Let’s get the controversy out of the way first. In the interests of full disclosure, I need to reveal an interest. I consume coffee. There. I’ve said it. Now you may think there is nothing particularly strange about that. After all, some 80% of the world’s population consume caffeinated products every […]
Other Bits
Sit down while I explain…
In case you haven’t heard, tobacco smoking is very bad for your health. In fact, it is extremely dangerous. It is associated with an astoundingly morbid gallery of adverse consequences, including a quadrupling of cardiovascular disease risk, a quadrupling of stroke risk, at least a dozen-fold increase in lung cancer […]
This week’s carcinogen: Your mobile phone
So it looks as though we are all going to die. Again. This time it’s our mobile phones that are going to kill us. And who says so? Well, exactly. As in, the WHO says so. In a news story that has captured the imagination of cancer obsessives around the […]
Why is this paper still cited?
What’s the most cited academic paper on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)? Is it an evidence-based trial demonstrating the efficacy of a particular therapy? Is it a systematic review of a collection of efficacy literature? Is it a paper that explains a single major CAM modality, such as acupuncture or […]
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 […]
“Racecardgate” on Storify
This is a slightly unusual format for a post on this blog, but I thought it was worth recording for posterity. It concerns the rather bizarre suggestion made yesterday by some UK-based homeopaths about a good way of defending homeopathy against formal complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority. Rather than […]
Recent Posts
The cries for help are getting louder. And that’s a good sign
“A science that does not allow opposing opinions abolishes knowledge.” Er, kind of
Getting it Right: Addressing Myths about the 2021 NICE Guideline for ME/CFS
Talking to David Tuller about dualism
Where I speak to colleagues in the Swedish parliament…
