Sceptici în România

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:15 — 9.4MB)

Aboneaza-te! Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | Blubrry | Email | TuneIn | RSS

Skeptical Reporter for February 1^st, 2013

We begin this edition of the skeptical reporter with an announcement.

The editors at Doubtful News are working on a guideline on skepticism for the media. They are welcoming contributions and suggestions to make this document complete, easy to understand and use. This is what the announcement had to say: “the purpose is to provide a clear, easy to read guide about the “skeptical” viewpoint as subscribed to by many who might call themselves Skeptics or critical thinkers; to distinguish practical skepticism from the popular use of the phrase “I’m skeptical,” and from those who claim to be “skeptics” regarding some widely accepted conclusion (such as climate change)”. So if you have time, do not hesitate to bring your contribution to this initiative, here: http://doubtfulnews.com/media-guide-to-skepticism/.

And now for some skeptical news

An attorney for a former student of Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment is barred from asking the school’s leader, JZ Knight, about alleged practices such as encouraging students to drink a liquid containing lye that, according to the former student’s affidavit, is supposed to “accelerate our individual enlightenment.” Knight’s videotaped deposition will be part of a breach-of-contract lawsuit brought by the mystic teacher against a former student of her school, Virginia Coverdale. The suit seeks damages in response to Coverdale’s release of videos showing Knight making derogatory comments about Mexicans, Catholics and others last year. Reposting of the videos by a local conservative think tank, the Freedom Foundation, prompted Republicans to call for Democratic candidates to give back campaign contributions they had received from Knight. The suit also seeks a permanent injunction barring Coverdale from releasing any other unauthorized materials belonging to the school. The school alleges the materials are protected by a contract Coverdale signed upon enrollment. A restraining order barring any such release of protected materials is in place pending the outcome of the lawsuit. In court filings, attorneys for the Ramtha school accused Coverdale of attempting to authorize lines of questioning during Knight’s deposition with the intent to “embarrass and harass” Knight.

In 2009, when the Texas State Board of Education adopted new science curriculum standards, some noted that proponents of creationism had inserted language they would later try to exploit to pressure publishers into including their arguments against evolution in new textbooks. Barbara Cargill, the Republican state board chair from The Woodlands near Houston, has recently done so, suggesting materials for students should from now on include arguments on “all sides” of evolution. Speaking at a Senate Education Committee hearing in Austin about CSCOPE, a curriculum management tool developed by Education Service Centers around the state and used by many school districts, Cargill said she thinks CSCOPE doesn’t conform to the science standards because it doesn’t teach “all sides” about evolution: “Our intent, as far as theories with the [curriculum standards], was to teach all sides of scientific explanations… But when I went on [the website] last night, I couldn’t see anything that might be seen as another side to the theory of evolution. Every link, every lesson, everything, you know, was taught as ‘this is how the origin of life happened, this is what the fossil record proves,’ and all that’s fine, but that’s only one side”.

In Great Britain, the Foundation for Integrated Medicine persuaded officials to neuter advice about homeopathy on the NHS Choices patient website. Draft guidance for the website NHS Choices warning that there is no evidence that homeopathy works was suppressed by officials following lobbying by a charity set up by the Prince of Wales. Homeopathy is "rubbish", said chief medical officer Sally Davies in January to the House of Commons science and technology committee. She added that she was "perpetually surprised" that homeopathy was available in some places on the NHS. But the government's NHS Choices website, which is intended to offer evidence-based information and advice to the public on treatments, does not reflect her view. A draft page that spelled out the scientific implausibility of homeopathic remedies was neutered by Department of Health officials. It is now uncritical, with just links to reports on the lack of evidence. Lobbying by opponents, and the response from DH officials who did not want to take on Prince Charles's now defunct Foundation for Integrated Medicine and other supporters of homeopathy, is revealed in correspondence from the department discussing the new guidance. There is no evidence that Prince Charles was involved personally in the lobbying.

In the United States, a petition to have acupuncture recognized as a profession and have it included in the Medicare system has gained 25.000 signatures. This means it will receive a formal response from the presidency. Acupuncturists welcomed the news and announced: “The new year has proven to be a promising one for acupuncturists nationwide. On the start of the Chinese New Year, the White House petition to recognize acupuncture as a profession and have it included in the Medicare system met the White House standard of having more than 25,000 signatures in order to mandate a formal response by the White House. As of press time, the petition had a total of 26,743 signatures. The petition was created on Jan. 11 and has gained fast momentum in the last few weeks with thousands of acupuncturists nationwide logging on to sign the petition. In an effort to make a case, the petition notes studies have shown that when an acupuncturist is directly involved in patient care for pain management and other issues, the patient recovers quicker with less medication required”.

And now let’s look at some news in science

Women who take folic acid supplements before becoming pregnant, as well as early in pregnancy, may reduce the risk of having a child with an autism spectrum disorder, according to a new study. Researchers followed 85,176 babies born between 2002 and 2008 for three to 10 years to determine whether their mother's use of folic acid supplements influenced the risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder. The researchers focused on women who had taken folic acid supplements for 4 weeks before they became pregnant until 8 weeks after the start of the pregnancy. The babies were part of the Autism Birth Cohort Study, a subset of the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Women who had taken folic acid supplements in early pregnancy had a 40 percent reduced risk of having a child with autistic disorder than did women who had not taken the supplement. No reduction in risk was shown for Asperger syndrome.

Scientists have demonstrated that the uncertainty principle, one of the most famous rules of quantum physics, operates in macroscopic objects visible to the naked eye. The principle, described by physicist Werner Heisenberg nearly a century ago, states that the mere act of measuring the position of a particle, such as an electron, necessarily disturbs its momentum. That means the more precisely you try to measure its location, the less you know about how fast it's moving, and vice versa. While in theory this principle operates on all objects, in practice its effects were thought to be measurable only in the tiny realm where the rules of quantum mechanics are important. In a new experiment, described in the journal Science, physicists have shown that the uncertainty principle effects can be detected in a tiny drum visible to the naked eye.

According to estimations, every car by a major brand will be connected to the internet by 2014. Using a hand-held mobile phone while driving a car has been illegal in the UK since 2003. But 10 years later, car manufacturers are hoping that the technology regularly found on smartphones could help motorists drive safely by sensing nearby vehicles. What this means is app-culture infiltrating the dashboard - from a parking space finder to a way to get coupons for local restaurants, or directions that can pop up on the windscreen. It all relies on the car being connected to the internet, allowing all this information to arrive without too much searching or button pushing and a lot more focus on voice commands. The connected car is already the third fastest growing technological device after phones and tablets, Intel believes. By 2020, $600 billion - or 20% of the value of new connected vehicles - will be able to be attributed to "connected life", according to Machina Research. Intel alone is investing $100 million in the next five years in companies that can quicken the adoption of connected cars. "By the end of 2014, for some of the bigger brands, every vehicle they sell will offer some sort of connectivity," says Jack Bergquist of information company IHS.

US researchers have effectively given laboratory rats a "sixth sense" using an implant in their brains. An experimental device allowed the rats to "touch" infrared light - which is normally invisible to them. The team at Duke University fitted the rats with an infrared detector wired up to microscopic electrodes that were implanted in the part of their brains that processes tactile information. The researchers say that, in theory at least, a human with a damaged visual cortex might be able to regain sight through a device implanted in another part of the brain. Lead author Miguel Nicolelis said this was the first time a brain-machine interface has augmented a sense in adult animals. His colleague Eric Thomson commented: "The philosophy of the field of brain-machine interfaces has until now been to attempt to restore a motor function lost to lesion or damage of the central nervous system. This is the first paper in which a neuroprosthetic device was used to augment function - literally enabling a normal animal to acquire a sixth sense".

And in local news from Romania we learn that

The Education Ministry is taking physical activity in students more seriously. Starting with next year, students in middle school will start attending four hours of physical education classes every week, as minister of Education Remus Pricopie has announced. The students will be gradually introduced to the more intense regime of activity and more teachers in the field will be hired in order to supplement the numbers. The minister has explained that the change was needed considering that students already spend a lot of time preparing for the class instead of actually doing sports.

Links:

• http://doubtfulnews.com/media-guide-to-skepticism/
• http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/02/02/2458997/judge-limits-questioning-in-jz.html
• http://tfninsider.org/2013/02/05/told-you-so-texas-ed-board-chair-wants-science-textbooks-to-teach-another-side-on-evolution/
• http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=32711
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/feb/13/prince-charity-lobbied-government-homeopathy
• http://www.livescience.com/27086-folic-acid-supplements-autism-risk.html
• http://www.livescience.com/27137-uncertainty-principle-measured-macro-scale.html
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21411335
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21459745
• http://www.realitatea.net/ministerul-educatiei-introduce-4-ore-de-educatie-fizica-pe-saptamana_1109472.html

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:17 — 8.5MB)

Aboneaza-te! Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | Blubrry | Email | TuneIn | RSS

Skeptical Reporter for February 8^th, 2013

A self proclaimed faith-healer from Canada has been charged with sexual assault. Claude Provencher believes he has a God-given gift to heal people with a touch of his hands. But his clients have accused him of trying to do more than just heal them. On January 21st, Provencher was convicted of six counts of sexual assault and 22 counts of breach of recognizance and probation at the Superior Court in Haileybury. He will be sentenced May 27th. It's not the first time the self-described faith healer has been convicted of sexually abusing his clients. In late 2012, Provencher served more than a month in jail for two sexual assault charges that dated back to 2007. He inappropriately touched a female patient during a session in his Sudbury office. He was sentenced to six months in jail, but had already served more than four months for a breach of probation in 2011. Provencher was also given a 10-year weapons prohibition and had to register to the sexual offender registry for 20 years. His probation order prevented him from being alone with patients for any spiritual sessions. He has defended himself, stating that the 22 charges for breach of probation were due to an error of interpretation. Following his conviction in Sudbury, Provencher was forbidden to be alone with his patients for spiritual sessions, but he explained that the sessions were not spiritual in nature, but merely healing sessions. Provencher does not have any health-related certification.

In the United States, OhioUniversity students showed up in hordes to take a peek into their futures. Several psychics sat down in the Baker Ballroom for a Psychic Fair organized by the CampusInvolvementCenter, while winding lines of students waited to be seen. Everything from rune stone and fingerprint reading to palm reading and tarot cards was available. Many students seemed satisfied with their readings, and in some cases, even astounded by their accuracy. "I expected it to be like a tarot reading, but it was a more of an affirmation of, 'This is what your personality can be; take that and apply it to a goal in life'", said OU student Drew Sanders, who had just left the numerology table. Though a number of students were deterred by the wait time, many stayed until the cutoff time, strictly enforced by workers of the CampusInvolvementCenter. Cynthia McGinnis, who ran the biorhythm and horoscope station, noted that although the readings can appear to be accurate, the fair and many of the psychics' endeavors are simply for entertainment.

Nine female polio vaccinators have been killed in two shootings at health centres in northern Nigeria. In the first attack in Kano the polio vaccinators were shot dead by gunmen who drove up on a motor tricycle. Thirty minutes later gunmen targeted a clinic outside Kano city as the vaccinators prepared to start work. Some Nigerian Muslim leaders have previously opposed polio vaccinations, claiming they could cause infertility. Recently, a controversial Islamic cleric spoke out against the polio vaccination campaign, telling people that new cases of polio were caused by contaminated medicine. Such opposition is a major reason why Nigeria is one of just three countries where polio is still endemic. But this is believed to be the first time polio vaccinators have been attacked in the country. A health official confirmed that those killed in the second attack in Hotoro were female health workers. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, there were 121 cases of polio in Nigeria last year, compared to 58 in Pakistan and 37 in Afghanistan. In the past month, polio workers have also been targeted in Pakistan.

Notorious Manhattan psychic, Sylvia Mitchell, aged 38, has been caught by the police after scamming a client. The woman is known for having run her con game in New York City, Connecticut and Florida, and was busted once again for swindling a woman out of more than $120,000, police sources said. From October 2007 to April 2009, Mitchell promised that she would rid Singapore-native Lee Choong of her “bad spirits” during fortune telling sessions at her Greenwich Village shop, Psychic Zena. But, instead of “cleansing” Choong, Mitchell actually wiped her out financially, stealing 128,000 dollars in return for her bogus advice, sources said. She also allegedly swiped Choong’s furniture, clothing and rent checks. Detectives tracked down Mitchell and hauled her into the 6th Precinct where she was charged with fortune telling and grand larceny. Mitchell is no stranger to the authorities. In 2011, she was accused of taking $27,000 from another person in Florida in a similar scheme.

And now let’s look at some news in science

An astronaut and a rock singer recorded an original song together and released it on February 8th as the first music duet performed simultaneously in space and on the ground. A rocket launch and the beauty of planet Earth are the subjects of the song, performed in space by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, while accompanied by Canadian singer Ed Robertson of the band Barenaked Ladies, and others on Earth. The song's lyrics, called "I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing)", focuses on the experience of a person in space missing his loved ones on the Earth below: "If you could see our nation from the International Space Station, you'd know why I want to get back soon". Hadfield and Robertson began co-writing the song when Hadfield was still in training in Russia for his five-month mission on the International Space Station. Next month, Hadfield will be the first Canadian commander on the orbiting complex when the Expedition 35 mission begins.

The nearest habitable, Earth-sized planet could be just 13 light-years away, research suggests. An analysis of small, dim "red dwarf" stars - which make up a majority of stars in our galaxy - shows that 6% of them host such a planet. Study co-author David Charbonneau of HarvardUniversity said the findings had implications for the search for life elsewhere. "We now know the rate of occurrence of habitable planets around the most common stars in our galaxy. That rate implies that it will be significantly easier to search for life beyond the solar system than we previously thought", said the professor. The hunt for exoplanets has reached a pace that is difficult to keep up with. A catalogue run by US space agency NASA lists more than 800 "exoplanets", most of them spotted using the transit method. That is just the tip of the planetary iceberg, however. On the basis of results from other methods, it has been estimated that on average, there are 1.6 planets around every star in the night sky.

Scientists say they have invented spectacle lenses that cure red-green colour blindness, which affects some women and one in every 10 men. The Oxy-Iso lenses were designed by an American research institute to allow medics to spot bruising and veins that are difficult to see. Tests suggest they can also help to enhance reds and greens in the colour-blind. But they could not be worn by drivers, because they reduce the ability to perceive yellows and blues. Theoretical neurobiologist Mark Changizi, who developed the glasses with Oxy-Iso lenses, believes human colour vision "evolved above and beyond that found in other mammals... allowing us to sense colour-signals on the skin, including blushes, blanches, as well as sensing health. So the Oxy-Iso filter concentrates its enhancement exactly where red-green colour-blind folk are deficient”.

For the first time, scientists report, they have found bacteria living in the cold and dark deep under the Antarctic ice, a discovery that might advance knowledge of how life could survive on other planets or moons and that offers the first glimpse of a vast ecosystem of microscopic life in underground lakes in Antarctica. A network of hundreds of lakes lies between the continent’s land and the ice that covers it, and scientists had thought that it could harbor life. The discovery is the first confirmation. After drilling into LakeWhillans, the expedition scientists recovered water and sediment samples that showed clear signs of life. They saw cells under a microscope, and chemical tests showed that the cells were alive and metabolizing energy. The scientists have explained that every precaution had been taken to prevent contamination of the lake with bacteria from the surface or the overlying ice. The concentrations of life were higher in the lake than in the borehole, and there were signs of life in the lake bottom’s sediment, which would be sealed off from contamination. Much more study, including DNA analysis, is needed to determine what kinds of bacteria have been found and how they live, in a place where there is no sunlight.

And in local news from Romania we learn that

Cezar El-Nazli, a student at the NationalCollege in Iaşi, is one of the 20 winners in the Google Code-In 2012 competition, an event dedicated to those with a passion for programming and computer science. The competition is at its third edition and focuses on students aged 13 to 17. 334 students from 36 countries participated this year and each week they had to solve different problems with open source programs. The winners will get to visit the Google headquarters’ in Mountain View, California.

Links:

• http://www.thesudburystar.com/2013/02/01/faith-healer-convicted-of-sexually-abusing-clients-pleads-case
• http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-38953-ou-lspsychic-fairrs-draws-crowd-of-curious-students.html
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21381773
• http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/psychic_scammer_sylvia_mitchell_tPyxR4lQyRt2IezfrbabyL
• http://www.livescience.com/26978-hadfield-song-duet-space.html
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21350899
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21367584
• http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/science/living-bacteria-found-deep-under-antarctic-ice-scientists-say.html?_r=0
• http://www.realitatea.net/un-elev-roman-printre-castigatorii-concursului-google-code-in-2012_1106846.html

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:19 — 8.5MB)

Aboneaza-te! Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | Blubrry | Email | TuneIn | RSS

Skeptical Reporter for February 1^st, 2013

Until a few days ago, the name Mark Lynas was little known outside the environmental community. An effective campaigner against genetically modified organisms, Lynas has also written several well-received books, including Six Degrees and The God Species. Recently, Lynas gave a speech at a conference on farming at OxfordUniversity, where he stated, in measured and scientific terms, that he had changed his mind. Lynas had been a leading voice against using GMOs in farming. He was also sounding the alarm over climate change, and had immersed himself in climate science. When he belatedly did the same with GMOs, he found that a careful reading of the scientific evidence revealed that his previous opposition was untenable. At Oxford Lynas said he was, in a word, sorry: “I want to start with some apologies. For the record, here and upfront, I apologize for having spent several years ripping up GM crops. I am also sorry that I helped to start the anti-GM movement back in the mid 1990s, and that I thereby assisted in demonizing an important technological option which can be used to benefit the environment”.

Actress Jenny McCarthy was dropped from the Bust a Move fundraiser organized by a Canadian cancer foundation. The Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation reacted to a public backlash in signing the anti-vaccine campaigner to the Ottawa breast health fundraiser.

McCarthy was to headline a fitness class for the 2^nd of March fundraiser at the Ottawa Athletic Club. The actress, author and former Playboy playmate is best known these days for her unconventional views on autism, specifically her anti-vaccination writings. Her son Evan Joseph was diagnosed with autism in 2005, but McCarthy says now her son is in “recovery” and is doing much better. McCarthy has claimed in interviews that her son was healed by experimental and unproven biomedical treatments, and she blamed the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine for giving her son autism. Yet despite her views, for which scientists have labeled her a menace to vaccination efforts, McCarthy was the choice of the cancer foundation for the fundraiser.

Gunmen riding on a motorcycle shot and killed a police officer protecting polio workers during a U.N.-backed vaccination campaign in northwestern Pakistan, the police said. The attack took place as dozens of polio workers — including several women — were going door to door to vaccinate children in Gullu Dheri village. None of the polio workers the police officer was protecting were hurt in the attack, he said. Some Islamic militants oppose the vaccination campaign, accuse health workers of acting as spies for the U.S. and claim the polio vaccine is intended to make Muslim children sterile. Pakistan is one of the few remaining places where polio is still rampant. In a separate incident in the northwest, a man wounded a polio worker with an axe. In December, gunmen killed nine polio workers in similar attacks across Pakistan, prompting authorities to suspend the vaccination campaign in the troubled areas.

Psychic and medium James Van Praagh, creator and executive producer of "Ghost Whisperer,” is suing his sister, who is now using the surname again after decades of marriage. Van Praagh claims his sister has started using her maiden named to cash in on his success, even though she took her husband’s surname, Gratton, four decades ago. James Van Praagh "is one of the most recognized spiritual mediums in the world", he argues in court papers filed last week in federal court on Long Island. The suit argues Gratton's use of the Van Praagh name will confuse and deceive the public. But Lynn Van Praagh-Gratton claims she’s a psychic in her own rights — a “bridge between worlds” who has the “gift of communicating on the other side with those who have passed”. It’s also unclear what value the Van Praagh name still has. James' reputation took a hit in 2008 when Barbara Walters debunked his claim she suffered from a blood disorder. Walters submitted to a blood test and announced on "The View" the result was normal.

And now let’s look at some news in science.

When you were 15, chances are, revolutionizing medicine wasn't among your after-school activities. But for 15-year-old Jack Andraka, it's par for the course. The high school sophomore recently developed a revolutionary new test for early-stage pancreatic cancer. Jack Andraka created a simple dip-stick sensor to test for levels of mesothelin, which is a biomarker for early-stage pancreatic cancer that’s found in blood and urine. The method is similar to diabetic testing strips, utilizing just a pinprick of blood and costing all of three cents to make. What’s so revolutionary about Andraka's invention, aside from possibly being the most inexpensive medical test ever devised, is that current methods for pancreatic cancer detection are ineffective—for the most part, they're unable to uncover the presence of the disease until it’s in its final stages, long after it could respond to treatment. But this is about more than pancreatic cancer. Andraka explains his strips can be altered to detect biomarkers for other conditions as well. “What’s so cool about that is its applicability to other diseases… for example other forms of cancer, tuberculosis, HIV, environmental contaminants like E Coli, salmonella. All for three cents for a test that takes five minutes to run”, he said.

A controversial theory that the way we smell involves a quantum physics effect has received a boost, following experiments with human subjects. It challenges the notion that our sense of smell depends only on the shapes of molecules we sniff in the air. Instead, it suggests that the molecules' vibrations are responsible. A way to test it is with two molecules of the same shape, but with different vibrations. A report in PLOS ONE shows that humans can distinguish the two. Tantalizingly, the idea hints at quantum effects occurring in biological systems - an idea that is itself driving a new field of science. But the theory - first put forward by Luca Turin, now of the Fleming Biomedical Research Sciences Centre in Greece - remains contested and divisive. The idea that molecules' shapes are the only link to their smell is well entrenched, but Dr Turin said there were holes in the idea. He gave the example of molecules that include sulphur and hydrogen atoms bonded together - they may take a wide range of shapes, but all of them smell of rotten eggs. "If you look from the [traditional] standpoint... it's really hard to explain," Dr Turin explained.

Engineers dream of motors made out of single molecules that could jump-start the production of machines on the molecular level. However, simply modeling them after larger motors has been extremely difficult. Now, researchers from France and the University of Ohio have collaborated on a new approach and created the first compact molecular motor that can spin both clockwise and counterclockwise. “What must be done is to start from the bottom, to forget about the macroscopic scale,” said Christian Joachim, one of the lead authors of this project. The molecule is 1 nanometer high and 2 nanometers across, and is called a "piano-stool complex" because of its shape. It has a nonmoving three-legged base standing on a gold surface and a rotating top, or rotor, with a single atom of ruthenium connecting the two. This rotor contains five iron spokes, one of them shorter than the others to easily detect when it spins. The motor operates using a quantum mechanical process called inelastic electron tunneling, in which electrons that are shot at the molecule lose some of their energy in the transfer and the resulting vibrations turn the rotor. The researchers are now focusing on two goals: hooking the motor to a chain of nanometer-size gears and working to install it into a molecular nano-car in order to power and drive it.

People who meticulously check the calorie counts on nutrition labels and restaurant menus are in for some bad news: the tallies may be wrong, experts say. Recent studies show that the amount of pounding, slicing, mashing and perhaps even chewing that goes into preparing and eating food affects the number of calories people get. For some foods, a proportion of the calories in them remains "locked up" during digestion, and isn't used by the body. People also expend some of the energy from food just digesting it; and even the bacteria in people's guts steal a fraction of food's calories. None of these factors are accounted for in our current system for calculating calories, which dates back more than 100 years. Scientists have always known that calorie counts are just estimates. And over the years, some scientists have called for changes to the system. Now, researchers are again shining a spotlight on the issue, saying an overhaul of the calorie count system is needed so consumers have a better idea of exactly how many calories they get from the food they eat.

And, now, in local news from Romania, we learn that

A lawyer from the Arges district has sued five priests accusing them of fraud, because the surmons he participated in to get rid of the demons he was haunted by had no effect. Madalin Ciculescu feels that he was a victim of fraud and decided to take action in court, also accusing the local archbishop for not properly supervising his priests. The lawyer was disappointed that he was unable to escape the demons that took over the electronics in his apartment. The priests declared that they are innocent in this unique malpractice case.

Links:

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-tercek/mark-lynas-gmo_b_2424493.html
• http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/story.html?id=7887768
• http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/jenny-mccarthy-dumped-from-bust-a-move-ottawa-event-1.1139494
• http://news.yahoo.com/policeman-protecting-pakistani-polio-team-killed-120627955.html
• http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ghost-whisperer-lawsuit-article-1.1250374
• http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/01/27/jack-andraka
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21150046
• http://www.livescience.com/26783-tiny-motor-powered-by-single-molecule.html
• http://www.livescience.com/26799-calorie-counts-inaccurate.html
• http://www.realitatea.net/avocatul-care-a-dat-cinci-preoti-in-judecata-sunt-vampiri-energetici-si-nu-l-au-scapat-de-draci_1102260.html

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:03 — 7.4MB)

Aboneaza-te! Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | Blubrry | Email | TuneIn | RSS

Skeptical Reporter for January 25^th, 2013

In the Phillipines, cancer experts and the government warned the public against herbal supplements that are advertised as cures for cancer, saying these were “voodoo medicine.” The Philippine Society of Medical Oncology said these herbal supplements had no proven curative effects, while the Food and Drug Administration said it did not approve any herbal medicine or health supplement as a cure for cancer. “That’s what I call voodoo medicine. There is no viable alternative to mainstream cancer treatment”, explained Dr. Ellie May Villegas, PSMO vice president. Villegas said some of the supposed treatments that the public should be wary about included bio-resonance therapies, oxygen treatment, colonic cleansing, “megadosing” of Vitamin C, antineoplastons and immuno-augmentation treatment. She said herbal medicines might actually interfere with chemotherapy or medicines used in cancer treatment. “Some herbs cause problematic interactions with chemo, causing blood pressure swings and other complications,” Villegas added.

Sixty-three percent of registered voters in the U.S. buy into at least one political conspiracy theory, according to results from a recent Fairleigh Dickinson University Public Mind Poll. The nationwide survey of registered voters asked Americans to evaluate four different political conspiracy theories: 56 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of Republicans say that at least one is likely true. This includes 36 percent who think that President Obama is hiding information about his background and early life, 25 percent who think that the government knew about 9/11 in advance, and 19 percent who think the 2012 Presidential election was stolen. Generally, the more people know about current events, the less likely they are to believe in conspiracy theories – but not among Republicans, where more knowledge leads to greater belief in political conspiracies. The most popular of these conspiracy theories is the belief that President Obama is hiding important information about his background, which would include what’s often referred to as “birtherism.” “Groups that feel more distanced from the political process are more likely to believe that sinister forces are at work,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson University and an analyst for the poll. “These figures tell us more about a lack of trust in the political process than acceptance of particular conspiracies”, he added.

A minister in the state of Karnataka, home to the Indian infotech industry, has announced that the state government will set up a committee “to find out ways to eliminate black magic.” It is considering whether to require astrologers to register with the state authorities, apparently to sort out the legitimate fortune-tellers from the frauds.

Last month, during its 4th International Astrological Conference, the Karnataka Astrologers Association adopted a resolution to ban “dishonest astrologers in public sphere.” It was responding to predictions based on the Mayan calendar that spread fears the world would end on December 21st. The association’s vice president reportedly railed against “fake astrologers” out to make money peddling “mindless prophecies” for damaging “the reputation of astrology, which is traditionally viewed as a science”.

In Italy, the L'Aquila judge who last October sentenced seven scientists and engineers to 6 years in prison each for advice they gave ahead of a deadly 2009 earthquake explained his reasons for the manslaughter convictions. He said that the seven, at the time members of an official government body called the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks, had analyzed the risk of a major quake in a "superficial, approximate and generic" way and that they were willing participants in a "media operation" to reassure the public. The 950-page document judge Marco Billi has released, known as the "motivazione”, explains that the trial was not against science but against seven individuals who failed to carry out their duty as laid down by the law. The scientists were not convicted for failing to predict an earthquake, something Billi says was impossible to do, but for their complete failure to properly analyze, and to explain, the threat posed by the swarm. Billi ruled that this failure led to the deaths of 29 of the 309 people killed in the quake and to the injuries of four others.

And now let’s look at some news in science.

House Resolution 41, introduced in the United States House of Representatives on January 22nd, would, if passed, express the House's support of designating February 12th as Darwin Day, and its recognition of "Charles Darwin as a worthy symbol on which to celebrate the achievements of reason, science, and the advancement of human knowledge". Rush Holt, one of the few members of Congress with a Ph.D. in a scientific field, is the sole sponsor of the bill. After its introduction, the resolution was referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Holt, in a press release from the American Humanist Association, commented, "Only very rarely in human history has someone uncovered a fundamentally new way of thinking about the world – an insight so revolutionary that it has made possible further creative and explanatory thinking. Without Charles Darwin, our modern understandings of biology, ecology, genetics, and medicine would be utterly impossible, and our comprehension of the world around us would be vastly poorer. By recognizing Darwin Day, we can honor the importance of scientific thinking in our lives, and we can celebrate one of our greatest thinkers”.

Cambridge University scientists say they have seen four-stranded DNA at work in human cells for the first time. The famous "molecule of life", which carries our genetic code, is more familiar to us as a double helix. But researchers tell the journal Nature Chemistry that the "quadruple helix" is also present in our cells, and in ways that might possibly relate to cancer. They suggest that control of the structures could provide novel ways to fight the disease. "The existence of these structures may be loaded when the cell has a certain genotype or a certain dysfunctional state," said Professor Shankar Balasubramanian from Cambridge's department of chemistry. "We need to prove that; but if that is the case, targeting them with synthetic molecules could be an interesting way of selectively targeting those cells that have this dysfunction," he explained.

Controversial research into making bird flu easier to spread in people is to resume after a year-long pause. Some argue the research is essential for understanding how viruses spread and could be used to prevent deadly pandemics killing millions of people. Research was stopped amid fierce debate including concerns about modified viruses escaping the laboratory or being used for terrorism. The moratorium gave authorities time to fully assess the safety of the studies. Now, a letter signed by 40 virus researchers around the world, published in the journals Science and Nature, said the moratorium was being lifted. It said appropriate conditions had been set in most of the world and their studies were "essential for pandemic preparedness”. One of the leading proponents of the research Professor Ron Fouchier, from the Erasmus Medical Centre, explained it had been "frustrating" to shut down research for the year. "This research is urgent, while we are having this pause bird flu virus continues to evolve in nature and we need to continue this research. We cannot wait for another year or two years", he added.

Scientists have given another eloquent demonstration of how DNA could be used to archive digital data. A team from the UK managed to encode a scholarly paper, a photo, Shakespeare's sonnets and a portion of Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream speech in artificially produced segments of the "life molecule". The information was then read back out with 100% accuracy. It is possible to store huge volumes of data in DNA for thousands of years, the researchers write in Nature magazine. They acknowledge that the costs involved in synthesizing the molecule in the lab make this type of information storage "breathtakingly expensive" at the moment, but argue that newer, faster technologies will soon make it much more affordable, especially for long-term archiving.

"One of the great properties of DNA is that you don't need any electricity to store it", explained team-member Dr Ewan Birney from the European Bioinformatics Institute at Hinxton, near Cambridge.

And, now, in local news from Romania, we learn that

A Romanian is amongst the finalists for one of the greatest scientific competitions in The European Union. The stakes are very high: a grant of up to one billion euros for ten years, in a bid to maintain the European Union’s status as an innovator in science and tehnology. The competition for the grant started with 26 research proposals, but 20 of them have already been eliminated last year. Professor Adrian Ionescu, from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne from Switzerland is the head reasearcher for one of the projects still in competition. The two winning projects will be announced on January 28^th, by the European Commision.

Link-uri:

• http://business.inquirer.net/103045/people-warned-against-voodoo-cancer-cures
• http://www.scribd.com/doc/120815791/Fairleigh-Dickinson-poll-on-conspiracy-theories
• http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/18/karnataka-goes-after-fake-astrologers-to/?smid=tw-share
• http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2013/01/judge-in-laquila-earthquake-tria.html?rss=1
• http://ncse.com/news/2013/01/darwin-day-resolution-congress-0014688
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21091066
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21165288
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21145163
• http://www.realitatea.net/proiectul-revolutionar-al-unui-roman-in-finala-celei-mai-importante-competitii-stiintifice_1092638.html