eSkeptic & Bust-UP

Sorry this post is up late. I just got the latest eSkeptic with a preview of the newest issue of Skeptic magazine. I'm looking forward to the Mythbusters piece, as I'm a big fan of their work. I'll read the preview articles sometime this week and perhaps comment. But on with the show.

I just heard that a popular Japaneses bubblegum, B2UP, will be making it's way State-side soon. This gum, from Good One Ltd., claims to “increase breast size, improve circulation, reduce stress and fight aging”. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There apparently is even a study on the mater, from Thailand's Chulalongkorn University, which I haven't been able to find yet. The study claims 50 subjects with 18% showing a major increase in bust size and 54% showing a measurable increase. But we all know how badly studies can be botched up. Not to mention the gum needs to be chewed four times a day! In any case, I don't know enough to say anything affirmative. But until we can get our hands on these studies, and other studies confirm the results, this could be nothing more than marketing. The marketing at least, almost always works if no one has the common sense to ask a few questions about the claims. [FitCommerce] [BBC]

Natural History & Bones

A big story to me this week is the recent news about The American Museum of Natural History in New York. The exhibit in question is about Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution via natural selection. The museum was unable to find corporate sponsorship. Apparently the corporations are afraid to take sides with so many rampaging creationists around. They did fortunately get funding from private donors. But the news of companies being somehow afraid of aligning themselves with the greatest biological theory ... ever, gives me pause. Hopefully they are just being safe by staying apathetic about the whole thing, and this is simply a case of cowardice, not real disapproval of science. The next time I make it to New York, I'll be sure to visit this museum to see this exhibit myself.

I found a page at Discovery Channel Canada with a couple good video clips. I recommend The man behind the magic and A nail-bending suggestion. I like Richard Wiseman's approach of trying to identify the psychology before the actual trick. I recently watched his presentation on the TAM 3 DVDs. I still don't understand, in some cases, how he guesses peoples words when they pick them from books.

Bone Wars sounds like a fun game...

"Out in the field, fossil hunters must survive natural disasters and attempts by other players to steal and destroy dinosaur bones. Back at the museum, the conflict continues when the scientists carry their battle to the newspapers and scientific journals as they race to achieve scientific immortality!"

I'm going to try and post three times this week, so see you Wednesday.

Weekly Reading

There are a few things I read weekly as a habit:

• One is the fantastic JREF - Swift weekly newsletter (published Fridays).
  Excellent (and often amusing) news regarding non-sense from the paranormal. I'll likely post interesting bits from here and link back to the newsletter.
  

• The other is eSkeptic, the email newsletter from Michael Shermer. You can sign up at: www.skeptic.com. This ranges from book reviews to essays and more. Often quite insightful.

I encourage anyone to add these items to your regular reading list.

Mission Statement

Welcome to The Lazy Skeptic, where people that don't have time to be up on skeptic news go to get it. In this space I'll put forth my best efforts to gather relevant and interesting news regarding reason and logic. I hope to provide a resource to build critical thinking skills and foster a skeptical lens with which to view the world.