Categories
Skepticism/critical thinking

The 87th Meeting of the Skeptics’ Circle: Dirty Limericks Edition

You know, after over three years of existence and nearly two years that I’ve been entrusted with the responsibility of organizing it, I thought I had seen pretty much every possible permutation of how the Skeptics’ Circle could be hosted. We’ve had cartoons, soda machines, stories, raucous meetings in pubs, and a whole bunch of […]

Categories
History Holocaust News of the Weird Politics World War II

Rudolf Hess stamps? In Germany? D’oh!

Here’s how not to allow personalized stamps to be produced: BERLIN — German neo-Nazis used a personalized stamp service offered by Deutsche Post to create a 55-cent stamp carrying a portrait of Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess, the company said Wednesday. The latest newsletter of the far-right National Democratic Party gloated about being able to slip […]

Categories
Cancer Medicine Surgery

More is not always better: MRI and the increasing mastectomy rate

“Early detection of cancer saves lives.” How many times have you heard this statement or something resembling it? It’s a common assumption (indeed, a seemingly common sense assumption) that detecting cancer early is always a Very Good Thing. Why wouldn’t it be, after all? For many cancers, such as breast cancer and colon cancer, there’s […]

Categories
Clinical trials Medicine Science

ERV asks: What happens when a PI dies?

ERV asks: What happens when a PI holding an NIH grant dies, given that PIs support post-docs, graduate students, and technicians in his or her lab? In other words: Or what would happen to me if Bossman got hit by a bus or got brain cancer. Does the NIH have some sort of protocol for […]

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

What is it about Winona, MN and antivaccinationists?

A couple of weeks ago, I linked to an amazingly ignorant antivaccination screed published in the Winona Daily News. In the comments, I was made aware of another antivaccination screed in the form of a letter to the editor to the Winona Post. (Unfortunately, I am unable to locate it online.) Now, today, I find […]