How We Believe

Aliens and UFOs: What They Tell Us about Ourselves

People are weird about aliens and UFOs. The topic is

Center for Inquiry Sues CVS Pharmacies for Marketing of ‘Sham’ Homeopathy

At many pharmacies in the United States, homeopathic remedies are

Fear of Aliens: How to Protect Alien Microbes (and Us)

NASA is concerned about aliens. No, not undocumented immigrants or

New York Times Again Hypes Saucers

Having last year waded into a topic that reporters seem

Why We’re Susceptible to Fake News—and How to Defend against It

Thought processes and belief systems that people develop early in

A Year Later, History Channel Mystery Remains

Over a year has passed since The History Channel suffered

‘I Was There ...’: Harlan Ellison Witnesses the Birth of Scientology

The prolific and iconoclastic writer Harlan Ellison died June 27,

Essential Oils: One Weird Workshop

Continuing education is part of most professional jobs. Having been

The Salton Sea Flat Earth Test

When Skeptics Meet Deniers

Thoughts on Visiting Darwin’s Home, Down House

I am always interested in seeing how countries and cultures

Arkansas’s White River Monster: Very Real, but What Was It?

Joe Nickell, PhD, is CSI’s senior research fellow. For nearly

The Ecomodernists

A New Way of Thinking about Climate Change and Human Progress

Autism Wars: Science Strikes Back

Stuart Vyse is a psychologist and author of Believing in

Diving into the VAERS Dumpster: Fake News about Vaccine Injuries

Harriet Hall, MD, also known as “The SkepDoc,” is a

Channeling Ancient African Wisdom—or Not

Q: Benjamin Radford is a research fellow at the Committee

UFO IDENTIFICATION PROCESS

There is a wide variety of natural explanations for things we see in the sky that are easy to misinterpret

UFOs: Why Humanoid Aliens? Why So Varied?

UFOlogy is replete with varying descriptions of UFOs and their occupants—so much so that concluding an alien intelligence is piloting them goes against the more logical and reasonable conclusion that the only intelligence behind the phenomenon is the human brain itself

Those Supposed Aliens Might Be Worms

Many believe life on alien planets would likely include intelligent humanoids, and much of science fiction uses this idea. Based on what we know of evolution on Earth, there is really no basis for this belief; however, one supportable prediction for alien lifeform would be worms

Arthur J. Cramp: The Quackbuster Who Professionalized American Medicine

How a pioneering physician at the American Medical Association fought medical fraud on a national scale in the early twentieth century

Grand Illusions and Existential Angst

Natural illusions have impeded civilization’s progress toward enlightenment for millennia. Here’s an inventory of a few prominent illusions that have had a tenacious grip on our collective wisdom

When Psychics Come Under Control of Organized Crime

In the 1990s, it was common to see ads in

A Detailed Primer in Fighting Wildlife Crime

The body parts of some wildlife, such as rhino horn,

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Listing does not preclude future review

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

As a natural resource economist, I appreciated the supply and

THE LAST LAUGH