_This could be the shining hour Based on all those mad beliefs In the money oil and angel powder In the new age magazine_ Grant Lee Buffalo, The Shining Hour (1993) Law and medicine have much in ... (2752 words)

How should a skeptic relate to those who have other belief systems? What does a skeptic and atheist do when they are part of a broader group that is quite loose on empirical evidence and critical ... (908 words)

Ethics and morality are often regarded as beyond the reach of scientific inquiry. But certain values appear to be shared by all humans as species-typical adaptations. This article is based on a ... (2452 words)

The 'Unfortunate Experiment' at National Women's Hospital has entered the national folklore as a notorious case of medical misconduct. But there is still disagreement about what actually happened. It ... (2575 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)

Today, gonorrhoea infections in young girls are taken as certain evidence of sexual abuse. Yet there is an extensive but now-forgotten literature showing that this is not necessarily the case. This ... (4091 words)

A widely publicised trial which appeared to show prayer was effective in enhancing fertility now appears to have been fraudulent. In 2001 an extraordinary paper, from the highly regarded Columbia ... (908 words)

Of feeding tubes and foetuses Now that Terri Schiavo has been allowed to die peacefully there is an opportunity to reflect on the matter free from the hysteria and religious arguments advanced as an ... (1304 words)

Ancient Celtic New Zealand - More Reasons Not To Believe In connection with David Riddell's article about "Ancient Celtic New Zealand" (Skeptic, Winter 2004) your readers may be interested in my more ... (986 words)

The Break Free tour will be coming soon to a city near you. The week-long tour of lectures and book selling will start in Christchurch at the end of November and proceed to Wellington, Taupo, ... (792 words)

Moral Values I am finding it difficult to respond to Alan P Ryan's diatribe (Skeptic Autumn 2004) as it borders on the incoherent and self-contradictory. I wonder if it will help if I summarise my ... (469 words)

It may be time to expand the principles of the Hippocratic Oath First do no harm. That's the major principle of the doctor's Hippocratic Oath. For the most part, the public are well-served by that ... (735 words)

In the second of a two-part series, Jim Ring looks at what evidence means to different people Scientific evidence is often difficult to interpret, in medicine in particular. 'An Unfortunate ... (1322 words)