In 1917, the Spanish flu killed off huge swathes of the population–more than the first world war had. It was terrifying, and everyone wanted a solution, right now. And Joseph Roy thought he had it. When looking at the blood of flu patients, he noticed what appeared to be a wiggly–oscillating–bacteria, which he called oscillococcus. He claimed to have found the same wiggly stuff i... »
My stepfather is a 60 year old retired minister of the United Church. His shtick is helping old people find meaning in life and discovering ways to “age well”. He is pretty well-read, was university educated, which, coupled with his personality and the fact that he has been in a position of authority for most of his life, makes him pretty pompous and arrogant whenever we discuss any sort of... »
Back in April, I criticized a video series titled ‘Spirit Science’ that defied the nomenclature it had adopted by denying scientific practices and continues to this day trying to convince its viewers that they can manipulate reality through their thoughts through wordplay that bastardizes scientific concepts and squashes them in a ball of wishful thinking and new age motifs until it l... »
This may run into more than one post, but I want to talk to you about a practice that claims to be able to change the very reality we live in, cure all diseases, and to be the ‘practical application of quantum mechanics’. This phenomenon, known as Theta Healing, is the product of Vianna Stibal, a woman who has made a living out of the suffering of others in a scheme that wants money to... »
Dear Sasquatch, I have come across information on the internet that says that I should only buy clothing made out of natural material such as cotton. Apparently polyester, rayon, or anything else will give me cancer and/or other health problems or that synthetic fibers are dangerous because they are treated with flame retardants. Is any of this valid? —Allie »
While the back to school season (yeah, apparently that’s a thing now) is still kinda happening, I thought I’d take some time to talk about a current issue in skepticism that’s being tackled head-on, mostly in Australia, because that’s where the most bad ass activists live. While sometimes degrees labelled as ‘bachelor of science’ are sometimes pushing that line,... »
The Daily Woo is a brief summary of an alternative health treatment, as well as how it was experienced by me, Kate Donovan. I grew up with mostly alternative medicine (read: psuedoscience), and now you, lovely skeptics, get to live vicariously! (see note at the bottom of this post for an explanation of my attitude towards practitioners of pseudoscience.) I have a bad knee. I’ve had it since ... »
The Daily Woo is a brief summary of an alternative health treatment, as well as how it was experienced by me, Kate Donovan. I grew up with mostly alternative medicine (read: psuedoscience), and now you, lovely skeptics, get to live vicariously! (see note at the bottom of this post for an explanation of my attitude towards practitioners of pseudoscience.) (This specific book is not something I grew... »
