The Orphan Conspiracies: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy, by James & Lance Morcan. US$5.62 (Kindle Edition), Amazon. Reviewed by David Riddell. Lance and James Morcan are a New ... (1552 words)

"… she successfully resisted the forces pitted against her, giving an astounding manifestation of some power other than that making up the ordinary phenomena of nature." So wrote the Feilding Star on ... (1886 words)

Matthew Willey finds Skeptics in the Pub hasn't been as much fun lately This Friday is our Skeptics in the Pub night. I like going, but I do feel inadequate. Keep this to yourself, but I have ... (1281 words)

Martin Bridgstock worries about a new trend which might, in the long run, threaten both science and skepticism. What exactly is a pseudoscience? The Oxford English Dictionary defines it like this: A ... (1811 words)

Matthew Willey recalls the days before the internet, and an old friend My friend Maggie had a wasting, incurable illness. If that sounds awfully sad, well, it was. But we had a great friendship and ... (633 words)

Martin Bridgstock considers a major work, which gives us all some astonishingly good news Most of us are used to being deluged with bad news. The economy is on the slide again. Violence has burst out ... (1650 words)

The widespread use of what are basically dowsing rods to detect bombs in Iraq and other trouble spots is a striking example of how a lack of critical thinking can lead to all manner of death and ... (2509 words)

Mother 'died of a broken heart' after false psychic message The dramatic rescue of three women kept prisoner for 10 years in a house in Cleveland, Ohio, came too late for the mother of one of them ... (1343 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)

Alison Campbell learns how to fine-tune the universe with a didgeridoo. Recently a commenter on Orac's Respectful Insolence blog ( scienceblogs.com/insolence) mentioned the therapeutic use of ... (575 words)

There are times when the world seems to run along quietly from day to day, with very little happening. Then there are times like these. There are the ongoing aftershocks in Christchurch, many of them ... (419 words)

It's not a hopeless cause to engage with proponents of the irrational - but some ways of doing this are more effective than others. This article is based on a presentation to the 2010 NZ Skeptics ... (2086 words)

Englishwoman Doris Stokes was a medium - by which I don't mean her dress size was between small and large. She claimed she spoke to people "on the other side," to use the euphemistic jargon of the ... (335 words)

Alison Campbell reviews a study of why so many struggle with scientific concepts. One of the topics that comes up for discussion with my Sciblogs colleagues is the issue of 'resistance to science' - ... (880 words)

The Moral Landscape: How Science can Determine Human Values. Sam Harris. 2010. Free Press, New York. ISBN 978-1-4391-7121-9 Reviewed by Martin Wallace. If faith is belief without evidence, then it is ... (390 words)

Some claim our society is too materialistic and lacks spiritual values. But what would it be like to live in a society that rejects materialism? Arnhem Land in tropical Australia has a curious ... (1942 words)

Having recently joined the happy hordes of mp3 player owners, our household has been getting an object lesson in the nature of random events. For those who have yet to succumb to the charms of these ... (483 words)

Bogus chiropractor? I thought they were all bogus! A Motueka man, Michael Dawson, was fined $4000 for describing himself as a chiropractor. This upset Nelson chiropractor Dr John Dawson who was ... (1437 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)

More bad news for homeopaths The leading medical journal The Lancet recently published yet another analysis of trials of homeopathy. After examining 110 such trials, the Swiss researchers concluded ... (558 words)

The battle between the Enlightenment and Romantic traditions is far from over, though it has taken on new forms. This article is abridged from a presentation to the NZ Skeptics Conference, 2004. P J ... (3412 words)

Bob Brockie looks at the link between genius and eccentricity When the Californian surfer Kary Mullis was introduced to the King of Sweden he said, "I believe you're having problems with your ... (427 words)

The World Health Organisation has issued a new warning against non-essential travel to the entire Western Hemisphere following renewed concerns about the spread of Severe Loss of Perspective Syndrome ... (242 words)

A British man considers himself unlucky because the week he won the lottery, another person did too. So he had to share the £8 million ($NZ23 million) winnings instead of taking home all the money ... (319 words)

John Riddell learns to his cost that fishermen can be as easy to catch as the creatures they pursue I have a confession to make. I've been taken in by a scam. Normally this shouldn't be cause for ... (1385 words)

John Riddell reckons he's a sensible bloke. But then, doesn't everybody? A while ago I had to take my wife out for our anniversary, so while we were waiting for our burgers and fries I flicked ... (773 words)

In Mendel's Footnotes: An Introduction to the Science and Technologies of Genes and Genetics from the 19th century to the 22nd, by Colin Tudge. Jonathan Cape, $59.95. The recent advances in genetic ... (379 words)

Help at Hand for Mobile Phone Users I would've thought the main hazard from mobile phones was the increased risk of accident when using one in the car. No-one seems to worry about this, however, ... (1330 words)

Another year, another millennium. We saw the old century out in a very quiet manner, watching Stanley Kubrick's 2001 with friends in Auckland. A few fireworks exploded from the top of the Sky Tower ... (515 words)

It's my right as a parent to decide what is best for my child. After all, I'm a caring parent who dearly loves her children and would do only what is best for them. Sounds reasonable? But what if I ... (523 words)

There are three types of people in this country. Those that can count and those that can't. It is common to blame the education system for this. One of the consequences of a poor education is we end ... (1061 words)

Tarot readings really do work -- for the reader. The Confession AFTER the July REALL meeting, my dirty little secret is out. Yes, I admit that I used to do Tarot readings back in my college days. OK, ... (1428 words)

AS A CONFIRMED, but lightweight, sceptic, I have had to endure many jibes from friends and colleagues as I questioned information reported in the newspapers and on the news. Equally, I have had to ... (602 words)

Chances are, you're worried about all the wrong things. What are the chances of slipping on a banana skin, choking on a fishbone or being struck by a meteorite? These are not the sort of unlucky ... (965 words)

One of the memorable presentations at the 1997 Skeptics' Conference was David Novitz's assessment of whether organised scepticism has a place in a liberal democratic society. Suppose that we are all ... (2390 words)

DARK NATURE -- A NATURAL HISTORY OF EVIL, by Lyall Watson; Hodder & Stoughton, 1995; $19.95 The book has been divided into three parts, Dark Nature, Human Nature and Evil Nature, and is extremely ... (247 words)

This article originally appeared in the excellent US magazine Skeptic, edited by Shermer, (Vol 2 No 3) and also forms Chapter 4 of Shermer's book Hope Springs Eternal: How Pseudoscience Works and Why ... (3873 words)

Skeptics can take an active stance in their daily lives, according to this abridged version of the Chair-entity's after-dinner speech from the Conference. It's been four years since I stood before a ... (2409 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)

Surprising results from a US study of the effectiveness of counselling on reducing juvenile crime. In the March NZ Skeptic, Dr John Welch's excellent column mentioned an article in the British ... (832 words)

The following extract from William Doyle's Oxford History of the French Revolution (pp 64-65) reminds us that things change but things remain the same. The final sentence reminds us that widespread ... (182 words)

Late in his life, in answer to a question, Freud compared the human condition approximately to the contents of a baby's nappy. When I first heard this story, it seemed to mark a bitter old man. That ... (562 words)

The sting Following his own empirical observations that bee "treatments" helped his arthritis, a Levin bee-keeper is claiming that he is being ignored by the medical profession. (Press 3/8/93) Not ... (1336 words)

The _New Internationalist Review, a magazine not normally known for gullibility beyond the political, decided not all that long ago to examine the paranormal. Our intrepid reporter Peter Lange ... (865 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)

"Mind my left ear." cautioned Mrs X, "there's a needle in it." "A needle?" I said, combing up a section of hair on the side of her head to check it out. "An acupuncture needle," she said. Sure ... (832 words)

After seeing a demonstration of cold reading at the Skeptics Conference in 1989 I thought this was something I could have fun with, so I boned up on the list of commonplaces provided at the time: ... (636 words)