Not quite (although that's implied in some of the rather breathless reporting of an extraordinary paper that was published on-line this month). Nevertheless, the real story describes a striking achievement: the cloning of DNA from the extinct thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger.
Continue readingTag: critical thinking
missing fingers & pixie dust
There was an article in the Herald last week (I think) which set my pseudoscience detector ringing… it had a title something like "Pixie dust helps man regrow finger". The article itself gushed on about how this guy had lost part of his finger to a bit of sharp-edged machinery, but the missing bit – […]
Continue readinghow to lie with statistics
I've just finished reading a wonderful book on statistics – How to lie with statistics (Huff, 1954). An absolutely brilliant book – and not an equation in sight!
Continue readingback to the oxygen pseudoscience
Time, I think, to return to that pseudoscience on oxygen that I introduced to you a while ago. Have you worked out what it was promoting?
Continue readingdo you google?
I'll bet you do – I use Google a lot myself. It's a great tool for finding images or information quickly. But – what about when you are looking for material for a biology assignment, or to broaden your knowledge on a particular topic?
Continue readingcreationist argument #3: Darwin –> Hitler
This one has been getting a lot of air time in the US lately. Basically, what it says is that Darwin's theory of evolution (they tend to call it 'Darwinism') was used by Hitler to justify the Holocaust, and therefore evolution is evil and should be rejected. This particular argument has the usual logical flaws […]
Continue readingfish oil & exam results
Last year I put up a couple of posts to do with suggestions that taking fish-oil capsules would enhance exam performance. You might be interested in this latest comment from Ben Goldacre on the issue, following the Durham 'trial' of fish-oil supplements in the UK.
Continue readingthe nature of science (again)
The new Science curriculum has the 'nature of science' right up there at the top. And why? Because it's so important for people to learn, not just science facts and concepts, but also about what science is: how it's done, the tools and methods scientists use, how they communicate, its history, & how science is […]
Continue readingcell phones & male fertility
Orac's just blogged on a new study that seems to show that heavy cellphone use contributes to male infertility. No doubt this will be all over the headlines in a day or so – so I thought I'd get in first & give you some practice in critical thinking while I'm at it.
Continue reading(pseudo)science runs amok
Those of you who've come to one of my Scholarship preparation days may have noticed that I've got a bit of a bee in my bonnet about pseudoscience. It really annoys me when I see science being mis-used to sell a product or promote a particular point of view. A good friend of mine has […]
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