What's the harm in pseudoscience? This.

Ezekiel Stephan was his name
There’s the occasional mention of his name, even a tear or two shed in his memory.
torontosun.com

Your comments are featured in this piece, VM community.

Vaxxed Filmmakers Support Parents Convicted of Letting Their Toddler Die of Meningitis
Earlier this year, the anti-vaccination film Vaxxed was pulled from the Tribeca Film Festival after an enormous outcry. Since then, though, the filmmakers have shown it to worshipful audiences across the country, and are styling themselves as the head of a new wave of anti-vax, pro- “natural health”...
jezebel.com|By Anna Merlan

This story is fascinating.

The Unbelievable Tale of Jesus’s Wife
A hotly contested, supposedly ancient manuscript suggests Christ was married. But believing its origin story—a real-life Da Vinci Code, involving a Harvard professor, a onetime Florida pornographer, and an escape from East Germany—requires a big leap of faith.
theatlantic.com|By Ariel Sabar
Jennifer Ouellette
June 18 at 8:14am

How a geologist designed the perfect app for the window seat: http://www.fastcodesign.com/…/how-a-geologist-designed-the-… …

How A Geologist Designed The Perfect App For The Window Seat
What dinosaur digs, glaciers, or extinct volcanoes are you flying over?
fastcodesign.com

"Science is not a major or a career. It is a commitment to a systematic way of thinking, an allegiance to a way of building knowledge and explaining the universe through testing and factual observation. The thing is, that isn’t a normal way of thinking. It is unnatural and counterintuitive. It has to be learned."

The Mistrust of Science - The New Yorker
Science has never been more powerful, but it is under attack.
newyorker.com|By Atul Gawande

"...it has to be acknowledged and anyone who wants to advocate publicly for science has to go in with his or her eyes open. Harassment is a potential risk that all of us who put ourselves out there to advocate for science face."

How low antivaccine “warriors” will go: Of Facebook harassment reporting algorithm abuse and...
Antivaccine warriors and supporters of pseudoscience don't take criticism well. They can't, because they don't have evidence and science on their side. Instead, they respond with harassment, threats, and lawsuits. If you think you've seen how low they can go, think again.
sciencebasedmedicine.org

Two posts up today on VM about ‪#‎Vaxxed‬: One from Colin and one from me.

#Vaxxed, reviewed: What happened outside of the movie.
Emotionally charged rhetoric, false information, and mockery of autistic people were on display after a screening of “Vaxxed” in Kansas City.
violentmetaphors.com

Jennifer and I saw Vaxxed in Kansas City on June 11, along with her sister Julie. We have a lot of observations and thoughts about the movie, so we’ll probably be doing several articles discussing the film itself, the audience’s reaction to it, the protestors, our responses, and a lot more. My first, strong reaction was that very few people leaving the movie would have any idea what happened with the “CDC Whistleblower.” The audience left knowing next to nothing about the events it’s supposedly about; I confirmed that by talking to people afterwards, and they had very little grasp on the facts. [ 4562 more words. ]

http://violentmetaphors.com/…/vaxxed-reviewed-what-happened…

#Vaxxed, Reviewed: What happened inside the movie
Jennifer and I saw Vaxxed in Kansas City on June 11, along with her sister Julie. We have a lot of observations and thoughts about the movie, so we’ll probably be doing several articles discussing …
violentmetaphors.com

Hey guys, Colin and I are at Vaxxed. Review and details will be forthcoming.

Moar hobbitses!

Fossils Hint at Long-Sought Ancestor of Weirdest Human Species
700,000-year-old remains from Indonesia could elucidate the murky origins of the “hobbits” in our family tree
scientificamerican.com|By Kate Wong

New post on Violent Metaphors!

How to flunk out of the University of Google
As I’m putting the (hopefully) final touches on a short textbook that I’m writing entitled “Handbook on Science Literacy”, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to recommend a person go about systemat…
violentmetaphors.com
Health Trends in Children: From Autism to Zika
From autism and the zika virus to trends in infant mortality and life expectancy rates, are our kids really getting healthier?
verywell.com|By About Pediatrics and Parenting Advice
Why Is Big Naturopathy Afraid Of This Lone Whistleblower?
The American Association of Naturopathic Physicians can't handle the heat from a former naturopath determined to expose the truth.
forbes.com|By Kavin Senapathy
A Scary New Study Links Cell Phones And Cancer. Don't Stress. At All.
Experts say the results of a National Toxicology Program rat study released today may not be true, and even if they are, the types of cancer involved are so rare that a cell phone user’s overall increase in risk would be negligible.
forbes.com|By Matthew Herper

A skeptic on the ‪#‎ConspiraSea‬ Cruise: A retrospective and roundup of coverage.

http://violentmetaphors.com/…/a-skeptic-on-the-conspirasea-…

A Skeptic on the ConspiraSea Cruise
This is an index to our posts relating to my experiences on the ConspiraSea Cruise. Eventually we’ll convert this to a permanent page and keep it updated with new pieces and media coverage. L…
violentmetaphors.com

This blows me away.

A Shocking Find In a Neanderthal Cave In France
A rock structure, built deep underground, is one of the earliest hominin constructions ever found.
theatlantic.com|By Ed Yong
My TEDx Oslo Transcript: Why Do Parents Fear Vaccines?
This is the transcript of my TEDx Oslo talk, for those wanting to read instead of watch or who are unable to watch. Anyone is welcome to translate this talk into other languages as long as it appears with my name and the fact that it is a TEDx Oslo talk. (Ex: A TEDx Oslo talk by Tara Haelle.) I have...
redwineandapplesauce.com

A good analysis of a very complex topic.

5 big takeaways from the most thorough review of GMOs yet
Genetic engineering is changing radically — and our regulations are becoming outdated.
vox.com|By Brad Plumer
The Genetics of Staying in School
A huge study found 74 gene variants that are associated with years of formal schooling—but that doesn’t mean there are “education genes."
www.theatlantic.com|By Ed Yong
Behind the scenes at NASA: The HERA project.
THE BLOG Behind the scenes at NASA: The HERA project. 05/09/2016 01:08 pm ET Jennifer Raff Assistant Professor of Physical Anthropology, University of Kansas, joint Ph.D. in genetics and anthropology Side view of the HERA project facility. The hygiene module, where bathrooms and showers are housed,…
huffingtonpost.com