Homeopathy: Useless, Dishonest and Unethical

... by Martin

In the words of one blogger, “the Select Committee was biased - biased by the evidence.” Today the Science and Technology Select Committee delivered their verdict on homeopathy, and it was devastating. The committee have called for the complete withdrawal of NHS funding and MHRA licensing of homeopathy.

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Uganda's Child Sacrifices

... by Jourdemayne
On Thursday night, the BBC brought us news of witchcraft and child-sacrifice in Uganda via two media: Radio 4’s ‘Crossing Continents’ and BBC2’s ‘Newsnight’ (19 mins to 33 mins) both carried reports by Tim Whewell. In northern Uganda in the last year, police reckon...
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The MHRA's Approach to Homeopathy

... by Martin
The Science and Technology Select Committee have published two new documents submitted by the MHRA as part of their homeopathy 'evidence check'; a public consultation from 2005 which the MHRA used to argue that there was "widespread support for the introduction of...
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The Homeopaths Strike Back (The Times)

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 22:58

It's fair to say that 2010 hasn't been a vintage year for homeopathy so far. At the end of January, a mass public 'overdose' by critics aiming to demonstrate the fact that homeopathic remedies contain no active ingredients received widespread coverage. Weeks later, the Science & Technology Select Committee released a report that damned not just homeopathy, but the homeopaths themselves, ultimately concluding that homeopathy works no better than placebo, and that NHS funding for the alternative medicine should be scrapped.

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Women and AIDS

Thu, 03/04/2010 - 22:21


HIV/AIDS is now the leading cause of death worldwide in women of reproductive age. UNAids has launched a five year plan to deal with the gender inequality and human rights violations behind this epidemic.

The plan by the joint United Nations Programme is called Agenda for Accelerated Country Action for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV (2010-2014).

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ElectionWatch - 1st March

Mon, 03/01/2010 - 00:41

Welcome to the first edition of Election Watch, an irregular evidence-based look at the coming General Election.

I'll be working on a major new project relating to the election in the next few weeks, details of which to come soon. But in the meantime, I thought it would be fun to do a regular blog of evidence-based tidbits about the elections, looking at the latest data and reflecting on possible outcomes generally, and for science.

Polls are like snow-flakes
The papers have excitedly reported that a Yougov poll this weekend shows the Conservatives sitting just 2 points ahead of Labour, a result which if repeated would leave Labour still the largest party, though without a majority.

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The Pod Delusion #23

Fri, 02/26/2010 - 09:57
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Homeopathy: Useless, Dishonest and Unethical

Tue, 02/23/2010 - 08:37

In the words of one blogger, “the Select Committee was biased - biased by the evidence.” Today the Science and Technology Select Committee delivered their verdict on homeopathy, and it was devastating. The committee have called for the complete withdrawal of NHS funding and MHRA licensing of homeopathy.

Your rating: None Average: 4.7 (3 votes)

Nostra Culpa

Sun, 02/21/2010 - 19:08

The Guardian reports that: 'The government will next week issue a formal apology to the tens of thousands of British children who were sent to Australia and other commonwealth countries with the promise of a better life but who often ended up neglected, abused or forgotten.'

This is the latest in a long line of governments apologising for something they did not do and follows the Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd doing the same.

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Unlucky German MINTs

Fri, 02/19/2010 - 09:10
Whenever I hear a politician harp on about how much he favors education, I just roll my eyes, because every politician that's ever lived has harped on education, and very few have done anything to improve it.

- Statler N Waldorf, on fivethirtyeight.com



You're looking forward to finishing you degree in Mechanical Engineering? Then there's a strong probability that you're not German.

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Petition for Libel Law Reform

Wed, 02/10/2010 - 21:42

A message from Simon Singh:

As you know, England’s chilling libel laws need to be reformed. One way to help achieve this is for 100,000 people to sign the petition for libel reform before the political parties write their manifestos for the election. We have 17,000 signatures, but we really need 100,000, and we need your help to get there.

Sign here

My idea is simple: if everyone who has already signed up persuades just one more person each week to sign the petition then we will reach our goal within a month!

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Empiricism comes naturally...

Mon, 02/08/2010 - 23:42


No career seemed insurmountable to me, as a teenager. Im not sure if it was sheer arrogance that got me into science--i'd like to think genuine curiosity and thirst for empiricism had something to do with it, too.

Yet, teens today struggle to see a science career in their future--but, not for the reasons you'd think (it's geeky/boring.)

In the 2010 Lemelson-MIT Invention Index, teens show a strong understanding of the creative and fun aspects of science, but less understanding of the societal implications of that tinkering:

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Biodiversity Nears Point of No Return

Thu, 01/28/2010 - 14:03

2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity, so I thought I would have a look at some of the issues that are being raised this year and, in particular, comments from Hilary Benn, the Government’s Environment Secretary, in a blog on the BBC website. The full article can be found here.

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Wikio - Top BlogsCurrent CO2 level in the atmosphere