A colleague who read my previous post about the 60 Minutes miracle cure programme pointed out some of the reaction to the story on the Facebook page of the official-sounding Vaccination Information Network. A visit to the page finds it is anything but informative. Despite that, the VINE has attracted a following of 8000-plus people […]
MoreIf you watched the 60 Minutes item Living Proof on Wednesday night, you’ll no doubt agree that King Country farmer Alan Smith is lucky to be alive. Acutely affected by the H1N1 virus, Smith lay in intensive care close to death, an ECMO machine battling to keep his fluid-filled lungs functioning. As Mike McRoberts says […]
MoreBed bugs are in the news at the moment, with outbreaks of the little critters in New York theatres. So what are bed bugs, why are hotel rooms bed bug-magnets and how do you get rid of the damn things? This clever infographic from The Ottawa Sun goes some way to providing answers…
MoreThe weekend’s Skeptics conference was a refreshing reminder that there are sharp-witted people in New Zealand interested in rational thought and with a healthy disdain for pseudo-scientific claims, quackery and silly beliefs. Some of the conference sessions are available as podcasts over at the Science Media Centre website – more are to come as soon […]
MoreAnimal cloning is back in the spotlight in Britain following news that meat and milk from the offspring of cloned cattle may have ended up in products sold at British retailers. It is illegal to sell cloned material in the UK without approval, though scientists approached by the Science Media Centre in London suggest there […]
MoreWater fluoridation is flavour of the month again for anti-science conspiracy theorists who consider it mass-medication or in the case of Rusty Kage, sorry Kane, mass poisoning. Anyone for a root canal? Rusty? The US Centre for Disease Control ranks fluoridation of water number 9 on its top 10 list of the greatest public health […]
MoreThe New Zealand Herald today carried news of interesting research by the tobacco industry which suggests New Zealand smokers have a penchant for cigarettes higher in nicotine than smokers across the Tasman. The Herald adds: The results come from a tobacco industry study… also found New Zealand smokers are exposed to the greatest average amount […]
MoreThis just came through from the World Health Organisation, which is clearly smarting after concerns were raised by the British Medical Journal about key pandemic advisors to the WHO having links to pharmaceutical companies that weren’t publicly disclosed. WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION LETTER TO BMJ EDITORS Below you will find a copy of the letter Dr […]
MoreThere were not too many scientists named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. It would always have been hard to top last year, when two of our top scientists, Professor Peter Gluckman and Professor Paul Callaghan were knighted following the reintroduction of knighthoods and dameships. Here are the scientists and medical researchers I identified on […]
MoreDid scientists with links to “big pharma” fuel fear about pandemics at the World Health Organisation resulting in a massive spend-up on antiviral drugs? UPDATE: BMJ coverage now online here. It sounds like a conspiracy theory the anti-vax movement would dream up, but according to a joint investigation between the British Medical Journal and The […]
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PETER GRIFFIN 
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