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."
The Real ‘Ghost Whisperer’
by Joe Nickell
Volume 34.4, July / August 2010
Investigative Files
Although Winkowski distinguishes herself from both mediums and psychics (she claims no future-telling ability), she nevertheless shares much in common with...
Oscar, the Death-Predicting Cat
by Joe Nickell
Volume 34.4, July / August 2010
Book Review
A Review of "Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat." By David Dosa.
A Skeptic’s View of Pharmaceutical Progress
by Reynold Spector
Volume 34.4, July / August 2010
To obtain a balanced view of pharmaceutical progress (or lack thereof), we need to step back, define a few terms and concepts, and make explicit certain...
The Mysterious Invisible ‘Rods’
by Ben Radford
Volume 34.4, July / August 2010
Skeptical Inquiree
Q: I’ve been told there are small creatures called rods—which are shaped like, well, rods—that fly so fast they’re invisible. Is there any truth to this?
Thinking Critically about Computer Security Trade-offs
by Adam Slagell
Volume 34.4, July / August 2010
Good security decisions require making intelligent trade-offs, but far too often we settle for poorly justified security measures based on fear and...
Fabricating Communication
by Maarten Boudry, Roeland Termote, and Willem Betz
Volume 34.4, July / August 2010
Special Report
The Case of The Belgian Coma Patient
Testing for X-Ray Vision
by Massimo Polidoro
Volume 34.4, July / August 2010
Notes on a Strange World
Some time ago, we received a letter from a woman, R.G., who claimed she can peer inside sealed boxes with some sort of X-ray vision and describe...
When Scientists Actually Change Their Minds
by Mark Boslough
Volume 34.3, May / June 2010
Broecker's esteem among scientists was not diminished when he changed his mind. The Younger Dryas impact proponents would do well to follow his example.
War of the Weasels
by Dave Thomas
Volume 34.3, May / June 2010
How an intelligent design theorist was bested in a public math competition by a genetic algorithm—a computer simulation of evolution.
Did a Cosmic Impact Kill the Mammoths?
by David Morrison
Volume 34.3, May / June 2010
The rise and fall of the theory that cosmic catastrophes altered human prehistory in North America.