Skeptic

Italian scientists who have been able to reproduce an effect with the same characteristics as the Shroud of Turin in an experiment have claimed their research demonstrates that the shroud is indeed ahoax."The Shroud of Turin has been reproduced, according to Italian scientists, who claimed their experiment proved that the linen some Christians revere as Jesus"s burial cloth is a medieval fake."

View: Full Article | Source: Telegraph Newsstory suggestion by: Still Waters.

A woman in Tunisia who made headline news by claiming to be expecting 12 babies is believed to have been perpetrating a hoax. The 34-year-old is believed to have psychological problems and is most likely not even pregnant."A Tunisian woman who claimed she was on the verge of having a world record breaking 12 babies is in hiding after being exposed as a fraud.

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View: Full Article | Source: Telegraph

In his latest article UFOlogist Stanton Friedman talks about those who attack the notion that UFOs are of alien origin. Friedman maintains that people need to take a close look at the available evidence and investigate in full before criticising this view."There have been a number of remarks by people calling themselves scientists attacking the notion that any flying saucers are of alien origin.

The arguments aren’t scientific, but rather represent research by proclamation rather than investigation. We can learn a lot about how to deal with these attacks by focusing on the claims that are made and what isirrational or illogical or just plain wrong about them. "

View: Full Article | Source: UFO Chronicles

Patricia Putt, who claims to be psychic, had agreed to be tested in order to qualify for the $1 million prize awarded by the James Randi Educational Foundation. Putt took the failure well and she did not blame the test nor the testers.The test was administered at Goldsmiths University by Professor Christopher French, Professor Richard Wiseman, and psychology students Panka Juhasz, James Munroe, Suzanne Barbieri, and Fabio Tartarini.Patricia Putt was asked to write a "reading" on 10 volunteers, whom she was not allowed to look in the face, nor to touch. She had to listen to each one of them while she or he was reading a text from WilliamBlake’s ‘The Auguries of Innocence’, and write down her conclusions.Once the test was over, the ten volunteers each received a package with the ten readings and they had to pick out the one that applied to them.

Patricia would have passed the test if five of the volunteers had been able to do so. Why only five? Because no human talent is perfect, and any fair test must include the possibility of failure without invalidating the test. After the test, it appeared that not a single volunteer had been able to identify the reading associated with her/him. The JREF reports that Patricia putt took her failure well and that she did not blame the test or the testers but rather her own powers for failing. It is important to note that this test does not prove that psychic powers do not exist.It does not even prove that Patricia Putt has no psychic powers. All it shows is that Patricia putt failed utterly to pass a test... this time. In order to understand this properly, we can look at school/university exams. These exams are not meant to prove that a person is an able mathematician, psychologist, computer programmer, anatomist... They could not possibly accomplish that. However, they are meant as a filter that increases the chances that a person who passes to the next study year, and the next... is indeed qualified to do so. In studies, students are often studying in such a way as to maximise their chances to have a high score. This does increase the possibility that a certified geologist, linguist, doctor... is in fact not actually capable of doing this job. At the same time, there is no guarantee that people who are capabledo......