Skeptical Inquirer — Volume 33.5
September / October 2009
Can a Reasonable Skeptic Support Climate Change Legislation?
by Stuart D. Jordan
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Commentary
CFI vets list of 687 'dissenting scientists' in Senate minority report; 80% haven't published peer-reviewed climate research.
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Ask The Outlaw Skeptic
by The Editors
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
While at the local mall, I stopped inside a health-food store to check out the wares...
Bobby Fischer: Genius and Idiot
by Martin Gardner
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Notes of a Fringe-Watcher
Is it possible for someone to be extremely intelligent and creative in a certain field and at the same time...
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Cell Phones, Power Lines, Video Games…and Much Else
by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
From the Editor
This issue demonstrates not only the variety of topics we tackle in the Skeptical Inquirer, but also...
Comments on NDE Experiment: Ethical Concerns
by Christopher C. French
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Commentary
"I think this article raises an interesting issue, but ultimately I find the arguments unconvincing for a number of reasons..."
Comments on NDE Experiment: Ethical Concerns
by Susan Blackmore
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Commentary
"If Parnia does the experiments properly, and his patients really can see those images, then I will change my mind about..."
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Does Subliminal Persuasion Work? It Depends on Your Motivation and Awareness.
by Brandon Randolph-Seng and Robert D. Mather
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Article
Recent psychological research provides more answers about why and when subliminal information can influence...
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Eusapia Palladino, Queen of the Cabinet, Part 3
by Massimo Polidoro
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Notes on a Strange World
There suddenly came a wild, yelling scream. It was such a scream as I have never heard before in my life, not even in...
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Exercising the Brain Gym
by Ben Radford
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Skeptical Inquiree
What can you tell me about the Brain Gym? It seems to make all sorts of amazing claims and is apparently very popular...
A Growing Hysteria
by Lorne Trottier
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Article
Angry citizens' groups in hundreds of different communities across the United States protest against the location of new...
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Hidden Messages
by Dave Thomas
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Puzzle— A simple substitution cipher.
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The Last Laugh
by Ben Radford
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Humor
Eight Weird Psychic Comments Overheard at a Singles Bar
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Leadership Changes at the Center for Inquiry
by The Editors
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
News & Comment
Changes in the leadership at the Center for Inquiry, including the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, were announced at the end...
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Letters to the Editor
by The Editors
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Letters to the Editor
Responses to the May / June 2009 issue of Skeptical Inquirer.
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Logophobia
by Massimo Pigliucci
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Thinking About Science
Logophobics have developed strategies to obfuscate clear thinking, which they deploy whenever pressed by a skeptic.
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Modern-Day DaVinci’s ROM: Range of Motion or Rip Off Machine?
by Ben Radford
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Article
A supposedly revolutionary (and remarkably expensive) exercise machine called the ROM makes amazing claims in advertisements.
NDE Experiment: Ethical Concerns
by Sebastian Dieguez
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Article
Anecdotal reports of people having paranormal perceptions during near-death experiences are widespread, and it has been...
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New Champ Lake Monster Video Surfaces
by Ben Radford
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
News & Comment
In May, new video footage of Champ, the monster said to inhabit Vermont's Lake Champlain, was release on YouTube...
‘None of This Is True’: Do Disclaimers about the Paranormal Really Work?
by Richard wiseman, Chris French, and Caroline Watt
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Commentary
The last few years have seen substantial growth in the number of television programs claiming to contain paranormal phenomena.
Pirates’ Ghosts: Aar-r-gh!
by Joe Nickell
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Investigative Files
They embody legend: romantic, swashbuckling, heroic figures--enchanting rogues whose ghosts eternally guard their buried...
Power Line Panic and Mobile Mania
by S.T. Lakshmikumar
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Article
What is the physics that underlies any possible linkage between mobile phones, power lines, and cancer?
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The Questionable Research of Hans Holzer, Dean of Ghost Hunters (1920-2009)
by Joe Nickell
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
News & Comment
During the second half of the twentieth "Dr." Hans Holzer, a self-styled parapsychologist who died April 2, 2009, at the age...
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Skeptic’s Web Site Becomes Advertising for Psychic Business
by Ryan Shaffer
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
News & Comment
In October, a Hollywood-based Web site selling psychic consultations and other products acquired a notable skeptic's Web site...
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The Pseudoscience of Anti-Anti-UFOlogy
by Robert Sheaffer
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Psychic Vibrations
Stanton Friedman critiques Joe Nickell's article "Return to Roswell" by noting that Nickell is a former magician...
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Third Annual IIG Awards: Mythbusters and Nickell Honored, Ben Stein Lampooned.
by Owen Hammer
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
News & Comment
On May 18, 2009, the Independent Investigations Group--the premier paranormal investigations teram on the West Coast...
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The Varied Concepts of ‘Epidemic’ and Our Varied Reactions
by Peter Lamal
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Book Review
Review of Dread: How Fear and Fantasy Have Fueled Epidemics from the Black Death to Avian Flu by Philip Alcabes.
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Violent Video Games: Dogma, Fear, and Pseudoscience
by Christopher J. Ferguson
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Article
Video games are at the center of a modern media-based moral panic. Too often, social scientists have fueled the flames...
Viral Video Cell-Phone Scare
by Tracy King
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
Featurette
In June 2009 a new urban legend was born—that the power generated by cell phones can cook popcorn.
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What’s New? Observations on Science and Fringe Science from Bob Park
by Robert L. Park
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
News & Comment
Recap of recent news items by the author.
