Skeptical Reporter for December 7th, 2012

Announcement: The Chinese language version of Skeptoid has been launched. The producers hope that this move will help promote the appreciation of science and scientific skepticism to the world’s largest market. Skeptoid: Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena is an award-winning weekly science podcast. According to their website, Skeptoid has been fighting the good fight against the overwhelming majority of noise in the media, since 2006, supporting useless alternative medicine systems, psychics preying upon the vulnerable, the erosion of science education in the classroom, xenophobia of advanced energy and food production methods, and generally anything that distracts attention and public funding from scientific advancement.

And now for some skeptical news

The winner of the Australian Skeptics' Bent Spoon Award, that is given every year to the most deserving promoters of pseudoscience, has been announced. This year, the standout winner of the Australian Skeptics' Bent Spoon Award for ''the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudoscientific piffle'' went to Fran Sheffield from Homeopathy Plus. The New South Wales-based organization, which promotes natural remedies for a variety of ailments, was gonged for claims made for homeopathy and whooping cough treatment and vaccine. Last week, the Australian Academy of Science released a booklet aimed at dispelling the myths about the dangers of vaccination and at reversing the falling trend of childhood vaccinations in Australia. About one in 12 Australian babies is not fully immunized. Awarded at a dinner in Melbourne, the Bent Spoon Award came with a trophy made from a spoon that had been ''psychically bent'' and mounted on a plinth of wood ''from Noah's Ark''.  Also honored at the dinner, which caps the group's national convention, was the lobby group Friends of Science in Medicine, which won the 2012 Skeptic of the Year Award. The group was recognized for challenging those Australian universities running courses in areas the Australian Skeptics consider ''unproven and over-hyped'' medical treatments. This includes areas such as chiropractic, naturopathy, acupuncture and reflexology.

TED is a very popular web site that features premier speakers to talk about their “ideas worth spreading” and also a well known event designed to open minds and help with information sharing. Even though TED events themselves feature quality speeches, the affiliated TEDx events don’t always meet the standards. The organizers of TED have been forced to write a letter to those in charge of affiliated events explaining what “good science” is, after several promoters of dubious topics have managed to take the stage in Spain and other countries. This is what the letter had to say: “It is your job, before any speaker is booked, to check them out, and to reject bad science, pseudoscience and health hoaxes. Vetting your speakers is hard work, and can lead to uncomfortable moments. But as TEDx organizers, your audience’s trust is your top priority, over and above any other personal or business relationship that may have brought this speaker to your attention. It is not your audience’s job to figure out if a speaker is offering legitimate science or not. It is your job. The consequence of bad science and health hoaxes are not trivial”. You can read the entire letter, that includes sections on what are the marks of good and bad science and what should raise some red flags, by clicking the first link below this episode.

The day after a federal judge cast doubt on a new state law banning sexual-orientation therapy for minors, a second judge issued a ruling upholding it. According to Lynda Gledhill, a spokeswoman for the California attorney general, the ban on sexual-orientation therapy will take effect January 1st as scheduled for everyone except two therapists and an aspiring therapist who sued to keep the ban from taking effect.