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Ten Distinguished Scientists and Scholars Named Fellows of Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
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by The Editors
Volume 39.6, November/December 2015
News & Comment
Ten distinguished scientists, scholars, educators, and investigators from five countries have been elected fellows of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), copublisher of the Skeptical Inquirer. CSI (formerly CSICOP) is one of the world’s leading organizations for the promotion of scientific thinking and the critical examination of extraordinary claims from a scientific point of view.
CSI Announces Paul Offit As Winner of the 2013 Balles Prize
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by Paul Fidalgo, Communications Director
Volume 38.4, July/August 2014
News & Comment
It is for a literary endeavor, perhaps no less valuable than his scientific work, that Dr. Paul Offit is the 2013 recipient of the Robert P. Balles Annual Prize in Critical Thinking.
Three Days of Science and Skepticism in Stockholm
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 38.1, January/February 2014
News & Comment
Sweden is the home of a large and vibrant skeptics group and was the able host of the 2013 European Skeptics Congress, August 23–25, in Stockholm.
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News and Comment
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by Kendrick Frazier / Benjamin Radford
Volume 37.4, July/August 2013
News & Comment
Do You Believe That? Poll Zeroes in on Conspiracy Beliefs/Goat Sacrificed for Chicago Cubs Curse/Sylvia Browne Blunders Again, Telling Mother of Kidnap Victim Amanda Barry She Was Dead/British Businessman Sentenced in Bogus ‘Bomb Detector’ Scam
Failure to Replicate Results of Bem Parapsychology Experiments Published by Same Journal
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 37.2, March/April 2013
News & Comment
Experiments attempting to replicate Bem’s results were quickly conducted at various universities, but none were accepted for publication by Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Now the journal has had an apparent change of heart.
CSI’s Balles Prize Goes to Richard Wiseman for Paranormality
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by Barry Karr
Volume 36.5, September/October 2012
News & Comment
The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) will award its 2011 Robert P. Balles Annual Prize in Critical Thinking to psychologist Richard Wiseman for his book Paranormality: Why We See What Isn’t There.
Sixth World Skeptics Congress–Berlin 2012
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by Kylie Sturgess
Volume 36.5, September/October 2012
News & Comment
The conference, held in Berlin from May 18–20, 2012, was a lively mixed gathering of people with a great number of countries represented both on the stage and in the audience.
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Cryptozoology Museum Opens in Maine
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 34.1, January / February 2010
News & Comment
Fans of Bigfoot, Ogopopo, the chupacabra, and other "mystery creatures" will finally have a place to see their favorite beasts—albeit in absentia.
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Latest Texas ‘Chupacabra’ Exhibited in Creationist Museum
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 34.1, January / February 2010
News & Comment
In August 2009 a man in the small town of Blanco, Texas, heard something attacking chickens in his cousin's barn.
Norm Levitt: An Obituary
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by Jay M. Pasachoff
Volume 34.1, January / February 2010
News & Comment
Norman Levitt, a major figure in combating pseudoscience and pseudoknowledge, died at the age of 66 on October 24.
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Notes on the News: Deception, Notoriety, and Credulity in Our Infotainment Age
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 34.1, January / February 2010
News & Comment
The media frenzy about a homemade balloon launch supposedly carrying a Fort Collins, Colorado, family's six-year old son into the sky and the resulting...
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CSI Launches New Web Site
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by Timothy Binga
Volume 33.6, November / December 2009
News & Comment
The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) is proud to announce a new design and enhancements to its Web site, www.csicop.org.
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Dinosaur Adventure Land Facing Possible IRS Seizure
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by Greg Martinez
Volume 33.6, November / December 2009
News & Comment
Flamboyant creationist Kent Hovind's seventeen-year dispute with the Internal Revenue Service is finally reaching its end...
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John A. Keel, Mothman Writer, Paranormalist Trickster (1930-2009)
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by Robert Sheaffer
Volume 33.6, November / December 2009
News & Comment
Noted paranormalist author John Alva Keel, best known to the public for his Mothman writings, died of a heart condition...
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Moon Hoax Resolved: New Lunar Orbiter Images Show Moon Landers, Astronauts’ Tracks
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by David Morrison
Volume 33.6, November / December 2009
News & Comment
Did NASA fake the landings on the Moon? This has been one of the most consistent (and outrageous) conspiracy myths of our day.
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Nigerian Scam Mastermind Sentenced in Australia
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 33.6, November / December 2009
News & Comment
We've all seen the e-mails from Nigeria insisting wealth can be ours if we help the writer get his money out of the country.
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Pew/AAAS Poll: Public Likes Science but Still Disagrees with Scientists on Controversial Issues
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 33.6, November / December 2009
News & Comment
The public continues to like science and value scientists, but a new poll shows considerable gaps between how scientists...
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Psychic Exploits Horrific Abduction Case
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 33.6, November / December 2009
News & Comment
In 1991, a young girl named Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped on her way to school. No one knew the girl's fate for eighteen years...
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Leadership Changes at the Center for Inquiry
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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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New Champ Lake Monster Video Surfaces
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by Benjamin 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...
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The Questionable Research of Hans Holzer, Dean of Ghost Hunters (1920-2009)
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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
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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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Third Annual IIG Awards: Mythbusters and Nickell Honored, Ben Stein Lampooned.
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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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What’s New? Observations on Science and Fringe Science from Bob Park
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by Robert L. Park
Volume 33.5, September / October 2009
News & Comment
Recap of recent news items by the author.
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Borneo’s River Monster Photo: Living Legend or Hoax?
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 33.4, July / August 2009
News & Comment
In February, two photographs of a huge snake-like creature allegedly taken in Borneo made international news.
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Crystal Balls in Chains
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by Donna Danford
Volume 33.4, July / August 2009
News & Comment
Fortune teller Janet Adams preyed on the fears of an elderly San Mateo, California woman to the tune of more than $80,000.
CSI’s Balles Prize Goes to Physicist/Author Leonard Mlodinow
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by Barry Karr
Volume 33.4, July / August 2009
News & Comment
CSI has awarded its Annual Prize to Mlodinow for his book The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules our Lives.
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CSI Solves New Jersey UFO Mystery
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 33.4, July / August 2009
News & Comment
Strange, bright red lights appeared over Morris County, New Jersey, on January 5, 2009. They were first noticed in the night...
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John Maddox, Longtime Nature Editor and CSI Fellow, Dies
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 33.4, July / August 2009
News & Comment
John Maddox, a pivotal figure in the world scientific community as twice editor of the esteemed scientific journal...
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Michael Dennet, Skeptic and Bigfoot Investigator, Dies
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by The Editors
Volume 33.4, July / August 2009
News & Comment
Michael Dennett, who headed the Seattle area skeptics group Society for Sensible Explanations, died May 2, 2009.
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Nonreligious Portion of U.S. Population Growing, Survey Finds
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 33.4, July / August 2009
News & Comment
What many secularists have long been contending--that their numbers are growing, and have consistently been underestimated...
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On the Moon
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by Massimo Pigliucci
Volume 33.4, July / August 2009
News & Comment
There is nothing like new facts to add some excitement to supposedly established theories.
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A Tribute to Jerry Andrus—Magician, Creator of Master Illusions
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by Ray Hyman
Volume 33.4, July / August 2009
News & Comment
Jerry Andrus--master magician and creator of innovative illusions--died peacefully August 26, 2007.
Autism-Vaccine Link Researcher Andrew Wakefield Accused of Faking His Data
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by Steven Novella
Volume 33.3, May / June 2009
News & Comment
Andrew Wakefield, the researcher who in 1998 sparked the public controversy over whether the MMR vaccine is linked to autism...
CFI/Los Angeles Celebrates Darwin’s 200th Birthday with Readings, Plays, Lecture
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by Jim Underdown and Bob Ladendorf
Volume 33.3, May / June 2009
News & Comment
More than 300 Southern Californians celebrated the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin at CFI Los Angeles...
A Modern Witch Craze in Papua New Guinea
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by Karen Stollznow
Volume 33.3, May / June 2009
News & Comment
Newspapers internationally reported a recent spate of witchcraft-related murders in rural Papua New Guinea.
More Studies Reject Vaccine-Autism Link
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 33.3, May / June 2009
News & Comment
As if more scientific support was needed, a new review of the evidence has again shown no link between vaccines and autism.
Remembering Henry Gordon, Magician, Skeptic, Debunker
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by Justin Trottier
Volume 33.3, May / June 2009
News & Comment
Kemo Kimo Merinickel Pumpernickel. Henry Gordon invented this phrase to use as an incantation in his magic...
Report Knocks Baylor Claim about American Religiosity
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by The Editors
Volume 33.3, May / June 2009
News & Comment
The Council for Secular Humanism made some headlines in February with a report released to the national media...
Science and Pseudoscience in Adult Nutrition Research and Practice
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by Reynold Spector
Volume 33.3, May / June 2009
News & Comment
Human nutrition research and practice is plagued by pseudoscience and unsupported opinions.
Scientists Hail Gallo’s ‘Unsung’ Role in Nobel HIV/AIDS Discovery
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 33.3, May / June 2009
News & Comment
When the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to two French virologists for discovering and identifying the HIV virus...
Selective Memory at Work When Patients ‘Predict’ Own Death
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by Terence Hines
Volume 33.3, May / June 2009
News & Comment
Can patients predict their own deaths using some fancy type of "insight" that is more accurate than the expertise of physicians?
Spanish Skeptics Magazine Pensar Suspends Publication
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by The Editors
Volume 33.3, May / June 2009
News & Comment
Pensar, the Spanish-language skeptics magazine launched in 2004, has suspended publication as of 2009.
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Dutch, Belgian Creationist Groups Unite to Bring Anti-Evolution Message to Six Million
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by Stefaan Blancke
Volume 33.2, March / April 2009
News & Comment
The upcoming year-long celebration of Darwin's 200th birthday (February 12, 2009) is causing a lot of excitement...
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Judge Jones and the Science/Religion Debate at Ohio State
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by Kenneth Nichols
Volume 33.2, March / April 2009
News & Comment
In the course of her teaching career, Susan Fisher has had to cope with a serious problem that often hindered her ability to...
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Six Common Medical Myths that Gain Wide Attention
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by The Editors
Volume 33.2, March / April 2009
News & Comment
In a study published in the December 2008 issue of the British Medical Journal two health researchers at...
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UFOs by the Numbers
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by The Editors
Volume 33.2, March / April 2009
News & Comment
Opinion polls about UFOs are always dissatisfying to science-oriented people because they usually ask about belief rather...
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Discovery of HIV Nets 2008 Nobel Prize for Two French Virologists
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 33.1, January / February 2009
News & Comment
The discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been honored with a share of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology...
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FTC Warns Against Bogus Cancer Cures, Charges Five Companies
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by The Editors
Volume 33.1, January / February 2009
News & Comment
The Federal Trade Commission has charged five companies with making false and misleading claims for cancer cures and said...
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Kansas Gym Ghost Video Mystery Solved
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 33.1, January / February 2009
News & Comment
On September 12, 2008, a surveillance video captured what many believed to be a ghost. The video was taken at Anytime Fitness...
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Sid the Science Kid: Meet Bill Nye for the Preschool Set
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by Julia Lavarnway
Volume 33.1, January / February 2009
News & Comment
Geared toward preschoolers, PBS Kids's new animated show, Jim Henson's Sid the Science Kid debuted in September...
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Skeptics Create Creepy Café
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by Jim Underdown
Volume 33.1, January / February 2009
News & Comment
One shouldn't be surprised to heat at a pre-Halloween gathering in Hollywood California, several people testifying about...
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Asteroids Named for Skeptics, Authors, Science Educators
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by Jeff Medkeff
Volume 32.6, November / December 2008
News & Comment
Asteroids named for P.Z. Myers, Philip Plait, Michael Stackpole and Rebecca Watson.
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Firebombings Target University Animal Researchers
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by The Editors
Volume 32.6, November / December 2008
News & Comment
Fire bombings against biomedical researchers were called acts of domestic terrorism and attributed to animal rights extremists.
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Georgia Bigfoot Hoax Draws Global Attention
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 32.6, November / December 2008
News & Comment
In early August, Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer claimed to have found in the woods of Georgia something never known to exist.
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Jon Beckjord, Advocate of a Paranormal Bigfoot (1939-2008)
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by Robert Sheaffer
Volume 32.6, November / December 2008
News & Comment
Jon Erik Beckjord, well known as a paranormal investigator focusing on Bigfoot, died July 22 from prostate cancer.
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Mickelson, McKellar Tout Science, Math, and Being Smart
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by Edzard Ernst
Volume 32.6, November / December 2008
News & Comment
Kudos to two prominent celebrities who are championing science and math education and the virtues of being smart.
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Nocturnal Lights and Sounds Baffle Maryland Town…for Awhile
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by Bill Vanderlinde
Volume 32.6, November / December 2008
News & Comment
For more than two years, residents of Pikesville, Maryland, have been startled awake by bright flashes and loud explosions.
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Purdue Panel Finds Scientific Misconduct in Researcher’s Bubble Fusion Reports
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 32.6, November / December 2008
News & Comment
A Purdue University panel has found a researcher guilty of scientific misconduct in a case of bubble, or desktop, fusion.
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Where’s the Responsibility? UK Broadcasting Code Prevents Re-Airing Psychic’s Failure
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by Ryan Shaffer
Volume 32.6, November / December 2008
News & Comment
In all of these television shows, not once has any psychic ability been demonstrated in a double-blind test.
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The Amazing Randi Strikes Again
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 32.5, September / October 2008
News & Comment
The Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas was the site of the sixth Amaz!ng Meeting, James Randi's more-or-less annual...
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CSI’s Robert P. Balles Award Goes to New York Times Science Writer Natalie Angier
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by Nathan Bupp
Volume 32.5, September / October 2008
News & Comment
CSI presents its third Balles award to Angier for The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science
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Finally, Sylvia Browne’s Final Tour
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by Karen Stollznow
Volume 32.5, September / October 2008
News & Comment
Visitors to Salt Lake City usually make the pilgrimage to the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints...
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Hoax Led to Polygamist Sect Raid
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 32.5, September / October 2008
News & Comment
False reports can have serious consequences. Time and resources spent on hoaxers and liars are diverted from real crime victims.
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No Safe Level? Science and Seconhand Smoke
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by David Appell
Volume 32.5, September / October 2008
News & Comment
Are the dangers of secondhand smoke being exaggerated by anti-smoking groups?
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Psychic’s False Sex Abuse Claim Threatens Family
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 32.5, September / October 2008
News & Comment
Psychics are wrong about things all the time; that's no news to our regular readers...
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AGU Reverses Position on Climate Change
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by The Editors
Volume 32.4, July / August 2008
News & Comment
The American Geophysical Union, the world's largest scientific organization of Earth and space scientists, has revised its...
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Controversy Erupts Over Errors, Bias in Textbook Examined by CFI
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by Henry Huber
Volume 32.4, July / August 2008
News & Comment
In 2006, New Jersey public high school junior Matthew LaClair made headlines after secretly tape-recording...
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Court Dismisses Cha Suit, Vindicates Flamm on Questioned Prayer/Fertility Study
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by The Editors
Volume 32.4, July / August 2008
News & Comment
A victory for science and freedom of speech has come in a court ruling upholding physician Bruce Flamm's investigations...
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Paul Kurtz calls Expelled Film ‘Anti-Science Propaganda’
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by Nathan Bupp
Volume 32.4, July / August 2008
News & Comment
Paul Kurtz, founder and chairman of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Center for Inquiry, has called...
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A Physicist’s Spirited Defense of String Theory and Science
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by Justin Trottier
Volume 32.4, July / August 2008
News & Comment
In an era when the public understanding and appreciation of science continues to fall in reciprocal fashion to the rising...
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The Spate of Bogus Research Papers from Korean Scientists
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by Frank Reiser
Volume 32.4, July / August 2008
News & Comment
Eureka moments in biology are rare. Teasing demonstrable facts from the complexity of life can be an arduous process of...
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Stamps of Approval for Four U.S. Scientists; Carl Sagan Next?
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by The Editors
Volume 32.4, July / August 2008
News & Comment
In March, the U.S. Postal Service issued a new series of American Scientists commemorative stamps. The four first-class...
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Anonymous vs. Scientology
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by Karen Stollznow
Volume 32.3, May / June 2008
News & Comment
In the last few months, a series of anti-Scientology protests have taken place worldwide. In an unpredictable sequence...
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Brain Neuroimaging Experiments find ‘Evidence against Existence of Psi’ ... or Do They?
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 32.3, May / June 2008
News & Comment
Can imaging of the brain help resolve the debate over whether psi exists or not? Two researchers at Harvard University...
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Coffee—with Strings
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by William Orem
Volume 32.3, May / June 2008
News & Comment
I ran into a former coworker in the streets of Boston recently and stole a minute with her in the ubiquitous coffee klatch...
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Darwin Day 2008: CFI/Los Angeles Stages Rare Reading of Steve Allen’s Meeting of Minds
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by Bob Ladendorf
Volume 32.3, May / June 2008
News & Comment
With an enthusiastic standing-room only crowd of 180 attending, critically acclaimed actors brought to life four historical...
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Electric Asteroid Zaps Earth
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by Robert Sheaffer
Volume 32.3, May / June 2008
News & Comment
The "Electric Universe" is codswollop, with or without gods hurling thunderbolts.
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How to Study Reincarnation: Guidelines for Research
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 32.3, May / June 2008
News & Comment
Is there a way to empirically study claims of reincarnation to satisfy scientific standards?
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Just Like Jedi Knights (If Only)
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by Massimo Polidoro
Volume 32.3, May / June 2008
News & Comment
You can be the most powerful Jedi knight in the universe, but if I keep my toe down, you are nothing more than a useless C3PO.
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NASA’s Mysterious ‘Man on Mars’ Photo
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 32.3, May / June 2008
News & Comment
The idea that there may be life on Mars has been around for centuries, but the theory got a boost from photos taken by...
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Scientists say Nullo Modo (No Way) to Pope
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by Frank Reiser
Volume 32.3, May / June 2008
News & Comment
When Marcello Cini, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Rome La Sapienza, heard that Pope Benedict XVI was...
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Sir Edmund Hillary, Explorer, Skeptic (1919-2008)
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by Joe Nickell
Volume 32.3, May / June 2008
News & Comment
The conqueror of Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, who died January 11, 2008, was a man of many famous exploits.
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Altercation with a (Criss) Angel
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by Jim Underdown
Volume 32.2, March / April 2008
News & Comment
When NBC's new show Phenomenon began taping a mile from the Center for Inquiry/Los Angeles, our home grown...
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Bad Journalism Misleads Public about Psychics
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 32.2, March / April 2008
News & Comment
Ada Wason and Mary Ellen Walters vanished, seemingly into thin air. The pair left their Warren County, Ohio, retirement home...
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Born Again, Inc.: Senate Investigating Six Prophets for Profit
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by Donna Danford
Volume 32.2, March / April 2008
News & Comment
Tithe-happy evangelists and their luxurious lifestyles are once again facing scrutiny.
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CFI Attacks Dismissal of Texas Educator for Her Pro-Evolution Actions
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by The Editors
Volume 32.2, March / April 2008
News & Comment
Scholars at CFI were dismayed that the Texas Education Agency forced an educator our of her job because she spoke in favor of...
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The Comic Pratfalls of Richard Roberts
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by Martin Gardner
Volume 32.2, March / April 2008
News & Comment
In November 2007, Oral Roberts's singing son Richard, age fifty-nine, resigned as president of Tulsa's Oral Roberts University.
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Declaration Defends Europe’s Genetically Modified Maize
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by Michel Naud
Volume 32.2, March / April 2008
News & Comment
In Europe, only one genetically modified plant variety is cultivated: the insect-resistant Bt GM maize.
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Natalee Holloway Disappearance Unsolved; Case Closed
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 32.2, March / April 2008
News & Comment
Despite the efforts of searchers and psychics, police on Aruba closed the case on missing teenager Natalee Holloway.
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New National Academy Book Defends Evolution
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by The Editors
Volume 32.2, March / April 2008
News & Comment
In January, the National Academy of Sciences issued a new, spirited defense of evolution in the form of an updated...
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Quoteworthy
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by The Editors
Volume 32.2, March / April 2008
News & Comment
Recent quotes and observations
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Science Leaders, CFI Call for Science Debate among Presidential Candidates
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by The Editors
Volume 32.2, March / April 2008
News & Comment
In December 2007, a coalition of scientists and science communicators began calling for a U.S. presidential debate devoted to...
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Tunguska Asteroid Size Downgraded by New Computer Simulations
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by The Editors
Volume 32.2, March / April 2008
News & Comment
The explosion that caused such incredible forest devastation at Tunguska a century ago in Siberia may have been caused by...
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Two Meanings of ‘Faith’ Confuse Even Scientists
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by Robert L. Park
Volume 32.2, March / April 2008
News & Comment
On the topic of laser physics, I would happily defer to Townes, but this is a matter of the English Language.
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Update News Notes
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by The Editors
Volume 32.2, March / April 2008
News & Comment
Here are updates from the news related to the topics of some recent articles in the Skeptical Inquirer.
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Council of Europe Approves Resolution against Creationism
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by Martin Mahner
Volume 32.1, January / February 2008
News & Comment
On October 4, 2007, the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly approved a resolution recommending...
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Difficulty in Debunking Myths Rooted in the Way the Mind Works
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by Shankar Vedantam
Volume 32.1, January / February 2008
News & Comment
This phenomenon may help explain why large numbers of Americans incorrectly think that Saddam Hussein was directly involved...
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Haunting Evidence Follow-Up: TV Psychic Detectives Fail Again
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by Benjamin Radford
Volume 32.1, January / February 2008
News & Comment
How many of the ... cases featured in the first season of Haunting Evidence did the team solve? Not a single one.
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Out of Body and in the Lab: New Experiments Stimulate Seeing Self Elsewhere
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by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 31.6, November / December 2007
News & Comment
Two sets of studies published independently in the same issue of the journal Science demonstrate how...
