Archive for the ‘Bad Science’ Category
Data is not the plural of anecdote.
Data is not the plural of anecdote, or to put it another way an old Yiddish saying goes “for example is not proof”.
Understanding the difference between good science, bad science and anecdote is vital for intellectual self defence, sorting lies from truth, real from unreal. Read the rest of this entry »
waterboost.co.uk sue me please!
Oliver from waterboost.co.uk (yet another HHO scam in the UK), has emailed me to say (among a load of truly odd and random comments) I should be very careful what I say to or about him and his company and their products as I don’t want to end up in a court room with him. Read the rest of this entry »
The Hydrocharger, HHO scammers in the UK
[ More on Neil & Sam Prendergast's HHO scam sites here ]
I recently had my attention brought to an HHO, “run your car on water”, “water for fuel”, “water boost” scam in the UK. Hydrocharger used to clam all sorts of nonsense on their site, they used to claim to be able to reduce your fuel bill by 25% using a system which has been shown over and over to be a scam.
Hydrocharger‘s address is in Bolton, UK, Samantha Jane Prendergast is the Managing Director with her husband Neil. Neil and Sam Prendergast were also the founders of an old US based HHO scam “Water Fuel Expert“, they are also responsible for two more UK based HHO scams WaterMotive Ltd and Water4GasUK.
Note I say “used to“; since originally writing this article and reporting Hydrocharger to Trading Standards, Hydrocharger have changed their website a lot, one key example is that they no longer claim a “25% saving” in fuel, now they simply say that “most drivers notice a marked improvement”. However there are still many false statements on the Hydrocharger site and Sam & Neil Prendergast ‘s other sites still contain all the same old lies.
Nick Griffin, MEP from the BNP, is a climate change denier
So it turns out that Nick Griffin, the racist thug and holocaust denier from the BNP recently elected to the European Parliament, is also a climate change denier. It is so boring to see a layman who thinks they know better than 99.9% * of the experts elected in to a position of power; nice work Yorkshire, well done, pat you the back…
While most of us would ask an expert on the subject, it seems that Nick gets his well informed views from the Czech President, Vaclav Klaus**.
If I need information of being a racist halfwit I’ll ask Nick Griffin, if I need information on the reality, or not, of global warming I’ll ask a climate scientist.
* made up statistic, but you get my point… All of the experts in the field, except of one or two nutters, agree that climate change is real, man made and a very immanent threat.
** Vaclav’s nonsense opinions on the subject of catastrophic climate change were only translated into English following handouts from an oil billionaire and Exxon stepped in to help.
The Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science
The Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science
By ROBERT L. PARK
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is investing close to a million dollars in an obscure Russian scientist’s antigravity machine, although it has failed every test and would violate the most fundamental laws of nature. The Patent and Trademark Office recently issued Patent 6,362,718 for a physically impossible motionless electromagnetic generator, which is supposed to snatch free energy from a vacuum. And major power companies have sunk tens of millions of dollars into a scheme to produce energy by putting hydrogen atoms into a state below their ground state, a feat equivalent to mounting an expedition to explore the region south of the South Pole.
Read the rest of this entry »
Vaccines & Autism
Vaccines & Autism, A Deadly Manufactroversy
by Harriet Hall, MD, “The SkepDoc”
http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/ (3rd June 2009)
(see also) http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/07-06-20#feature
During a questionand answer session after a talk I recently gave, I was asked for my opinion about the vaccine/autism controversy. That was easy: my opinion is that there is no controversy. The evidence is in. The scientific community has reached a clear consensus that vaccines don’t cause autism. There is no controversy.
Platinum fuel saving bullshit
Platinum Injection System, Platinum-based combustion enhancers, PVI, CTech 3000… all bullshit…
Why mobile/cell phones don’t cause cancer.
I’m going to try, in simple terms, to explain why mobile/cell phones, and indeed wi-fi and microwave ovens, do not cause cancer; I’d really appreciate your feedback in the “comments” box below.
There has been a ton of research done into this involving millions of people over several decades and the opinion is unanimous; microwave radiation does not cause cancer. Indeed how radiation does cause cancer is well understood, but microwave radiation just don’t come close to being able to do this, it is nowhere near energetic enough.
Cell phones, cell phones, wi-fi computers and a whole host of other devices all transmit and receive electromagnetic radiation in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Words like these, especially “radiation”, can sound scary but this does not make them dangerous.
Pastor Chauncey Killens is a nasty turd
Assistant Pastor Chauncey Killens from the Soul Church of God and Christ, Salinas CA, is a nasty turd.
I have had the misfortune to have seen him many times on anti-gay and anti-pro-choice marches and gatherings in San Francisco… he is a deranged and delusional narcissistic ego-maniac with a heart full of hate and a brain full of nonsense.
He likes to say “Gay’s (SIC) won’t publicly debate me. Why?” but talking to he guy is a waste of breath, he has no interest in debate, he mealy wants to berate you with logical dead ends and faith-not-fact based arguments.
Anyone who feels that anyone’s right to marriage, not just gay peoples’, is not about civil rights or how it will “open the door for polygamy, incest and other offensive acts” is basing their opinion on prejudice, they are living in a different century and on a different planet to the rest of us, but you cant debate with this man of faith using logic or fact or decency… so don’t bother… anyone who feels that the words contained in an ancient text of dubious origin are indisputable facts is, at best, deluded.
Badger Cull
People go to prison in the UK for disturbing Badgers and yet the British Government is allowed to kill them in order to control bovine TB… this probably sounds like a good idea if you think domestic-cows more important that wild-animals… but what there is no evidence to suggest it will do any good? And even some to suggest it will be counter-productive?
It makes no sense whatsoever, but it is nevertheless true.
The Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, Sir David King, thinks a cull of badgers in England should be undertaken in order to control bovine TB in cattle.
This advice goes against the conclusions of the Government’s own ten-year study by the Independent Scientific Group. Apparently, when they culled badgers in Irish Republic bovine TB went up and in Northern Ireland, where there was no cull, bovine TB went down.
So the Government’s appointed independent scientists took ten years to conclude that there is no scientific evidence to support a cull and yet the Welsh Assembly decided to carry out a cull anyway.
Click the link below and sign the petition to stop them coming to the same ludicrous conclusion in England.
http://www.backoffbadgers.org.uk/
And there is a ton of additional information, on the RSPCA site no less.
