A disturbing study has been published indicating that many doctors prescribe placebos instead of efficacious medications to their patients. From the story:Many rheumatologists and general internal medicine physicians in the US say they regularly prescribe “placebo treatments” including . . . . Continue Reading »
I have warned against this from time to time, but it always bears repeating. The hype tossed around so casually in the great stem cell debate—mostly but not exclusively by ESCR proponents—has raised hopes so high that some people are rushing for unproven stem cell treatments in places . . . . Continue Reading »
An ad on Craigslist offers to euthanize pets at a discount, upsetting animal lovers. From the story: The person who posted the ad on Craigslist said he or she has a “military background” and is “very good at what I do. All work is carried out at my private home in Federal . . . . Continue Reading »
What this has to do with me, I don’t understand:Bad pun, good point:HT: Miguel . . . . Continue Reading »
By way of Arts & Letters Daily comes this interview with researcher Chen-Bo Zhong who has worked to understand the connection between abstract concepts and physical feelings: When people’s moral self image is threatened, as when they think about their own unethical past behaviors, people . . . . Continue Reading »
Halloween is just around the corner, and we know many readers’ chief preoccupation will be finding an original costume. Who better to go to for ideas than Bob Dylan , one of our greatest purveyors of weird and wacky images? . . . . Continue Reading »
We drink a lot of coffee in the office, so imagine my surprise when I read researchers have found that people who held a cup of hot coffee for 10 to 25 seconds warmed to a perfect stranger. Holding a cup of iced coffee had the opposite effect . . . . The study, to be published today in the journal . . . . Continue Reading »
Edward Cardinal Egan, the Archbishop of New York, asks us to just take a look . . . . . Continue Reading »
The Wall Street Journal offers the following pop quiz: Who’s donated the most money to an effort in California to defeat Proposition 8, an initiative on the November 4 ballot that would define marriage as between a man and a woman in the state? A) Gay-advocacy organizations B) Civil-rights . . . . Continue Reading »
“They agree on little else, but the heads of Northern Ireland’s four main parties are united in their determination to deny their countrywomen access to free abortion at home.” So says an outraged correspondent for The Economist , reporting on the failure of an initiative to . . . . Continue Reading »
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