Skeptical Inquirer Electronic Digest 8-4-99

SkeptInq@aol.com
Wed, 4 Aug 1999 09:08:09 EDT 

 Skeptical Inquirer Electronic Digest 8-4-99

 Visit the CSICOP and Skeptical Inquirer Magazine website at
http://www.csicop.org. Receiving over 200,000 hits per year, the CSICOP site
was recently rated one of the top ten science sites by HOMEPC magazine.

 In this week's SIDIGEST:

 --Skeptical Inquirer Sept./Oct. 1999 Preview
 --Tracking Media Distortion: New Shroud Pollen Study Announced
 --Carl Sagan Productions Announces Two New Television Series
 --Art Bell Claims Threats from Two Former Guests
 --FEER on China's Falun Gong Crackdown
 --Law on Access to Research Data Alarms Science
 --House Panel Eases Proposed NASA Cut
 --More Boston Globe Coverage of NEJM

 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER SEPT/OCT 1999 PREVIEW

 Special Report

 Flash! Fox News Reports that Aliens May Have Built the Pyramids of Egypt!

 Pseudoscience as news? The Fox Networks' handling of its primetime special
"Opening of the Lost Tombs: Live from Egypt" raises ethical questions.

 Articles

 Where Do We Come From?
 A Humbling Look at the Biology of Life's Origin

 The origin of life on Earth is a fundamental scientific question, but we do
not know as much as many biology textbooks would like you to believe.
 Massimo Pigliucci

 Profits and Prophecy
 Hayseed Stevens and Oil in Israel

 A fundamentalist oil entrepeneur mixes creation science, Biblical prophecy,
and revivalist techniques for a program of oil exploration in Israel.
 Donald U. Wise

 Projective Measures of Personality and Psychopathology
 How Well Do They Work?

 Although projective techniques remain among the most popular of all
psychological measures, many critics have branded them pseudoscientific.
 Scott O. Lilienfeld

 What Every Skeptic Should Know About Subliminal Persuasion

 Classic research by cognitive and social psychologists suggests that
subliminally presented stimuli can be perceived and can influence
individuals' low-level cognitions.  More recent investigations suggest that
such stimuli can also affect individuals' high-level cognitive processes,
including attitudes, preferences, judgments, and even their behavior.
 Nicholas Epley, Kenneth Savitsky, and Robert Kachelski

 Columns

 Carlos Casteneda and New Age Anthropology
 Martin Gardner
 Notes of a Fringe Watcher

 Miracles or Deception?
 The Pathetic Case of Audrey Santo
 Joe Nickell
 Investigative Files

 Aliens Follow Their Leader
 Robert Sheaffer
 Psychic Vibrations

 TRACKING MEDIA DISTORTION: NEW SHROUD POLLEN CLAIMS

 The Associated Press reports the following on a new study of pollen taken
from the Shroud of Turin.  The study was released at the International
Botanical Conference in St. Louis.

 Beyond the AP report, this new study is sure to gain media attention and
raise new mystery mongering regarding the authenticity of the Shroud.  But
any balanced media report should acknowledge that the study's findings need
to be verified, and that the findings do nothing to *directly refute*
historical evidence, radio-carbon testing, and Shroud "blood" stains that
have been found to be red pigment dye.

 As you will see, the Associated Press report leads with a proclamation that
the study "refutes" the radiocarbon testing.  A clear misrepresentation of
the actual significance of the pollen study.  Unfortunately, the AP report,
out on the wire today, is bound to run in dozens of newspapers across the
country tomorrow, and be picked up by radio and television.  A fine example
of media distortion of science and the paranormal as it happens.


 From the Associated Press:

 ST. LOUIS,   Aug. 3 — A new analysis of pollen grains and plant images on
the Shroud of Turin places its origin to Jerusalem before the 8th Century.
The study gives a boost to those who believe the shroud is the burial cloth
of Jesus and refutes a 1988 examination by scientists that concluded the
shroud was made between 1260 and 1390. The earlier study also indicated the
shroud came from Europe rather than the Holy Land.  “We have identified by
images and by pollen grains species on the shroud restricted to the vicinity
of Jerusalem,” botany professor Avinoam Danin of The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem said Monday during the International Botanical Congress here. “The
sayings that the shroud is from European origin can’t hold.”

 For the full article, go to
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/turin990803.html

 Here is what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting.  As background to the
controversy, the Post-Dispatch article cites a version of Shroud history
tainted by pro-Shroud propaganda.  Just a guess, but I assume that the
reporter compiled the history from literature provided at the press
conference.

 Pollen study dates shroud to 8th century
 By Michael Hines
 Of the Post-Dispatch

 The renowned Shroud of Turin - believed by many to be the burial wrap of
Jesus -- dates back to Jerusalem no later than the 8th century, an Israeli
scientist announced here Monday. The findings, based on an analysis of pollen
and plant images on the cloth, contradict previous carbon-dating studies that
estimated the cloth originated 500 to 700 years later -- in Europe of the
Middle Ages. The latest study is sure to stir more controversy over the
shroud's authenticity, an issue that has been debated for centuries among
religious and scientific scholars. Avinoam Danin, a botany professor at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, led the team of researchers who re-examined
pollen found on the shroud. He presented the plant studies Monday afternoon
at the 16th International Botanical Congress at America's Center downtown.

 For the full article, go to:
http://www.postnet.com/postnet/stories.nsf/ByDocID/49FB10005D6786A1862567C2003
6DC52

 For a more accurate history of the Shroud, go to a recent summary report
written by CSICOP Senior Research Fellow Joe Nickell, author of _Inquest on
the Shroud of Turin.  You can find it at:
 http://www.csicop.org/articles/shroud/index2.html

 Look for more information and commentary from CSICOP on this most recent
Shroud study in the coming week.

 CARL SAGAN PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCES TWO NEW TELEVISION SERIES

 For more information, go to www.carl-sagan.com

 Carl Sagan Productions announces a new television series:

 Collision Course: The Quest for Truth

 A ten hour television series conceived by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan explor
ing the lives of famous revolutionaries in the history of thought. Each of
these personalities had to overcome enormous conflicts in their personal and
professional life. Their scientific inquiries put them on a Collision Course
with government, business, religion and society. They were and are heroes in
The Quest For Truth. The series
 will include dramatic recreations with scripted dialog performed and
directed by renowned actors and directors. Produced in High Definition
Television (HDTV) with 5.1 Chanel Dolby Digital surround sound (16 to 9
aspect ratio). Available January 2000.

 Carl Sagan Productions (West) Inc.
 7165 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, California 90046-4417 USA
 Phone: 323-969-9595 Fax: 323-969-8883
 Contact: Kent Gibson or Ann Druyan (info@carl-sagan.com )

 The Worlds of Carl Sagan

 Time Magazine commented "With terrestrials like Carl, who needs extras?" He
was like no other... We are producing a four hour documentary miniseries
about the life of astrono mer Carl Sagan, author of the COSMOS television
series (the most popular science TV series ever produced - 600 million
viewers worldwide). Carl Sagan also authored thirty best selling books
communicating the worlds and wonders of science to a lay audience. A
participant in every scientific NASA mission of the first four decades of the
Space Age, he did pioneering research on planetary atmospheres, the origin of
life and intelligence on earth and the search for it elsewhere. His work on
Nuclear Winter and the Regan -Bush STAR WARS scheme had global political
consequences. The program will contain clips of COSMOS as well as the movie
Contact, and  interviews from renowned people who Carl touched personally.
Produced in High Definition Television (HDTV) with 5.1 Channel Dolby Digital
surround sound. Available July 1999.

 Carl Sagan Productions (West) Inc.
 7165 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, California 90046-4417 USA
 Phone: 323-969-9595 Fax: 323-969-8883
 Contact: Kent Gibson or Ann Druyan ( info@carl-sagan.com)

 ART BELL CLAIMS THREATS FROM TWO FORMER GUESTS

 The Las Vegas Review Journal ran the following article on July 27.  For the
full text go to:

 http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/1999/Jul-27-Tue-1999/news/11637056.html

 Radio talk show host Art Bell claims two former guests have threatened him
and caused him to fear for his safety since he filed a defamation lawsuit
against them in May.  Bell obtained temporary protective orders June 21 in
Pahrump Justice Court against Colorado resident David John Oates and Montana
resident Robert A.M. Stephens.

 LAW ON ACCESS TO RESEARCH DATA ALARMS SCIENCE

 For the full NY TIMES article printed July 31, go to:
 http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/073199sci-foia-law.html

 The proposition is simple enough: Public dollars pay for a lot of scientific
research, so data from that research should be available to the public. At
the request of Senator Richard C. Shelby, Republican of Alabama, a proposal
saying just that passed quietly one evening last October, without hearings or
debate, as a one-sentence amendment to the 4,000-plus-page appropriations
bill. Under the amendment, anyone can write a request to the Government under
the Freedom of Information Act and get "all data produced" by a published
study paid for with any public dollars, and potentially receive everything
from a summary of findings to a scientist's notebooks or E-mail or, in some
cases, information about patients.

 Read the AAAS letter to Congress on this matter at:
 http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/sfrl/projects/omb/congrltr.htm


 FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW ON FALUN GONG

 The Far Eastern Economic Review reports on the Falun Gong-China controversy
in its latest issue.  For the full article go to:
http://www.feer.com/Restricted/index_p1.html

 CHINA -- Alarmed at the number of party cadres and PLA soldiers who belong
to the Falun Gong sect, Beijing is cracking down. This heavy-handed move
risks turning what is now a benign threat, if a threat at all, into a more
militant and dangerous movement. For unlike restive ethnic minorities or
democracy activists, the Falun Gong's millions of members are middle-aged,
middle-class and fit seamlessly into Chinese society. And hard-core followers
who once practised publicly under Falun Gong banners have now become faceless
and hard to identify.

 HOUSE PANEL EASES PROPOSED NASA CUT

 The Associated Press reports that the House Appropriations Committee voted
Friday (Aug. 2) to ease proposed cuts in NASA's budget but left the space
agency well short of what President Clinton wants for next year.

 NASA's extra $400 million was part of an effort by majority Republicans to
bolster support for a massive $92 billion measure financing veterans,
housing, space and environment programs for the coming fiscal year. The panel
also boosted spending for veterans' health care by $700 million, responding
to pressure from veterans' groups.

 ``This is one step in the process,'' said Rep. James Walsh, R-N.Y., alluding
to even bigger spending increases expected to emerge from budget bargaining
this fall with Clinton.

 Even so, the overall bill, which passed by voice vote, faces an
administration veto threat for its reductions in space, housing and other
programs. Though the added funds would bring NASA's 2000 budget to about
$12.7 billion, that remains $1 billion below this year's budget and $900
million short of Clinton's request.

 For the full article, go to http://www.ap.org

 MORE BOSTON GLOBE COVERAGE OF NEJM

 For full article, go to:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/213/metro/Journal_torn_by_dispute_on_new_ven
tures+.shtml

 Journal torn by dispute on new ventures
 By Richard A. Knox, Globe Staff, 08/01/99

 WALTHAM - The words ''Massachusetts Medical Society'' are deeply chiseled
 into the granite of the organization's sprawling new $50 million
headquarters on a woodsy campus here. But maybe it should be ''Massachusetts
Medical Publishing Society.''  To a degree few appreciate, the lifeblood and
the fortunes of the 218-year-old Medical Society depend on the renowned New
England Journal of Medicine and, to a much smaller extent, a dozen newer,
lesser-known periodicals. Publishing accounts for 95 percent of the Medical
Society's $73 million budget.  The profits largely flow from the venerable
New England Journal, a weekly that manages to be the planet's most-cited
medical journal and a household word to lay readers worldwide...
 _______________

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