08 December 2011 by Richelle McCullough
Over the course of my graduate degree, I slowly became more and more aware of the bad information in the media about science, ultimately leading to my interest in the skeptical movement. When I decided to a talk at Skepticamp Winnipeg 2011, I realized that I needed to address the way science exists in the [...]
30 November 2011 by Richelle McCullough
Source There has been much abuzz about “pox parties” – the practice of parents getting a bunch of unvaccinated kids together with an infected one (pick one, really, though chicken pox is the focus of the recent article in Time) in the hope that their little sweethearts become ill and therefore “naturally” immune to the [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Skepticism, Vaccines81 Comments
20 February 2011 by Melany Hamill
Hello Skeptifans, It’s sunny and beautiful in Vancouver today. How’s it going in the rest of the country? Here are the Fails and Wins in the media this week: Sent in by Erik. Where to find scientific research with negative results BoingBoing republished some great tips, (originally found here), about where to find information about [...]
Posted in Skeptical Fails and Wins9 Comments
30 January 2011 by Melany Hamill
Hello Skeptifans. Here’s your Fails and Wins in the media this week. A Fighting Spirit Won’t Save Your Life Anna sent in this Win. We often hear that positive thinking can help people recover from disease or injury faster. But there is no evidence that optimism helps at all. This story presents a quick history [...]
Posted in Skeptical Fails and Wins5 Comments
16 January 2011 by Melany Hamill
Hello Skeptifans. My inbox was absolutely overflowing with Fails and Wins this week. Thanks to all of you who sent me links, and especially to those regulars who I see in my inbox every week. Doctor’s discredited vaccine-autism link leaves a legacy of preventable death and disease Fred and Lorne sent in this Win covering [...]
Posted in Skeptical Fails and Wins2 Comments
24 May 2010 by Scott Gavura
It’s not a surprise. It’s about six years overdue. Andrew Wakefield will lose his medical license. Yes, the (in)famous Andrew Wakefield, the individual that started the modern antivaccination movement, and drove measles to become endemic in the United Kingdom again, will no longer be practicing medicine in the United Kingdom. It’s all the result of [...]
Posted in Health, Skepticism3 Comments
14 March 2010 by Melany Hamill
Scott saw this disappointing article about Andrew Wakefield. The article completely glosses Wakefield’s many ethical infractions and defends him as a victim of a “big pharma” smear campaign. Wakefield’s defenders all have a short memory. They fail to remember that he himself worked for “big pharma” and patented his own measles vaccine that he intended [...]
Posted in Skeptical Fails and WinsComments Off
18 February 2010 by Kim Hebert
Some science blogs are reporting today that Andrew Wakefield is leaving Thoughtful House, following this posting on Thoughtful House’s Yahoo! group (login required):
Posted in Pseudoscience, VaccinesComments Off
