Denialism

Category: Science

  • Galileo, Semmelweis, and YOU!

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    MarkH
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    To wear the mantle of Galileo, it is not enough to be persecuted: you must also be right. –Robert Park I used to spend a lot of time on the websites of Joe Mercola and Gary Null, the most influential medical cranks of the internets (to call them “quacks” would imply that they are real…

  • New OTA site

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    MarkH
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    The archived reports of the OTA are on a new site hosted by the Federation of American Scientists. You may remember that we’re big fans of the OTA as we feel that scientific assessment of government policy and guidance of legislation is key to having an efficacious, informed congress. In our initial post on the…

  • Feministe on Gardasil

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    MarkH
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    Complementing Pal’s essay on Gardasil yesterday is our buddy la Pobre Habladora guest blogging on Feministe. Which, I think, brings us to a new angle on anti-vax denialism because as Pal mentions, the motivations behind harping on Gardasil are different than the usual nonsense. Gardasil, to everyone’s dismay, has become intertwined with sexual politics in…

  • Science ain’t over ’til, um…well, never!

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    MarkH
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    Over at sciencebasedmedicine.com, Mark Crislip has a great post on the history of medical advances. First, go read it. WAIT! Don’t forget to come back and read the rest of my post! OK, you can go now.

  • Stupid news story

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    MarkH
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    There’s no such thing as a slow news day. There’s a war in Iraq, another in Afganistan, a genocide in Sudan, a presidential campaign, and probably some right wing blowhard having fun in a public restroom somewhere. So what the hell was the Times thinking with this one? The premise appears to be that blogging…

  • Tangled Bank #102

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    MarkH
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    It’s now up at Further Thoughts…go and read!

  • I don’t usually do this but…

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    MarkH
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    …I really couldn’t resist sharing some fun links. I guess you’d call it blogrolling. First, someone got a hold of the über-seekrit Expelled:Leader’s Guide, and started deconstructing it. Next, Steve Novella once again eviscerates a wacky water-woo cult leader at NeuroLogica. Panda Bear, M.D. has one of his usual lengthy must-reads. Orac goes after the…

  • Science-based medicine – The good and the bad on a good new blog

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    MarkH
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    I must say I’ve loved much of the writing at the new blog Science-Based Medicine. These guys are fighting the good fight and presenting very sophisticated aspects of evaluating the medical literature in a very accessible way. In particular I’d like to point out David Gorski’s critique of NCCAM and the directly-relevant articles from Kimball…

  • Finally, an explanation for my sneezing

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    MarkH
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    Here I thought I was the only one but apparently photic sneezing has received enough attention to get researchers interested in it. Apparently it’s an ancient problem: Aristotle mused about why one sneezes more after looking at the sun in The Book of Problems: “Why does the heat of the sun provoke sneezing?” He surmised…

  • Obesity Crankery Part II

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    MarkH
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    Orac alerted me, based on my recent obesity writings, of a new crank obesity attack on science. This latest is in the form of a rebuttal to Morgan Spurlock’s excellent film Supersize me. Comedian Tom Naughton, who has all the charisma of a wet sponge, is making his own documentary Fathead: You’ve been fed a…