In neighboring Maryland, a local real estate person is on a mission to inform people about the hazards of aquifers. He believes that certain conditions can cause “adverse” or negative energy to enter your home which results in stress and illness. What is the evidence of this? (more…)
At KSRI, we wish to point out that there are more reasonable positions to take than the ones that your neighbors, family and local community may support. It is difficult to take the rational high road sometimes, especially when it involves children. So, with a topic that invokes dreadful fears about making children ill, the emotion runs at an all-time high. This is a hugely important topic that everyone should know about, even if you do not have children — do vaccines cause autism.
The answer is “No”. VERY clearly “No”.
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Poorly. As usual. See a rundown here.
Celebrity psychics claims for the coming year fall into several categories: (more…)
We’ve all got colds this time of year. Here is some information you might not have heard discussed around the water cooler, family gatherings or certainly not from your local health and vitamin store. Echinacea is again shown to be worthless for relieving colds.
From Science-based medicine: Science-Based Medicine » Echinacea for Cold and Flu
This latest study add to the prior clinical research for echinacea and cold symptoms, which is basically negative. Like any such clinical research, there are lots of small and poorly controlled studies, with mixed results. Even the larger and somewhat controlled studies have mixed results, but the largest and best controlled studies are all negative.
A new study shows that some parents who use complimentary/alternative medicine (CAM) in place of conventional treatments prescribed by medical doctors can put their childrens’ lives at risk. What is complimentary medicine? Complimentary medicine is difficult to define since the types are many and varied. It includes such things as acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, naturopathy and dietary supplements. The harm occurs when a proven medical treatment, such as surgery or chemotherapy, is rejected in favor of a nonproven substitute which doesn’t work. (more…)
Lancaster Online reports on this UFO siting from East Hempfield township:
A woman said she saw a Hershey Kiss-shaped object, accompanied by two Chinook military helicopters, around noon Monday, and then another similar lighted object later that evening over Spring Valley Road.
The woman reported the sighting to the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). MUFON has chapters in every state. They have a training program for investigators. When sightings are reported, local investigators are assigned to look into the report. MUFON claims to be a scientific organization.
The problem with UFO sightings are many: they leave no trace, for one. (more…)
In another example of companies marketing their products by claiming unproven health benefits, Dannon has agreed to quit with the annoying Activia talk about fighting irregularity. (more…)
The great science popularizer, Carl Sagan, was well-known for saying, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”. This means that if you are going to say that something exists beyond our current knowledge and potentially violates our natural laws, you ought to have evidence that is exceptional in quality. (more…)
