Paracetamol
Taking paracetamol during pregnancy does not increase the risk of autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or intellectual disability in
children, according to the most robust analysis of the evidence to date.
Science Fraud
'An amateur scientific sleuth has earned a £2 million reward after exposing
the use of falsified data by one
of America's leading cancer research institutions. Sholto David, 34, who lives in Oxford, spends much of his spare time trawling through peer-reviewed science,
searching for errors and indications of fraud. Two years ago he uncovered evidence that scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which is based in
Boston and affiliated with Harvard University, had used manipulated data when applying for grants from the National Institutes of Health, the world's largest
public funder of biomedical research.' (See also
'
Record year for bad science with 10,000 studies retracted'.)
The Loch Ness Monster
A top Loch Ness Monster expert says he no longer
believes the monster exists. Adrian Shine, 76, says "sightings" are people's perceptions of common events such as a boat's wake.
Vaccines
'New analysis from a WHO global expert committee on vaccine safety has found that, based on available evidence, no
causal link exists between vaccines and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The conclusion reaffirms WHO's position that childhood vaccines do not cause autism.'
Nicotine Patches
Nicotine patches are
being promoted to treat long covid. Jonathan Jarry of McGill University's Office of Science & Society says they don't work and can be a health risk.
ADHD
UK's Health Secretary Wes Streeting has
ordered a review of the diagnosis of mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions, as the government seeks to tackle a significant rise in welfare spending.
His decision 'comes amid concerns over a rise in individuals claiming sickness benefits due to diagnoses of mental illness, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD)'.
Flouridation
'Despite mounting scientific evidence on
the safety - and health benefits - of fluoride, there's still concern in some pockets of the community that fluoride is a "neurotoxin" and dangerous to cognitive
development. Even though there is little evidence to support these concerns, they've prompted some local governments in Australia and some US states to remove fluoride
from their water supplies.'
Robert F Kennedy
'Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, said in an interview with the New York Times on Friday that
he personally instructed the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to change its longstanding position that vaccines do not cause autism.
Countering decades of science showing vaccines to be safe, the US public health agency’s website was changed to say: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’
is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”'
Meanwhile, 'Louisiana's top health official (Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham), who has opposed widespread vaccination for diseases including
COVID-19 and the flu and promoted discredited remedies for the coronavirus, has been named principal deputy director
at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to multiple reports.'
Artificial Intelligence
From EurekAlert: 'Public opinion polls and other surveys rely on data to understand
human behavior. New research from Dartmouth (Dartmouth College, New Hampshire)
reveals that artificial intelligence can now corrupt public opinion surveys at scale-passing every quality check, mimicking real humans, and manipulating results
without leaving a trace. The findings, (published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), show just how vulnerable polling has become. In the seven
major national polls before the 2024 election, adding as few as 10 to 52 fake AI responses-at five cents each-would have flipped the predicted outcome. Foreign
adversaries could easily exploit this weakness: the bots work even when programmed in Russian, Mandarin, or Korean, yet produce flawless English answers.'
Maternal Paracetamol
Contradicting sensational claims by Donald Trump and Robert F Kennedy Jr,
a recent systematic review has concluded that 'Existing evidence does not clearly link maternal paracetamol use during pregnancy with autism or ADHD in offspring'.
Covid Vaccination
'According to
a new retrospective cohort study, a COVID infection during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental diagnoses among children by
age 3 years. If there was a good reason for pregnant women to get the COVID vaccine, this study is it.'
Fake Moon Landing Conspiracy Theory
'NASA Has Responded To Kim Kardashian’s
Conspiracy Theory About The “Fake” Moon Landing After She Was Dragged For Suggesting People Look It Up On TikTok.'
QED 2025
This year's annual QED conference took place in Manchester over the weekend and, as this is the last one (the first was in 2011), the organisers were determined
that it would be the best one ever. They probably succeeded. One of the great highlights was the final presentation by Dr Cyriac Abby Philips ('The Liver Doc')
titled 'How Alternative Medicine's Religio-Cultural Immunity is Killing Public Health and Patients'. He came all the way from India to give us a graphic account
(with horrific slides of diseased livers) of the suffering of patients treated by Ayurvedic and Homeopathic medicines and procedures in that country. He and his
team have saved the lives of many such patients by correct diagnosis and mainstream medical treatment. They and other colleagues have also published scientific
papers on their work as well as reviews of clinical trials that show the ineffectiveness of these practices. For doing so, he has been subjected to abuse,
death threats, lawsuits, and arrests by the police. His family and colleagues have also been targeted, and he has been forced to move his home and his clinic.
But he bravely insists on carrying on with his work. For this, he was presented at the conference with the UK
Skeptics annual Ockham Award for Skeptical Activism.
The Skeptic's annual Rusty Razor Award for this year's worst promotors of pseudoscience went to Reform UK.
No representatives came to collect this award.
Circumcision
United States Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr claims that there may be a link between
autism and circumcision. However, experts say his claims are not based on rigorous and robust research.
'Knowledge Crisis'
'Health-law professor and author
Timothy Caulfield told delegates (at the CUPE National Convention 2025) that we are living through a "knowledge crisis" - an era in which misinformation,
celebrity culture, and political identity are eroding public trust in evidence and institutions. Caulfield … called the trend a direct threat to public health and
frontline workers. The COVID-19 pandemic, he said, supercharged an atmosphere where unproven claims and conspiracies exploded from social media into daily life.
"Not all answers are right, but some answers are clearly wrong," Caulfield told the hall. "It's go time - it's a crisis, and we can make a difference".'
Antarctica Ice Mass
The amount of ice in Antarctica hasn't
rebounded after growth in recent years, despite claims on social media. Although the total mass of ice in Antarctica has fluctuated since 2020,
this followed almost 20 years of decline in which the continent lost 2.5 trillion tonnes of ice. Recent gains in mass have also been followed by equally
significant losses. The claim appears in a Facebook post.
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