Time to reprint those fan t-shirts, folks, as a new date has been added to my world tour. Next Tuesday evening I’m giving the keynote lecture at Psych Fest 2013, the, er, psychology festival at Mary Immaculate College, University of… Read More ›
Health 
Web sight
Just a quick post today. This one’s especially for the arachnophobes. You know who you are. A popular scientific explanation for arachnophobia has been that it reflects an evolutionarily endowed avoidance of creatures found to be dangerous in our environment… Read More ›
Peurile? Moi?
You’ll have to forgive my recent lack of Tweets. I’m in China and Tweeting doesn’t work here. According to the log-in page of my hotel wifi, some websites are inaccessible due to legal restrictions. They mention YouTube in particular (probably… Read More ›
Bad things are bad for you. As are good things.
It’s all bad news this week, I’m afraid. Literally. Not only does it look bad and sound bad, but it also has bad effects on you. It’s all-round baaaaaaaaad. First of all — and you’re not going to be hugely surprised… Read More ›
Correlation? Causation? YOU decide! (It’s as good an approach as any…)
So, I’ve concluded that we might as well give up on trying to spread the word about the correlation-causation fallacy. People just don’t seem to be getting it. I do appreciate that there are complexities (after all, causality causes, and… Read More ›
Overweight people have lower death risk…#yesterdaysnewstoday
Recipe for a long life: overweight people have lower death risk #tomorrowspaperstoday http://t.co/tk7UxlYJ— The Independent (@Independent) January 01, 2013 I must be getting old. Things are beginning to repeat themselves. It feels like déjà vu all over again. In fact,… Read More ›
At last: “Science Bit–The MOVIE!”
Well, kind of. Here is a video of the keynote lecture I gave as part of the #celt12 ‘Written Word’ conference held last June in Galway, Ireland. Why not set aside 29 minutes or so of your life and watch something… Read More ›
Guess what: Cancer vaccines don’t cause cancer
We’ve previously discussed the whole “oh-my-god-vaccines-are-terrible” carry-on that seems to have gripped the popular Luddite imagination since, well, since vaccines were basically invented. Well, they’ve been at it again. This time the controversy has related to the tragically young death… Read More ›
Todd Akin’s empirical question
So, as you may have heard, Mr Akin, the Republican Party Senate candidate in Missouri (hi, Missouri!) has some weird views on rape, conception, and abortion. Basically, this is what the Todd Akin t-shirts are going to be saying this… Read More ›
Galway nuked, radiation fireball blasts Athlone :(
The other day, a live World War II hand grenade was found in a garden just down the street from my house. Thirty families were evacuated from their homes in the middle of the night while the army bomb disposal… Read More ›
Aside: More on the science of college exams
Yesterday I drew attention to a study claiming that students who bring water into exams get better grades. I made the point that at this time of year the media are often keen to report ‘science news’ that can be… Read More ›
If it smells right, do it/him/her
Smell anyone nice lately? Did it make you feel a little, you know, frisky? (That’s another word for romantic, kids.) Well, you are not alone. In fact, the entire rest of the human race is with you on that one. And what’s… Read More ›
Homeopathy, vaccination, autism: Together again
As you can see above, this here blog caught the attention of the Irish Times yesterday, with founder skeptic Paul O’Donoghue using it as the hook for his latest column in the science section. [Greetings, Irish Times readers! By the way, here’s… Read More ›
Cancer: Misinformation is a risk factor too
People who know me personally will know that I don’t take cancer lightly (for various reasons I won’t go into here). So I am always a bit reluctant to criticize people who make the fight against cancer their life’s mission. After… Read More ›
Happy Meals make you unhappy? Not so fast…
So here is even more scientific research into the non-obvious consequences of eating junk food. As regular readers will know, we’ve recently heard of a couple of studies claiming that eating chocolate either (a) helps you lose weight or (b) helps you… Read More ›
Chocolate keeps you thin? Fat chance!
It seems like only yesterday I was writing about the idea that scoffing mounds of chocolicious contraband might actually be — bear with me — bad for your physical health. That’s right. Call me Doctor Bigbrains and give me my… Read More ›
I’ve decided to do my bit for homeopathy awareness…
I recently came across this campaign for homeopathy awareness. Sounds good to me, we could certainly do with a helluva lot more awareness in this area. In fact, one of the more surprising reactions I encounter when I discuss homeopathy… Read More ›
