23 June 2025
After Bronwyn's article in the last newsletter about cryonics, Katrina and I have decided to get in on the action and write our own articles on related topics to accompany the second part of Bronwyn's series. It's been interesting to learn more about longevity and preservation - both the real science, and the pseudoscience. And thankfully there were a couple of fascinating documentaries I was able to watch to help me flesh out my article, so it wasn't all just reading for me.
11 November 2024
The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) published the AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023 in 2023, which summarises five years of reports on global temperature changes, fossil fuel use and likely climate impacts.
2 April 2024
Publisher: Te Herenga Waka University Press
28 August 2023
This weekend the Yeah… Nah! Podcast crew - that is me, Mark and Bronwyn recorded an interview with Melanie Trecek-King who is one of our international guests at our conference in November. (You can get tickets here!) We've released the podcast as a bonus episode.
31 July 2023
One of our regular readers (Hi Ray... and Paul) has requested we put a date on our newsletters, so you'll be receiving this on 31st July, 2023.
31 July 2023
Last Sunday evening, my wife and I had the pleasure of attending the world premiere of Ms. Information at the Auckland International Film Festival. OK, that sounds a little more grandiose than it was - we purchased tickets like most other people in the audience.
10 July 2023
Max, one of our regular podcast listeners, messaged us to let us know that Groundswell NZ has recently sponsored a visit by climate denier Dr Tom Sheahen.
1 May 2023
Curiosity is part of the human condition, and we are always seeking out information. We devour it. But the world is overflowing with information, and it is really hard to work out what is worth spending our time on and what is not.
3 April 2023
At the beginning of this month, we launched our $100K paranormal challenge. The idea is that if somebody can demonstrate a paranormal ability or product, they get to claim the $100,000.
16 January 2023
“Jock's a Scotsman, and he doesna' like whusky.”
9 January 2023
Skeptics, rationalists, atheists, freethinkers and other secular folk often encounter an annoying rhetorical device when discussing politics, ethics or history with religious people. If conversation turns to some atrocity or scandal committed by adherents of some religion, members of religion often deny that it has anything to do with their “real” religion. Pedophile priests are “not real Catholics,” suicide bombers are “not real Muslims,” and so on.
14 November 2022
This past weekend I visited the Go Green Expo, which is a show with the general theme of “green” or being ecologically mindful. Such things are usually a magnet for companies promoting bogus products in addition to those with genuine solutions to becoming “greener”.
12 September 2022
For anyone who wants to groan about how bad our local press can be, there's an article from the Telegraph, reprinted by the Herald and titled "Scientists discover humans produce invisible aura of air-cleansing molecules", that talks about the idea of the existence of an “aura” around our bodies. The article uses a recent study that looks into a small amount of “free radicals” that are generated by our skin to argue that, technically, these chemicals could be considered to be an aura.
30 May 2022
Over the past few months, I've been contacted a few times by one of our members sending information about Covid from the popular podcast TWiV - This Week in Virology. The podcast is hosted by Dr Vincent Racaniello with a number of co-hosts. Dr Racaniello has spent 40 years in virus research at Columbia University.
23 May 2022
Accelerated Christian Education (known as A-C-E or ACE) is in the news, and for all the wrong reasons. ACE is a homeschooling curriculum from the US (Texas) which is accredited in New Zealand, and covers children from age 5 through to college level. Here's Duane Howard, Vice President of ACE, talking about what he thinks education should be for (check out some particularly icky stuff he says around 32 minutes in):
18 April 2022
It would be hard to miss that there has been some controversy in the science community in Aotearoa/New Zealand around the role of Mātauranga Māori (translated as Māori knowledge) in the school curricula.
21 February 2022
Adventures of a Psychologist by Michael Corballis 2021 published by Routledge. Available on Amazon.
10 January 2022
If you're a Netflix subscriber, you'll be able to watch a movie that's been the topic of some discussion in science circles. That is Don't Look Up - a satirical look at science communication. The movie's been out for a little while now, so I feel justified in discussing the plot - so SPOILER ALERT!
29 November 2021
Back on YouTube channels again - you may have heard of the YouTube channel Veritasium. This one is a generally good science channel which has nearly 11 million subscribers.
22 November 2021
Craig Shearer announced the winners of our annual awards at the beginning of the second day of our conference, and it was accompanied by the following press release:
8 November 2021
Over the past couple of weeks, I've seen articles about Dominic Bowden on a new podcast about “wellbeing” called WellBeings. Dominic Bowden is a bit of a celebrity - having appeared on The Bachelor NZ amongst other shows.
18 October 2021
On Friday evening we had a national online Skeptics in the Pub meeting (Skeptics in Cyberspace), which going forward will be happening every four weeks. If you're interested in joining us, check your local Skeptics in the Pub's MeetUp group, or the Wellington group if you don't live somewhere with an active Skeptics in the Pub group. Although we usually talk about a lot of skeptical topics, because of our shared interest in science and skepticism we often end up recommending TV shows and movies to each other as well. We're not 100% agreed on what's good and what's not, but there's definitely a lot of cross-over. Documentaries and science fiction are both frequently recommended.
18 October 2021
There are many kinds, and some are, frankly, full of bulldust! So what am I, and what are the members of the NZ Skeptics?
4 October 2021
Thankfully there have been some who have been willing to critique this paper and its conclusions. Mark Boslough, who wrote a paper on asteroid air bursts that this Sodom paper references, had a lot to say about the legitimacy of this paper, especially as it's been published in a journal owned by the prestigious Nature.
20 September 2021
In 2008, the This Week In Tech podcasting network had been going for three years and a number of related topic podcasts started up on the network including one called Futures in Biotech. Modelled on the idea of having a weekly podcast on a specialist subject, a new podcast split away by Professor Vincent Racaniello of Columbia University called This Week In Virology (TWIV). It was inspired by this Week In Tech and given virus is also used in technology, the new podcast developed the tagline “the podcast about viruses – the kind that make you sick”. The first episode was on West Nile Virus and as someone who had no previous interest in viruses, the show fascinated me and fourteen years later I'm still a regular listener as I both enjoy science as well as having gotten to know the team well over the years.
5 July 2021
An anti-vax paper was published recently in the open access Vaccines journal. “The Safety of COVID-19 Vaccinations - We Should Rethink the Policy”. The paper has now been retracted, though just getting it published is likely to fuel anti-vax misinformation.
31 May 2021
For a long time now I've been promising to take a friend of mine to a Christian Science church service. He's been interested in doing this because he was brought up in the church in America, but hasn't been back since he was a child. Finally, last weekend, the stars aligned and we managed to arrange a visit.
31 May 2021
Over the next couple of months I'm hoping to visit a few interesting religious groups, to get a feel for them - what they believe, how they act, who attends their events. So, all being well, after this week's report into Christian Science you can expect to hear about the Theosophical Society, Druids, and maybe more!
24 May 2021
If you've spent any time on the internet you'll likely have encountered Wikipedia - the community-edited encyclopaedia. Wikipedia gets a bad rap as it's possible for anybody to edit the content and put misinformation on a page.
22 March 2021
Big news this week is that the government is taking water fluoridation powers off local councils and giving it to the director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield.
22 March 2021
I read a very good article today in The Atlantic explaining some of the subtleties around the COVID vaccine. In particular we shouldn't be surprised when vaccinated people get infected.
1 February 2021
Or at least that's what NewsHub would have us believe, with an article published on Tuesday about the benefits of Reiki, an energy healing technique that involves the practitioner manipulating your “energy field” by waving their hands around your body.
11 January 2021
I'm sure many skeptics have enjoyed JP Sears' parody videos of the wellness industry, such as How to Become Gluten Intolerant and How to be Ultra Spiritual. It was a surprise to me, just before Christmas, to read that despite poking fun, JP Sears has for a long time been a seller of nonsense. An article from the Office for Science and Society at McGill University in Canada details JP Sears' history of selling unregulated therapy sessions and useless supplements, and sadly also his recent descent into COVID-19 science denial.
1 February 2020
As a secondary school history teacher, I'm about to embark on the altogether outrageous exercise of asserting that science education in New Zealand needs a fundamental rethink. That the blatant misuse and mistrust of science evidenced across society must be dealt with by a more dynamic and comprehensive approach to science in the classroom.
1 February 2020
As a society, we generally recognise science as the best source of information about the world we live in and the choices we must make as individuals and societies. And yet, we also find ourselves in a time where, for certain specific claims, scientific evidence is routinely ignored and rejected by certain groups.
1 August 2019
With that odd title out of the way, I want to get to the heart of what our role should be as skeptics, and how to properly do scientific scepticism.
1 February 2019
We are proud to mention the honour our regular contributor Siouxsie Wiles received this year.
1 November 2018
Skeptic summary: Kimberley Collins went to the anti-1080 protest in Timaru, but not to join the side of the protesters. She was there to provide a scientific point of view, and to talk to the reporters and make sure they had a quote about how 1080 is saving our native wildlife. Among other things, she is a science communicator and Forest and Bird South Canterbury committee member. On twitter she has been active in holding the press to account, calling out @NewsroomNZ for not including enough quotes from scientists on this debate.
1 November 2018
There's a lot of rhetoric these days around educating students 'for the 21st century', and the need for '21st century skills', while (not always but often) disparaging what is currently taught & how it's delivered. Catherine Kelsey has a good op-ed. on this https://educationcentral.co.nz/response-catherine-kelsey-21st-century-skills-debate-unhelpful/ on the Education Central site, https://educationcentral.co.nz/ in which she comments on two other opinion pieces that I - like her - had found somewhat polarising in their approaches (see here https://educationcentral.co.nz/opinion-briar-lipson-could-the-route-to-skills-be-counterintuitive/ and here https://educationcentral.co.nz/response-steve-morris-in-defence-of-21st-century-skills-hogwash/), and says:
1 August 2018
I've been following Astro Katie on twitter for a while, as I enjoy it when she replies to people who seem to display a lack of understanding of astrophysics, which allows me to enjoy how amazing she is at describing astrophysics.
1 August 2018
Who: Unknown When: 05/04/2018
1 May 2018
How to get your kids thinking critically… it's something I've thought about a lot.
18 March 2018
7 Sharp have interviewed Marta Fisch on Waiheke Island, who has built an ugly looking metal box - three side walls - in her garden, to keep out "radiation". Radiation in this sense is the kind of electromagnetic energy that is used to send TV signals and offer WiFi, and also background radiation from nature.
11 March 2018
In an article on the NZ Herald, reprinted from the Washington Post, Christopher Mellon argues that there is solid evidence for UFOs, and that the US are not doing enough to investigate.
21 January 2018
One of the issues with fundraising sites like IndieGogo and Kickstarter is that there's a lack of adequate oversight to ensure that the products being offered are actually plausible. Sometimes things end up on my radar that look too good to be true, and at other times they're just plain ridiculous.
3 December 2017
Sir Peter Gluckman, the PM's Science Advisor, says that NZ has a science denial problem, but that it's no worse than the rest of the world. Peter thinks that social media bubbles are contributing to this issue, by allowing people to get their news only from places that agree with their existing views on topics. He points out that traditional media is becoming more likely to be polarised as well, which is not good.
1 August 2017
Dr Siouxsie Wiles, recipient of the NZ Skeptics Denis Dutton Award
16 July 2017
The Spinoff did a great job of looking into Hamilton Councillor Siggi Henry's views on a variety of topics. It turns out that she's anti fluoride, anti-fat (she recently said that obesity was a risk to others as fat people could fall on you and hurt you) and anti-vaccine.
2 April 2017
I received an email earlier this week about a new Citizen Science Project called Planet 9.
5 February 2017
This is an argument I've never heard before against an idea I occasionally hear - that belief in science is just like religion, because it requires faith. In fact, I last heard this argument only a couple of weeks ago.
25 September 2016
There is currently a bill working its way through parliament which proposes moving the decision to fluoridate water supplies away from local councils and into the hands of DHBs. This appears to be a very good move, as fluoridation is a health issue and DHBs are much better suited to weighing up the pros and cons than local councils are. Councils in NZ have historically been bamboozled by Fluoride Free NZ, our local anti fluoride group, and have in some cases made decisions to remove fluoride.
18 September 2016
Mark Hanna at the Society for Science Based Healthcare has complained recently about the Napier Courier's column written by a local homeopathy business, called "Homeopathy Hub". the weekly column made many daft claims about the effectiveness of homeopathy, such as:
21 February 2016
Antonin Scalia, a conservative Supreme Court judge in the US, died this week at age 79. Scalia took some strange legal views in his time, such as this one on evolution:
1 November 2015
The Government is hoping to attract more private money into science and improve how public science grants are spent. Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce released the Government's National Statement of Science Investment, its first national science strategy, in Wellington on Monday.
11 October 2015
MagneSleep lost an ASA complaint about a magnetic bracelet they sell, and they don't like me
16 August 2015
A bravo was awarded at last year's conference to Graeme Hill for his ongoing promotion of science and challenging of pseudoscience on Radio Live.
1 February 2015
First, please don't panic! This article is about pseudoscience and those who practice it, and does not require knowledge of mathematics.
1 February 2015
In November Wellington's Dominion Post newspaper ran a piece (in my opinion...) of misleading propaganda they passed off as a cartoon which can be summed up as naturopathy vs science.
1 February 2015
Where popular culture is given a skeptical mark
1 November 2014
The spread of new technologies has caused an upheaval in the world of the media, but gives skeptics many causes for optimism. This article is based on a presentation to the 2013 NZ Skeptics Conference in Wellington.
1 May 2014
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 them let them know that you're sorry that they were offended. But stand by what you said, if you really trust in it.
1 May 2014
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 testing the theory? This article is adapted from a talk at the NZ Skeptics Conference, in Wellington, 7 September 2013.
1 May 2014
It is difficult to know where to begin in response to Jim Ring's letter (NZ Skeptic 110), but somewhat reluctantly, here goes.
1 May 2014
Two psychic mediums have been credited with helping to find the body of a Stratford man who drowned in the Patea River last September (Taranaki Daily News, 1 April).
1 May 2014
Alison Campbell looks at the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum.
1 May 2014
Martin Bridgstock worries about a new trend which might, in the long run, threaten both science and skepticism.
1 May 2014
Matthew Willey finds Skeptics in the Pub hasn't been as much fun lately
1 February 2014
"Alkaline and hydrogen-rich" water is being touted as the latest cure-all.
1 February 2014
Keith Muir (NZ Skeptic 109) ends "I rest my case." But he never makes a case; he only quotes opinion. This is unacceptable in Law or Science.
1 November 2013
A lot of effort goes into science communication, but the effectiveness of much of it is debatable. This article is based on a presentation to the NZ Skeptics Conference in Wellington, 7 September 2013.
1 May 2013
Real science operates by collecting data, inventing theories, developing models and making predictions that can be tested. If predictions fail, theories must be modified or discarded.
1 August 2012
There may indeed be a place for creationism in the science classroom, but not the way the creationists want. This article is based on a presentation to the 2011 NZ Skeptics Conference.
1 May 2012
Alison Campbell considers the current state of tertiary education.
1 May 2012
Adam van Langenberg gives practical suggestions on how to run a high school skeptical society, based on his own successful experience.
1 May 2012
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 presentation to the 2011 NZ Skeptics conference in Christchurch.
1 February 2012
Michael Edmonds' article in the latest issue (NZ Skeptic 101) was very interesting, especially laying out the groundwork for non-chemists. If I still had science classes, I would have them all read it and may pass it on to some friends to use.
1 February 2012
Massive changes are transforming the skeptical movement.
1 November 2011
Proponents of alternative therapies often throw around charges of vested interest when challenged. But often their own interests don't bear scrutiny.
1 May 2011
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 conference.
1 May 2011
Alison Campbell reviews a study of why so many struggle with scientific concepts.
1 May 2011
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.
1 February 2011
Creationism is not a new problem in New Zealand schools, as this article excerpt from_ NZ Skeptic 18 _(December 1990) illustrates.
1 February 2011
Chiropractic has had a colourful history since its invention in the 19th Century.
1 February 2011
Alison Campbell finds the creationists are still trying to get into our schools.
1 August 2010
Bad Science, by Ben Goldacre. ISBN 978-0-00-728487-0. Fourth Estate, London. $26.99. Reviewed by Feike de Bock.
1 May 2010
Alison Campbell looks at some words that cause scientific misunderstandings.
1 May 2010
Some fields that claim the authority of science may be in need of an overhaul. This article is based on a presentation to the NZ Skeptics 2009 conference in Wellington, 26 September.
1 November 2009
THE 2009 annual NZ Skeptics Conference in Wellington was its usual mix of good times and thought-provoking material, though with some unique touches. The Kingsgate Hotel was a rather more luxurious venue than we're used to; the few problems that arose were mostly due to the high number of late enrolments, making this one of the largest gatherings in recent years.
1 November 2009
Economics has been called the Dismal Science. But to what extent are economics scientific, and economists scientists? This article is based on a presentation to the NZ Skeptics 2009 conference in Wellington, 26 September.
1 November 2008
I am a skeptic when it comes to psychics, mediums and anything to do with the 'paranormal'. Over the last couple of years, I have watched perhaps four or five episodes of the popular show Sensing Murder, each time growing more annoyed.
1 November 2008
Readers of the NZ Skeptic may find this a bit hard to believe, but New Zealanders seem to be a fairly sceptical bunch overall (Sunday Star-Times, 11 September).
1 November 2008
Another annual conference has come and gone, with the usual collection of thought-provoking presentations. This issue we present two highlights, from Waikato University biology lecturer and science communicator Alison Campbell, and Greek Honorary Consul Nikos Petousis.
1 November 2008
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 presentation to the 2008 NZ Skeptics Conference in Hamilton.
1 August 2008
Mike Palin queries the judging criteria in a recent high school science video competition.
1 August 2008
While the recent national curriculum review confirmed evolution's place as the central organising theory of modern biology, creationists continue to try and chip away at the edges. Most recently, Focus on the Family, an American-based Christian group, has distributed 400 resource kits to secondary schools throughout New Zealand, containing copies of Guillermo Gonzalez's Intelligent Design (ID) DVD, The Privileged Planet, and an accompanying booklet. The covering letter requests they be made available to science teachers and school libraries.
1 February 2008
The death of Wainuiomata woman Janet Moses during an attempt to lift a Maori curse, or makutu, was very widely reported (eg NZ Herald, November 12). Now six women and three men have been charged with her manslaughter (Dominion Post, 12 December). One of the accused women and another man are also charged with cruelty to a child after a 14-year-old was injured in the same ceremony and was treated in hospital for an eye injury.
1 November 2007
The teaching of evolution in New Zealand schools may seem secure, but it has faced many challenges, and these appear to be on the increase. This article is based on a presentation at the Evolution 2007 Conference, Christchurch.
1 November 2007
This is a transcript of a talk given at the 2007 Skeptics Conference. Parts of it were also published in the NZ Family Physician in early 2007. This paper can be found at www.rnzcgp.org.nz
1 February 2007
The New Zealand Skeptics have launched a competition to encourage critical thinking among Auckland high school students. Entrants are to submit a 100-word summary outlining their proposal for a 10-12 minute presentation on some topic relevant to skeptical inquiry. Suggested topics include:
1 November 2006
It was an eye opener. Under the stern glare of past headmasters of Kings College, the NZ Skeptics were holding their annual dinner that always goes with the annual conference.
1 November 2006
New Zealand has its own version of 'postcolonial science studies'. This is supposed to emancipate those who see themselves as subjects of colonial oppression, but the actual consequences may be very different.
1 November 2006
Canterbury University will next year be offering a Stage I course on critical thinking, to be called Science: Good, Bad, and Bogus. Named after a classic book by Martin Gardner, the course, Philosophy 110, will be headed by founding member of the NZ Skeptics, Denis Dutton. Prof Dutton says it will fulfill a demand for a sharp, smart course in critical thinking from a standpoint quite different from that offered by traditional logic and philosophy.
1 May 2006
Skepticality is a hugely entertaining podcast that explores rational thought, critical thinking, science and the de-bunking of the supernatural and pseudo-science. It features interviews with favourite skeptics such as James Randi and Tom Flynn, as well as scientists, such as Phil Plait and Michael Shermer. The podcast also features general discussion of all things sceptical with its two intelligent hosts Swoopy and Derek.
1 February 2006
In a decision which sets an important precedent for US science education, a court has ruled against the teaching of the theory of 'Intelligent Design' alongside Darwinian evolution (BBC, 20 December). The ruling comes after a group of parents in the Pennsylvania town of Dover had taken the school board to court for demanding biology classes not teach evolution as fact.
1 May 2005
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1 May 2005
It is with sadness that I see that the Skeptic is still accepting articles and letters with political bias. I would like to spend much of this letter countering some of Owen McShane's arguments from his article "Why are we crying into our beer?", but I see we are still arguing in the pages of our magazine about science. It would be really nice if Jim Ring or C Morris could explain to me and I'm sure others who are puzzled by this whole affair, as to what legitimate arguments between legitimate scientists have to do with scepticism.
1 February 2005
SCIENCE has not "progressed only by slow cautious steps" as Piers McLaren claims (Forum, Spring 2004), but by great bold ones. Scientists should resist new ideas but it is a myth that they do so irrationally. Contrary to Maclaren's letter, quantum theory rapidly won the day. Planck published in 1900, Einstein in 1905, in 1913 Bohr produced a quantum structure for an atom. By 1922 all three had won Nobel prizes for work on quantum theory.
1 February 2005
The small Pennsylvania town of Dover has become the latest battleground in the creation/evolution war. If it survives a legal test, this school district of 2800 children could become the first in the US to require that high school science teachers at least mention "intelligent design" (ID) theory (Dominion Post, 31 December). In October, the board passed this motion: "Students will be made aware of gaps and problems in Darwin's theory and of other theories of evolution including, but not limited to, intelligent design. Note: Origins of Life is not taught."
1 August 2004
The Enlightenment -- a period of intellectual progress in Europe and North America during the eighteenth century -- saw superstition, dogma and ignorance lose ground to reason, science and freedom of inquiry. Enlightenment thinkers questioned received ideas and used rational methods to explore new possibilities in many fields. Despite persecution by government and church, the enormous increase in the publication of newspapers and books spread ideas widely. The result was an outpouring of knowledge and understanding about the way the world works. Western civilisation's high standard of living and openness today stem from the Enlightenment.
1 February 2004
Bill Taylor explains some of the thinking behind the Time-Line installation, "Genesis Aotearoa", at Victoria University (See also Page 13)
1 February 2004
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 the Spring, 2003 newsletter, number 69. Obviously, free speech is the first requisite of such an organ, but I was rather taken aback by contribution in Forum from Lance Kennedy of Tantec, an organisation in the biocide industry, on the subject of global warming. Its content is highly selective, and it contravenes all the principles outlined in the Skeptics Guide to Critical Thinking. He writes of a "sound and healthy reluctance to subscribe to anthropogenic greenhouse... warming". He says that the Scientific American is committed to "greenie (a pejorative term which has no place in a serious discussion) nonsense".
1 November 2003
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 or Blinded by Science, prepared by the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. It seemed to me to be a reasonable document. It included a discussion of some of the issues which have to be considered by policy makers in the environmental area and pointed to some of the difficulties, institutional and procedural, in using science to form environmental policy. Following on from the request in the paper for comments from the public on how science could be better incorporated into environmental policy, the team leader for the discussion paper, Mr Bruce Taylor, gave a presentation to the Skeptics conference in which he introduced the paper and asked for views on it.
1 November 2003
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 year, to skepticism about global warming, from pooh-poohing of environmental impacts on taniwha habitat to wondering just how much paranoia and hypochondria is at the root of the health issues of moth-ridden Aucklanders in the infamous spray zone.
1 November 2003
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 2003 New Zealand Skeptics' Conference in Wellington.
1 February 2003
The following correspondence between nursing lecturer Sue Gasquoine and Skeptics' chairentity Vicki Hyde is reproduced with the permission of the participants -ed.
1 February 2003
In New Zealand Skeptic No. 64, Warwick Don critiqued Ian Wishart's article Walking with Beasts, published in Investigate, June 2002. This is Wishart's response.
1 February 2003
In Darwin's Shadow: The life and science of Alfred Russel Wallace, by Michael Shermer. Oxford University Press.
1 November 2002
Skeptics - always in two minds about something…
1 August 2002
A critique of "Walking with Beasts", by Ian Wishart, Investigate Magazine, June 2002
1 May 2002
Owen McShane examines last year's Great Soya Sauce Scare
1 May 2002
With winter almost upon us, the time has come to curl up in front of a nice screen and browse the internet. Speaking of which, congratulations are in order to our chair-entity Vicki Hyde and media spokesman Denis Dutton for having their websites nominated in the sixth annual Webby Awards.
1 May 2002
Netsurfer Science is a website every skeptic should bookmark. It provides a good lead-in to many science and skeptic-related sites and issues on the web. Here are a couple of recent items.
1 May 2002
This article is drawn from interviews with Allan Coukell on the NZ National Radio science programme "Eureka!" in 2001.
1 August 2001
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, ghosts, psychic healing and extraterrestrial visitation (see http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr010608.asp).
1 August 2001
Skepticism is very much concerned with assessing the quality of evidence in support of a particular claim. But evidence means different things to different people. In the first of a two-part series, Jim Ring examines the legal profession's view of the matter.
1 November 2000
Wherein intrepid ace reporter Vicki Hyde spills the beans on what Skeptics get up to at their annual meetings…
1 November 2000
Presenting the evidence just isn't enough
1 November 1998
Some of you may recall Mike plugging the following two books at the conference. Both are concerned with the anti-science backlash, promulgated mostly by the academic left in the USA: post-modernism, relativism, radical feminist critiques of science, ethnocentric science, and so on. It's a movement that's beginning to assert itself here, and we should be informed.
1 November 1998
If you're a fan of oddities such as those showcased in Ripley's Believe It or Not, you'll love the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices. This home of quackery features some amazing fraudulent gadgets. Learn, for example, about prostate cures like the light-bulbed prostate gland warmer or the frighteningly named recto rotor. These delights and more await you at http://www.mtn.org/quack/
1 February 1998
I think the world got a pretty big warning this year as to the dangers of pseudo-science and gullibility when the 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult committed suicide in the belief that they were to be resurrected in some fashion on board a UFO following the Hale-Bopp Comet. It's not that we like to say "I told you so", but....
1 February 1998
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 we all are.
1 November 1997
AS MOST readers will now be aware, the Ian Plimer/Allen Roberts court case has been adjudicated, and the results for Ian were not as he had hoped. The case was brought under federal Trade Practices legislation and state Fair Trading legislation and concerned two issues. The first was a breach of copyright action, where Ian's co-applicant, David Fasold, alleged that Roberts had used a diagram, Fasold's intellectual property, without permission. The second issue alleged that, in his lectures and sale of tapes, etc, Roberts had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in pursuit of trade.
1 August 1997
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 the TVand movie entertainment industry.
1 May 1997
THE concepts of God and evolution are inextricable. In the beginning God created the Universe. The series of events that followed produced man. This imperfect product needed a higher authority (scapegoat, infallible architect, benevolent headmaster, king of quiz) so before long the concept of God evolved. This God created the Universe. The series of events that followed produced man. This imperfect product needed a higher authority etc, etc.
1 February 1997
Carl Sagan, one of the world's greatest popularisers of science, died on December 20th at the age of 62, after a long battle with a bone marrow disease. Sagan was one of America's pre-eminent scientists, educators, skeptics and humanists. He was also a founding member and Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) and a member of the Council for Secular Humanism's International Academy of Humanism.
1 February 1997
NZCSIOP does not take a stand against religious belief, per se, and many Christians are committed Skeptics. While Mr van der Lingen's essay may appear to contradict this stance, he is not arguing that religious belief is incompatible with being a Skeptic; he is only challenging some claims and methodologies adopted by those who take a particular set of positions regarding the relationship between evolutionary science and contemporary Christian belief.
1 February 1997
The social vision associated with the name Walter Nash, or for present purposes Jack Marshall, has crumbled. The most secure and decent high culture, which flowered for some decades, is now on almost every measure except GNP in rapid decline2.
1 February 1997
Dr Mann's essay in this issue will annoy some readers, but it belongs here because it deals with one of the key debates of our time.
1 November 1996
One of the interesting things about the Skeptics is the wide range of opinions that can be found in our group -- not to mention the ever-readiness to express them. So I was interested to read Frank Haden's column on the conference and how he found it.
1 November 1996
It often seems as if home schooling is the domain of hard-line Christians. In fact, they're not the only people who feel that their children are better taught at home than in school.
1 November 1996
Malcolm Carr, from Waikato University's Centre For Science, Mathematics & Technology Education Research, talks to Annette Taylor about the nature of science education and the new science curriculum following his address at this years' conference.
1 November 1996
The organisation responsible for setting exams for New Zealand secondary students receives the Skeptics' annual rap on the knuckles for bad science.
1 August 1996
This is the second half of the article begun in the last NZ Skeptic
1 August 1996
A physicist with hidden motives writes something unexpected for a "cultural studies" journal.
1 May 1996
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 People Believe in It_. It's a thought-provoking piece which should be handy reference for any skeptic's library. This is part one of three.
1 May 1995
We need to immunise ourselves against this virus too.
1 February 1995
Tertiary institutes around the country are beginning to offer courses, and even entire degrees, in subjects that are pure pseudoscience.
1 November 1994
A friend of mine once visited a faith-healer, one of the religious variety from the United States who periodically come to New Zealand to swell their bank balances. She attended the meeting because of a persistent pain in her elbow. Despite my suggestions that it was only tennis elbow, she was worried and thought perhaps the pain was serious. She had an aisle seat near the front and during the proceedings the "healer" approached her and asked about the pain in her arm. Apparently she hadn't told anyone why she was there. She was impressed.
1 November 1994
Cynthia Shakespeare, Tony Vignaux and I are proud to report that we held a remarkably successful winter lecture series in June. We had organised speakers for local Skeptics before, with attendances of 30 or so, but this time we decided to group three speakers a week or so apart at the same venue, and advertised them jointly. We did a broader-than-usual mailout of a nice professional-looking flyer that included a map. Door charges were $2 to cover room hire and refreshments, but even at that low price we made a modest profit.
1 November 1994
At the last conference I was elected editor of the New Zealand Skeptic. Some of you will have read my pieces in Metro magazine or in NBR over the years, or heard my "Soapboxes" on World Service Radio. If you have wondered about my recent absence from the media, it is because I have been preparing to launch my own magazine.
1 August 1994
Can traditional Maori knowledge be considered scientific?
1 May 1994
What is it that keeps superstitions going in the face of our increasing knowledge about the world?
1 August 1993
The programme for the 1993 Skeptics Conference is still under development, but it's shaping up to be really interesting. It'll be a rather omnivorous event, complete with meat and teeth. Come along for the usual humour and frivolity that make our conferences fun, but also be prepared to be challenged.
1 August 1993
The British Independent recently ran an editorial not worth reproducing in the Skeptic. The editorial did, however, generate a vigorous response from Richard Dawkins which is worth thinking about.
1 May 1993
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 Networks "clear up many common misconceptions about astrology."
1 November 1992
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 of bald assertions, all un- referenced and mostly false, vilifying unspecified "environmentalists". I shall take room to correct only the worst of these assertions; my main complaint about the piece is more formal, namely that it is unrelated to the NZCSICOP's aims, and on that ground alone should never have been printed in the magazine.
1 August 1992
Isaac Asimov, one of the great explainers of the age, died on 6 April, aged 72.
1 August 1992
Irreproducible achievements finally get what they deserve
1 August 1992
Creationists are winning hands-down in the publicity stakes, despite, one presumes, no real assistance in the form of Divine Guidance.
1 May 1992
Sacred Sex is a seat-squirmer of a film — one of the most irritating films I have ever seen. I went along with my wife hoping for entertainment, maybe a bit a spice, and came out so cross I couldn't get to sleep for all the wrong reasons.
1 May 1992
What's worth a Skeptic's attention? In this issue's Forum, Carl Wyant asks why worry about fraudulent spoon benders when there are far more harmful forms of ignorance and wickedness about, such as Chinese superstitions promoting female infanticide.
1 February 1992
Fundamentalists suffer contortions in trying to make their assumptions fit Biblical accounts.
1 February 1992
In the arguments for and against being definitively skeptical, the social climate and moral responsibilities of skepticism are often overlooked. This is an abridged version of the after-dinner speech given at this year's NZCSICOP Conference.
1 November 1991
by D R Selkirk & F J Burrows; NSW University Press, 1987; 158 pp
1 November 1991
Among the papers at the Skeptics conference were Bill Malcolm's four. entertaining "illustrated truth kits" — short two-projector slide-shows on topics like fad diets, the New Age, fringe therapies, and scientific method. This one is the New Age primer.
1 May 1991
Alternative views of reality exist outside the Western framework of rationalism and science, and these views have an internal logic of their own with their own variety of scepticism.
1 May 1991
Colin Lambert is a magnetic healer from Waihi, and in this book he tells his story. Brought up as a Baptist, and a former painter and paperhanger who left school at 14, his background could not be more ordinary. Today, however, his occupation and philosophy of life are utterly remarkable.
1 May 1991
Calls for Maori input in the science classroom are fine for encouraging students in the belief that science is relevant to their lives, but could also be used to cut them off from the international scientific community.
1 February 1991
A report of a survey conducted in 1988
1 August 1990
The above is a suggested logo for NZCSICOP. It was designed by a Wellington Skeptic, Hugh Young. Hugh has provided the following commentary:
1 August 1990
A recent best-seller illustrates the history of the triumph of intellectual theory over ignorant pragmatism or reactionary ideology.
1 August 1990
I have just got around to reading the article "Science vs Religion" in Skeptic No. 11, and am still wondering why it was written for such a journal (or was it?).
1 May 1990
Warwick Don was elected at the AGM to succeed Prof. Tony Vignaux as Chairman of the New Zealand Skeptics. Mr Don, a senior lecturer in Zoology at the University of Otago, was a founding member of the society. However his experience as an advocate for science and the scientific approach goes back much further. My personal collection of clippings contains two articles he had published in Otago University's student newspaper in 1966 and 1967 responding to attempts to recast evolution in a religious mould. He is also a formidable debater against creationism—as was evident from the letters in The Nelson Evening Mail (27/5/87 to 30/7/87) in which he and Jim Ring presented the skeptical viewpoint. Mr Don's special concern at the moment is the draft Form I-V science syllabus—in particular its inclusion of non-scientific elements.
1 February 1990
Grant Duncan in his letter in the June 1989 N.Z. Skeptic has I feel been unfair to me in what I wrote about homeopathy; and he seems bent on being unfair to himself too.
1 November 1989
MAGNETIC HEALING AND OTHER REALITIES, by Colin Lambert (Moana Press, $24. 35), Reviewed by David Riddell.
1 November 1989
James Randi, a member of the US CSICOP has been named the recipient of the 1989 Forum Award of the American Physical Society. The Award is given for promoting public understanding of the relation of physics to society. The citation reads, "For his unique defense of science and the scientific method in many disciplines, including physics, against pseudoscience, frauds, and charlatans. His use of scientific techniques has contributed to refuting suspicious and fraudulent claims of paranormal results. He has contributed significantly to public understanding of important issues where science and society intersect."
1 August 1989
This is the definitive book on the scientific arguments for creationism, it is exhaustive and thorough. It is a massive book, 550 double column pages, 600 references cited, a 13 page index, 54 chapters with about 10 illustrations per chapter. As far as I can see, it covers all the main points at issue; the nature of Science, pseudoscience, entropy Omphalos, radioactive dating and creationist arguments for a young cosmos and young earth. However it is especially strong on geological arguments as befits the author, formerly Professor of Geomorphology at Columbia. Nearly half the book deals with this aspect, covering the Biblical view of the Flood and creationist ideas on plate tectonics, the rapid deposition of sedimentary rocks, evaporites and petroleum and ore deposits. It then deals with the scientific account of these matters and finally gives a thorough account of our evolutionary history. It is especially good on human evolution.
1 August 1989
Reprinted from the British and Irish Skeptic.
1 May 1989
"Do you believe in science or religion?" is a not uncommon question amongst layfolk caught in the crossfire between, for example, biological and cosmological evolution, and creationism. Creationism has made one largely unrecognised major inroad: it has managed to create a broad dichotomy in the public mind, which has on the whole responded according to the "two sides to every argument" sense of fair play and concomitantly cocked an ear to proponents of the "other view". It is my assertion, however, that the very issue of "'science vs religion" is as mythical as the charming creation-stories of many a mythology in that creationists are not at all representative of "religion" in its global sense.
1 February 1989
Head, Department of Geology, University of Newcastle.
1 November 1988
In your November 1987 issue, Dennis Dutton (page 3) asks whether it matters that sick people, especially cancer sufferers, are not discouraged from using "alternative" or "complementary" treatments, The answer of course is the one that he himself has given: it does and it doesn't.
1 November 1988
An 80-minute cassette of excerpts from Hugh Young's "World of Science" radio series—ESP?, Astrology*, Creationism, Phrenology, and how to recognise pseudoscience.
1 November 1988
—in the New Scientist, 21 January 1988
1 May 1988
To secure a place in American schools creationists now claim their doctrines are scientific, while evolution, on the other hand, is a 'religion'.
1 November 1987
Stephen Jay Gould, the world's best known palaeontologist, was approached by a creationist in Auckland after a lecture.
1 November 1987
The meeting organized by Christchurch members on "Medicine: Orthodox, Fringe and Quack" was held in the School of Medicine on 6 December, 1986. It was, as far as can be judged, a success on several counts. It was attended by over 80 people, many of them medical practitioners; the fee charged enabled us to make a small profit; we enrolled some new members; and gained further attention from the news media.
1 August 1987
Medical graduates and workers in related fields are invited to a meeting to be held on Saturday 6 December 1986