Break the habit of “scientifical” gadgets and gimmicks; quit trying to be Grant and Jason. Maybe you can actually get an explanation for the events instead of “It’s paranormal!”

For anyone interested in the processes, principles, and techniques behind investigating mysterious and unexplained phenomena, Ben Radford has created a 10-part introduction to the basics of Scientific Paranormal Investigation. It’s a basic primer for those interested in skeptical investigation. If you’ve already read his book Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries or taken his workshop, there’s new material there for you as well, including some solve-them-yourself mini-mysteries. It’s totally free, and arrives in ten weekly e-mailed mini-lessons; sign up at http://www.mailboxblack.com.

Radford is a Research Fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, Discovery News columnist, and author of six books and over a thousand articles and columns. For more information about Benjamin Radford, visit his web site .

Anyone interested in ghosts or paranormal at all should take advantage of this free opportunity. What have you got to lose except preconceived notion and shoddy techniques?

Review of Scientific Paranormal Investigation

Ruport Sheldrake, a common name bantered about and regarded in paranormal research circles because he is an academic, has a new book out. It’s selling well but not sitting well with contemporary scientists and critical thinkers. Here are some reasons why:

I would take the evolutionary principle there [cosmology], too. I think that the ‘laws of nature’ are also prone to evolve; I think they are more like habits than laws. Much of what we are beginning to understand is that they clearly have evolved differently in different parts of the universe.”

His research since then has concentrated almost entirely on the kinds of phenomena that science dismisses out of hand “but which people are generally fascinated by and made to feel stupid about”. He has a long-running experiment that collects data about how dogs “know” when their owners are coming home; another is concerned with the apparently strong deviations from chance in human ability to predict when they are being stared at from a distance. He retains an interest in subjects as diverse as the mysteries of crystal formation, the efficacy of Chinese medicine, the forces that trigger migrations of birds and animals over vast distances, and the nature of consciousness.

None of these pursuits has enhanced his standing in the professional scientific community.

Tip: @Crispian_Jago on Twitter

Is he correct? No one can say right now. However, Sheldrake appeals to those who look for legitimacy of science through someone who is sympathetic to mysterious unknowns that have yet to be discovered.

Some allege that Sheldrake is poor at dealing with criticism and has gone off on his own and developed his own ideas about science. People who question his idea are called “dogmatists”.

Sheldrake cites on his page: “Rupert Sheldrake, one of the world’s most innovative biologists and writers, is best known for his theory of morphic fields and morphic resonance, which leads to a vision of a living, developing universe with its own inherent memory.”

He makes a claim that is reaching beyond what we know and speculating about all sorts of fancy stuff. This is why his reputation with well known academics and critical thinking advocates is so poor.

Erin Brockovich is on the case! The environmental activist, made famous by the 2000 movie starring Julia Roberts as the crusading single mom, tells USA TODAY she is investigating the case of more than a dozen teens from one upstate New York school plagued by mysterious, Tourette’s-like symptoms. One neurologist who has seen most of the affected girls has diagnosed their illness as psychological in origin; but that diagnosis has been difficult for some parents and community members to accept. Brockovich told USA TODAY that at the request of local residents, she is looking into a 1970 train accident that spilled cyanide and an industrial solvent called trichloroethene close to the site of the Le Roy, New York school.

“We don’t have all the answers, but we are suspicious,” Brockovich told the newspaper, which also reported that at least one boy has now come down with similar symptoms.

Source: MSNBC

Oh great. Let’s get a celebrity attention-seeking lawyer involved. Her involvement makes me squeamish. I’m not a fan of Ms. Brockovich’s methods. See this Quackwatch article. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/brockovich.html

Erin Brockovich … was a ho-hum legal assistant in California until she discovered that Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) had leached trace amounts of chromium into the water supply of the town of Hinkley. She was almost instantly elevated to the role of people’s champion and parlayed the trace amounts of chromium into a $333 million dollar settlement on behalf of a number of Hinkley citizens, who, according to her, suffered from a variety of ailments caused by chromium toxicity. This modern account of David versus Goliath was compelling enough to be made into a Julia Roberts film hit, which, in turn, propelled the real-life Erin Brockovich to stardom on the lecture circuit. But a troublesome question lurks in some scientists’ minds. Were the riches and fame a reward for good science or good science fiction?

Borckovich’s [sic] lawsuit attempted to link a much wider spectrum of ailments in the area with the presence of chromium-6 in drinking water. Whether it’s a miscarriage, a rash, bone deterioration, Crohn’s disease, lupus, or any sort of cancer, Brockovich points the finger at chromium-6. In all probability she is wrong. Single toxins do not cause such a wide array of conditions. But when illness strikes, people are ready to pounce on convenient villains, particularly when there is potential for a large settlement.

Sound familiar? It’s the Dow Corning breast implant controversy (since shown to be junk science) and now this suspected environmental cause. There is a dangerous saying about statistics, “Torture the data and it will confess to anything”. I’m afraid we might see some dubious correlations here as well. And, with the threat of a high profile, expensive, reputation-killing lawsuit, I’m also thinking this doesn’t bode well for the truth – something people might not WANT to accept – in exchange for a big settlement. Sorry. I am skeptical of lawyers.

Earth might be slightly warmer, and sea levels might be slightly higher, but the changes are natural and should not be blamed on fossil-fuel emissions, a panel of scientists and skeptics said at a public forum Tuesday.

“Human influence on the climate is very, very small – barely detectable,” S. Fred Singer, a critic of global warming and professor emeritus at the University of Virginia, told an audience at the Meyera Oberndorf Central Library.

Such views run contrary to what a consensus of international scientists concluded years ago – that with 90 percent certainty, global warming is being fed by increasing levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from man-made sources such as power plants, factories and cars.

The biggest applause from the audience of about 35 people came when Singer suggested the Environmental Protection Agency be disbanded.

Tip: @MilesGrant on Twitter

SOOOOO many things to say. Almost too much. This was a political event where people who have a certain point of view came to have it reinforced. Of course, there were some who were curious. The article notes that two environmentalists left with the impression that the presentation was deceptive or misinterpreted.

I get this whole flat earth vibe from global warming denialists. They will never go away. What’s a shame is that they use the word  ”skeptic”. They aren’t looking at the evidence. They wish to deny it. This article is worth a read, just to remind you that there is a long way to go, but there is a shift towards some rationality, I think.

Just a note on disbanding environmental protection. Try remembering what it was like when coal, oil and metal mining companies had no regulations, when you could dump garbage everywhere, discharge waste water (or sewage) right into the rivers. Ah yeah, the good old days.

A Quebec woman who died last summer after a reported spa detox treatment was actually a member of a self-improvement group practising risky therapy involving sweating and hyperventilation.

Radio-Canada’s Enquête program has learned that Chantal Lavigne, 35, died from hyperthermia, after undergoing a nine-hour session of intense sweating at a home in rural Quebec in July 2011.

The session was part of a seminar called “Dying in Consciousness” led by a self-styled Quebec therapist.

Lavigne and eight other participants were covered in mud, wrapped in plastic and blankets and spent nine hours lying with their heads in boxes while being encouraged to hyperventilate.

Tip via @MichaelShermer on Twitter

The therapist, Gabrielle Fréchette, has been offering self-improvement courses for 20 years. She claims to be channelling Melchisedech, a figure mentioned in the Bible.

According to Fréchette, about 2,000 people have taken her courses that may include dozens of sessions costing thousands of dollars.
As the article notes, these sessions are unmonitored, unregulated and, obviously, dangerous. The therapist’s sessions are booked for the next month.

A group of conservative Christian parents are demanding Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin School District teach “ex-homosexual” therapy and “gay-related-immune deficiency” (or “GRID”), the Twin Cities Daily Planet reports.

The demands come as the school district is in the middle of changing their “sexual orientation curriculum policy,” which students claim produces a “hostile school environment” by banning the discussion of LGBT issues.

Zack Ford of Think Progress writes that the parent’s mention of GRID makes the proposal “particularly offensive,” since the the term hasn’t been used by the medical community to describe HIV/AIDS for over 25 years, making it outdated and inaccurate.

But the conservative parents, members of the Parents Action League, want the district to keep the policy in place and double down on anti-gay policies.

Source: @HuffingtonPost on Twitter

There is a problem in the U.S. when misinformed and ultra-conservative, head-in-the-sand people can dictate such nonsense policy. Not only is it offensive, it’s idiotic and discriminatory. Such a policy wouldn’t stand and to think that a community will not suffer from such a bone-headed attitude is naive. More people should shine a light on such backwards thinking. Here’s hoping that the fact that LGBT issues are not discussed is a clue that they need to be talked about in a sane way. This ISN’T the way.

Here is a link to the local news.

Fears that wind turbines make people sick are ”not scientifically valid”, and the arguments mounted by anti-wind farm campaigners are unconvincing, according to confidential briefings given to the state government by NSW Health.

Documents obtained under freedom-of-information laws show that health officials repeatedly warned ministers last year that there was no evidence for ”wind turbine syndrome”, a collection of ailments including sleeplessness, headaches and high blood pressure that some people believe are caused by the noise of spinning blades.

But the department’s advice contrasts with the view of the Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, who was responsible for draft guidelines, released in December, that significantly tighten the approvals process.

Tip: @JoBenhamu on Twitter

This is a GREAT article. Well, for me at least. I loved this:

“The documents from NSW Health confirm our belief that the foundation has been ‘cherry picking’ data that supports its allegations about ‘wind turbine syndrome’ by talking with people who believe they have … symptoms,” said a Friends of the Earth spokesman, Cam Walker. ”This becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy and is not the basis of good science … Yet, as has been noted by a growing number of medical authorities, there is no credible evidence of a causal link between turbines and ill health.”

How true for MANY environmental type illnesses! Then I laughed at this:

“We find it extremely peculiar that the Department of Health would dismiss, out of hand, anecdotal evidence,” Mr Price-Jones said. ”The fact that it is anecdotal doesn’t mean it should be ignored or cast aside.”

He just confirmed that he doesn’t know a whit about how science works.

A Russian scientist claims to have discovered life on Venus after analysing photographs taken by a Soviet probe that landed on the planet’s surface 30 years ago.

The pictures – taken by the probe Venus-13 in 1982 – have been re-examined by Leonid Ksanfomaliti of the Space Research Institute at Russia’s Academy of Sciences.

Ksanfomaliti said the images showed a scorpion-shaped body, a disc and a ‘black flap,’ which apparently moved as the probe’s camera records the scene.

Tip: @BenGoldacre on Twitter

Oh, yeah. That’s convincing all right. Russian scientist, old picts, Daily Mail, no confirmation, lack of plausibility. Yep, I’m sold! Look out for those scorpion shaped Venusians.

Life’s Little Mysteries: Russian Scientist’s Claim of Life on Venus Proven False:

The other photograph highlighted by Ksanfomaliti, which supposedly shows a scorpion-like creature, contains a blur. “The features that Ksanfomaliti shows are nothing more than processed noise, at best, in some particularly bad versions of the images. They are not in the original data,” Stryk said.

Or, as [Jonathon] Hill put it, the image is an example of “letting your mind see patterns in low-resolution data that simply aren’t real.”

The engineer charged by entrepreneur Dick Smith with examining the plausibility of “cold fusion” technology being spruiked by a NSW retiree has detailed a string of reasons why he believes the mooted invention is flawed.

Aerospace engineer Ian Bryce said sloppy procedures, shoddy set up and a mysterious power supply to the contraption developed by an Italian inventor all pointed towards it almost certainly not working as hyped.

Italian scientist Andrea Rossi claims to have invented “cold fusion” technology, which could solve the world’s energy problems by producing almost limitless power.

The claims and the contraptions — of which Mr Rossi claims to have sold several for about $2 million each — have been met with deep cynicism from the scientific community.

Source: The Australian

This has red flags of pseudoscience all over. The article notes the “presence of a large, unexplained “blue box” sitting adjacent to the invention, which was clearly a substantial power supply.” The method is implausible. The write up of results is unprofessional and has not been verified. Where is the independent evaluation? Give scientists the system and let them examine it, take it apart. Something is VERY fishy with all these kinds of devices. The setup suggests that investment money is the goal. It just ain’t that easy to do cold fusion; we’ve been trying for decades.

I’m not sure cynicism is the correct word here. ‘Skepticism’ is valid because the evidence is pathetic.