Largest-Ever Study On Cancer and Cellphones Finds ‘No Increase In Risk’
“When I was reporting my March 2010 PopSci feature story on the possible health effects of cell phone radiation, I was particularly interested in learning about the Interphone project, a collection of 13 different national studies coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization.
Interphone is the largest completed analysis to date of brain tumor (glioma and meningioma) risk in relation to mobile phone use. When I was writing my piece, none of the scientists I interviewed could or would say much about the study, since it had yet to be published. So not much about Interphone ended up in my story. But when I asked one source familiar with the study’s progress what we would learn once the results appeared, this person said: ‘We’ll learn how to do better studies.’
Well, the Interphone study has finally appeared and, unfortunately, my source was right.
The paper, published this week in the International Journal of Epidemiology, concludes: ‘Overall, no increase in risk of either glioma or meningioma was observed in association with use of mobile phones. There were suggestions of an increased risk of glioma, and much less so meningioma, at the highest exposure levels … However, biases and errors limit the strength of the conclusions we can draw from these analyses and prevent a causal interpretation.’”
Read more at Popsci.com (thanks, SuZi)
Homeopathy Is Witchcraft, Say Doctors
“Homeopathy is ‘witchcraft’ and the National Health Service should not pay for it, the British Medical Association has declared.
Hundreds of members of the BMA have passed a motion denouncing the use of the alternative medicine, saying taxpayers should not foot the bill for remedies with no scientific basis to support them.
The BMA has previously expressed scepticism about homoeopathy, arguing that the rationing body, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence should examine the evidence base and make a definitive ruling about the use of the remedies in the NHS.
Now, the annual conference of junior doctors has gone further, with a vote overwhelmingly supporting a blanket ban, and an end to all placements for trainee doctors which teach them homeopathic principles.
Dr Tom Dolphin, deputy chairman of the BMA’s junior doctors committee in England told the conference: ‘Homeopathy is witchcraft. It is a disgrace that nestling between the National Hospital for Neurology and Great Ormond Street [in London] there is a National Hospital for Homeopathy which is paid for by the NHS’.”
Read more at The Telegraph (thanks, PaulB)
Psychic ‘cheats hundreds of thousands of dollars out of customers by telling them money is evil’
Nancy Marks also persuaded gullible clients to hand over their credit card numbers because she wanted to check there were not too many sixes on them. The 54-year-old used the information to go on wild spending sprees at top fashion stores.
Police in Colorado believe she has able to get more than £250,000 out of people who came to use her psychic services. One woman handed over more than £180,000 after being told money was evil and that it contained bad energy.
Full article at Mail Online
Researcher claims alien abduction of Voyager 2 probe
German researcher Hartwig Hausdorf has claimed that information coming back from the Voyager 2 probe, is coming back in a completely different format from what should be expected and could be due to extraterrestrial life. Hausdorf stated, “It seems almost as if someone had reprogrammed or hijacked the probe – thus perhaps we do not yet know the whole truth…”
Sent out on a 4 year mission with it’s sister probe Voyager 1 in 1977 the probe is currently around 92 Astronomical Units from the sun – 1 AU is equal to 149,597,871 kilometers and has visited more planets than any other spacecraft.
NASA said that Voyager 2 suddenly began transmitting data back in a different format. Scientists have had trouble interpreting the data but have put it down to a glitch in the onboard systems. Apart from this incident, the on-board computer is said to be working completely fine.
Project scientist Ed Stone said the most likely cause of the hiccup is a “bit flip”, where parts of a stream of data are improperly formatted.
Hausdorf is a prominent science fiction writer.
Voyager 2 – Wikipedia (Thanks @UKgnome)
Derren Brown Investigates – Now on 4OD
If you missed last nights episode or just want to see it again, you can now find it available for viewing on 4oD:
Or if you have already seen the show and want to join in the discussions and find out further information about each of the shows, head over to our Derren Brown Investigates pages.
Creationism Propaganda for Children Caught on Camera
Words fail me…
Dating By Blood Type In Japan
“People in most parts of the world do not think about their blood group much, unless they have an operation or an accident and need a transfusion. But in Japan, whether someone is A, B, O or AB is a topic of everyday conversation. There is a widespread belief that blood type determines personality, with implications for life, work and love.
It is Saturday night and a speed dating session is under way in a small building in the backstreets of Tokyo. Men and women are sitting nervously at tables hoping to find that special someone. The room is brightly painted in red and white, the staff upbeat and enthusiastic, but the conversations are rather stilted. The couples have just a few minutes to try to sound each other out before a bell rings and they have to move on to the next lonely single. It is a scene repeated in cities across the world but this speed dating session in Japan has a twist.
It is for women who want to meet men with blood group A or AB.”
Read more at The BBC
Documentaries – from May 10th
Starting on May 10th, your blogger presents 3 documentaries on C4 under the title ‘Derren Brown Investigates’ (a title I’m slightly unconvinced by but I couldn’t think of a better one). In each, I spend time with someone making paranormal claims, observing their world, looking at the weight of evidence for and against.
There are three documentaries: one with a British psychic medium, another with a ghosthunter from the US, and a third concerns a Russian system of human development that claims to ‘cure’ blindness. Each has quite a different feel.
I have approached these documentaries quite openly: as a magician, and someone steeped in the world of the paranormal, I would love to find something that I can’t explain. I remember a friend at University showing me an apparent demonstration of ‘Chi’ that got me giggly and excited for (more…)
Can Acupuncture Have Real Effects?
“Rats with damaged spines can walk again thanks to acupuncture. But it’s not due to improvements in their energy flow or ‘chi’. Instead, the ancient treatment seems to stop nerve cell death by reducing inflammation.
Acupuncture’s scientific credentials are growing. Trials show that it improves sensory and motor functions in people with spinal cord injuries.
To find out why, Doo Choi and his colleagues at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea, damaged the spines of 75 rats. One-third were given acupuncture in two locations: Shuigou – between their snout and mouth, and Yanglingquan – in the upper hind leg. Others received no treatment or “simulated acupuncture”.
After 35 days, the acupuncture group were able to stand at a steeper incline than the others and walk better. Staining their paws with ink revealed that their forelimb-hindlimb coordination was fairly consistent and that there was very little toe dragging, whereas the control groups still dragged their feet.”
Read more at New Scientist (thanks, Mill)
James Randi Speaks Homeopathy Week 2010
James Randi has a few thoughts on the upcoming Homeopathy Awareness week and wants to share them with you.
