Special Articles
Web exclusives from CSI contributors
“Phenomenology” Paranormal Conference Shows Shift from Sciencey to Spiritual
by Sharon Hill
Sounds Sciencey
April 24, 2013
When paranormal investigators give up on sciencey stuff, what's the alternative? The spiritual. I take you on a tour of a recent paranormal convention.
Don’t Burn Your Bra for Science Just Yet
by Rebecca Watson
April 17, 2013
There are many ways a science news story can hit the mainstream media and become a viral hit: does it involve an adorable, terrifying, or adorably terrifying new species of animal? Did a politician say something hilariously ignorant about it? And perhaps more importantly, does it involve breasts?
El feto humano de ‘Sirius’
by Luis Alfonso Gámez
¡Paparruchas!
April 16, 2013
La historia del ahora famoso extraterrestre comenzó hace unos diez años, cuando el huaquero -saqueador de yacimientos- Óscar Muñoz desenterró el cuerpo en un cementerio en el pueblo abandonado de La Noria, en el desierto de Atacama (Chile). El ser estaba envuelto en una tela blanca.
Getting Into Pterosaur Trouble – An Interview With Daniel Loxton
by Kylie Sturgess
Curiouser and Curiouser
April 3, 2013
“The goal for Pterosaur Trouble and the other Tales of Prehistoric Life series books is persuasive photorealism—or heightened realism, anyway. I want it to look like I just popped back in time with my camera and took some nature photographs. That concept constrains every aspect of the creation of the illustrations.”
This Week in Conspiracy: For Fear of a Jesuit Planet
by Robert Blaskiewicz
This Week in Conspiracy
April 1, 2013
In the lore of conspiracism, few religious groups, with the exception of Jews, are more feared or thought to be more powerful than the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). As I write, it was only yesterday that the College of Cardinals elected the first Jesuit pontiff, Jorge Mario Bergoglio (now Pope Francis), which makes you wonder: If they were so powerful, what took them so long to ascend to power?
Leave Us Alone, You’re Spoiling Things
by Sharon Hill
Sounds Sciencey
March 29, 2013
The Skeptic is the unwanted visitor to the paranormal-themed discussion. Questions are unwelcome; they spoil the fun. “Why do you bother nagging on the ghost hunters, the Bigfoot believers, and the UFOlogists,” they ask, “Why not go do something to stop real harm?”
Jim Underdown represents CSI at ConDor XX
by Jim Underdown
March 15, 2013
From March 8 – 12, 2013, I attended and spoke at ConDor XX, a sci/fi and fantasy conference at the Town and Country Hotel in San Diego.
Wikapediatrician Susan Gerbic discusses her Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia project
by Susan Gerbic
March 8, 2013
The Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW) project was started in May 2010 as an effort to unite editors to become more skilled at adding skeptical content to the fifth most popular Internet site in the world. I discovered that there are people in our community that have been looking for a way to become more involved but need more structure, support, and training.
Burning the Mean and Disparaging Skeptic Straw Man
by Sharon Hill
Sounds Sciencey
March 1, 2013
Does “skeptic” equal nasty, obnoxious and shouty? No? Then why do we get automatically tagged with those characteristics even when we are not? The word carries some connotations. But that ought not bar an exchange between skeptics and believers. We have some bridges to build.
Bad Pharma – Interview with Ben Goldacre
by Kylie Sturgess
Curiouser and Curiouser
February 27, 2013
Dr. Ben Goldacre is a best-selling author, broadcaster, medical doctor and academic who specialises in unpicking dodgy scientific claims from drug companies, newspapers, government reports, PR people and quacks. For this interview, we discuss the extent of the problems that face the medical establishment and what we can do to solve these problems.
