Special Articles
Web exclusives from CSI contributors
“You are Not Entitled to Your Own Bigfoot Facts”
by Sharon Hill
Sounds Sciencey
April 25, 2012
Once upon a time, not so long ago, I came across a website that provided “Bigfoot Facts” for kids. The site didn't say from where these facts were derived but they were commonly circulated in various books and all over the web.
The Denver International Airport Conspiracy
by Robert Blaskiewicz
The Conspiracy Guy
April 11, 2012
Somehow, the conspiratorial world has convinced itself that, to use Richard Dreyfus’s phrase as he sculpts his mashed potatoes into a replica of the Devil’s Tower, the Denver International Airport “means something.” What exactly it means is unclear, but conspiracy theorists know its meaning is sinister.
Black(water) Market: Digging Up the Dirt about Slick Designer Beverages
by Sharon Hill
Sounds Sciencey
April 2, 2012
On my regular stop to see the newest beverages one day, I noticed a slick, thin black bottle. The label read “Spring water enriched with Fulvic Acid.” Intrigued, I bought the 16.9 ounce bottle for $1.89.
James Randi: An Honest Liar
by Kylie Sturgess
Curiouser and Curiouser
March 21, 2012
Interview with Documentary Filmmakers Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom
A Deviant Plot: Resisting Gay Rights at the UN, Islamic States Mangle Psychiatric Consensus, English
by Austin Dacey
Circumnavigations
March 16, 2012
Does the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders propose that there are twenty-two forms of “sexual orientation”? The Islamic Republic of Pakistan (and Focus on the Family) want you to think so.
Apocalyptic January and the Portents of Doom
by Sharon Hill
Sounds Sciencey
March 7, 2012
They were science-based Doomsday agents, effective in scaring the bejeezus out of generally rational people. And the arrival of 2012—heavily weighted with (very commercially exploited) “End of the World” overtones—serves to popularize these stories even more.
Maria Monk’s Awful Disclosures: A Classic American Conspiracy Theory
by Robert Blaskiewicz
The Conspiracy Guy
February 27, 2012
We have a long history of being afraid of the wrong people: the Masons, the Illuminati, the Commies, those cunning homosexuals—all of these groups at some point or another have been identified as the enemy, the embodiment of evil that would tear the heart out of America and deliver it to perdition.
In the Media: 2011 Activities of Joe Nickell
by Joe Nickell
February 17, 2012
CSI Senior Research Fellow Joe Nickell had yet another very busy year, utilizing his varied background as stage magician and mentalist, private detective for a world-famous detective agency, forensic science writer, historical document consultant, and university scholar in literature.
World Skeptics Congress in Berlin, May 18–20th 2012: Promoting Science in an Age of Uncertainty
by Kylie Sturgess
Curiouser and Curiouser
February 15, 2012
An interview with Amardeo Sarma, founder and chairman of the German Society for the Scientific Investigation of Para-Sciences (GWUP), chairman of the European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO), and fellow and Executive Council member of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
YouTube and the Coming Angel Apocalypse
by Rebecca Watson
Skepchick
February 13, 2012
Today's topic: strange sounds coming from the sky, which have taken YouTube by storm. I'm going to explain some of them, but as soon as I do, someone will upload a new video using a new trick and someone else will have to start all over again to debunk it.
