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."
It’s the End of the World and They Don’t Feel Fine: The Psychology of December 21, 2012
by Matthew J. Sharps, Schuyler W. Liao, and Megan R. Herrera
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Article
Cognitive science research on belief in the 2012 “apocalypse” demonstrates that dissociative processes contribute directly to this belief through reduction of the “feature-intensive” cognitive processing that would engender appropriate skepticism.
Indignation Is Not Righteous
by Gary Longsine and Peter Boghossian
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Article
Appeals to righteous indignation or sanctity—which attempt to shield ideas from contemplation, discussion, investigation, or criticism—are common, impede rational discourse, and should be recognized as logical fallacies.
Monsters and Dragons and Dinosaurs, Oh My: Creationist Interpretations of Beowulf
by Eve Siebert
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Article
There is no field of inquiry that young-Earth creationists can’t distort. In the area of literary and linguistic studies, they misinterpret, misrepresent, and mistranslate Beowulf to fit their agenda.
The Secret Life of J. Allen Hynek
by John Franch
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Article
According to legend, the astronomer J. Allen Hynek was a skeptic before becoming an outspoken UFOlogist, but is the legend true? This article takes a look at Hynek’s unusual life and career.
Miracle Dirt of Chimayó
by Joe Nickell
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Investigative Files
El Santuariò de Chimayó in New Mexico is a place of pilgrimages. Scores visit the little adobe church daily, while thousands walk miles to worship there on Good Friday. Many come seeking a cure for their afflictions, scooping from a small pit in the church floor a reddish soil that they rub on afflicted areas of their bodies or even sprinkle on their food or brew in tea.
Hitler’s South Pole Hideaway
by Massimo Polidoro
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Notes on a Strange World
“Searching for Hitler’s DNA in Antarctica.” This is the bizarre headline that made the news a few months ago, launched by Russian news agency Ria Novosti and picked up by the world media after scientists were able to successfully drill into Antarctica’s Lake Vostok.
Pretentious Whit
by Robert Sheaffer
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Book Review
A review of Solving the Communion Enigma: What Is to Come by Whitley Strieber.
Phrenology and the Grand Delusion of Experience
by Geoffrey Dean
Volume 36.6, November/December 2012
Article
In the nineteenth century, phrenology was hugely influential despite being totally invalid. Its history shows why we must be skeptical of any belief based solely on experience.
Homeopathy: A Critique of Current Clinical Research
by Edzard Ernst
Volume 36.6, November/December 2012
Article
An evaluation of the clinical research by the group that has published most of the papers in homeopathy, 2005–2010, finds numerous flaws in the design, conduct, and reporting along with a tendency to overinterpret weak data.
The Pseudoscience of Live Blood Cell Analysis
by Thomas Patterson
Volume 36.6, November/December 2012
Article
Of the many aspects of alternative medicine, one of the most bizarre is live blood cell analysis. This unapproved blood test supposedly identifies nutritional deficiencies and other nebulous conditions.
