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)

Alison Campbell looks at the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum. By accident, I came across the curriculum document for Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), which provides teaching and ... (767 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)

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 ... (895 words)

The Believing Brain: how we construct beliefs and reinforce them as truths by Michael Shermer. Times books, New York. 386pp. ISBN 978-0-8050-9125-0. Reviewed by Martin Wallace. Aa a member of NZ ... (456 words)

ACC's best-practice guidelines for identifying cases of sexual abuse are not credible. Twenty years ago, New Zealand had a mere handful of people who claimed to be 'counsellors'. Now they number in ... (1301 words)

NZ Skeptic issues 96, 97 and 98 contained articles presenting different viewpoints on the 'Unfortunate Experiment' at National Women's Hospital and its aftermath. Wellington registered nurse and NZ ... (4755 words)

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 ... (3691 words)

Alison Campbell considers the evidence for the efficacy of parachutes. Recently a teacher sent me a paper titled: 'Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma related to gravitational challenge: ... (437 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)

Research scientist Hamish Campbell spoke of his experiences as Te Papa's museum geologist at the 2005 NZ Skeptics conference. It behoves all scientists to be both skeptical and open-minded, research ... (690 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)

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)

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. Having just read Warwick Don's ... (1034 words)

In this issue Ian Wishart responds to Warwick Don's critique of his article on Intelligent Design. I deny any fudging on the use of the word "creationist". I make a clear distinction between ... (607 words)

This is the press release (slightly edited) which announced this year's Bent Spoon Winner. Most of the reports used only a small proportion, and included a quote from Ms Fitzsimons saying that the ... (3584 words)

John Riddell learns about some dangerous chemicals From the TV3 News website: CHIPS COULD CAUSE CANCER UPDATED: 05:56PM WEDNESDAY 26 JUNE The World Health Organisation has begun a three-day emergency ... (677 words)

This article is drawn from interviews with Allan Coukell on the NZ National Radio science programme "Eureka!" in 2001. We live in an era where science is universally needed but rarely appreciated, ... (2066 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)

In which John Riddell conducts an entirely unscientific experiment and saves himself quite a bit of money The first weekend of May each year is the opening of the New Zealand duck shooting season. It ... (843 words)

In which John Riddell reminisces about happy childhood days and reflects on the stories we tell to grown-ups When I was just a young skeptic our family used to go to big Christmas family ... (1013 words)

This is a copy of a presentation given to the New Zealand Skeptics 1995 Conference in Auckland When Denis Dutton asked me to prepare some comments on this topic he gave me a very wide brief covering, ... (5405 words)

An abridged version of the Skeptical Enquirer's report of the session dealing with "alien abductions" at the Seattle CSICOP Conference on "The Psychology of Belief" Many of us have been reading ... (474 words)

This is a Feynman Commencement Address given by Richard Feynman at Caltech in 1974. This message is as relevant today as it was 20 years ago, especially for those who add their committed "science" to ... (3640 words)

What is it that keeps superstitions going in the face of our increasing knowledge about the world? There is no easy, let alone absolute, way of telling the difference between a true belief and a ... (1713 words)

On open access computer bulletin boards, any entity with a theory can expound on it at length. Many do -- usually to a very unappreciative audience. A seemingly-large proportion of such expositions ... (321 words)