In spite of the quality international line-up of scientists and science communicators at September's annual NZ Skeptics Conference in Wellington, it's probably not surprising that most of the media ... (429 words)

… then there's little hope for the world, says Alison Campbell, who attends far too many meetings. Fortunately however, that may not be the case. I attend a lot of meetings; that's the nature of my ... (512 words)

The discovery of a long-missing body offers a rare chance to put the psychic stars of Sensing Murder to the test. On Saturday 19 May 2012 the remains of Auckland teenager Jane Furlong were found in ... (2249 words)

The NZ Skeptics cast the net wide for the 2011 Bent Spoon. The NZ Skeptics have awarded their annual prize for journalistic gullibility to all those media outlets and personalities who took Ken ... (838 words)

At last year's NZ Skeptics conference Bob Brockie reflected on his career as a newspaper columnist and explained why he has no future with the Mormon Church. After spending most of my life as a ... (2073 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)

Waikato University biological sciences lecturer Alison Campbell posts a regular blog on matters biological (sci.waikato.ac.nz/bioblog/). Her aim is to encourage critical thinking among secondary ... (400 words)

When the Sunday Star-Times decided to survey the nation on how superstitious New Zealanders are and about what, Vicki Hyde got used as a guinea pig. Part One of her responses was published in the ... (1944 words)

When the Sunday Star-Times decided to survey the nation on how superstitious New Zealanders are and about what, I got used as guinea pig. Having done a lot of survey design and analysis during the ... (1773 words)

The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) has upheld a complaint from the Commerce Commission against TV3 current affairs show 60 Minutes. An item, broadcast at 7.30pm on 15 October 2007, presented ... (433 words)

Minority retort Elizabeth Rata's article Ethnic Fundamentalism in New Zealand is a series of extraordinary assertions, supported not with reason and evidence but emotionalism and error. Rata defines ... (1458 words)

Journalists in New Zealand generally show a lack of scepticism when dealing with issues of science and pseudoscience - except for mainstream medicine. This article is based on a presentation to the ... (2548 words)

A couple of months ago we were visiting my brother, and got talking about a friend of his, who had enrolled in a counselling course. It turned out that the course had come to be dominated by some ... (460 words)

Consumer response to the outbreak of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy has involved a complex balancing of risk and price Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) has officially been recognised in the ... (1458 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)

Vicki Hyde presents the Chair-entity's report for 2003 It's been another busy year, mostly working behind the scenes, with the occasional burst into the public arena. For the second year running, we ... (901 words)

Had an email the other day from someone we hadn't heard from in a while. Among other things, he took the opportunity to ask why we heard so little from the Skeptics in the media, and made ... (381 words)

Diffidence based medicine Some doctors see a problem and look for an answer. Others merely see a problem. The diffident doctor may do nothing from sense of despair. This, of course, may be better ... (914 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)

A documentary on faith healing that promised to scrutinise the practice demonstrated short-sightedness and has won for TopShelf Productions the 2001 Bent Spoon Award from the New Zealand Skeptics. ... (532 words)

The Gallup Organization released the results of its new poll on paranormal beliefs in June, which indicate increases in the percentage of Americans who believe in communication with the dead, ESP, ... (318 words)

My brain hurts. I haven't used it in some years, so there's no surprise really. After managing to avoid external employment for a goodly time, a job has finally got its teeth into me and won't let ... (544 words)

Being a skeptical parent in New Zealand isn't always easy, but it has its rewards. This was originally presented to the Skeptics' World Convention in Sydney, in November. When I became head of the ... (4156 words)

Vicki Hyde presents the year 2000 chair-entity's Report I'm pleased that we all appear to have survived the Millennium melt-down and will have to wait another thousand years for the sky to fall in. ... (592 words)

The risks of third-generation contraceptive pills have been much in the news. But assessing risk can be a tricky business. Twenty-nine years ago, I was about a week into my first job as a doctor, as ... (3073 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)

When the Holmes programme showcased the new "healing touch" service operated by Wellington Hospital, we swung into action with the following fax: September 21, 1999 Dear Mr Holmes, In your item on ... (1015 words)

Did he or didn't he? THROUGH various articles, books, radio and TV programs, most New Zealanders will be familiar with the name Richard Pearse. Many are convinced that Pearse flew before the first ... (884 words)

Fat Chance I START with another example of chemists' lack of ethics and the gullibility of the public. In November 28 issue of the Listener, the ever suspicious Pamela Stirling did a good expose on ... (713 words)

Broadcasting Standards and... Vicki Hyde told the Conference how the Skeptics' complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority had progressed. The story so far... As outlined in the last issue ... (1839 words)

How TVNZ Turned a Hoax into a Documentary The Skeptics make their first-ever complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority. Few would disagree these days that a great many programmes broadcast on ... (2095 words)

THE YEAR 1909 was a tense time for New Zealanders. For centuries, Britain had the world's unrivalled navy, and an invasion of the motherland was unthinkable. Her colonies and outposts enjoyed similar ... (2121 words)

THERE'S no denying it. We're a strange lot. Sitting in the small hall during the annual Skeptics get-together and listening to the varied, and often colourful, discussion, it struck me how dissimilar ... (615 words)

IT'S BEEN a quiet old time in the Waikato, these past few months. My cat hasn't channelled any past lives, nor has she been abducted by aliens. I suspect, though, the little green guys made off with ... (605 words)

THE opening salvos in the US Skeptics' new Council for Media Integrity's campaign to improve the treatment of science in television entertainment programming were fired in Los Angeles -- the heart of ... (435 words)

_1996 was an interesting year. Rush Limbaugh became the Republican nominee for President; Roseanne killed off her popular TV character; cures for baldness, arthritis, and AIDS were _ Gene Emery _ If ... (643 words)

Names have been concealed to protect them from the international legume conspiracy. Date: Tue, 9 Apr 1996 To: letters@nytimes.com Subject: Faked picture I fear the New York Times is the victim of a ... (3469 words)

The media love to manufacture a mystery, and the Kaimanawa Wall is a great example of this. Watch closely, as a perfectly natural rock formation becomes a megalithic structure... In the 4 May 1996 ... (2594 words)

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, ... (485 words)

It is rare that Nelson interests the world's news media. The "sheep suspended from pine trees" story was sufficiently bizarre to get their attention. For those who missed the story: Some people ... (420 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)

For those of you who have not been involved in selection of a Bent Spoon, here's how it is generally done and how this year's selection was made. Throughout the year, people propose likely candidates ... (388 words)

Back in March, when the police seemed to be making no progress in hunting down South Auckland's serial rapist, a community newspaper ran a story effectively chiding the police in general and ... (380 words)

Karekare beach is surrounded by high cliffs which shield my house from television transmissions so that I gain most of my media information from radio and print. Hence it was some time before I saw ... (608 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)

Manipulation of the Colon Some time ago I remember reading a letter in the Listener from a frustrated doctor who accused the public of being medically illiterate. Sometimes I feel this way myself but ... (1589 words)

The TVNZ fortnightly newsletter, Networks, recently carried the welcome news that a Senior Editor in TVNZ's news division has written a book. The Astrologer and the Paradigm Shift will, according to ... (207 words)

Some Skeptics have been surprised that our organisation has been so restrained in its response to the purported moa sighting near Cragieburn. As we see it, the whole issue is fraught with difficulty. ... (528 words)

The failure of clairvoyants to locate the missing Wellington man, Michael Kelly, or to know the manner of his death, will not startle many skeptics. No major missing persons case in the history of ... (658 words)

Not surprisingly, the awarding of the Bent Spoon to Consumer magazine saw a vigorous defence mounted by the Consumers' Institute. David Russell, chief executive of the institute, has said on a number ... (1056 words)

The Bent Spoon Award this year created more controversy than usual when it was awarded to Consumer magazine. Why did we feel it necessary to bite our consumer watchdog? I was pleased when my copy of ... (2632 words)

Vitamins One of the techniques used by quacks is to attack conventional medicine as being a conspiracy against the laiety. For example, in an article entitled "GP says vitamins wrongly dismissed as ... (1416 words)