I came across this story on Science's 'science sifter' page:
The next CEO of Australia’s leading research agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), is in hot water after suggesting the cash-strapped organization spend scarce research dollars investigating water divining, or dowsing.
The editors at Science do have a sense of humour & my first thought was to check the date, but no, the story didn't break April 1st.
Before any science funders start spending their scarce funds on this particular brand of woo (for dowsing is not based on any known physical principles), those making the funding decisions might be best considering the fact that it doesn't stack up in controlled conditions. First up, James Randi (in Australia) – and note that those participating all agreed to the methods used before the test began.
Richard Dawkins did something similar, & again, those taking part agreed to the methods before beginning (which makes the special pleading in the comments thread rather amusing)
I feel a facepalm coming on.
ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© says:
Aww, come on. You just need the right stick!
~
Alison Campbell says:
a sharp stick, poking, for purposes of.