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Twelve Scholars and Investigators Elected Fellows of Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Outstanding skeptics from five countries honored for ‘distinguished contributions to science and skepticism.’

The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry an- the . 106. They come from , Belgium, nounces the election of twelve outstanding The Committee, established in 1976 and Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Mex- scientists, scholars, writers, and investigators still popularly known as CSICOP, publishes ico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, as Fellows. Election as a fellow recognizes the , the magazine for the United Kingdom, and the . “distinguished contributions to science and science and reason. The Committee “pro- Isaac Asimov, Martin Gardner, Philip J. skepticism.” motes scientific in quiry, critical investigation, Klass, Carl Sagan, B.F. Skin ner, and Nobel All of the newly elected fellows have made and the use of reason in examining controver- Laureates Francis Crick and Glenn T. Seaborg major contributions to science and reason, sial and extraordinary claims.” Fellows serve were all fellows of CSICOP. critical inquiry, and public education. They as formidable intellectual re sources for the Current fellows include such luminaries hail from the United States, the United King- Com mittee and for the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. as evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, dom, Australia, Canada, and India. “We are pleased that so many distin- philosopher Daniel C. Den nett, physicist The new fellows include science writers guished scholars, re searchers, academics, and Lawrence M. Krauss, philosopher (and CSI- Sandra Blakeslee and Simon Singh; psychol- people fighting for science and reason in the COP founder) Paul Kurtz, cognitive scientist ogists Anthony R. Prat kanis and Keith E. trenches as part of their daily lives and profes- Steven Pinker, magician/investigator James Stanovich; physicist Mark Boslough; physi- sions have joined with CSI,” said CSI Execu- Randi, physical anthropologist Eugenie C. cian and alternative medicine critic Edzard tive Director Barry Karr. “We look forward to Scott, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ernst; and investigator/writers Benjamin a busy and rewarding future and incorporating biologist E.O. Wilson, and Nobel Laureate Radford and Karen Stollznow. Several other these new fellows into our activities.” scientists Murray Gell-Mann, Sir Harry prominent leaders of the Potential new fellows are nominated by Kroto, Leon Leder man, and Steven Wein - have also been elected: Sanal Edama ruku, existing fellows or by members of the Com- berg. A full list of fellows appears on the inside president of the Indian Rationalist Associa- mittee’s governing executive council, and they cover of this and every issue of the SKEPTICAL tion and Rationalist Inter national; Wendy M. are then elected by the executive council. INQUIRER and is also on our website at Gross man, founder of the United Kingdom’s Combined with the sixteen new fellows www.csicop.org/about/csi_fellows_and_staff. The Skeptic magazine; Barry Karr, executive announced last year (SI, March/April 2010), Here are biographical sketches of the director of the Committee for Skeptical In- the new class brings the number of present 2011 class of Committee for Skeptical Inquiry quiry; and Richard Saunders, vice president of Committee for Skep tical Inquiry fellows to fellows:

Sandra Blakeslee Mark Boslough Sanal Edamaruku Science writer; author; Physicist, Sandia President, Indian New York Times science National Laboratories, Rationalist Association correspondent Albuquerque, and Rationalist International Blakeslee has spent nearly all of her career writing Boslough is regularly seen Sanal Edamaruku is a about science for the New in science documentaries prominent writer, colum- York Times, both as a staff writer and on and news reports both explaining his re- nist, and television personality who is con- contract. For about the past fifteen years search on planetary impacts and participat- sidered the most outspoken and dynamic she has been specializing in the brain sci- ing in expeditions to remote impact sites advocate of rationalism in India. He is pres- ences. Her latest book is Sleights of Mind: around the world. Exotic scenery and com- ident of the Indian Rationalist Association What the Neuroscience of Magic Says About puter animations of catastrophic cosmic and the founding president of Rationalist Our Everyday Deceptions (2010), with neu- events make for good television, but Inter national. Explaining the science behind roscientists Stephen L. Macknik and Su- Boslough has become an advocate for ob- all kinds of “miracles” and exposing godmen, sana Martinez-Conde. The book uses neu- jective assessment of all risks to humanity, astrologers, faith healers, bigoted politicians, roscience to explain how magicians deceive including those that are self-inflicted. He and fraudulent “modern” therapists on air, us, why we are so vulnerable to sleights of passionately defends climate science from Edamaruku has broken the spells of count- mind, and how deception is part of what political attacks and enjoys debunking the less paranormal and pseudoscientific claims makes us human. Her previous books in- extraordinary claims of global-warming and shaken deep-rooted beliefs in astrology, clude The Body Has a Mind of Its Own deniers. He advocates the use of humor as reincarnation, and tantric powers. Some of (with her son Matthew Blakeslee, a fourth- a weapon against . his interventions have led to the arrest of generation science writer), On Intelligence Boslough’s most widely read piece is a holy charlatans or helped control outbreaks (with Jeff Hawkins), and Phantoms in the thinly disguised spoof of creationists in the of mass hysteria. For example, in 1996 he Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human form of a satirical April Fools’ Day news debunked the legendary “monkey-man” who Mind (with V.S. Ramachan dran). Blakeslee story, in which he wrote about a supposed had terrified New Delhi. In what is perhaps lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. vote of the legislature to change his most spectacular action so far, Eda - pi to its “biblical value” of exactly 3. It was maruku challenged one of India’s leading widely mistaken as real. Boslough has a tantriks to prove his claimed black-magic PhD in applied physics from Caltech. powers by killing Edamaruku with mantras and rituals on live television.

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Edzard Ernst Wendy M. Grossman Barry Karr Professor, complemen- Writer; founder and first Executive director, tary medicine, Peninsula editor, The Skeptic Com mittee for Skeptical Medical School, Universi- magazine (U.K.) Inquiry, Amherst, ties of Exeter and New York Plymouth, Exeter, Grossman founded United Kingdom the United Kingdom’s Karr, the longtime The Skeptic magazine executive director of Ernst, who holds both MD and PhD in 1987 and has served twice as its editor the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, is de grees, came to the University of Exeter (1987–1989 and 1999–2001). She also currently a member of the management in 1993 from Hannover Medical School writes its column “A Skeptic at Large.” committee of the and (Germany) and the University of Vienna Along with current The Skeptic editor-in- has served as the Center’s executive to establish the first Chair in Complemen- chief Chris French, she co-edited the director. A SKEPTICAL INQUIRER consult- tary Medi cine. He is one of the world’s 2010 book Why Statues Weep: The Best of ing editor, Karr has also contributed to leading and best-informed critics of The Skeptic. A freelance writer specializing or edited several books, including alternative medicine. He has been awarded in science and technology, Grossman is a The UFO Invasion, Science vs. Religion, thirteen scientific prizes and awards and frequent contributor to the Guardian’s Skeptical Odysseys, The Outer Edge, and has more than one thousand publications technology section and has written for Bizarre Cases. He has served the Commit- in the peer-reviewed literature. Ernst has Scientific American, New Scien tist, Wired, tee for Skeptical Inquiry (formerly written more than forty books including, Wired News, and the Philosopher’s Magazine. CSICOP) for nearly thirty years with with British science journalist Simon She has authored several books, including dedication and distinction. In addition to Singh, the much-embattled 2009 book 2001’s From Anarchy to Power: The Net speaking and writing on skeptical issues, Trick or Treat ment? Alternative Medicine Comes of Age. Her 1998 book net.wars Karr works tirelessly behind the scenes. on Trial, which forthrightly defends was one of the first to have its full text He deals with management and evidence-based medicine and assesses published on the web. She sits on the organizational matters, helps raise funds, popular practices like homeopathy, executive committee of the Association tracks budget and finances, plans acupuncture, and chiropractic. Ernst of British Science Writers as well as the conferences and other events, edits reports frequently about alternative advisory councils of the Open Rights the Committee’s website (www.csicop.org), medicine in the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. Group and Privacy International. oversees media interactions, and keeps Gross man also has what she calls “a the organization moving forward. disreputable past as a fulltime folksinger.”

Anti-Vaccine Doctor’s ‘Deliberate Fraud’

fraud,” according to Dr. Fiona Godlee, children and families who live with it.” editor in chief of BMJ, formerly known In “Secrets of the MMR Scare,” the as the British Medical Journal. The second part of a BMJ series of special re- statement appeared in a January 5, ports on the scandal, Deer showed how 2010, editorial on BMJ’s website. Wakefield exploited the vaccine scare for Author of the now-retracted article his personal financial gain. Wakefield in The Lancet, Wakefield had previously planned to make a fortune developing been found guilty of acting unethically his own supposedly safer vaccines and m

o in his research on autism by a British c s diagnostic testing kits once the public’s w

e panel. Dr. Godlee said BMJ and inves- N /

s confidence in the safety of current vac-

s tigator Brian Deer uncovered “clear ev- e r P idence of falsification” of Wakefield’s cines was shaken. According to Deer, A M

U Wakefield expected to earn over forty Z data. Godlee’s editorial states that / r e l l

i “Wakefield altered numerous facts million dollars each year from selling his M n m about the patients’ medical histories in

o diagnostic kits. T order to support his claim to have iden- An infamous 1998 medical-journal re- tified a new syndrome.... But perhaps Toning Shoes Step into Court port by Andrew Wakefield, the doctor as important as the scare’s effect on in- Reebok and New Balance are among the companies consumers say whose research sparked international fectious disease is the energy, emotion, make false claims for a better butt. concern over whether or not childhood and money that have been diverted To read this story, vaccines cause autism, “was based not away from efforts to understand the visit csicop.org on bad science but on a deliberate real causes of autism and how to help

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Anthony R. Pratkanis Benjamin Radford Richard Saunders Professor of psychology, Investigator; research Vice president, University fellow, Committee for Australian Skeptics; of California, Skeptical Inquiry educator; investigator; Santa Cruz podcaster; Radford, a research fellow Sydney, Australia Pratkanis, a social of the Committee for psychologist, is an expert Skeptical Inquiry, is a Richard Saunders says he on economic fraud crimes, propaganda, premier science-based investigator of owes his passion in skeptical activism to marketing and consumer behavior, and claims of “unexplained” phenomena such the examples set by Carl Sagan and James subliminal persuasion. His research as ghosts, Bigfoot, crop circles, UFOs, lake Randi. In the past decade, Saunders has program has investigated such topics as the monsters, and miracles. He is managing created Te Great Skeptic CD and the delayed effects of persuasion, attitudes editor of the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER and DVD Great Water Divining for the and memory, groupthink, subliminal helps shape every issue, writes articles and Australian Skeptics. He was also made the persuasion, mass communications, source reviews, and authors its popular “Skeptical youngest president and a life member of credibility, persuasion and democracy, Inquiree” Q&A column. He also edits the organization, co-founded Te Mystery and a variety of influence tactics. CSI’s Skeptical Briefs newsletter. Radford is Investigators skeptical science show for He is coauthor of several books, including author or coauthor of six books, including schools, and founded Sydney Skeptics in The Age of Propa ganda: The Everyday Use Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How the Pub. He was one of the organizers of and Abuse of Persuasion (with Elliot Aron- to Solve Unexplained Mysteries, Media TAM (Te Amazing Meeting) Australia son) and Weapons of Fraud: A Source Book Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, in 2010 and is currently the producer of for Fraud Fighters (with Doug Shadel). and Advertisers Mislead Us, and (with Joe Te Skeptic Zone podcast. A frequent visitor Pratkanis has written several memorable Nickell) Lake Monster Mysteries: Investigat- to the United States, Richard has delighted SI articles, including “How to Sell a Pseudo- ing the World’s Most Elusive Creatures. in appearing at major skeptical conven- science” (July/August 1995) and “The Through his columns, lectures, and media tions such as TAM8 and Dragon*Con. Cargo-Cult Sci ence of Subliminal appearances, Radford educates the public Persuasion” (Spring 1992). He also about the nature of skepticism and science writes for popular periodicals, makes literacy. frequent media appearances, and has won awards for excellence in teaching and for “most revered professor.”

CSI Helps Crack Los Angeles UFO Mystery Benjamin Radford

Members of the Committee for Skep- saying that contrails were different in tical Inquiry were among the first to re- some details and are almost always seen veal the solution to a UFO mystery that as horizontal streaks high in the sky— made international news in November. not more or less perpendicular to the A UFO, which appeared off the south- horizon. ern California coast on November 8, I was asked by LiveScience.com to 2010, was captured in dramatic footage review the evidence and offer my analy- by a KCBS television news helicopter sis of the UFO, which I did in a column cameraman during sunset. The contrail- posted just before 11 PM the day after creating UFO was thought by many to the report. To the best of my knowledge, be a missile, though military officials this was the first correct solution to the denied that any missiles had been mystery posted on a major news or sci- launched in the area at the time. ence website. With no immediate explanation for SKEPTICAL INQUIRER columnist Rob - the strange object in the sky, the Inter net ert Sheaffer, on his recently launched Bad soon buzzed with conspiracy theories UFOs blog, suspected that the “missile” about who might have launched the se- was in fact an airplane. This supposition an aircraft contrail, with tricks of per- cret missile (foreign governments? a film was based in part on an analysis on the spective making it look like a missile fly- studio promoting a UFO film? “black website Contrail Science: The Science ing away from you, when in fact it was ops”?) and for what purpose. Some noted and Pseudoscience of Contrails and an aircraft flying toward you. It depends that the streak looked similar to ordinary Chem trails (www.contrailscience.com): on an effect of perspective.” Further - jet contrails, but doubters countered by “The object seems to have been simply more, Sheaffer noted, this was not the

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Simon Singh Keith E. Stanovich Karen Stollznow Science writer; broad- Cognitive psychologist; Linguist; skeptical caster; United Kingdom professor of human investigator; development and applied writer; podcaster Singh is a leading science psychology, Uni versity journalist in Britain. After of Toronto Stollznow, who has a earning a PhD in particle PhD in linguistics, is a physics at Cambridge and Stanovich has been ac- researcher for the Script the European Organization for Nuclear Re - knowledged by his peers as one of the most Encoding Initia tive at the University of search (CERN), Singh joined BBC televi- influential cognitive psychologists in the California, Berke ley, and an adjunct sion’s science department, producing and di- world. His research focuses on literacy, rea- lecturer in linguistics. She devotes her recting many science programs and soning, and rationality. He has been ranked spare time to investigating pseudoscientific documentaries. One such program led to his as one of the fifty most-cited researchers in and paranormal beliefs and practices. writing of Fermat’s Last Theorem (retitled his field and as one of the twenty-five most She has written about a wide range of Fermat’s Enigma in America), the first math- productive educational psychologists. topics, including ghosts, psychics, UFOs, ematics book to become a number-one best- He was given the prestigious 2010 hoaxes, alternative therapies, conspiracy seller in Britain. Subsequent books include Grawemeyer Award in education for his theories, cryptozoology, and cults. The Code Book, Big Bang, and most recently 2009 book, What Intelligence Tests Miss: She has a particular skeptical focus on Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on The Psychology of Rational Thought. language-related phenomena. Stollznow Trial (with Edzard Ernst). His life took a Other books include The Robot’s Rebellion: is a host of the Center for Inquiry’s Point big turn when he began investigating chiro- Finding Meaning in the Age of Darwin of Inquiry podcast and a co-host of the practors. Singh became a hero in the skepti- and Decision Making and Rationality in Monster Talk podcast. She is a SKEPTICAL cal community—and ignited a much- the Modern World. Stano vich’s introductory INQUIRER contributing editor and manag- needed review of British libel law—after the psychology textbook How to Think Straight ing editor of the Center for Inquiry’s British Chiropractic Association sued him About Psychology is used by more than Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice. for libel for a 2008 article in the Guardian 300 universities and is in its ninth edition. She writes the “Naked Skeptic” column examining claims that chiropractors could He has written more than 200 articles for the CSI’s website and pens the “Bad treat certain childhood diseases. Singh bat- on the psychology of reading, reasoning, Language” column for Skeptic magazine. tled the suit despite high personal costs, and and cognitive science. Stollznow is also a director of the Bay after two years the case was dropped and he Area Skeptics and a research fellow of the was vindicated. The libel reform campaign James Randi Educational Foundation. his legal battle helped spark continues today and has more than 50,000 signatories.

first time that a jet contrail had been tion flourished), but the aircraft that sup- mistaken for a missile launch. posedly made the contrail was not iden- It took a few days for the government tified. Furthermore, several high-profile to investigate the UFO and issue a re- ex perts appeared on television suggesting port. When it did, Pentagon spokesman that the UFO was in fact a missile; for Colonel David Lapan agreed with me, example, Retired Air Force Lieutenant Sheaffer, and other skeptics: “With all General Thomas McIner ney was seen the information that we have gathered on Fox News stating unequivocally, over the last day and a half about this “That is a missile launched from a sub- condensation trail off the coast of south- marine. ... I am absolutely certain that ern California on Mon day night, both is not an aircraft.” within the Depart ment of Defense and The jet-contrail theory had already other U.S. government agencies, we have been examined (and dismissed) by many no evidence to suggest that this was any- people, and it was clear that corroborat- thing other than a contrail caused by an ing evidence would be needed to show d r o f

d aircraft.” that other aspects of the case pointed to a R

n i Instead of clearing up the mystery for the same conclusion. To address the ru- m a j

n UFO believers, this explanation was mors, I wrote a second column on the e B A vertical jet contrail photographed in Albuquerque, widely dismissed and seen as a clumsy Los Angeles UFO, this time for Discov - New Mexico, in early December 2010; the appear- cover-up. Not only was the official jet- ery News. I examined the contrails the- ance of a contrail varies greatly according to temper- contrail explanation late in coming ory afresh and did further research into ature, light conditions, and weather patterns. (while rumors and conspiracy specula- the circumstances surrounding the sight-

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Celebrating Cosmos’s ing. I also did some experiments to see news crew videotaping the sunset if I could photograph ordinary jet con- from a helicopter and a few people in Thirtieth Anniversary trails that might be mistaken for missiles nearby Long Beach (such as photog- and Carl Sagan Day (see photo on p. 8). rapher Rick Warren from his tenth- Lauren Becker Was the jet-contrail explanation real floor apartment). None of the other or just a cover-up? Let’s look at the ev- nearly four million people living in idence and compare the contrail expla- Los Angeles noticed the “missile,” nation with the missile theory. and pilots flying in the area did not report seeing anything unusual—cer- 1) According to the Federal Aviation tainly not a missile being launched. Ad ministration, radar in the area did This is very strong evidence that the not reveal any fast-moving un known phenomenon was unusual from only targets. A missile would have been one unique perspective; that is, people picked up on radar, while a jet would looking at the same thing from dif- not have been flagged as unusual. ferent distances and angles either rec- 2) No trace of the alleged missile was ognized what it was or didn’t think it seen falling into the water off the was strange. coast of Los Angeles, nor was a mis- sile (or any part of it) recovered; it The explanation given by the con- seems to have simply vanished into spiracy theorists who insist that the the sky. If the contrail was created by missile was some sort of secret U.S. a plane, of course no falling missile government test collapses under the would be seen or found. weight of its own illogic. Why would 3) The object seen in the video moves the government launch a “secret” mis- like a jet, not a rocket. As Michio sile only thirty-five miles from Los An- Kaku, physics professor at City Uni- geles, where it would be obvious to any- Thirty years ago this past fall, millions versity of New York, noted on Good one looking skyward? Furthermore, of Americans sat down in their living Morning America, “The trail seems to there would be no reason for officials to rooms and watched a revolution in tel- change direction. Ballistic missiles hide or cover up a launch; missiles and evision programming: the first episode don’t do that. It doesn’t accelerate. satellites are routinely launched from of Carl Sagan’s masterpiece, Cosmos. Ballistic missiles accelerate up to the California coast. All the Penta gon Written by Sagan, Ann Druyan, and 18,000 miles per hour, [but] this is would have to do is issue a statement Steven Soter, the thirteen-part series traveling at a constant velocity.” telling the public that it was a routine, won an Emmy and a Peabody Award Although missiles accelerate planned launch, and the issue would go and was the most-watched Public greatly during launch, aircraft typi- away. Broadcasting Service (PBS) series in cally maintain a constant cruising As noted in a fol- the United States for twenty years. speed after they have reached the low-up post to his original blog post, Since then, it has gone on to reach al- desired altitude—exactly as the the airplane that created the UFO was most a billion viewers in over sixty videotape shows. finally identified through careful analy- countries, and it’s still the most widely 4) There is no record of any missiles sis on the Contrail Science website: “Al- watched PBS series in the world. being fired at the location and time most certainly it was UPS flight 902 We’ve been fascinated by the cos- of the sighting, while there are from Hawaii to the Ontario Airport in mos ever since. This past fall, science records of commercial jets in the California, the flight path using Goo- organizations, skeptics’ groups, human- area at that time. gle Earth matches up perfectly with the ist groups, Center for Inquiry branches, 5) Perhaps most damaging to the mis- photos.” Despite these skeptical analy- campus groups, science classes, astron- sile theory, the only people who saw ses, many people remain convinced that omy clubs, and countless others all over the mysterious phenomenon had the videotape shows some sort of secret the world celebrated the thirtieth an- similar vantage points: a television missile or UFO. n niversary of Cosmos. Activities ranged from thirteen-hour viewing marathons in Australia to weekly episode screen- The analysis that identified UPS flight 902 as the jet that made the mystery con- ings in Canada. Two CFI branches trail is available at http://contrailscience.com/los-angeles-missile-contrail-explained-in- were even able to watch episodes on the pictures. For more analysis, see Robert Sheaffer’s Bad UFOs blog post at big screens of major movie theaters in http://badufos.blogspot.com/2010/11/conspiracy-theorists-continue-to-flog.html. Chicago and Indianapolis! continued on page 11

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The Center for Inquiry marked the CFI/Indiana also held a day-long occasion by commissioning exclusive, conference featuring Leonard Tramiel, handmade ceramic necklace pendants physicist and science-education advo- based on some of the major themes of cate, and Brian Murphy, director of the series, such as “Extraordinary claims Holcomb Observatory and Plan etar - require extraordinary evidence” and the ium and professor of physics and as- illuminating concept that we are all No other scientist has tronomy at Butler University. Mem bers made of “starstuff.” Other necklaces of CFI/Tallahassee enjoyed a tribute to fondly recall Sagan’s use of the word bil- been able to reach, Carl Sagan by professor and Nobel lions (although he never said “billions teach, and influence Laureate Sir Harold Kroto, and many and billions”) and the design of the other groups attended special Carl Sagan phonograph record that traversed the so many nonscientists Day planetarium shows, star parties, sci- solar system on the Voyager probes. in such a meaningful ence lectures, and Cosmos screenings. The Cosmos fun continued into No- Elementary and high schools joined vember with the celebration of the sec- way, and that is why in the fun, too. Students at Roosevelt ond annual Carl Sagan Day. In 2009, we honor Carl Sagan, School in the town where Sagan went to CFI/Fort Lauderdale, Florida Atheists high school (Rahway, New Jersey), cele- and Secular Humanists (FLASH), and remember his work, brated by studying the stars and visiting other groups created the first Carl and marvel at the StarLab, a portable planetarium that Sagan Day to mark Sagan’s birthday, No- helps students understand astronomy. vember 9, and the idea quickly spread. In cosmos he helped us Students in Douglas Ryan’s inte- 2010, groups from Alaska to New grated physics and chemistry classes at Zealand held star parties, astronomy lec- understand. Round Rock High School in Texas had tures, science fairs, and more to say a particularly good day. Each class began thanks to Sagan and to bring his work by watching clips of interviews with to the next generation of “starstuff.” Sagan and his collaborator and wife, As they did the first time Ann Druyan. The students pondered around, CFI/Fort Lauderdale Sagan’s famous “extraordinary claims” held the biggest event. Working quote (a phrase he didn’t originate but closely with FLASH, the James Randi Educational Founda tion (JREF), and Broward College, CFI/Fort Lauderdale brought to- gether superb speakers, including James Randi, the acclaimed magician, skeptic, and founder of JREF; Nicole Gugliucci, a radio astronomer at the Na- tional Radio Astronomy Observa tory; Russell Rom an ella, associate director of engineering and technology at NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center; Jeffrey Bennett, astrophysicist and author; and John Boswell, creator of the musical web series Symphony of Science. More than three hundred people at- tended the day-long event. In addition to the speakers, there were teacher work- shops, science displays put to gether by local middle-school students, robot and rocket-launching demonstrations, activ- ities for children—including an edible solar system—planetarium programs, telescope workshops, magic shows, and Teacher Douglas Ryan and his physics/chemistry students celebrate Carl Sagan Day stargazing. at Round Rock High School in Round Rock, Texas.

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did widely popularize) and discussed As news spread about Carl Sagan No other scientist has been able to how they could apply the concept to Day, it became clear how many people reach, teach, and influence so many their own lives. Next, the students made have been influenced by his work. The nonscientists in such a meaningful way, birthday hats and adorned them with scientists at NASA’s Kepler Mission and that is why we honor Carl Sagan, Cosmos-themed decorations. The high- held an essay contest based on Sagan’s remember his work, and marvel at the light of each celebration was a visit from allegory of the “shores of the cosmic cosmos he helped us understand. We Ryan’s former student, Cassie Landrum, ocean” as developed in Cosmos. Win ning look forward to even more outstanding who shared with each class how study- entries—and many celebrity guest es- celebrations for Carl Sagan Day 2011. ing Cosmos had positively influenced her says—can be read online at http:// (A very special thanks goes to Ann education and career: “Cosmos intrigued kepler..gov/education/sagan. Stu - Druyan and Druyan-Sagan Asso ciates, me with its ease of interdisciplinary dents on college campuses sponsored Inc., for their gracious permission to use ideas. I was able to think about science as “Talk Like Carl Sagan” days, and nerdb images and content from Cosmos and for making it possible for so many CFI Sagan presents it—as a historian, anthro- oyfriend.com offered ad vice on how to branches and campus groups to screen pologist, physicist, astronomer, etc.— dress like Carl Sagan, complete with tan Cosmos for this special occasion.) n [which] made it less daunting to me. I blazer and blue Oxford shirt. Ultimately, am still driven by the curiosity that Carl Sagan Day was such a hit that it Lauren Becker is vice president and director of drove Sagan and inspired by the inter- was the eighth-most-tweeted subject on outreach at the Center for Inquiry. She may be connectedness of all the disciplines.” Twit ter the morning of November 10. reached at [email protected]. More Disconnects about EMF and Cell Phones Robert L. Park

EMF Exposure: Does the Waving of The EMF hysteria did not end un- Epidemiology: Fundamental the Trees Make the Wind Blow? til 1997 when the National Acad emy of Laws of Nature Take Precedence. Identifying the cause of a disease is the Sciences, persuaded that the public With the abrupt emergence of cell- first step in its treatment. Epidemi ology, would not accept an argument based on phone technology a decade ago, the anti- the branch of medicine concerning cau- quantum mechanics, released a study science monster talked its way out of sation, seeks to establish cor relation be- that found no effect of EMF on the bondage. Devra Davis, who is not quite tween exposure to a possible cause of human body. Almost overnight, power a scientist but has a PhD in something disease and actual occurrence of a dis- lines were no longer believed to cause called Science Studies, has donned the ease. Data must be taken over a period of cancer. The anti-science monster had mantle of Paul Brodeur to write Discon- years to allow for latency; if no disease is been chained, but it was still alive. nect: The Truth About Cell Phone Radia- seen, a longer latency period is assumed tion, What the Industry Has Done to Hide to be necessary. When there is no record It, and How to Protect Your Family. of individual exposure to a potential Davis is making the same mistake cause of disease, people are asked to recall that Paul Brodeur did: not recognizing what they did years earlier. that the universe is governed by quan- Exposure to electromagnetic fields Almost overnight, tum physics. Einstein pointed out a cen- (EMF) in modern society is ubiquitous, power lines were no tury ago that electromagnetic radiation but it was not thought to be a problem behaves like units of energy called pho- until 1989, when the New Yorker began longer believed to tons, equal to Planck’s constant multi- running a series of hopelessly misin- cause cancer. plied by the frequency. These photons formed articles by Paul Brodeur linking don’t cause any trouble unless their en- EMF to cancer. The articles were The anti-science ergy matches some natural excitation. turned into a series of books with lurid monster had been There isn’t much to excite them until titles such as Currents of Death. Brodeur they reach the energy of molecular vi- had no background in science, but he chained, but it was brations in the micro wave region. This managed to arouse the anti-science still alive. is the part of the spectrum used in cell monster that had been in hiding since phones; in principle your cell phone World War II. The media, trained to might cook your goose—but it would give both sides of the story even if one take a very long time. side has no science or evidence behind At even higher frequencies you it, was of no help. reach the red end of the visible spec-

12 Volume 35 Issue 2 | Skeptical Inquirer SI Mar Apr 11 final_SI new design masters 1/26/11 2:11 PM Page 13

[ NEWS AND COMMENT

trum, then yellow, orange, green, and fi- ergy are about a million times more en- this point we can expect wilder and nally blue. It isn’t until you reach the ex- ergetic than a microwave photon, but wilder claims of effects from cell-phone treme blue end of the visible spectrum they cannot penetrate very deeply and radiation.n that there is a problem. At that level of therefore induce only skin cancers. energy, photons can eject photoelec- However, in December there were re- Robert L. Park is professor of physics at the Uni- trons, creating mutant strands of DNA ports that children exposed to cell- versity of Maryland and a Committee for Skepti- that can become cancerous. This is the phone radiation while in the womb cal Inquiry fellow. This piece is from his What’s lowest energy level at which a photon have an increased risk of behavioral New electronic newsletter, archived at www.bob- can induce cancer. Photons of this en- problems several years after birth. At park.org.

Cottingley Fairies Debunker Geoffrey Crawley Dies Robert Sheaffer

British photographer Geoffrey Craw - cles, and also of investigations by ley died this past October 29 at the age British journalist Joe Cooper, the of eighty-three. He gained great repute cousins—now elderly ladies—con- in his field, serving as editor-in-chief of fessed to the hoax in the early 1980s. the British Journal of Pho tography for Elsie simply copied drawings of fairies over twenty years. How ever, he is best from a book onto cardboard, which the remembered today as the man who de- girls then cut out and held in place with finitively revealed what has been called hatpins. Crawley showed that retouch- the world’s longest-running photo- ing of the photos must have taken graphic hoax, the Cotting ley fairies. place. Cooper found an earlier, un-re- The story of the Cottingley fairies touched version of “Frances and the began in 1917, when ten-year-old Fairies” that was much less impressive Frances Griffiths and her sixteen-year- than the extensively retouched version old cousin Elsie Wright snapped two later published, thus proving that photos that appeared to show the girls Crawley’s analysis was indeed correct.n cavorting with fairies in the English countryside at Cottingley. The photos New Zealand Skeptics Leader Denis Dutton Dies caused great excitement within the local Theosophical Society, a Spiritualist-ori- Vicki Hyde ented group with doctrines that in cluded the existence of fairies. The photos soon We’ve lost another light against the selors who convince clients that their came to the attention of Sir Arthur darkness. problems stem from suppres sed memo- Conan Doyle, the famous creator of Denis Dutton died of cancer in ries of infant ritual sexual abuse. He Sherlock Holmes, who was a dedicated Christchurch, New Zealand, on De cem- spent year after year fielding calls about Spiritualist. Doyle wrote a series of arti- ber 28, 2010, at the age of sixty-six. Dut- everything from alien abductions to cles, and later a book, proclaiming the ton was a founder and member of the moa sightings, managing to retain a fairy photos as genuine. Many presumed New Zealand Skeptics back in 1984 sense of humor throughout. that the photos had to be hoaxes, but it when it was known as the New Zealand What more could you wish for from was never shown how they were made, Committee for Scientific Investigation someone once referred to as “New n and the girls continued to insist that the of the Paranormal. For many years he Zealand’s Arch-Skeptic”? photos were authentic. was the face of organized skepticism Vicki Hyde is the immediate past chair of the There the matter stood for over fifty in New Zealand, fronting up to the New Zealand Skeptics. years. Starting in the 1970s, Crawley media with many a pithy comment and undertook “a scientific and analytical a wry sense of humor. New Age ‘Power Balance’ approach” to the photos. He published He had a deeply moral sense; he ab- Bracelets Worthless a ten-part series of articles in the British horred the exploitation we so often see The manufacturer of Power Balance, the popular bands embedded with holograms Journal of Photography from 1982–1983, underpinning skeptical issues. He re- said to adjust the body’s vibrations, concluding that the fairy photos could served his scorn for the shysters willing has admitted its product does not work. not have been produced with the cam- to exploit vulnerable people for their To read this story, era the girls used without darkroom own gain: psychics claiming to be in visit csicop.org trickery. As a result of Crawley’s arti- touch with dead loved ones and coun-

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