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Biology Evolution Humor Paranormal Physics Pseudoscience Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Tying up loose ends from 2009: Deepak Chopra versus Michael Shermer

Over the holidays, I stayed at home for a combination of some relaxation and some grant writing. (I know, weird.) As I was perusing some of the links I saved during that time, it occurs to me that I totally forgot about one particularly amazing bit of hilarity, courtesy of our old “friend” Deepak Chopra. […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine

Gut disorders and autism: A new consensus statement

One of the key claims of the “autism biomedical” movement is that something about autism derives from or is exacerbated by the gut; i.e., that there is some sort of link between GI problems, particularly inflammatory diseases of the GI tract, and autism. Although I may not be as versed in the history of this […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

The Three Musketeers of Woo attack science-based medicine

I realize that I haven’t done an installment of Your Friday Dose of Woo for a while–well over a month, in fact. Because of the gap between woo installments, I had been thinking that today was the time. There are at least a couple of really good candidates (and a host of halfway decent ones) […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine News of the Weird Pseudoscience Quackery Religion Science Skepticism/critical thinking Surgery

A pyromaniac in a field of straw man or a black hole of burning stupid incinerating every straw man in the universe? Mike Adams attacks skepticism

Mike Adams is confused. I know, I know. Such a statement is akin to saying that water is wet (and that it doesn’t have memory, at least not the mystical magical memories ascribed to it by homeopaths), that the sun rises in the East, or that writing an NIH R01 grant is hard, but there […]

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Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Andreas Moritz and trying to shut down valid scientific criticism: A sine qua non of a quack

What is it with cranks and trying to shut down criticism? I know, I know. I’ve written about this before, but this week has been a banner week for a phenomenon that I consider a sine qua non of a crank or a quack, namely an intolerance of criticism. Seemingly, whenever a quack or a […]