When I Googled ‘vaccination’ to do a little research before writing this post I was surprised that my top three options were Wikipedia (of course), the NHS (sensibly) and vaccination.co.uk (a site that is sceptical of the efficacy of vaccination). I would have expected criticism of one of the medical marvels of the modern world to …
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Category:Scepticism
Magnetish…
You may not notice anything different here but mysterious and wonderful things have happened. Firstly, I have added a ‘Community’ page for you to explore. Fill in the registration page and I will give you access when I have time. Use it wisely! Secondly, there are new links in the ‘Links’ menu. You should especially …
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Miracle Drink…
Yesterday, a friend sent me a link to “This Miracle Drink Prevents The Spread of Cancer”, which was posted on a website called ‘Natural Cures Not Medicine‘. They asked me for my ‘thoughts’ knowing that I enjoy looking at medical claims on non-medical websites. It would be easy to dismiss the story straight off without visiting …
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Horrible Histories…
This is a sort of experiment to see if people who could not previously see my posts can now see my posts (do comment – you know who you are…) It is also rather a fun song from the BBC. Questions… Who came up with ‘natural selection’? Suggest a unique characteristic of mammals. Suggest one …
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More Brain Information…
We had a splendid lecture last year about brain function from a Cambridge University neuroscientist. In it he highlighted a few commonly misunderstood ideas about how the brain works. It was very interesting and that is why I took note when the following video appeared in my YouTube in tray. ASAP Science, a YouTube channel, …
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Corylus Cornuta For Tearless Teething…
“…it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.” Macbeth Act 5 Scene 5 I often hear it said that ‘even a child of 12’ knows enough science to dismiss some of the extraordinary assertions of those selling unusual cures for diseases. I know you and so I think …
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Wiltshire Gazette & Herald…
When I am visiting my parents in Wiltshire, my main regional paper is the Wiltshire Gazette & Herald. There are other more local ones but this is the one that we have always taken. When I was very young I used to scour its pages for crimes or mysteries in my nearby villages that I …
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Monkey Morals…
Where does our moral behaviour come from? It’s a question that is often asked and discussed in philosophy classes but a lot of work is also done on the subject by biologists. As a member of a social species that evolved in groups, evolution will have played a part in the development of the moral behaviour …
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Monkey Morals…
It is often said that religious belief is necessary to offer a framework for moral behaviour. One of the suggested functions of religion, and one reason religious instruction is given to children, is to provide a system of morals. I was brought up in a religious environment, went to religious schools and spent a good deal of my youth …
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Salty Lamps…
In the 80s my parents bought an ioniser for my brother’s room because we had read that negative ions discouraged the release of serotonin in the brain and could also help to reduce asthma. This was before the Internet so we couldn’t spend five minutes researching the claim before buying one. It was a scientific claim …
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