[ NEWS AND COMMENT

CFI Calls on FDA to Label Homeopathic Drugs as Untested and Unproven

Consumers spend $3 billion a year on homeopathic drugs, yet most remain unaware that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not evalu- ated them for safety and effectiveness. In comments filed with the FDA the week of August 17, the (CFI) urged the FDA to sub- ject homeopathic drugs to the same testing requirements as conventional drugs. Failing that, CFI urged the FDA to at least require homeopathic prod- ucts to be clearly labeled as untested and unproven. Homeopathy is a centuries-old , developed before the discovery of disease-causing pathogens, based on the false beliefs that “like cures like” and that the more an ingredient is diluted the more potent it is, due to water’s “memory” of the diluted ingre- for not distinguishing between effec- tive remedies and pseudoscience Homeopathy is a centuries-old dient. As CFI stated in its comments, from the 1700s if both products “By its own definition, homeopathy share the same store shelves, and pseudoscience, developed cannot work.” Yet for historical reasons there is no labeling on homeopathic relating to the passage of the original drugs to indicate they are given a before the discovery of Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938 pass by the FDA. Clear labeling on disease-causing pathogens. (which had a homeopathic practitioner homeopathic products, that catches consumers’ attention and informs as a key sponsor), homeopathic prod- them that the FDA does not evalu- can result in people becoming sicker or ucts can be marketed even though they ate these products for safety or effec- even dying for lack of real, scientifically are not subject to the rigorous testing tiveness, is an easy way to ensure that for safety and effectiveness that conven- people looking to treat their illnesses proven treatments. tional drugs must undergo. are not fooled into thinking that In the meantime, the Federal Trade homeopathic drugs are real medi- In late March, the FDA announced Commission (FTC) responded to the cine. Study after study demonstrates it was reconsidering its position on ho- FDA’s requests for public input with its that at most they have a placebo own criticism of the FDA’s slack reg- meopathic drugs. The Center for In- effect. quiry, which advocates for science and ulatory policies on homeopathy. The reason and is home to the Committee “We believe that true freedom of FTC complained, among other things, for Skeptical Inquiry, had previously choice is impossible unless one is fully that the FDA’s policy guide “does not petitioned the FDA to address the in- informed about the choices,” writes require that over-the-counter (OTC) adequate regulation of homeopathic CFI in its comments. “The public homeopathic drugs be approved by products. It was then invited by the needs the guidance of an expert agency FDA as safe and effective if they satisfy FDA to provide testimony at public when it comes to buying drugs as they certain conditions, including that the hearings on the subject in April (SI, are not in a position to evaluate their product’s label contains an indication July/August 2015). effectiveness themselves, without in- for use. Yet the policy guide does not Said Ronald A. Lindsay, president curring unacceptable risks.” require sellers to have competent and and CEO of CFI: One such risk highlighted by CFI reliable scientific evidence to support is the risk of those suffering from real the indication for use.” When people get sick or hurt, they are confronted with countless prod- medical conditions who might rely on The full comments submitted to the ucts that claim to be able to make homeopathic products to the exclusion FDA can be read at bit.ly/CFI_Home- them better. They cannot be blamed of proven scientific remedies, which opathy_FDA.

Skeptical Inquirer | November/December 2015 5 Ten Distinguished Scientists and Scholars Named Fellows of Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

Ten distinguished scientists, scholars, educators, and investigators from five countries have been elected fellows of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), copublisher of the . CSI (formerly CSICOP) is one of the world’s leading organizations for the promotion of scientific thinking and the critical examination of extraordinary claims from a scientific point of view. Fellows of CSI are selected for their “distinguished contributions to science and .” They are nominated and elected by CSI’s twelve-member Executive Council. In addition, CSI named four new Scientific and Technical Consultants. The new fellows join a list of notable CSI fellows that includes astronomers Neil deGrasse Tyson and Jill Tarter; biologists and E.O. Wilson; Nobel laureate physicists or chemists Leon Lederman, Murray Gell-Mann, Steven Weinberg, and Sir Harry Kroto; philosophers Daniel C. Dennett, Susan Haack, and Mario Bunge; anthropologist Eugenie C. Scott; psychologists , , Steven Pinker, and ; magician/author ; science educator and television host ; Cosmos creator/writer Ann Druyan; plus many prominent physicians and medical scientists who critique questionable medical claims. The full list of fellows is on the inside cover of each issue of SI and on the organization’s website at csicop.org/about/csi_fellows_ and_staff/. Past fellows now in CSI’s Pantheon of Skeptics (http://www.csicop.org/about/the_pantheon_of_skeptics/) include Isaac Asimov, Carl Sagan, Martin Gardner, Nobel laureates Francis Crick and Glenn T. Seaborg, Stephen Jay Gould, B.F. Skinner, and philosopher and CSICOP founder .

The Committee’s newly elected fellows are:

JOHN COOK, Climate Communication DONALD R. PROTHERO, paleontologist/ John Cook is the Climate Communication Research Fellow for the Global geologist, Natural History Museum of Fellow for the Global Change Institute at the Change Institute at the University of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA University of Queensland, Australia. He created Queensland, Australia. and maintains the Skeptical Science website, STUART VYSE, psychologist, former one of the top online sources of information KRISTA FEDERSPIEL, science journalist, Joanne Toor Cummings ’50 Professor about climate science and climate denialism, expert on complementary and alter- of Psychology, Connecticut College; and is coauthor of Climate Change Denial native medicine, Vienna, Austria. author of Believing in Magic: (2011) and the 2013 college textbook Climate The Psychology of Superstition, , host of the Rationally Change Science: A Modern Synthesis. He also Stonington, CT Speaking podcast; cofounder, Center was lead author of the paper “Quantifying the for Applied , Berkeley, CA Consensus on Anthropogenic Global Warming in the Scientific Literature,” awarded the best STEPHAN LEWANDOWSKY, psychologist, The Committee’s newly elected paper published in Environmental Research School of Experimental Psychology Letters in 2013. He has a BS in physics and and Cabot Institute, University of Scientific and Technical Consultants is currently completing a PhD in cognitive psy- Bristol, United Kingdom are: chology, researching how people think about , author, editor of Junior , founder and leader of climate change. He and colleague Stephan Skeptic at Skeptic magazine (US), the Guerilla Skepticism on Wikipedia Lewandowsky (also a newly elected CSI fellow) artist, Vancouver, B.C., Canada (GSoW) project, skeptic activist, pho- wrote “The Debunking Handbook,” a guide tographer about the problems of, and best strategies for, PAUL OFFIT, Professor of Pediatrics; debunking anti-science myths. Director of the Vaccine Education GABOR HRASKO, chairman of the Center, the Children’s Hospital of European Council of Skeptical Krista Federspiel of Vienna, Austria, is a medi- Organizations (ECSO), president of cal journalist and author with a PhD in folklore. Hungarian Skeptics She worked as a freelance journalist and edi- NAOMI ORESKES, geologist and pro- tor for several Austrian and German magazines fessor, Departments of the History JOHN R. MASHEY, computer scientist/ and newspapers. She also became known of Science and Earth and Planetary executive (Bell Labs, then Silicon as a radio and television presenter. She is a Sciences, Harvard University, Valley), analyst of climate-change member of the Science Council of the Society Cambridge, MA denial, contributor to DeSmogBlog and for the Scientific Investigation of Para Sciences Skeptical Science, Portola Valley, CA JAMES L. POWELL, geochemist, author, (GWUP, the German skeptics group) and regu- professor; executive director, National larly publishes articles in their magazine, Skep- Physical Science Consortium; retired JULIA OFFE, neurobiologist, science tiker. She is cofounder and an active member college and museum president, journalist, creator of German Science of the Society for Critical Thinking, the Vienna Buellton, CA Slam Regional Group of GWUP. Her focus is on so- cial and women’s issues, consumer protection,

6 Volume 39 Issue 6 | Skeptical Inquirer [ NEWS AND COMMENT

medicine, and psychotherapy. Federspiel has as “Why Is There a ?” shall College, Reed College, the Franklin Insti- become well known as a critic of alternative (2014) exploring the roots, founding princi- tute, and the Los Angeles County Museum of medical procedures. She is author, coauthor, ples, and purposes of scientific skepticism. Natural History. He also served twelve years or editor of a number of books in these fields. Paul Offit, MD, is Professor of Pediatrics and on the National Science Board. In 1998 he Julia Galef is president and cofounder of the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at wrote Night Comes to the Cretaceous about Center for Applied Rationality, a nonprofit the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He is dinosaur extinction and the modern transfor- think tank that trains people to be more ra- also a professor of pediatrics and vaccinol- mation of geology. His 2012 book The Inqui- tional. She is a writer, podcaster, and public ogy at the University of Pennsylvania School sition of Climate Change is a comprehensive speaker on rationality, science, and the phi- of Medicine. Offit is co-inventor of the rota- examination of the climate denial movement. losophy of science, often explaining common virus vaccine, credited with saving hundreds His 2015 book Four Revolutions in the Earth confusions and popular misconceptions of lives every day. He is a leading proponent Sciences: From Heresy to Truth describes about rationality. She serves on the board of for childhood immunizations and a promi- how four key scientific discoveries (deep directors of the New York City Skeptics and nent advocate for science-based approaches time, continental drift, meteorite impacts, hosts their official podcast, Rationally Speak- to medicine. His 2008 book Autism’s False and global warming) were all initially rejected ing, which she has done since its inception Prophets catalyzed a backlash against the but then accepted by science, confirming sci- in 2010, sharing the show with cohost and anti-vaccination movement in the United ence’s self-correcting nature. Asteroid 1987 philosopher until 2015. States. His three latest books have extended SH7 is named for Powell. Galef has a degree in statistics and did grad- the range of his critiques even further: Deadly Donald R. Prothero is a paleontologist and uate work in economics before shifting to her Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement geologist associated with the Natural History present career advocating for science and Threatens Us All (2011), Do You Believe in Museum of Los Angeles County and a prolific rationality. Magic? The Sense and Nonsense of Alter- writer and author. He received his PhD in the native Medicine (2013), and, most recently, Stephan Lewandowsky is a psychologist geological sciences from Columbia University. Bad Faith: When Religious Belief Undermines whose recent research has focused on the His scientific specialty has been mammalian Modern Medicine (2015). public’s understanding and misunderstand- paleontology. He became involved with the ing of science and why people often embrace Naomi Oreskes, a geologist turned historian skeptical movement in the early 1980s de- beliefs at odds with the scientific evidence. of science, is a professor in the Departments fending evolution and later serving on the ed- He is a cognitive psychologist in the School of of the History of Science and Earth and Plan- itorial board of . His trade Experimental Psychology at the University of etary Sciences at Harvard University. She books include Evolution (2007), Catastro- Bristol, United Kingdom, where he is also part moved to Harvard in 2013 after fifteen years phes! (2011), Reality Check: How Climate of the university’s Cabot Institute. Until 2013, as Professor of History of Science and Sci- Deniers Threaten Our Future (2013), Abom- he was at the University of Western Australia. ence Studies at the University of California, inable Science! (with Daniel Loxton, also a He has published a number of notable stud- San Diego. Her research has focused on un- newly elected CSI fellow), and The Story of ies examining people’s beliefs in misinforma- derstanding scientific consensus and dissent. Life in 25 Fossils (2015). He’s also written tion, including one of the best-known stud- Her 1999 book The Rejection of Continental six geology textbooks, including Evolution of ies of public opinion about climate change, Drift, her coedited volume Plate Tectonics: An the Earth, in its sixth edition. Recent awards advancing the literature on what has come Insider’s History of the Modern Theory of the include the Shea Award (2013) for writing in to be known as “motivated reasoning.” He Earth, and other scholarly works established geoscience and the Gregory Award (2015) for has also studied the relationship between her as a first-rate historian of science. In service to vertebrate paleontology. believing conspiracy theories and rejection 2004, her short paper in Science “The Scien- Stuart Vyse is a psychologist and the former of various forms of science. He is the first tific Consensus on Climate Change” became Joanne Toor Cummings ’50 Professor of Psy- digital content editor for the Psychonomic widely cited and brought her to her detailed chology at Connecticut College, where he was Society, running its blog at http://www. study of climate denialism chronicled in her praised as an engaging teacher. His research psychonomic.org/featured-content. 2010 book Merchants of Doubt (with Erik M. specialty is irrational behavior. His book Be- Conway), which documented how a small Daniel Loxton is editor of the Junior Skeptic lieving in Magic: The Psychology of Supersti- group of contrarian scientists obscured the section in Skeptic magazine (U.S.), and a tion was winner of the William James Book truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global Canadian writer and artist. He is lead author Award of the American Psychological Associa- warming. It has been widely praised (and (with , also named a fellow) tion. It is an account of the science behind our also attacked). That book in turn inspired this of the 2013 book Abominable Science!, a most irrational beliefs. Oxford University Press year’s feature-length documentary movie of scientific look at heralded as published an updated edition in 2014, with the same title. Her most recent book (also one of the best books about the origins of Vyse adding new research on jinxes, paranor- with Erik Conway) is The Collapse of Western myths about , Nessie, and other famous mal belief, and luck, and making a renewed Civilization: A View from the Future (Columbia cryptids. His book Evolution: How We and All call for scientific thinking and the naturalistic University Press, 2014). Living Things Came to Be won the $10,000 explanation of the world. Late last year, Vyse Lane Anderson Award, Canada’s top national James L. Powell is a geochemist, author, and began writing a regular column, “Behavior & award specific to children’s science writing. retired university and museum executive. He Belief,” for the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER website, His book Pterosaur Trouble won the $5,000 is executive director of the National Physical csicop.org. Some notable recent entries in- Bolen Books Children’s Book Prize at the Vic- Science Consortium. He received his PhD in clude “Neuro-Pseudoscience,” “Has Science toria Book Awards. Loxton has also become geochemistry from MIT, taught at Oberlin Col- a Problem?,” “Facilitated Communication: a kind of unofficial historian of the modern lege, and served as its acting president. He The Fad That Will Not Die,” and “Anti-Science skeptical movement, with online papers such has also been president of Franklin and Mar- Trends at Mid-Decade.”

Skeptical Inquirer | November/December 2015 7 Six Presentations at TAM 13 Celebrate Martin Gardner

KENDRICK FRAZIER All Photos by Brian Engler

Martin Gardner was such a hero to the skeptical community that five years after his 2010 death at the age of nine- ty-five (the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER did a special “Tribute and Celebrations” issue, September/October 2010), cele- brations of his life continue. So it was fitting that the 2015 TAM conference (, TAM 13) in Las Vegas July 16–19 devoted six presentations to Gardner and his influ- ence and legacy. Dana Richards, Martin Gardner’s James E. Gardner gave a touching tribute to his official biographer and a professor of father, Martin Gardner, at TAM 13. computer science at George Mason University, said Gardner “studied phi- losophy to find out what he believed.” son, New York. He had breakfast He never lost that thoughtful, philo- and read the New York Times, then sophical, inquiring attitude. Richards went upstairs to his third-floor office said that in January 1974 Gardner to work until lunch. After lunch he wrote to the publisher Crowell, with- worked again until 4 PM. That was drawing his books because of some er- the time he and his wife, Charlotte, rant nonsense they had just published. James Randi, Martin Gardner, and Jamy Ian reserved for cocktails, and they tried Swiss (top); James Gardner’s slide listing his “The occult revolution is reaching never to miss that hour together even father’s champions. heights of insanity,” Gardner wrote in if traveling. Then he returned upstairs that letter. This, Richards said, was the Perhaps TAM’s centerpiece speaker to work until dinner, then a bit more “the start of a big pushback” by Gard- on Gardner was James E. Gardner, work after dinner until bedtime at an ner and colleagues, such as James Randi Martin’s eldest son and a professor in early 8:30 PM. and Ray Hyman, against the pseudo- the College of Education at the Uni- James playfully referred to his fa- scientific nonsense soaking culture at versity of Oklahoma. James came to ther’s “technology”—typewriter, scis- that time. It eventually led in 1976 to the 2010 TAM conference’s special sors and paste, and a dial phone. He their joining philosopher Paul Kurtz in impromptu tribute to his then recently used an abacus to balance his check- founding the Committee for the Sci- deceased father, but in this 2015 venue book. When email came along later, his entific Investigation of Claims of the he had an opportunity to speak at some father did not want it “because he knew Paranormal, CSICOP (now CSI). length. he would be even more overwhelmed.” Colm Mulcahy, a professor of math- Growing up, James knew his dad (In his later years, however, James did ematics at Spellman College, called was “a skeptic par excellence,” who had help Martin do some research for his Martin “The Skeptic Supreme” and a set daily routine at their home at 10 columns on the Internet.) said, “He was, and is, a debunker.” He Euclid Street in Hastings-on-Hud- James listed his father’s literary he- also emphasized Gardner’s phenome- nal productiveness: he had 101 nonfic- tion books to his credit. (He showed a photo of Martin next to bookcase full of books all by Martin Gardner, joking that this was Martin Gardner “stand- ing by every word he wrote.”) Mulcahy made frequent references to CSICOP and to Gardner’s SKEPTICAL INQUIRER columns (published from 1983–2002) and the books based on them. Colm Mulcahy, Dana Richards, James Gardner, James Randi, and Jamy Ian Swiss in panel remembering Martin Gardner.

8 Volume 39 Issue 6 | Skeptical Inquirer [ NEWS AND COMMENT

emphasize that Gardner “didn’t quite James Randi Also Feted follow the party line.” For one thing, he embraced the idea of mathematical at ‘Amazing’ Meeting Platonism, the idea that the universe is Martin Gardner wasn’t the only famed mathematics. Second, he was a mind skeptic honored at TAM 13. James (“The “mysterian,” which holds that the fun- Amazing”) Randi, who founded the damental nature of human conscious- TAM conference series and for whom ness may not be knowable. (Pigliucci it is named, was also the subject of referred to these two positions as 1) a hilarious opening skit created and Simon Singh tells of Martin Gardner’s infulence “weird, but not crazy.”) And third, performed by musician and TAM host on him as a skeptic. Gardner was famously a philosophical titled “Randi: The Musical”; theist. Pigliucci considered these three 2) a panel discussion with Randi hosted roes (William James, G.K. Chesterton, attributes, balanced them against all by fellow magician and TAM program L. Frank Baum, and Lewis Caroll) and of Gardner’s enormous contributions member Jamy Ian Swiss; 3) a special his “charlatans” (Ted Serios, L. Ron to science and skepticism, and derived Saturday evening reception and series Hubbard, Peter Popoff, Oral Roberts, three lessons: of invited tributes from Randi’s friends Uri Geller, and Dr. Oz for his “homeo- 1) Skepticism is about honest, critical and colleagues, ending with remarks by pathic things”). Martin’s champions inquiry. It is an intellectual attitude. Randi himself; and 4) Randi’s closing included “magicians,” Johnny Carson, It is not about adhering to a list of remarks on Sunday afternoon. Randi turned eighty-seven in August, Stanford statistician Persi Diaconis, specific positions. just after the conference, but seemed his James Randi, and “The Trap Door 2) Skeptics can and should be inspired usual irrepressible self throughout. Spiders,” a New York men’s literary and by role models, but role models are arguing club of mainly science-fiction not infallible or unquestionable. writers that included Isaac Asimov and 3) Skeptics either have to admit that “Let’s say the hell Arthur C. Clarke. some of their main figures hold to anti-vaxxers.” questionable positions or limit —James Randi “Dad wouldn’t talk before “skeptics” to a very small group. an audience, but with a (Pigliucci made clear he favors the typewriter he was direct, former.) truthful, honest.” Another speaker was Simon Singh, the British science writer and skeptic. — James E. Gardner Like so many others, he never met Gardner, “but he really influenced me.” Singh recounted a number of James referred to his father’s famous topics where Gardner influenced his reluctance to do public appearances writings, such as Fermat’s Last Theo- but his determination to engage with rem, cryptography, The Simpsons, cos- pseudoscience and other nonsense in mology, and quackery. print. “Dad wouldn’t talk before an A final special treat for the audience audience, but with a typewriter he was was the showing of a video of an inter- direct, truthful, honest.” view with Martin Gardner, taped by Philosopher Massimo Pigliucci James Randi and magician Jamy Ian (like Gardner, also a past SKEPTICAL Swiss in Oklahoma on Martin’s nine- INQUIRER columnist) spoke on Martin tieth birthday. It was a rare glimpse, in Gardner as a skeptic and public in- the latter part of his life, of a famously tellectual. Pigliucci said Martin “very shy and reclusive skeptic, known in early on influenced my skepticism” person to only a few close friends but and added, “I think Martin Gardner is who through his clear thinking and a good role model for all of us to aspire penetrating writings shaped two entire to.” But Pigliucci quickly went on to generations of scientific skeptics.

Skeptical Inquirer | November/December 2015 9 [ NEWS AND COMMENT

Mysterious Clumps of Worms Line Texas Highways Just a couple highlights: On his recently announced retire- ment from the board of the James Randi The deluge that flooded parts of Texas Educational Foundation (JREF): “Retire- in late May 2015 created a strange ment. . . . I haven’t noticed any reduction sight on a patch of the state’s highways: in work.” clumps of worms along the center line. He has nearly completed a new book, Thousands of worms, initially mistaken A Magician in the Laboratory. Only a few for discarded spaghetti, were found in more things need to be done before it is Eisenhower State Park in Denison, ready for the publisher. Texas. Randi wishes he had devoted atten- A June 2 ABC News article by tion during his career to “the anti-vaxx- Kaylee Heck explained: ers,” people who deny the enormous medical benefits of childhood vacci- The piles in the middle of Eisenhower State Park were actually nations. “Kids are going to die if these worms, Park Superintendent Ben anti-vaxxers get more of a grip on the Herman told ABC News. Rangers lore; a 2012 study published in open-ac- media.” Randi emphasized that he is were checking the back roads of the alive due to medical science, and many cess online journal PLoS-ONE titled park in Denison, Texas, found on people are alive today because modern May 29 when they found the piles “Self-Assemblage and Quorum in the medicine eradicated smallpox. “Let’s say lined up in a near-perfect straight Earthworm Eisenia fetida” describes “the the hell to anti-vaxxers.” line. “We’re still puzzled why they mechanisms that govern aggregation be- decided to line up in the middle of “I had an obsession to inform the pub- the road,” Herman said. “Even our havior specially the tendency of individu- lic” about charlatans and pseudoscientific biologist doesn’t know why they’re als to leave or join groups in the compost nonsense and claptrap, Randi noted. “I’ve spaced so well and in the line.” earthworm Eisenia fetida.” put a lot of effort into that. I’ve put a lot The fact that the worms came out It’s not clear why no other Texas state of love into that. . . . I want to get back to of the ground isn’t a mystery: they can parks reported the same event, but there work. I can’t waste any time.” drown in rain-saturated soil. But why are several plausible explanations. For On advice to future skeptics: “Read did they migrate to the center line on the one thing, different Texas state parks anything by Martin Gardner. Anything.” road, and why did they appear in dozens got different amounts of rain and have He also advised reading Carl Sagan’s The of discrete, round clumps? The incident differing geological and soil conditions. Demon-Haunted World, the works of Isaac left many scratching their heads. What Unless that same type of worm was pres- Asimov, and “my books too.” was it? Some unknown force of nature? ent in areas with identical conditions, in- In his closing remarks Sunday, Randi A worm flash mob? cluding rain and soil drainage, we might acknowledged and thanked everyone for The answer lies in the fact that the not expect to see other cases. It’s also their supportive words during the confer- center line of the highway is the high- possible that the mysterious worm rings ence. “I cannot thank you enough.” He acknowledged “a lot of lovey stuff” said est point in the area (roads are designed could only have been formed on a closed about him. “I’ve had a lot of hugging here,” with a slight grade to allow for rain run- road; worms in other rain-saturated he noted, adding that he likes hugs. “It is off). As for the mysterious clumping be- areas of the state may have attempted havior, Sharon Hill of the site Doubt- time to say goodbye—for the year. Au re- the same thing but been crushed en voir. See you next year. OK?” fulNews.com looked into the case and masse by traffic tires long before they Note: Since James Randi’s retirement noted that: could make it to the relative safety of from the James Randi Educational Foun- Actually, research has been done on the center stripe and form the unusual dation (JREF) earlier this year, the JREF red wigglers that tend to clump in clusters. The dead worms would be board has been considering how to con- compost piles. Worms communicate by close contact with [each] other. unnoticed on highways and thus not tinue the foundation without his direct They may gather en masse when live long enough to do anything ar- involvement. On September 1, the JREF conditions are not quite right or in tistic or newsworthy. The worms re- board announced that it will convert the the open, then move, in a herd, to a mained for a few days before returning foundation into a grant-making founda- safe location. to the soil without answering questions tion. The announcement can be read at Because the road was closed due to about their motives. http://web.randi.org/home/jref-status. flooding, the center line was the safest and driest place for the worms to be. Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of This isn’t just a piece of animal folk- the Skeptical Inquirer.

Skeptical Inquirer | November/December 2015 11 Study Casts Doubt on Omega-3, Stephen Hawking Lends Antioxidant Brain Benefits Fame to New SETI Search BENJAMIN RADFORD

Omega-3 fatty acids—found naturally in a variety of foods including walnuts, edible seeds, and fish oil—are important for the body’s metabolism. In recent years companies marketing vitamin supple- ments have touted omega-3 and antioxidants as important for main- taining brain health and preventing cognitive decline in later years. However, a large clinical trial conducted by the National Institutes of Health and published in the Journal of the American Medical As- sociation (August 25, 2015) casts doubt on those claims. In one of the largest and most comprehensive studies to date, nearly 4,000 patients were randomly assigned to one of four groups, including one that received a placebo. The average age of the participants was seventy-three, and nearly 60 percent were female. After testing for changes in cognitive func- ANDY RAIN/EPA/Newscom tion (first to establish a baseline for each patient and then at two- Famous physicist Stephen Hawking has joined year intervals) the researchers concluded, “There were no statistically Russian billionare Yuri Milner to launch a major new significant differences in change of scores for participants random- effort in the scientific search for extraterrestrial ized to receive supplements versus those who were not.” Since the intelligence (SETI). They held a press conference in patients did the same with or without the omega-3 and antioxidant London to announce injecting $100 million for a new supplements, there was no effect. project they call Breakthrough Listen. According to lead author Dr. Emily Chew, “Contrary to popular be- SETI pioneer Frank Drake is another notable fig- lief, we didn’t see any benefit of omega-3 supplements for stopping ure joining Break through Listen. SETI efforts rely on cognitive decline.” Though this study casts doubt on the benefit of private funding, and this new project aims to boost omega-3 supplements for older patients seeking to slow cognitive the radioastronomy search activity to unprecedented decline, younger patients may (or may not) benefit from them. There levels. is some research demonstrating that people who eat diets rich in fish “We would typically get 24 to 36 hours on a tele- and antioxidants have better brain health, but it’s not clear whether scope per year, but now we’ll have thousands of hours there’s a cause-and-effect relationship. It is possible that people per year on the best instruments,” UC Berkeley scien- who have healthier brains for other reasons (such as lifestyle hab- its or genetics) also are more likely to eat fish-and antioxidant-rich tist Andrew Siemion, one of the group’s cofounders, diets. said at the news conference. The study, by the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) They say the project will allow scientists to collect Research Group, is titled “Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Lutein/ as much data on SETI in a day as they now do in a Zeaxanthin, or other Nutrient Supplementation on Cognitive Func- year. The data will be made available to the public, so tion: The AREDS2 Randomized Clinical Trial.” anyone can help in the search.

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION (Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685) Date of filing: September 16, 2015. Title: Skeptical Inquirer. Frequency of issue: Bimonthly. Complete mailing address of known office of publication: 3965 Rensch Rd., Amherst, NY 14228-2713; P.O. Box 703, Amherst, NY 14226-0703. Publisher: CFI (Center for Inquiry), Inc., 3965 Rensch Rd., Amherst, NY 14228-2713; P.O. Box 703, Amherst, NY 14226-0703. Editor: , 944 Deer Dr. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87122-1339. Managing Editor: Benjamin T. Radford, P.O. Box 3016, Corrales, NM 87048-3016. Owner: CFI (Center for Inquiry), Inc., 3965 Rensch Rd., Amherst, NY 14228-2713; P.O. Box 703, Amherst, NY 14226-0703. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders: None. Average number of copies of each issue during the preceding 12 months: (a) Total number of copies (net press run) 34,295. (b) Paid and/or requested circulation: (1) Paid/ requested outside-county mail subscriptions stated on form 3541: 17,499. (2) Paid in-county subscriptions stated on form 3541: 0. (3) Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales, and other non-USPS paid distribution: 5,494. (4) Other classes mailed through the USPS: 38. (c) Total paid and/or requested circulation (sum of b[1], [2], [3], [4]): 23,031. (d) Free distribution by mail (samples, complimentary, and other free): (1) Outside-county as stated on form 3541: 845. (2) In-county as stated on form 3541: 0. (3) Other classes mailed through the USPS: 109. (4) Free distribution outside the mail (by carriers or other means): 148. (e) Total free distribution (sum of d) 1,102. (f) Total distribution (sum of c and e) 24,133. (g) Copies not distributed: 10,162. (h) Total (sum of f and g): 34,295. Percent paid and/or requested circulation (c divided by f times 100): 95.43%. Number of copies of the single issue published nearest to filing date: (a) Total number of copies (net press run) 35,085. (b) Paid and/or requested circulation: (1) Paid/ requested outside-county mail subscriptions stated on form 3541: 19,676. (2) Paid in-county subscriptions stated on form 3541: 0. (3) Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales, and other non-USPS paid distribution: 5,308. (4) Other classes mailed through the USPS: 23. (c) Total paid and/or requested circulation (sum of b[1], [2], [3], [4]): 25,007. (d) Free distribution by mail (samples, complimentary, and other free): (1) Outside-county as stated on form 3541: 829. (2) In-county as stated on form 3541: 0. (3) Other classes mailed through the USPS: 117. (4) Free distribution outside the mail (by carriers or other means): 148. (e) Total free distribution (sum of d) 1,094. (f) Total distribution (sum of c and e) 26,101. (g) Copies not distributed: 8,984. (b) Total (sum of f and g): 35,085. Percent paid and/or requested circulation (c divided by f times 100): 95.81%. Average number of electronic copies of each issue during the preceding 12 months: (a) Paid electronic copies: 539. (b) Total paid print copies (line 15C) + paid electronic copies: 23,570. (c) Total print distribution (line 15F) + paid electronic copies: 24,672. (d) Percent paid (both print and electronic copies): 95.53%. Number of electronic copies of the single issue published nearest to filing date: (a) Paid electronic copies: 630. (b) Total paid print copies (line 15C) + paid electronic copies: 25,637. (c) Total print distribution (line 15F) + paid electronic copies: 26,731. (d) Percent paid (both print and electronic copies): 95.91%.

12 Volume 39 Issue 6 | Skeptical Inquirer [ NEWS AND COMMENT Stephen Hawking Lends Farmer in Chile Finds ‘Chupacabra’; Science Suggests Otherwise Fame to New SETI Search BENJAMIN RADFORD

A goat farmer in Chile who found So if the weird remains found in two mysterious dead animals in early Chile are almost certainly not chupaca- January concluded that he may have bras, what are they? It’s difficult to the remains of the Hispanic vampire come to any definitive identification beast known as el chupacabra. The crea- based upon a few photographs, though ture, whose name is Spanish for “goat some characteristics of the creatures sucker,” is said to suck the blood from suggest an explanation. For one thing, small animals such as chickens and they lack any spikes down the back that goats. It has never been proven to exist, are characteristic of the original ch- though it is nearly as well known as upacabra. The skull, paws, and tail look and the . feline, and the size (about a foot long) According to the January 22 Daily would match a common housecat. The Star, “Goat farmer Javier Prohens was fact that the animals were found laying having lunch with friends when ter- one atop the other, as kittens sometimes rified farmhand 54-year-old Bricio do, may be relevant as well. A mother Saldivar alerted them to the bodies of cat may have given birth to a litter and the strange creatures on the outskirts of two of the unfortunate kittens may have the small town of Monte Patria in the been crushed to death by a bale of hay east central Chilean province Limari.” that toppled over onto them. Prohens described his farmhand’s reac- Where the animals were found pro- tion: “He was clearly scared and said Amid all the sensational vides another clue: inside a wine cellar. he had been up at the old winery and This is where domesticated animals found two strange bodies.” The partially news stories about such as cats are known to wander, hide, mummified carcasses were found amid these bloodsucking and even give birth—but conspicuously hay bales in a cellar, and “at first we monsters, there has so not a place associated with chupacabras, thought they might be bats, but when which are invariably reported outside, we looked closer, we realized they had far been no analysis by usually in desert areas (such as rural to be something else as the heads were zoologists or scientists. Texas) or in rainforests (such as Puerto too big for bats. . . . And then someone Rico’s El Yunque preserve, said to be said they looked like Chupacabras,” the original home of the chupacabra). Prohens was quoted as saying. An indoor chupacabra would be a first. The chupacabra was first reported Furthermore, there is no suggestion by in August 1995 by a woman in Puerto ing over time. Fewer and fewer people Prohens or anyone else that any goats Rico who described seeing a bizarre claimed to see the bipedal, spiky-spined or other animals had been found mys- bipedal alien-like creature with spikes teriously drained of blood, as the ch- monster, and by 2000 it had completely down its back. Soon it was dubbed upacabra is known to do; in any event, disappeared and was replaced by a va- the “chupacabra” and caused a media the mummified mammals had been riety of four-legged animals left hair- sensation that spread throughout the dead for many months or even years. less by the skin disease mange. When Spanish-speaking world. However, Amid all the sensational news sto- medical and DNA tests were done on as described in my book Tracking the ries about these bloodsucking monsters, Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, these “chupacabras,” they were revealed there has so far been no analysis by zo- Fiction, and Folklore, it was later deter- to be ordinary animals including dogs, ologists or scientists. The flesh of these mined that the eyewitness had actually coyotes, and raccoons. Last year, a cou- carcasses should be preserved enough to (and mistakenly) described a monster in ple in Ratcliffe, Texas, claimed to have yield a definitive DNA sample, should the sci-fi thriller Species, which she had found a chupacabra that turned out to Prohens or anyone else wish to submit recently seen. be a raccoon. The word chupacabra is it to a laboratory. If public curiosity Though the original chupacabra re- now used to describe any animal that prompts the remains to be tested, the port has been discredited, the stories cannot be immediately identified or results will likely come back as a known and sightings spread through the media otherwise looks mysterious, either be- animal—just like all previous “chupaca- ■ with the monster’s description chang- cause of hair loss or decomposition. bras”—but the mystery will remain.

Skeptical Inquirer | November/December 2015 13