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Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Mercury and autism: RFK Jr. drops another stinky one on the blogosphere

I had wanted to let this cup pass, but couldn’t, not after several readers e-mailed it to me and I went and experienced its inanity first hand. As Michael Corleone said in The Godfather, Part III: “Just when I thought I was finally out, they drag me back in again!” In this case, it was […]

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Paranormal Pareidolia Skepticism/critical thinking

A little pareidolia, anyone?

Ya gotta love it. Whether it be the Virgin Mary under a freeway overpass on W. Fullerton Avenue in Chicago or on a window in Perth Amboy, NJ, or the face of Jesus on a shell, on the wall of a shower, on a sand dune, a potato chip, or (my personal favorite) a pierogi, […]

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Clinical trials Medicine Science

Impressive science failing to impress patients

One of the greatest challenges in medicine can sometimes be to convince a patient that the results of scientific and medical research apply to them, or, at the very least, to explain how such results apply. A couple of days ago, in an article the New York Times, Dr. Abigail Zuker, proposed one reason why […]

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Medicine Surgery

Angst in my pants*: Academic surgeons lament their lot

*With apologies to Sparks. You’d think that a meeting of surgeons in such a beautiful and sunny city as San Diego would be one big party. Well, it was to some extent outside of the meeting, but the meeting itself was a bit of a drag. Academic surgeons are not a happy lot these days, […]

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Respectful Insolence rebooted

Orac has moved. He now resides at ScienceBlogs!