When it comes to questionable science claims in advertising, you rarely need to look further than the cosmetics industry. Just two weeks ago, two magazine advertisements by French cosmetics giant L’Oréal were banned by Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority following a complaint by a Member of the UK Parliament. The ASA found that L’Oréal […]
Jargon
Six odd Irish UFO sightings
Well, how about this then? Apparently, as well as undergoing simultaneous financial and banking crises on a scale almost never heretofore experienced by anyone, Ireland is experiencing a “UFO epidemic” in its skies. That’s according to the Irish-based franchise of the UK tabloid The Sun. Please note, The Sun are […]
Talking science with Scibernia
I was recently interviewed by the folks over at Scibernia.ie, who produce an excellent bi-monthly podcast featuring science news, debate, and analysis. The interview was conducted by tech journalist (and “recovering philosopher“) Sylvia Leatham (@SylviaLeatham) after my recent public lecture for the Irish Skeptics Society. You can listen to the interview […]
When correlation does not imply “casualness”
Yesterday, the Daily Mail published a news story with the following headline: “Psychologists warn of ‘casual link’ between internet porn and rise in sex offences”. Hmm, a “casual link” you say? Really?! “Casual”? (Thank you to @EvidenceMatters and @decaux for pointing this out to me on Twitter.) Now, I guess this particular typo […]
Towards a quantum Theory of Everything (including dirty dishes)
Perhaps few words in contemporary science have been abused as much as “quantum”. Simply put, a quantum is the minimum amount of an entity that can actually do anything. One example is a photon, which is the minimum amount of light that can be involved in an electromagnetic interaction. The […]
Politico.ie covers “The Babel Fish”
Following up on last week’s Irish Skeptics Society lecture on science communication, journalist John Holden filed a report on the Irish politics and current affairs website, Politico.ie. As part of his analysis, Holden notes that: “In the Irish media there is still only one page per week devoted to ‘hard science’ […]
