Science and scepticism for everyone! (Plus t-shirts.)
Introduction: Polar bears are often depicted as lovable mascots for the arctic (Fig 1) and horribly threatened by climate change. They may be lovable. And they may be threatened by climate change. But the fact that we don’t like dead … Continued
Introduction: Some conditions require the use of dietary supplements, but they are mostly unnecessary with modern diets. But this doesn’t stop the supplement industry from making buckets of money. Dietary supplements raked in $32 billion in profits in 2012 and … Continued
Introduction: I conducted a quick, unscientific poll using a third-party Facebook app to test the app and the general interest in polls. The poll was designed to be easy to take and appealing to the followers of the Scienceosaurus blog. … Continued
Introduction: Vanadinite is a beautiful crystal (Figure 1). However, some woo practitioners, who are inspired by its attractiveness and inhibited by their own ignorance, think that this mineral has magical powers. This is not the case. Vanadinite background: Firstly, vanadinite … Continued
Introduction: Homeopathy is such a dumb idea that it’s a shame scientists have to even examine it at all. But what’s even worse, is that despite the towering piles of conclusive evidence showing homeopathy to be ineffective, it lumbers on. … Continued
Introduction: A lot of folks buy “Himalayan” salt for a lot of reasons. And it’s easy to see why; judging by the claims of online retailers this stuff is just the best! However, judging by the evidence (provided by people … Continued
Introduction: The moon will be full (99.6%, waxing gibbous) tonight, which often conjures expectations of increased high jinks. However, these expectations of lunar lunacy are just wrong. Many studies confirm that the moon does not affect the actions of us … Continued
Introduction: For highly competitive athletes, the pressure to win is enormous. Unfortunately, this pressure can make athletes grasp for the winning edge with a desperation that breeds credulity. One form of this credulous behavior drives athletes to plaster colorful, stretchy … Continued
Introduction: The Arc Encounter theme park, in Kentucky, is a $100,000,000 tribute to insecurity. By this I mean that it was built as a flashy pretence to long-debunked pseudoscientific claims. No, worse than that, it is a façade of truth … Continued