Havana Syndrome
'
Havana Syndrome is the name for a group of mysterious illnesses that have cropped up among U.S. spies over the past decade. The
working theory has been that adversarial countries like Russia or China are intentionally targeting Americans with invisible rayguns
to give them brain damage.' Some conspiracy theorists believe that Joe Biden was affected by Havana Syndrome during the TV debate with
Donald Trump on 27.6.24. But see:
Havana Syndrome: Finally Putting the Myth to Rest.
More Conspiracy Thepries
'Trump shooting: all
seven conspiracy theories examined': The Daily Telegraph examines the flurry of conspiracy theories that have predictably (and rapidly) emerged since the
attempt on Donald Trump's life.
Chiropractic with Babies
'The Chiropractic Board of Australia has reinstated a ban on
spinal manipulation of babies following an outcry from doctors and a request from health ministers. The national chiropractor self-regulator
banned the procedure more than four years ago after public outrage over footage of a Melbourne chiropractor hanging a two-week-old
baby upside down by his ankles. But that interim ban on performing the procedure on children under two lapsed in November and it was
revealed last week that the board had given members the green light to resume spinal adjustments on infants. That decision, which led
doctors to call for the procedure to be outlawed, was walked back last night following a meeting of health ministers in South Australia.'
Slapping Therapy
'An alternative healer failed to get medical help as a 71-year-old diabetic woman lay dying while attending a workshop he led which "evangelised" a
slapping therapy as an alternative to life-saving insulin medication,
a court has heard. Danielle Carr-Gomm, died at Cleeve House in Seend, Wiltshire, where she was taking part in the workshop in October 2016 which
promoted Paida Lajin therapy, which sees patients being slapped or slapping themselves repeatedly. Hongchi Xiao, 61, of Cloudbreak, California, is on
trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of the manslaughter by gross negligence of Mrs Carr-Gomm, from Lewes, East Sussex. ... (P)rior to Mrs Carr-Gomm’s death,
he had been prosecuted in Australia for the manslaughter of a six-year-old boy who died in 2015.'
Dyslexia
'An academic is urging experts and educators to stop diagnosing dyslexia.
Durham University professor Julian Elliott said diagnoses held "no value" in terms of educational interventions for poor readers.
"Dyslexia can be a helpful term to describe severe and persistent difficulty with reading, but that's it," he said.'
Professor Esther Crawley
'Professor Esther Crawley, Bristol University's methodologically and ethically challenged pediatrician and long-time grant magnet,
gave up her right to practice medicine last September, according to her current entry at the UK's General Medical Council, which oversees
the registration of physicians. … Her departure from clinical practice is great news for families with kids suffering from ME/CFS-and now Long
Covid. Professor Crawley has been the most influential pediatrician in the field of what she long called "chronic fatigue syndrome," or more
recently "CFS/ME." She was a gusher of misinformation, publishing seriously flawed and sometimes fraudulent research at a prolific rate. She called
PACE a "great, great" trial.'
More on Evidence-based Policy
From Sense About Science again: 'As we wait for details of the big parties' manifestos this weekend, the question we need to ask about any policy
promise is - how do we know it will work? There was a lot of debate on Tuesday about costs, but we heard little from Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer
evidencing how policy promises would achieve their goals. If we can't see the evidence behind policies, we can't be expected to trust them,
ask experts to evaluate and improve them or get MPs to vote for them. We need a fresh start from the next government, with evidence transparency
rules followed from day one. Please join us in
writing to Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak for a clear commitment that they will publish all the evidence behind policies.
Evidence-based Policy
A
report by Sense About Science 'shows how departments are breaking government transparency rules on publishing policy evidence. In a
transparency review of recent government policy measures, 3 out of 6 failed to meet the test of whether a motivated citizen could see what
evidence the government has used or assessed in its decision making. Our new survey with Ipsos found that 74% of British adults think it is
important that the government shows all the evidence used to make important policy decisions. The public want to be able to see the evidence
base behind policies and the rules for publishing it exist, but departments regularly ignore their own rules.'
GM Crops
'Scientists have warned that a court decision to
block the growing of the genetically modified (GM) crop Golden Rice in the Philippines could have catastrophic consequences. Tens of thousands
of children could die in the wake of the ruling, they argue. The Philippines had become the first country - in 2021 - to approve the
commercial cultivation of Golden Rice, which was developed to combat vitamin A deficiency, a major cause of disability and
death among children in many parts of the world. But campaigns by Greenpeace and local farmers last month persuaded the country's
court of appeal to overturn that approval and to revoke this.'
Long Covid
'A former Team GB rower claims a treatment she underwent for long Covid leaves participants feeling "blamed" for being ill. Oonagh Cousins
was offered a free place on a course run by the Lightning Process,
which teaches people they can rewire their brains to stop or improve long Covid symptoms quickly. Ms Cousins, who contracted Covid
in March 2020, said it "exploits" people. However, the programme's founder denied it blames patients for their illness, saying that
was completely at odds with the concepts of the programme.'
Acu Seeds
Re: Dragons' Den, BBC One, 18 January 2024:
Complaint to the BBC has been upheld by the Executive Complaints Unit (ECU). 'This edition of the programme included a successful pitch for
Acu Seeds, a product which applies acupressure to the ear by means of "ear seeds". Six viewers complained that the pitch included claims that
the product could be beneficial in the treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)/chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) which had no scientific basis
and were potentially misleading to the audience. The ECU considered the complaints in the light of the BBC's editorial standards of accuracy.'
Whooping Cough
'A leading vaccine expert says he is "very worried" by the
large increase in whooping cough cases which have led to the deaths of five babies in England this year. Professor Sir Andrew Pollard,
head of the UK's vaccine committee, said the youngest were at greatest risk and more pregnant women should be vaccinated. If the disease
continues to spread, more babies will die, he warned. The whooping cough vaccine is offered to babies and pre-school children. … "Very important -
for this very vulnerable group, those who are too young to be vaccinated - is the vaccination rate in pregnant women," he added. "Worryingly,
those have fallen from a peak of about 75% of women being vaccinated during pregnancy to under 60% today, and that's what puts these very young
infants at particular risk."'
'Psychic Surgeon' Sentenced
'A man who claimed to be a self-proclaimed 'psychic surgeon' was
sentenced to 489 years and four months in prison on charges including sexual assault. João Teixeira de Faria from Brazil was a widely-known
psychic and medium who called himself a "psychic surgeon". Faria was even interviewed by Oprah Winfrey when the TV presenter
travelled to Brazil as part of the second season of Oprah's Next Chapter in 2013.'
Cancer Quackery
'A woman who almost died trying to cure her cancer with a juice diet
has warned others against "cutting out" traditional medical
advice and trying to source alternative information online. Medics tried to get Irena Stoynova to use conventional cancer
treatments after she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in June 2021, but she "shut them out" … Instead of chemotherapy,
she sought alternatives online and took the advice of a man, who has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, and
claims the human body can "heal itself" with help of a radical lifestyle and diet changes … (She) followed various diets and
holistic therapies for two-and-a-half years, which left her emaciated with fluid on her lungs.'
Autism Quackery
'The Royal Borough of Greenwich has warned schools and nurseries to be on guard after being made aware that someone claiming to be a
doctor plans to visit the UK to offer dangerous "experimental procedures"
for autistic children.'
Big Cat Sightings
It's time for yet another report of
a big cat sighting in the UK. 'A motorist has been left stunned after he spotted a 'big cat' prowling
through the Worcestershire countryside. In what could be a new sighting of the infamous Worcestershire panther, Geoff Thompson spotted
the strange creature in the distance while pulled over in a layby between Great Witley and Martley in Worcestershire.' (OK,
so we don't need to rewild big cats like lynxes, pumas and panthers. We've already got them! Yes? - Ed.)
UFOs Again
'There have been
multiple claims of UFO sightings all over the world with no concrete evidence of the same. But the strangest claim is being
heard from Britain these days. People here believe that most of the UFOs in the country are seen above supermarket car parking lots.
… An alien expert named Ash Ellis had said that if one wants to encounter UFOs in Britain, then the best place is Wales. He claims
hat last year 323 cases of UFO sightings were registered in Wales alone. …Those who have claimed to have seen UFOs say that the
parking spotlights installed in 12,700 shops in Britain actually attract UFOs.' (That's enough - Ed.)
Out-of-Body Experiences
'People who've had an out-of-body experience
(OBE) report the sensation of leaving their physical body and floating up above it. Many also say that their point of view shifts,
so that they look down at their body for a period of time, before 're-entering' it. While some take a more mystical approach to
these experiences, researchers have linked them to problems with the vestibular system, a suite of organs in the inner ear that
are sensitive to the direction of the pull of gravity and also to head movement, helping us sense when we're moving. Vestibular
signals are also thought to be important for the feeling that our conscious self is located in our physical body, though senses s
uch as vision contribute to this, too. In a recent study in iScience, Hsin-Ping Wu and colleagues explore how OBEs might come about,
reporting a technique which stimulates both vision and the vestibular system to create the illusion of an OBE in healthy people.'
Child Geniuses
'Stories of child geniuses
seem to be perennially popular. One of the latest appeared at the end of January 2023, featuring a boy who taught
himself to read at the age of two. By age three, he had become the UK's youngest member of Mensa, the society
for people with a high IQ. But while we often think of intelligence as being stable … a major new (review) has
found that it's more variable across the lifespan than we might think'.
Evidence Week
From Sense About Science’s Evidence Week: 'It is vital that Parliament uses the best available evidence when making
important decisions. Evidence Week in Parliament shows MPs that the public care about evidence by asking them about
the basis for evidence being used for political decisions, and how it is scrutinised at Westminster. Can you join us in
Parliament on 24 June to publicly ask MPs about an issue important to you? You can ask about anything: we’ve had questions
ranging from net-zero targets, allotments and electoral reform to the future of personalised prescribing'.
Submit your question now.
Welcome to the
ASKE website