Fishing outside the reef: the illusion of control and finance
Humans regularly see patterns where there are none, but stress makes this tendency worse. Some new studies suggest this may be making the current market troubles worse. Jennifer Whitson and Adam Galinsky (Lacking Control Increases Illusory …
Read MoreRefusing to refer: thus conscience doth make cowards of us all
In Victoria next week a proposal to make abortion legal in certain circumstances is due to be voted on by the upper house. Some doctors, as well as the Catholic church, have attacked one clause in that legislation, as it is said to deny doc…
Read MoreKnowledge may be power, but is it healing?
The explosion of medical information on the internet is a good thing, right? Patients worried that their condition is not being taken seriously, those who want a second opinion but are worried about upsetting their GP by asking for it…
Read MoreThe price of ignorance: the Durham study and research ethics
Ben Goldacre (who seems to be one of this blog’s favorite sources) tears into the Durham fish oil trial. A while ago Durham County together with the company Equazen decided to test whether giving omega-3 supplements would improve the …
Read MoreWhy object to improving prenatal tests?
The Daily Mail reports this week on a new blood test to detect conditions such as Down syndrome or cystic fibrosis in fetuses. The article raises concerns about ‘designer babies’. Yet given the recent concern about the risk of miscarrying n…
Read MorePublishing Negative Research Results
Ben Goldacre, in the Guardian this weekend, noticed the range of headlines on health and health risks that are to be found in the media. He mentions, among others, the rise of ‘manorexia’, the failure of water to induce weight loss and the …
Read MoreDON’T PANIC
It has been an extraordinary week in the financial markets of the world. With the collapse of major international financial institutions, and governments forced to intervene by propping up ailing insurers or authorising the merger of banks,…
Read MorePhilosophers’ Carnival LXXVIII
78th Philosophers' Carnival
Read MoreCognitive Science Advice for Republicans and Democrats?
The upcoming US elections have revived the culture wars but so far controversy about science and biotechnology has not taken centre stage, as both candidates support stem cell research. But science is still playing a minor role in the discu…
Read MoreI suggest it was Professor Plum, in the library, with the arsenic: the unreliability of brain experience detection
A woman has been convicted in Mumbai for murder, based on a new brain-based experience detection technology. As can be predicted, many regard this as Orwellian while others hope technologies like this could transform the courtroom "as …
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