Skeptical Inquirer
Skeptical Inquirer is the official journal of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Six times per year Skeptical Inquirer publishes critical scientific evaluations of all manner of controversial and extraordinary claims, including but not limited to paranormal and fringe-science matters, and informed discussion of all relevant issues. In addition to news, articles, book reviews, and investigations on a wide variety of topics, Skeptical Inquirer has a stellar stable of regular columnists including Joe Nickell (“Investigative Files”), Massimo Polidoro (“Notes on a Strange World”), Massimo Pigluicci (“Thinking About Science”), Robert Sheaffer (“Psychic Vibrations”), and SI managing editor Benjamin Radford's reader-driven (“The Skeptical Inquiree”). Yale University neurologist Steven Novella, M.D., founder of the New England Skeptical Society and executive editor of the Science-Based Medicine blog, contributes a new "The Science of Medicine" column, and contributing editor Kenneth W. Krause adds a regular science column, "ScienceWatch."
Civilizations Lost and Found: Fabricating History - Part One: An Alternate Reality
by Kenneth Feder, Bradley T. Lepper, Terry A. Barnhart, and Deborah A. Bolnick
Volume 35.5, September/October 2011
Feature
The Lost Civilizations of North America documentary is one in a long line of failed attempts to populate America’s ancient past with the denizens of lost tribes, lost cities, and, as its title indicates, lost civilizations.
The Haunted Brain
by Richard Wiseman
Volume 35.5, September/October 2011
Feature
Reports of alleged ghostly activity tell us a great deal about the innermost workings of our brains.
The Perpetual Quest
by Dimitry Rotstein
Volume 35.5, September/October 2011
Feature
How to make a perpetual motion device and live to tell about it.
The Life and Death of ‘Living God’ Sathya Sai Baba
by Ryan Shaffer
Volume 35.5, September/October 2011
Special Report
Sathya Sai Baba, a living god for nearly forty million people, died in April. He had a nine-billion-dollar organization and religious centers throughout the world. Who was Baba? Why was he thought to be a god?
In Search of the Emerald Grail
by Joe Nickell
Volume 35.5, September/October 2011
Investigative Files
Il Sacro Catino, “The Holy Basin,” is one of the most famous embodiments of the legendary “Holy Grail,” and I was able to study both it and its legend there in the fall of 2009, attempting to resolve some of the mysteries and controversies concerning it.
Selling Stem Cell Hype
by Steven Novella
Volume 35.5, September/October 2011
The Science of Medicine
Stem cells have tremendous potential, and they will likely be playing an increasing role in medical therapies over the next twenty years. But reality has yet to catch up with the hype.
The 9/11 Truth Movement: The Top Conspiracy Theory, a Decade Later
by Dave Thomas
Volume 35.4, July/August 2011
Feature
After ten years, the pesky 9/11 Truth movement has refined its arguments but still hasn’t proved the attacks were an inside job. Their key claims are refuted on multiple grounds.
A Bestiary of the 9/11 Truth Movement: Notes from the Front Line
by Jamie Bartlett and Carl Miller
Volume 35.4, July/August 2011
Feature
Two social scientists describe their experience confronting the 9/11 Truth movement in the United Kingdom after they published a paper linking conspiracy theories with extremist ideology.
Conflicts of Interest in Alternative Medicine
by Edzard Ernst
Volume 35.4, July/August 2011
Commentary
I am, of course, talking about a different type of conflict: the one that is created by strong belief and evangelic conviction.
Medium Allison DuBois Is Tested—and Fails—in the Real World
by Ryan Shaffer
Volume 35.4, July/August 2011
Special Report
Allison DuBois, the best-selling author who inspired the recently cancelled television show Medium, claims to have amazing psychic abilities. But when her skills are tested in the real world—first with a missing-child case and then at a dinner party on reality-TV—they prove less than stellar.