A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the Louisiana Science Education Act, a bill blatantly constructed to set the precedent for an anti-scientific, religious curriculum to be taught in public schools.  The bill, furthermore, is allegedly tied to The Discovery Institute, an anti-evolution organization famous for losing the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case, [...]

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As much as I love the skeptic community, I’ve recently felt that a few problems need addressing. Namely, that refuting unscientific, false or misinformed matters is quite often approached through ridicule rather than a respectful outlaying of the facts. Given the highly doubtful nature of certain premises such as homeopathy, keeping oneself from succumbing [...]

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Science and religion have an unstable relationship. Oftentimes they are content to stay separate and do their own things. Occasionally, they clash over certain issues of public policy. However, are these two world-views actually compatible, and if not, which one is correct?

Let us look at the last part of that statement first. A favorite argument [...]

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A little while ago I was talking with my friends, and the subject of asshole drivers on the highway came up. I jokingly suggested that this was due to velocity having a negative effect on human IQ. This would explain why the stupidest drivers always seem to be the ones going the fastest. I was [...]

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The BBC posted an article a while back, announcing, “Trust drug may cure social phobia.” Arguably, this article may be jumping the gun a little in terms of efficacy of the product, but the BBC does tend to be pretty good with this type of stuff, and the headline does include the important word may. [...]

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In relation to Mitchell’s previous post, I often find it hard to discuss the case for or against “natural” substances, since the distinction between what is “natural” and what is “artificial” is an entirely imaginary construct.
While we as humans have advanced a great deal in our understanding of science and technology we’re nevertheless very, very [...]

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Meet the castor bean:

It is grown around the world to produce castor oil. Not only is it 100% natural, but it contains one of the most toxic substances known to man-kind: ricin. While eating a castor bean might make you very sick, exposure to virtually any amount of concentrated ricin will cause death1.
So [...]

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Purported psychics like John Edward and Rosemary Altea are often labeled as generally harmless.  Sure, their business is founded upon the dispensing of vague, useless images and downright lies, but they only comfort the bereaved and entertain the masses, right?
Well, Colleen LeDuc is likely to disagree.
LeDuc is a single mother struggling to support her 11-year [...]

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Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is sold as an alternative to conventional (i.e. science/evidence based) medicine. The rallying cry of CAM supporters is usually that of choice. They feel that the supporters of conventional medicine have backed them into a corner, and conspire alongside “Big Pharma” to ensure that their choices for treatment [...]

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Yesterday, the Canadian Conservative party tabled bill C-61, which is basically a Canadian version of the American Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This is NOT a piece of legislation that is representative of the wishes of the people of Canada or one that should be made law. As a Canadian citizen, you can help stop this [...]

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