David Helfand: On Evidence and Climate Science

by Derek C. Araujo

Special Articles

April 7, 2016

Any attempt to address climate change, we are told, plays into the hands of an inexplicably vast and powerful network of conspiratorial climatologists. Lost somewhere in the mix is the science that should inform and largely settle the discussion.

The Idiot Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains What Your Head Is Really Up To

by Kylie Sturgess

Special Articles · Curiouser and Curiouser

April 5, 2016

If you're on a beach drinking delicious cocktails on your four week holiday, that's a very nice sensation. You see someone walk past with a broken leg then you might think, 'Poor thing,' but you won't give up your holiday to go and help them.

Joe Nickell on the Paranormal’s (Very Recent) Origin Story, in Skeptical Inquirer

Press Releases

April 4, 2016

Tales of psychic powers, mythical creatures, and hauntings seem like they have been with humanity since the dawn of time. But as world-renowned investigator Joe Nickell shows us in the latest Skeptical Inquirer, what we think of today as the paranormal can almost always be traced directly to the claims and creations of particular personalities of the twentieth century.

I Like Pi

by Susan Gerbic

Special Articles

March 31, 2016

It's a commonly known fact that skeptics are nerds, so we might as well embrace it and use it to our advantage.

The ‘Lie Detector’ Test Revisted: A Great Example of Junk Science

by Morton E. Tavel

Skeptical Inquirer · Feature · Volume 40.1

Although the polygraph can be useful in coercing confessions, it is based on scientifically implausible assumptions of accuracy and is biased against the innocent. The scientific community justly considers it pseudoscience, and it should be abandoned.

Uninformed Consumers Are Treating Their Flu Symptoms with Muscovy Duck Offal (Minus the Duck)

by Harriet Hall

Special Articles · SkepDoc's Corner

March 23, 2016

Why on Earth do people buy a medicine with no medicine in it? The back of the box clearly says “Active ingredient Anas barbariae, 200 CK HPUS.” I suspect most customers don’t bother to read that, and if they do, they don’t know what it means.