The Magazine for Science and Reason
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A recent poll found an interesting blend of belief and skepticism among the general public when it comes to the ABCs: Aliens, Bigfoot, and Chupacabra. In a YouGov poll of 1,114 American adults, when asked “How likely do you think it is that each of the following beings exist?” about aliens, Bigfoot, and the chupacabra, …
Three decades after the publication of Sagan’s The Demon-Haunted World—let’s take a fresh look at one of Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit.
Understanding mythbusting pitfalls can improve strategies for combating misinformation and avoid reinforcing questionable and false beliefs.
Imagine an eerie abandoned island complete with dilapidated prison buildings and half-open graves. Empty war-carved pillboxes that were dug deep into the soil but never saw any use are now occupied by the bones of dead steenboks and mole snakes. The lone human inhabitants are a group of eager scientists intently following the nesting habits …
We live in a fabulous world: amazing hidden civilizations, exotic unknown animals, and even bizarre human giants abound—at least, on our televisions. TV program schedules continually promote the ubiquitous daily presentation of such exotica on series after series, always with disparagement of the foolish mainstream scientists who fail to become True Believers in the paranormal …
The primary claim of the cryptoterrestrial hypothesis is that all the unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) sightings that were immensely popular in the media during the summer of 2023 do not come from above, they come from below—or to the side. The nonhuman intelligences are from Earth and represent a wide variety of different possible sources. …
The flap of a metaphorical butterfly’s wings produces a fundamental problem for astrologers.
In 1987, Carl Sagan published a two-page article in Parade magazine titled “The Fine Art of Baloney Detection.” He picked Parade due to its readership (at the time) of sixty-five million. In the first sidebar, he even highlighted The Skeptical Inquirer, calling it “cheerful, irreverent, instructive and often funny.” Wow, that must have done wonders …
Tarot Card Reader Owes $10 Million for Defamatory Accusations. On February 27, a jury awarded $10 million in damages to Rebecca Scofield, who had sued Ashley Guillard for defamation. Guillard, who testified that she believes she has psychic powers, read tarot cards to help her investigate the stabbing deaths of four students in Idaho in …
The most famous film of Bigfoot has been conclusively revealed as a hoax in a new documentary film, Capturing Bigfoot. The iconic 1967 footage taken in Bluff Creek, California, by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin is said to show a female Bigfoot (dubbed “Patty”) walking across a riverbed. The 16-mm film has been the subject …