With news that Bill Gates has bought the rights from the BBC for some 1964 lectures given by Richard Feynman, in the discussions over at RichardDawkins.net a video clip was posted of Feynman explaining science through an analogy of observing a game of chess.
I remember this interview well, and I’m pretty sure that it was from the 1980s from the once great BBC "Horizon" science programmes.
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2009
Say it ain’t so! DC’s Improbable Science provides another great article at http://www.dcscience.net/?p=1812 on what are obviously cash-cows for the University of Westminster. Cash-cows, yes, but also bullshit degrees. IMHO of course!
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2009
Whilst cycling on on my new bike on Sarratt Road in the early afternoon of Saturday 20th June 2009 just outside the village centre of Sarratt, a car pulled up beside me and a young man or youth leaned out of the car’s side window and grabbed my backpack either pushing me or pulling me (I don’t recall which).
Anyway, they got close enough that they hit my Kona Wah Wah bicycle pedals, the result of which sent me sprawling into the middle of the road just missing the car’s rear tyre. Now, those Kona Wah Wah pedals are pretty tough and I reckon that those pedals left a pretty decent dent or scratch on the car :)
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2009
Following the recent coverage on chiropractic, The Quackometer article http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/06/chiropractors-told-to-take-down-their.html reports on an astounding letter sent from the McTimoney Association to all its members. In a nutshell, it appears that chiropractors are running scared…running scared that the public are about to found out the truth that chiropractic is a pseudoscience.
There are several points in the letter that can be used as a window into the mindset of chiropractors and these are discussed at http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/06/chiropractors-told-to-take-down-their.html. Utterly amazing!
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2009
The are numerous examples at http://whatstheharm.net/homeopathy.html showing why homeopathy is dangerous. And now two parents have been convicted in Australia for causing the death of their child through application of homeopathy. This is a sad story and I felt pain reading about the suffering that the child experienced. I am sure that the parents are suffering too.
Further details can be found at http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/05/homeopathy_kills_a_child.php
The parents obviously believed that homeopathy was real. And that is why I feel passionately that people need to be educated on the falsities and dangers of homeopathy and the other pseudosciences. We don’t need witch doctors.
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2009
My view on chiropractic is simple…it has been shown that chiropractic is based on non-scientific ideas, and various studies and trials reinforce that position. In other words, trials indicate that chiropractic is "bogus".
The recent situation with Simon Singh has rattled my cage, so to speak, and I have included some links here regarding the current situation…which I see very much as a fight of reason against superstition and nonsense. Much like homeopathy and other pseudosciences, we need to be on the guard against the new witch doctors.
The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what’s true. We have a method, and that method helps us to reach not absolute truth, only asymptotic approaches to the truth – never there, just closer and closer, always finding vast new oceans of undiscovered possibilities. Cleverly designed experiments are the key. – Carl Sagan
Simon Singh: principled and brave
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/06/simon_singh_principled_and_bra.php
The Law Has No Place in Scientific Disputes
http://thinking-is-dangerous.blogspot.com/2009/06/law-has-no-place-in-scientific-disputes.html
Singh the blues
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/06/03/singh-the-blues/
Simon Singh to Appeal Bogus Decision
http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/06/simon-singh-to-appeal-bogus-decision.html
Simon Singh is appealing!
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/585-simon-singh-is-appealing.html
Simon Singh to appeal libel decision
http://gimpyblog.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/simon-singh-to-appeal-libel-decision/
Chiropractic – as modest today as in 1913?
http://gimpyblog.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/chiropractic-as-modest-today-as-in-1913/
Simon Singh will appeal! Keep the Libel Laws out of Science
http://www.dcscience.net/?p=1630
Silenced, the writer who dared to say chiropractice is bogus
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/silenced-the-writer-who-dared-to-say-chiropractice-is-bogus-1696408.html
Review of libel law called for by comedians
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article6426195.ece
Science writer will appeal libel case ruling
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090603/full/news.2009.542.html
Singh plans to appeal ruling in libel case
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=406872&c=1
Britain Chills Free Speech
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124406714025182743.html
Chiropractic: a bogus treatment for bedwetting?
http://apgaylard.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/chiropractic-a-bogus-treatment-for-bedwetting/
Simon Singh and the Bogus Chiropractic Association
http://www.mediawatchwatch.org.uk/2009/05/19/simon-singh-and-the-bogus-chiropractic-association/
Simon Singh loses first round in chiropractic fight – May 08, 2009
http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2009/05/simon_singh_loses_first_round.html
Singh Case Update: A Real Pain in the Neck!
http://godknowswhat.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/singh-case-update-a-real-pain-in-the-neck/
How I Really Feel About Chiropractors
http://www.rebuildyourback.com/chiropractic/myopinion.php
Chiropractic Health Care: Science or Religion?
http://www.geocities.com/forbidden_area/chiro.html
ChiroWatch
http://www.chirowatch.com/