when he had an ... (2498 words)

The media were quick to cry "Wolf" when concerns were raised about the fungicide Benlate. On 9 December, 1993, the people of Canterbury read an alarming headline in the Christchurch Press: "Herbicide ... (1077 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)

A Sprite in your Spirit, a Bogle in your Benzine, a Fury in your Fuel, a Greyhound in your Gasoline. With acknowledgement to the oil company which, many years ago, urged us to "Put a Tiger in your ... (500 words)

Magic potions made from natural ingredients are generally hailed as environmentally friendly. But is this necessarily true? Not if you're a rhinocerous! Rhino horn is highly valued for its alleged ... (95 words)

Unconvinced Environmentalist Your main article in the March issue (Skeptic, #23), "The Skeptical Environmentalist" by Vincent Gray, is perhaps the worst I have ever read. It consists almost entirely ... (1562 words)