Skeptical Inquirer — Volume 29.1
January / February 2005
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Alien-Abduction Guru Mack Killed in Accident
by Joe Nickell
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
News & Comment
John E. Mack—whose position as a Harvard psychiatrist seemed to add legitimacy to his endorsement of alien abduction claims...
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Betty Hill, First ‘Alien Abductee,’ Dies
by Joe Nickell
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
News & Comment
Eunice "Betty" Hill—whose claimed 1961 encounter with extraterrestrials spawned the alien-abduction mania—died October 19,2004.
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Bits of Bogus Science Preceding Piltdown
by John Whittaker
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Book Review
Piltdown Man: The Secret Life of Charles Dawson and the Worlds Greatest Archaeological Hoax. By Miles Russell.
Brave Thoughts Are Still Not the Truth
by Vitaly L. Ginzburg
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Article
Scientists often take the bait of swindlers from pseudoscience.
Critical Inquiry, and Thinking About Galileo
by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
From the Editor
Kendrick Frazier's comments
Critical Thinking About Energy: The Case for Decentralized Generation of Electricity
by Thomas R. Casten and Brennan Downes
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Article
Highly centralized generation of electrical power is a paradigm that has outlived its usefulness.
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Critics Ravage ‘Hoax’ New Age
by Ben Radford
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
News & Comment
An independent film directed and produced by followers of the New Age channeller/guru J.Z. Knight...
Demagogues against Scientific Expertise
by Vitaly L. Ginzburg
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Article
A distinguished Russian physicist battles the pseudoscience and charlatanism that he feels is duping his country's population.
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Exploring Controversies in the Art and Science of Polygraph Testing
by John Ruscio
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Article
Polygraph testing has always been controversial, with a wide gulf separating practitioners from scientists with relevant...
Facts and Fiction in the Kennedy Assassination
by Massimo Polidoro
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Notes on a Strange World
Investigating historical mysteries is one of the most fascinating and rewarding aspects of the work of a skeptical researcher
A Giant Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
by Greg Martinez
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Book Review
Review of the book by physicist MIchio Kaku
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Hurricane Osama?
by Robert Sheaffer
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Psychic Vibrations
With the recent devastating and remarkable assault on Florida by one destructive hurricane after another, some are...
In the Land of Galileo, Fifth World Skeptics Congress Solves Mysteries, Champions Scientific Outlook
by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
News & Comment
The legacy of Galileo shone like a brilliant star throughout the Fifth World Skeptics Congress...
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It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s… an Angel?
by Dave Brooks
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Forum
Logic is a wonderful thing— which makes it kind of alarming to find out how easily our minds will heave it out the window.
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Letters to the Editor
by The Editors
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Letters to the Editor
Responses to the September / October 2004 Skeptical Inquirer, Columbia's Prayer/Fertility Study.
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The Mary Celeste: A Very Plausible Explanation
by Terence M. Hines
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Book Review
Review of Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and her Missing Crew. By Brian Hicks.
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Metabolife Founder Michael Ellis Charged with Lying to FDA
by David Park Musella
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
News & Comment
On top of having the product his company takes its name from banned, Michael J. Ellis, founder of Metabolife International...
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Mystery Painting: ‘The Shadow of the Cross’
by Joe Nickell
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Investigative Files
An enigmatic painting is exhibited at the church of San Francisco de Asis (St. Francis of Assisi) at Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico
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Natural Medicine: Will That Be a Pill or a Needle?
by William H. Baarschers
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Article
Many alternative practitioners promise to reveal "secrets your doctor never told you." One secret is never mentioned...
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Paranormal Expo Cancelled Under Cloud
by Jim Underdown
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
News & Comment
When the promoters of the paranormal-chemed Paraworld Expo announced its event at the Los Angeles Convention Center...
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Piltdown and How Science Really Works
by Massimo Pigliucci
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Thinking About Science
When one debates creationists, one is bound to run up against the infamous Piltdown forgery. This is the case of an alleged...
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Psychics (Don’t) Explain Missing September 11
by Ben Radford
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
News & Comment
While going though files on psychics a few months ago, I came across a newspaper article listing annual psychic predictions...
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Raelian Update: Sex, Pseudoscience, and Sacrilege
by Kevin Christopher
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
News & Comment
In 1950s sci-fi movies, aliens brought mankind gifts like solutions to world peace and the cure for cancer.
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Randi: That’s Amazing
by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
News & Comment
The special event the second night was "Randi: That's Amazing," billed as "A 'Magical' Evening with James Randi."
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Some Reasons for Caution about the Bigfoot Film Exposé
by Michael Dennett
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Follow-up
For skeptics, the revelation of a hoax can provide valuable insights but may also contain pitfalls.
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Stupid Things
by Ralph Estling
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
Forum
I think I'm fairly safe in saying that it will probably not come as a terrible shock to readers...
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The World of Galileo Galilei
by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 29.1, January / February 2005
News & Comment
As befitted a conference outside Padua, the first evening featured a special event, "The World of Galileo Galilei."
