Gun Violence | Climate Conversation | Missiles and Saucers | Searching for Yowie GMO Labeling | Humboldt’s World | Gallows Ghosts | Conspiracy Claims | New CFI CEO the Magazine for Science and Reason Vol. 40 No. 3 | May/June 2016 Toward a Taxonomy Scientific Reasoning of Belief in the Unreal at the US Air Force Academy The Gene-Editing Revolution: Belief A SPECIAL REPORT Masquerading as Science INTRODUCTORY PRICE U.S. and Canada $5.99 How Not to Do Science Published by the Center for Inquiry in association with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Robyn Blumner, CEO Massimo Polidoro, Research Fellow Bar ry Karr, Ex ec u tive Di rect or Benjamin Radford, Research Fellow Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow Richard Wiseman, Research Fellow www.csicop.org Fellows James E. Al cock*, psy chol o gist, York Univ., Tor on to David H. Gorski, cancer surgeon and re searcher at Barbara Jay M. Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor of Mar cia An gell, MD, former ed i tor-in-chief, Ann Kar manos Cancer Institute and chief of breast surgery Astronomy and director of the Hopkins New Eng land Jour nal of Med i cine section, Wayne State University School of Medicine. Observatory, Williams College Kimball Atwood IV, MD, physician; author; Newton, MA Wendy M. Grossman, writer; founder and first editor, John Pau los, math e ma ti cian, Tem ple Univ. The Skeptic magazine (UK) Steph en Bar rett, MD, psy chi a trist; au thor; con sum er ad vo cate, Clifford A. Pickover, scientist, au thor, editor, IBM T.J. Watson Sus an Haack, Coop er Sen ior Schol ar in Arts and Al len town, PA Re search Center. Willem Betz, MD, professor of medicine, Univ. of Brussels Sci en ces, professor of phi los o phy and professor Massimo Pigliucci, professor of philosophy, Ir ving Bie der man, psy chol o gist, Univ. of South ern CA of Law, Univ. of Mi ami City Univ. of New York–Lehman College Sus an Black more, vis it ing lec tur er, Univ. of the West of Harriet Hall*, MD, physician; investigator, Puyallup, WA Eng land, Bris tol David J. Helfand, professor of astronomy, Stev en Pink er, cog ni tive sci en tist, Harvard Univ. Columbia Univ. Sandra Blakeslee, science writer; author; New York Times Mas si mo Pol id oro, sci ence writer; au thor; ex ec u tive science correspondent Terence M. Hines, prof. of psychology, Pace Univ., di rect or of CI CAP, It a ly Pleasantville, NY. Mark Boslough, physicist, Sandia National Laboratories, James L. Powell, geochemist, author, professor; executive direc- Albuquerque, NM Doug las R. Hof stad ter, pro fes sor of hu man tor, National Physical Science Consortium; retired college and un der stand ing and cog ni tive sci ence, In di ana Univ. Hen ri Broch, phys i cist, Univ. of Nice, France museum president, Buellton, CA Ger ald Hol ton, Mal linc krodt Pro fes sor of Phys ics and pro fes sor Jan Har old Brun vand, folk lor ist; pro fes sor emer i tus of his to ry of sci ence, Har vard Univ. Anthony R. Pratkanis, professor of psychology, Univ. of CA, of Eng lish, Univ. of Utah Ray Hy man*, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Or e gon Santa Cruz Mar io Bunge, phi los o pher, McGill Univ., Montreal Stuart D. Jordan, NASA astrophysicist emeritus; Donald R. Prothero, paleontologist/geologist, Natural History Robert T. Carroll, emeritus professor of philosophy, science advisor to Center for Inquiry Office of Public Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA Sacramento City College; writer Policy, Washington, DC Sean B. Carroll, molecular geneticist; vice president for science Benjamin Radford, investigator; research fellow, Committee Barry Karr, executive director, Committee for education, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Madison, WI for Skeptical Inquiry Skeptical Inquiry, Amherst, New York Thomas R. Casten, energy expert; founder and chairman, James “The Amazing” Randi, magician; CSICOP founding Recycled Energy Development, Westmont, IL Law rence M. Krauss, foundation professor, School member; founder, James Randi Educational Foundation of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics Dept.; John R. Cole, an thro pol o gist; ed i tor, Na tion al Mil ton Ro sen berg, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Chic a go Cen ter for Sci ence Ed u ca tion director, Origins Initiative, Arizona State Univ. Am ar deo Sar ma*, chairman, GWUP, Ger ma ny K.C. Cole, science writer; author; professor, Univ. of Southern Harry Kroto, professor of chemistry and California’s Annenberg School of Journalism biochemistry, Florida State Univ.; Nobel laureate Richard Saunders, president, Australian Skeptics; educator; John Cook, climate communication research fellow for Ed win C. Krupp, as tron o mer; di rect or, investigator; podcaster; Sydney, Australia the Global Change Institute at the Univ. of Queensland, Grif fith Ob ser va to ry, Los Angeles, CA Joe Schwarcz, director, McGill Office for Science and Society Law rence Kusche, sci ence writer Australia. Eu ge nie C. Scott*, phys i cal an thro pol o gist; chair, advisory Fred er ick Crews, lit er ary and cul tur al crit ic; pro fes sor emer i tus Le on Le der man, emer i tus di rect or, Fer mi lab; council , Na tion al Cen ter for Sci ence Ed u ca tion of Eng lish, Univ. of CA, Berke ley No bel lau re ate in phys ics Rich ard Dawk ins, zo ol o gist, Ox ford Univ. Stephan Lewandowsky, psychologist, School of Experimental Rob ert Sheaf fer, sci ence writer Ge of frey Dean, tech ni cal ed i tor, Perth, Aus tral ia Psychology and Cabot Institute, Univ. of Bristol, UK Seth Shostak, senior astronomer, SETI Institute, Cor nel is de Ja ger, pro fes sor of as tro phys ics, Univ. of Utrecht, Scott O. Lil i en feld*, psy chol o gist, Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA Mountain View, CA the Neth er lands Lin Zix in, former ed i tor, Sci ence and Tech nol o gy Dai ly (Chi na) Simon Singh, science writer; broadcaster; UK Dan i el C. Den nett, Aus tin B. Fletch er Pro fes sor of Phi los o phy Je re Lipps, Mu se um of Pa le on tol o gy, Univ. of CA, Berke ley Dick Smith, entrepreneur, publisher, aviator, adventurer, and di rect or of Cen ter for Cog ni tive Stud ies, Tufts Uni v. Eliz a beth Loft us*, pro fes sor of psy chol o gy, Univ. of CA, Ir vine Terrey Hills, N.S.W., Australia Ann Druyan, writer and producer; CEO, Cosmos Studios, Daniel Loxton, author, editor of Junior Skeptic at Skeptic maga- Keith E. Stanovich, cognitive psychologist; professor of Ithaca, NY zine (US), artist, Vancouver, B.C., Canada human development and applied psychology, Uni v. of Sanal Edamaruku, president, Indian Rationalist Da vid Marks, psy chol o gist, City Univ., Lon don Toronto Association and Rationalist International Mar io Men dez-Acos ta, jour nal ist and sci ence writer, Mex i co City Karen Stollznow*, linguist; skeptical investigator; writer; Edzard Ernst, professor, Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Kenneth R. Miller, professor of biology, Brown Univ. podcaster Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, Exeter, UK Da vid Mor ri son, space sci en tist, NA SA Ames Re search Cen ter Jill Cor nell Tar ter, as tron o mer, SE TI In sti tute, Moun tain View, CA Ken neth Fed er, pro fes sor of an thro pol o gy, Rich ard A. Mul ler, pro fes sor of phys ics, Univ. of CA, Berke ley Car ol Tav ris, psy chol o gist and au thor, Los Ange les, CA Cen tral Con nec ti cut State Univ. Joe Nick ell, sen ior re search fel low, CSI Da vid E. Thom as*, phys i cist and math e ma ti cian, Socorro, NM Krista Federspiel, science journalist, expert on complementary Jan Willem Nienhuys, mathematician, Waalre, Neil de Gras se Ty son, as tro phys i cist and di rect or, The Netherlands and alternative medicine, Vienna, Austria. Hay den Plan e tar i um, New York City Lee Nis bet, phi los o pher, Med aille Col lege Barbara Forrest, professor of philosophy, SE Louisiana Univ. Indre Viskontas, cognitive neuroscientist, tv and podcast host, An drew Fra knoi, as tron o mer, Foot hill Col lege, Los Al tos Hills, CA Steven Novella*, MD, assistant professor of neurology, Yale Univ. School of Medicine and opera singer, San Francisco, CA Kend rick Fra zi er*, sci ence writer; ed i tor, S I Bill Nye, sci ence ed u ca tor and tel e vi sion host, Nye Labs Stuart Vyse, psychologist, former Joanne Toor Cummings Christopher C. French, professor, Department ’50 professor of psychology, Connecticut College; author of Psychology, and head of the Anomalistic Psychology James E. Oberg, sci ence writer Research Unit, Goldsmiths College, Univ. of London Irm gard Oe pen, pro fes sor of med i cine (re tired), of Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition Julia Galef, host of the Rationally Speaking podcast; Mar burg, Ger ma ny Ma ri lyn vos Sa vant, Pa rade mag a zine con trib ut ing ed i tor cofounder, Center for Applied Rationality, Berkeley, CA Paul Offit, professor of pediatrics, director of the Vaccine Educa- Stev en Wein berg, pro fes sor of phys ics and as tron o my, Univ. of Luigi Garlaschelli, chemist, Università di Pavia (Italy); tion Center, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Tex as at Aus tin; No bel lau re ate research fellow of CICAP, the Italian skeptics group Naomi Oreskes, geologist and professor, departments of the E.O.