I'm taking a break from my post conference daze to write about something completely unserious – New Zealand Cryptids. Cryptids are animals whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the Yeti or the Loch Ness Monster.
One of the many effects of climate change is that the oceans are rising. This is going to be an increasing problem for coastal settlements and island nations. But one American political candidate who has worked for Trump in the past, Scott Pio, thinks he's figured out an answer to the problem, and posted his idea on Twitter:
Keith Muir responds to Barry Brill's article, A Climate of Hope, in NZ Skeptic 108.
I enjoyed Jim Ring's "the Spectre of Kahurangi" (Autumn 2001). In Kahurangi National Park there is a bridge called "Brocken Bridge", quite close to Ghost Creek. Could this be an indication of supernatural forces emanating from this enchanting region?
The marketing of sodium chloride should be taken with a pinch of salt
One of the fictions of the "naive-greens" and other "irrationalists" is that "chemicals" are bad while natural products (non-chemicals?) are good. When asked if water is a chemical, and hence evil, and whether cyanide, nicotine or the botulism toxin, are natural and hence benign they change the subject. You might think that our classrooms are immune to such nonsense; in the November issue of Chemistry in New Zealand, Ian Millar of Carina Chemical Laboratories Ltd tells us we are wrong.
Can a cotton wristband and a plastic button alleviate seasickness? The British Consumer's Association thinks so, but scientific evidence indicates otherwise.