Return of the Phantom Clowns

Letter from the Editor

The 2016 presidential election campaign—one of the most bizarre in

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Bill Nye’s “Promote Reason, Prevent Climate Catastrophes: Let’s Get ’Er

Buzz Aldrin: What That Apollo 11 ‘UFO’ Really Was, and Why He Punched That Moon-Landing Denier

Buzz Aldrin is an American hero. The Apollo 11 astronaut

The Legacy of Fake Bomb Detectors in Iraq

After years of equipping important security checkpoints throughout Iraq with

Philosopher and CSI Fellow Robert Carroll, Creator of Skeptics Dictionary, Dies at Seventy-One

Robert Carroll, philosopher, CSI fellow, and prominent skeptic widely known

Psychic Arrested in Exorcism Scam

In September 2016, a New York–based psychic was arrested for

Skepticism, at Heart, Is Not Partisan

The United States has just completed the most contentious presidential

Survey Shows Americans Fear Ghosts, the Government, and Each Other

Every year, Chapman University tells us what we fear the

Notable Articles about the Creation of CSICOP and SKEPTICAL INQUIRER

Susan Gerbic, founder of the Guerilla Skeptics on Wikipedia Project,

Claims of Chi: Besting a Tai Chi Master

Joe Nickell, PhD, is now well into his fifth decade

‘Mirage Men’—Disinformation Agents or Just a Mirage?

Sheaffer’s “Psychic Vibrations” column has appeared in the Skeptical Inquirer

Ten Practical Tactics to Unravel the Uncanny

Massimo Polidoro is an investigator of the paranormal, lecturer, and

The Superbug Crisis

False Beliefs about Antibiotics Are a Global Threat

Consensus: Could Two Hundred Scientists Be Wrong?

Stuart Vyse is a psychologist and author of Believing in

Ghost Hunters in the Dark

Benjamin Radford is a research fellow at the Committee for

STEM CELL RESERACH: Still Embattled after All These Years

Had stem cell research not been obstructed by political and religious opposition, it would probably have arrived by now at effective treatments for a number of severe chronic diseases

Public Debate, Scientific Skepticism, and Science Denial

How can scientists navigate highly polarized public controversies, and how can the public’s legitimate demand for involvement be accommodated without compromising the integrity of science?

Science vs. Silliness for Parents: Debunking the Myths of Child Psychology

Parents and students struggle to distinguish between pseudoscience and evidence-based ideas in child psychology. This study sampled the beliefs of 163 students and 205 parents on topics related to parenting and development

Creationism in Europe

Cretionism is not an exclusively North American phenomenon. In Europe, creationism is also finding a foothold, drawing the attention of European scholars

Project Greenglow: How Horizon Lost the Message in the Medium

When news media tailor their science reporting to their expected audiences, the message of science can get lost in the requirements of the medium. An episode of the BBC flagship science series Horizon offers an unfortunate example

No Time for Certainty

Uncertainty and imprecision are basic attributes of interpreting the world and should not be viewed with scorn or disdain but understood, measured (when possible), and mixed into the framework of well-planned and well-reasoned public policies

The Story of the Gene

Nearly six years ago, I reviewed Siddhartha Mukherjee’s book The

NEW AND NOTABLE

Listing does not preclude future review

an introduction to JERRY ANDRUS

THE LAST LAUGH