# kb

id: astrology-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-4.md
category: reference
title: Astrology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: astrology-20260505-0
summary:
During the Enlightenment, intellectual sympathy for astrology fell away, leaving only a popular following supported by cheap almanacs. One English almanac compiler, Richard Saunders, followed the spirit of the age by printing a derisive Discourse on the Invalidity of Astrology, while in France Pierre Bayle's Dictionnaire of 1697 stated that the subject was puerile. The Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift ridiculed the Whig political astrologer John Partridge. In the second half of the 17th century, the Society of Astrologers (1647–1684), a trade, educational, and social organization, sought to unite London's often fractious astrologers in the task of revitalizing astrology. Following the template of the popular "Feasts of Mathematicians" they endeavored to defend their art in the face of growing religious criticism. The Society hosted banquets, exchanged "instruments and manuscripts", proposed research projects, and funded the publication of sermons that depicted astrology as a legitimate biblical pursuit for Christians. They commissioned sermons that argued Astrology was divine, Hebraic, and scripturally supported by Bible passages about the Magi and the sons of Seth. According to historian Michelle Pfeffer, "The society's public relations campaign ultimately failed." Modern historians have mostly neglected the Society of Astrologers in favor of the still extant Royal Society (1660),


id: astrology-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-5.md
category: reference
title: Astrology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: astrology-20260505-0
summary:
Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theory of the three harmonies: heaven, earth and man) and uses concepts such as yin and yang, the Five phases, the 10 Celestial stems, the 12 Earthly Branches, and shichen (時辰 a form of timekeeping used for religious purposes). The early use of Chinese astrology was mainly confined to political astrology, the observation of unusual phenomena, identification of portents and the selection of auspicious days for events and decisions. The constellations of the Zodiac of western Asia and Europe were not used; instead the sky is divided into Three Enclosures (三垣 sān yuán), and Twenty-Eight Mansions (二十八宿 èrshíbā xiù) in twelve Ci (十二次). The Chinese zodiac of twelve animal signs is said to represent twelve different types of personality. It is based on cycles of years, lunar months, and two-hour periods of the day (the shichen). The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, and the cycle proceeds through 11 other animal signs: the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Complex systems of predicting fate and destiny based on one's birthday, birth season, and birth hours, such as ziping and Zi Wei Dou


id: astrology-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-6.md
category: reference
title: Astrology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: astrology-20260505-0
summary:
The scientific community rejects astrology as having no explanatory power for describing the universe, and considers it a pseudoscience. Scientific testing of astrology has been conducted, and no evidence has been found to support any of the premises or purported effects outlined in astrological traditions. There is no proposed mechanism of action by which the positions and motions of stars and planets could affect people and events on Earth that does not contradict basic and well understood aspects of biology and physics. Those who have faith in astrology have been characterised by scientists including Bart J. Bok as doing so "...in spite of the fact that there is no verified scientific basis for their beliefs, and indeed that there is strong evidence to the contrary". Confirmation bias is a form of cognitive bias, a psychological factor that contributes to belief in astrology. Astrology believers tend to selectively remember predictions that turn out to be true, and do not remember those that turn out false. Another, separate, form of confirmation bias also plays a role, where believers often fail to distinguish between messages that demonstrate special ability and those that do not. Thus there are two distinct forms of confirmation bias


id: astrology-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-7.md
category: reference
title: Astrology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: astrology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Effectiveness === Astrology has not demonstrated its effectiveness in controlled studies and has no scientific validity. Where it has made falsifiable predictions under controlled conditions, they have been falsified. One famous experiment included 28 astrologers who were asked to match over a hundred natal charts to psychological profiles generated by the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) questionnaire. The double-blind experimental protocol used in this study was agreed upon by a group of physicists and a group of astrologers nominated by the National Council for Geocosmic Research, who advised the experimenters, helped ensure that the test was fair and helped draw the central proposition of natal astrology to be tested. They also chose 26 out of the 28 astrologers for the tests (two more volunteered afterwards). The study, published in Nature in 1985, found that predictions based on natal astrology were no better than chance, and that the testing "...clearly refutes the astrological hypothesis." In 1955, the astrologer and psychologist Michel Gauquelin stated that though he had failed to find evidence that supported indicators like zodiacal signs and planetary aspects in astrology, he did find positive correlations between the diurnal positions of some planets and success in professions that astrology traditionally


id: astrology-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-8.md
category: reference
title: Astrology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: astrology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Reception in the social sciences === The general consensus of astronomers and other natural scientists is that astrology is a pseudoscience which carries no predictive capability, with many philosophers of science considering it a "paradigm or prime example of pseudoscience." Some scholars in the social sciences have cautioned against categorizing astrology, especially ancient astrology, as "just" a pseudoscience or projecting the distinction backwards into the past. Thagard, while demarcating it as a pseudoscience, notes that astrology "should be judged as not pseudoscientific in classical or Renaissance times...Only when the historical and social aspects of science are neglected does it become plausible that pseudoscience is an unchanging category." Historians of science such as Tamsyn Barton, Roger Beck, Francesca Rochberg, and Wouter J. Hanegraaff argue that such a wholesale description is anachronistic when applied to historical contexts, stressing that astrology was not pseudoscience before the 18th century and the importance of the discipline to the development of medieval science. R. J. Hakinson writes in the context of Hellenistic astrology that "the belief in the possibility of [astrology] was, at least some of the time, the result of careful reflection on the nature and structure of the universe." Nicholas Campion, both an


id: astrology-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-9.md
category: reference
title: Astrology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: astrology-20260505-0
summary:
In India, there is a long-established and widespread belief in astrology. It is commonly used for daily life, particularly in matters concerning marriage and career, and makes extensive use of electional, horary and karmic astrology, a vertent who believes in reincarnation and in the idea they can read a person's karma in a Natal chart by studying in particular Lunar nodes and retrograde planets. Indian politics have also been influenced by astrology. It is still considered a branch of the Vedanga. In 2001, Indian scientists and politicians debated and critiqued a proposal to use state money to fund research into astrology, resulting in permission for Indian universities to offer courses in Vedic astrology. In February 2011, the Bombay High Court reaffirmed astrology's standing in India when it dismissed a case that challenged its status as a science. In Japan, strong belief in astrology has led to dramatic changes in the fertility rate and the number of abortions in the years of Fire Horse. Adherents believe that women born in hinoeuma years are unmarriageable and bring bad luck to their father or husband. In 1966, the number of babies born in Japan dropped by over 25% as parents tried to avoid


id: the-atlantic-paranormal-society-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic_Paranormal_Society-0.md
category: reference
title: The Atlantic Paranormal Society
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic_Paranormal_Society
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:05.811936+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-atlantic-paranormal-society-20260505-0
summary:
The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) is an organization that investigates reported paranormal activity. Based in Warwick, Rhode Island, TAPS was founded in 1990 by Jason Hawes as Rhode Island Paranormal Society (RIPS). In 1995, Grant Wilson joined, and the team was renamed The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS). In 2004, the organization itself became the subject of Ghost Hunters, a popular weekly American paranormal reality television series on the Syfy channel. The show ran for eleven seasons on Syfy in the US. The show aired in the UK nine months after the US premier on Living It. == History and objectives == In 1990, Hawes began the "Rhode Island Paranormal Society", after having a personal experience with spirits. After RIPS began investigating cases throughout the New England area, Jason met up with Grant Wilson in 1995 and they formed "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" together. Wilson had also had a personal experience. Neither man talks about it in public. The group was originally run out of Jason's basement, and at that time consisted only of Jason and Grant. They pioneered investigative techniques that many other paranormal investigators use. In 2003 they were approached by Pilgrim Films and taped ten episodes of "Ghost


id: the-atlantic-paranormal-society-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic_Paranormal_Society-1.md
category: reference
title: The Atlantic Paranormal Society
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic_Paranormal_Society
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:05.811936+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-atlantic-paranormal-society-20260505-0
summary:
== Non-profit status issues == In 2006, a website called "SAPS" ("Skeptical Analysis of the Paranormal Society") conducted an investigation into the status and legitimacy of the TAPS non-profit status. In several places on their website it stated that they were non-profit and did investigations free of charge, however did accept donations and held a raffle to win various branded merchandise. The site claimed that repeated attempts to clarify the subject was met with negative responses. It broadened its investigation by searching for its status both federally and at the state level and found no evidence that they were a registered non-profit organization. They also found that the raffle was in violation of the state's gambling laws as it allowed those that could be under the age of 18 to participate. In February 2007, TAPS issued a statement regarding the status. It stated that they, "...by no means meant to give the appearance that we had non-profit status. By this, we meant that we do not make any profit at all from investigating. We couldn't simply say 'TAPS makes no money whatsoever' because TAPS does gather meager funds from the occasional donation and membership dues. The money that comes in


id: attachment-therapy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-0.md
category: reference
title: Attachment therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attachment-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
Attachment therapy (also called "the Evergreen model", "holding time", "rage-reduction", "compression therapy", "rebirthing", "corrective attachment therapy", "coercive restraint therapy", and "holding therapy") is a pseudoscientific mental health intervention intended to treat attachment disorders in children. During the height of its popularity, the practice was found primarily in the United States; much of it was centered in about a dozen locations in Evergreen, Colorado, where Foster Cline, one of its founders, established a clinic in the 1970s. The practice has resulted in adverse outcomes for children, including at least six documented child fatalities. Since the 1990s, there have been a number of prosecutions for deaths or serious maltreatment of children at the hands of "holding therapists" or parents following their instructions. Two of the most well-known cases are those of Candace Newmaker in 2000 and the Gravelles in 2003. Following the associated publicity, some advocates of attachment therapy began to alter views and practices to be less potentially dangerous to children. This change may have been hastened by the publication of a task force report on the subject in January 2006, commissioned by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), which was largely critical of attachment therapy. In


id: attachment-therapy-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-1.md
category: reference
title: Attachment therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attachment-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
Like Welsh [sic] (1984, 1989), The Center induces rage by physically restraining the child and forcing eye contact with the therapist (the child must lie across the laps of two therapists, looking up at one of them). In a workshop handout prepared by two therapists at The Center, the following sequence of events is described: (1) therapist 'forces control' by holding (which produces child 'rage'); (2) rage leads to child 'capitulation' to the therapist, as indicated by the child breaking down emotionally ('sobbing'); (3) the therapist takes advantage of the child's capitulation by showing nurturance and warmth; (4) this new trust allows the child to accept 'control' by the therapist and eventually the parent. According to The Center's treatment protocol, if the child 'shuts down' (i.e., refuses to comply), he or she may be threatened with detainment for the day at the clinic or forced placement in a temporary foster home; this is explained to the child as a consequence of not choosing to be a 'family boy or girl.' If the child is actually placed in foster care, the child is then required to 'earn the way back to therapy' and a chance to resume living with the adoptive


id: attachment-therapy-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-2.md
category: reference
title: Attachment therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attachment-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
=== Parenting techniques === Therapists often instruct parents to follow programs of treatment at home, for example obedience-training techniques such as "strong sitting" (frequent periods of required silence and immobility) and withholding or limiting food. Earlier authors sometimes referred to this as "German Shepherd training". In some programs children undergoing the two-week intensive stay with "therapeutic foster parents" for the duration or beyond and the adoptive parents are trained in their techniques. According to the APSAC Task Force, because it is believed children with bonding problems resist bonding, fight against it and seek to control others to avoid bonding, the child's character flaws must be broken before bonding can occur. According to proponents, their idea of attachment parenting may include keeping the child at home with no social contacts, home schooling, hard labor or meaningless repetitive chores throughout the day, motionless sitting for prolonged periods of time, and control of all food and water intake and bathroom needs. Children described as attachment-disordered are expected by attachment therapists to comply with parental commands "fast and snappy and right the first time", and to always be "fun to be around" for their parents. Deviation from this standard, such as not finishing chores


id: attachment-therapy-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-3.md
category: reference
title: Attachment therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attachment-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
== Theoretical principles == Like a number of other alternative mental health treatments for children, attachment therapy is based on some assumptions that differ strongly from the theoretical foundations of other attachment-based therapies. In contrast to traditional attachment theory, the theory of attachment described by attachment therapy proponents is that young children who experience adversity (including maltreatment, loss, separations, adoption, frequent changes in child care, colic or even frequent ear infections) become enraged at a very deep and primitive level. This results in a lack of ability to bond, attach, or to be genuinely affectionate to others. Suppressed or unconscious rage is theorized to prevent the child from forming bonds with caregivers and leads to behavior problems when the rage erupts into unchecked aggression. Such children are said to fail to develop a conscience, to not trust others, to seek control rather than closeness, to resist the authority of caregivers, and to engage in endless power struggles. They are seen as highly manipulative and as trying to avoid true attachments while simultaneously striving to control those around them through manipulation and superficial sociability. Such children are said to be at risk of becoming psychopaths who will go on to engage


id: attachment-therapy-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-4.md
category: reference
title: Attachment therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attachment-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
=== Diagnosis lists and questionnaires === Both the APSAC Task Force and Prior and Glaser describe the proliferation of alternative "lists" and diagnoses, particularly on the Internet, by proponents of holding therapy, that are not in accord with either DSM or ICD classifications and which are partly based on the unsubstantiated views of Zaslow and Menta and Cline. According to the Task Force, "These types of lists are so nonspecific that high rates of false-positive diagnoses are virtually certain. Posting these types of lists on internet sites that also serve as marketing tools may lead many parents or others to conclude inaccurately that their children have attachment disorders." Prior and Glaser describe the lists as "wildly inclusive" and state that many of the behaviors in the lists are likely to be the consequences of neglect and abuse rather than located within the attachment paradigm. Descriptions of children are frequently highly pejorative and "demonizing". Examples given from lists of attachment disorder symptoms found on the internet include lying, avoiding eye contact except when lying, persistent nonsense questions or incessant chatter, fascination with fire, blood, gore and evil, food related issues (such as gorging or hoarding), cruelty to animals and lack of


id: attachment-therapy-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-5.md
category: reference
title: Attachment therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attachment-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
Within mainstream practice, disorders of attachment are classified in DSM-5 and ICD-10 as reactive attachment disorder (generally known as RAD), and Disinhibited social engagement disorder. Both classification systems warn against automatic diagnosis based on abuse or neglect. Many symptoms are present in a variety of other more common and more easily treatable disorders. There is as yet no other accepted definition of attachment disorders. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) practice parameter published in 2005, the question of whether attachment disorders can be reliably diagnosed in older children and adults has not been resolved. Attachment behaviors used for the diagnosis of RAD change markedly with development and defining analogous behaviors in older children is difficult. There are no substantially validated measures of attachment in middle childhood or early adolescence. == Prevalence == Holding therapy prospered during the 1980s and 1990s as a consequence of both the influx of older adopted orphans from Eastern European and third world countries and the inclusion of reactive attachment disorder in the 1980 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders which attachment therapists adopted as an alternative name for their existing unvalidated diagnosis of attachment disorder. According to the APSAC


id: attachment-therapy-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-6.md
category: reference
title: Attachment therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attachment-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
== Developments == The APSAC Task Force stated that proponents of holding therapy correctly point out that most critics have never actually observed any of the treatments they criticize or visited any of the centers where the controversial therapies are practiced. Proponents argue that their therapies present no physical risk if undertaken properly and that critics' concerns are based on unrepresentative occurrences and misapplications of techniques, or misunderstanding by parents. Holding is described as gentle or nurturing and it is maintained that intense, cathartic approaches are necessary to help children with attachment disorders. Their evidence for this is primarily clinical experience and testimonials. According to the APSAC Task Force, there are controversies within the holding therapy community about coercive practices. There has been a move away from coercive and confrontational models towards attunement and emotional regulation amongst some leaders in the field, notably Hughes, Kelly and Popper. A number of therapies are quite different from those that have led to the abuse and deaths of children in much publicized court cases. The Task Force, however, points out that all the therapies, including those using frankly coercive practices, present themselves as humane, respectful and nurturing; therefore caution is advised. Some practitioners


id: attachment-therapy-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-7.md
category: reference
title: Attachment therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attachment-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
== History == Matthew Speltz of the University of Washington School of Medicine states that the roots of holding therapy are traceable to psychologist Robert Zaslow and his "Z-process" in the 1970s. Zaslow attempted to force attachment in autistic children by creating rage while holding them against their will. He believed this would lead to a breakdown in their defense mechanisms, making them more receptive to others. Zaslow thought attachment arose when an infant experienced feelings of pain, fear and rage, and then made eye contact with the carer who relieved those feelings. If an infant did not experience this cycle of events by having his fear and rage relieved, the infant would not form an attachment and would not make eye contact with other people. Zaslow believed that creating pain and rage and combining them with eye contact would cause attachment to occur, long after the normal age for such developments. Holding therapies derive from these "rage-reduction" techniques applied by Zaslow. The holding is not used for safety purposes but is initiated for the purpose of provoking strong negative emotions such as fear and anger. The child's release typically depends upon his or her compliance with the therapist's clinical


id: attachment-therapy-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-8.md
category: reference
title: Attachment therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attachment-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
They also considered the lack of available and suitable interventions from mainstream professionals as essential to the popularization of holding therapy as an attachment therapy. In 2003, an issue of Attachment & Human Development was devoted to the subject of attachment therapy with articles by well-known experts in the field of attachment. Attachment researchers and authors condemned holding therapy as empirically unfounded, theoretically flawed and clinically unethical. It has also been described as potentially abusive and a pseudoscientific intervention, not based on attachment theory or research, that has resulted in tragic outcomes for children including at least six documented child fatalities. In 2006, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) Task Force reported on the subjects of attachment therapy, reactive attachment disorder, and attachment problems and laid down guidelines for the future diagnosis and treatment of attachment disorders. The APSAC Task Force was largely critical of Attachment Therapy's theoretical base, practices, claims to an evidence base, non-specific symptoms lists published on the internet, claims that traditional treatments do not work and dire predictions for the future of children who do not receive attachment therapy. "Although focused primarily on specific attachment therapy techniques, the controversy also extends to


id: attachment-therapy-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-9.md
category: reference
title: Attachment therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attachment-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
== Claims == According to the APSAC Task Force, proponents of holding therapy commonly assert that their therapies alone are effective for attachment-disordered children and that traditional treatments are ineffective or harmful. The APSAC Task Force expressed concern over claims by therapies to be "evidence-based", or the only evidence-based therapy, when the Task Force found no credible evidence base for any such therapy so advertised. Nor did it accept more recent claims to evidence base in its November 2006 Reply. Two approaches on which published studies have been undertaken are holding therapy and dyadic developmental psychotherapy. Each of these non-randomized studies concluded that the treatment method studied was effective. Both the APSAC Task Force and Prior and Glaser cite and criticize the one published study on holding therapy undertaken by Myeroff et al., which "purports to be an evaluation of holding therapy". This study covers the "across the lap" approach, described as "not restraint" by Howe and Fearnley but "being held whilst unable to gain release." Prior and Glaser state that although the Myeroff study claims it is based on attachment theory, the theoretical basis for the treatment is in fact Zaslow. Dyadic developmental psychotherapy was developed by psychologist Daniel


id: attachment-therapy-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-10.md
category: reference
title: Attachment therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attachment-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
Andrea Swenson, 1990; a 13-year-old adopted girl undergoing attachment therapy at The Attachment Center, Evergreen, Colorado. She was placed with "therapeutic foster parents". When the insurance company refused to continue to pay for her treatment, the adoptive parents were asked to allow the foster parents to adopt Andrea so that a fresh claim could be made. Andrea, having asked her foster parents what would happen if she took an overdose of drugs or slit her wrist, and been told she would die, took an overdose of aspirin. She was violently ill during the night and was incoherent, breathing heavily and still vomiting in the morning. Nevertheless, the foster parents went bowling, leaving her alone. A visitor found her dead in the hallway. The suit was settled out of court. Lucas Ciambrone, 1995; a seven-year-old adopted boy who was starved, beaten, bitten and forced to sleep in a stripped bathroom at his parents home in Sarasota, Florida. At the post-mortem he was found to have 200 bruises and five old broken ribs. The adoptive mother was convicted as the abuser and the adoptive father of being aware but doing nothing to prevent it or seek help. Foster Cline gave evidence for


id: attachment-therapy-20260505-11
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-11.md
category: reference
title: Attachment therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attachment-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
== Further reading == Fairlove, Abigail (26 December 2012). "Importance of Strong Sitting for Reactive Attachment Disorder Treatment". Rad Children- Information on Children with Reactive Attachment Disorder ( RAD ). Abigail Fairlove. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014. Mercer J, Sarner L, Rosa L (2003), Attachment Therapy on Trial: The Torture and Death of Candace Newmaker, Praeger, ISBN 978-0-275-97675-0 O'Connor TG, Nilsen WJ (2005), "Models versus Metaphors in Translating Attachment Theory to the Clinic and Community", in Berlin LJ, Ziv Y, Amaya-Jackson L, Greenberg MT (eds.), Enhancing Early Attachments: Theory, Research, Intervention and Policy, Duke series in child development and public policy, Guilford Press, ISBN 978-1-59385-470-6 Prior V, Glaser D (2006), Understanding Attachment and Attachment Disorders: Theory, Evidence and Practice, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Series, London: Jessica Kingsley, ISBN 978-1-84310-245-8, OCLC 70663735 Zeanah, Charles H.; Chesher, Tessa; Boris, Neil W.; Walter, Heather J.; Bukstein, Oscar G.; Bellonci, Christopher; Benson, R. Scott; Bussing, Regina; Chrisman, Allan; Hamilton, John; Hayek, Munya; Keable, Helene; Rockhill, Carol; Siegel, Matthew; Stock, Saundra (November 2016). "Practice Parameter for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Reactive Attachment Disorder and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder". Journal of the American


id: attunement-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attunement-0.md
category: reference
title: Attunement
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attunement
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:09.472799+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attunement-20260505-0
summary:
Attunement was the early term adopted by practitioners of the pseudoscientific discipline of energy medicine, originally developed by Lloyd Arthur Meeker (1907–1954) and his colleagues. Meeker taught and practiced Attunement as a central feature of his spiritual teaching and ministry, Emissaries of Divine Light. Attunement is taught as a personal spiritual practice and as a healing modality offered through the hands. Emissaries of Divine Light believe that Attunement is a pivotal factor in the conscious evolution of humanity. Like qigong, reiki, and therapeutic touch, attunement is a putative practice as defined by the United States National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), lacking published scientific study of its effectiveness. Attunement practitioners and clients rely on personal and anecdotal experience to promote it. == History == === Beginnings === Lloyd Arthur Meeker shared the first Attunement with Rudolph Plagge in Wichita, Kansas, in 1929, and developed the teaching and practice of Attunement with colleagues until his death in 1954. From September 14 to 16, 1932, Meeker had a spiritual awakening experience that he described as a “heavenly ordination.” He marked that experience as the initiation of Emissaries of Divine Light. That same year he instituted a series of energy medicine


id: attunement-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attunement-1.md
category: reference
title: Attunement
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attunement
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:09.472799+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: attunement-20260505-0
summary:
=== Development === As Emissaries of Divine Light grew in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, so did the teaching and practice of Attunement. Martin Cecil emphasized in his teaching of Attunement that the basis of it was a spiritual practice. While many of the early Attunement practitioners were chiropractors, lay people became increasingly active in the practice. Building on the early work of Lloyd Arthur Meeker, Attunement evolved to include groups of people practicing it together. In 1993, a World Blessing time was established for practitioners to share a time of collective Attunement and healing prayer. In the '80s and '90s, the teaching and practice of long-distance Attunement was developed further. Following Martin Cecil's death in 1988, his son, Michael Cecil, become the Spiritual Leader of the Emissaries. In 1996, Emissaries of Divine Light formed an Attunement Guild, which established standards for the teaching and certification of Attunement practitioners. A group of Attunement practitioners, including Chris Jorgensen and Andrew Shier, formed the International Association of Attunement Practitioners (IAAP) in 1999. IAAP developed and taught the practice of Attunement separate from the organization of Emissaries of Divine Light. Roger de Winton continued his Attunement trainings through Attunement Intensives offered at Sunrise


id: auditing-scientology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-0.md
category: reference
title: Auditing (Scientology)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:10.624540+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: auditing-scientology-20260505-0
summary:
Auditing, also called processing, is a central practice in Scientology in which a trained "auditor" asks structured questions intended to help a participant identify and address past experiences and emotional difficulties. Most auditing uses an E-meter, a device the Church of Scientology describes as a spiritual tool for detecting areas of mental or spiritual trauma, though courts and scientists have found it to have no medical or scientific validity. Auditing is presented as the primary method for advancing up Scientology's Bridge to Total Freedom, a graded series of levels involving procedures and rundowns, using concepts such as the reactive mind, engrams, and past‑life incidents and implants. Scholars and critics have variously described auditing as a form of psychological conditioning, hypnosis, or pseudotherapy, and have raised concerns about its methods, the misuse of confidential session records, and its space‑opera cosmology. There have been legal, regulatory, and ethical controversies related to its unproven medical claims, misuse of private information, the use of child labor, and the death of some participants. == Terminology == L. Ron Hubbard assigned special meanings to many ordinary English words when he wrote about Scientology, and Scientologese has become a language in itself. These are some very basic


id: auditing-scientology-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-1.md
category: reference
title: Auditing (Scientology)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:10.624540+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: auditing-scientology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Preclear === The "preclear" or "PC" is the person who is being audited—the client, formerly called the "patient". At most levels of auditing, there are two people present: the auditor is the one asking questions, and the preclear is the one answering them. In some of the upper levels, a person audits oneself, being both auditor and preclear at the same time. The term was created back when the ultimate goal of auditing was to create a person who had been cleared, ergo the person being audited was pre-Clear. However, even after Hubbard created the upper levels, the term preclear was still used even if the person had surpassed the state of Clear. The term has continued to represent the role in auditing rather than the level the person has attained. During an auditing session, the auditor writes down the questions and the preclear's answers, and the papers are stored in the client's PC folder (preclear folder). === E-meter === Most auditing sessions involve a device called the Hubbard Electropsychometer or E-meter. It consists of two handheld electrodes connected to a galvanometer. It measures changes in electrical resistance in the body (galvanic skin response). Scientology teaches that changes in


id: auditing-scientology-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-2.md
category: reference
title: Auditing (Scientology)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:10.624540+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: auditing-scientology-20260505-0
summary:
== Rundowns == Hubbard defines a rundown as "a series of steps which are auditing actions and processes designed to handle a specific aspect of a case and which have a known end phenomena". Hubbard devised dozens of rundowns. The main rundowns are the levels of the Bridge to Total Freedom, which are the codified sequential steps to attain Scientology's concept of spiritual freedom. One of the earliest rundowns on the Bridge, which most Scientologists are expected to do, is the Purification Rundown. The "purif" is a sauna-and-sweat detoxification program requiring a high intake of vitamins, allegedly designed to remove toxins from the body that would inhibit one's recall needed for future auditing. Some of the basic levels of the Bridge include rundowns said to alleviate issues with communication, problems, and upsets. The Clear Certainty Rundown is the step where the Church of Scientology verifies that the preclear has correctly attained the State of Clear. There are specialty rundowns such as the three very high-priced "L's Rundowns" available only at Flag which are promoted as executive boosters and promise the ability to be stably exterior—outside of your body. The Super Power Rundown is intended to increase one's perceptions; Hubbard said


id: auditing-scientology-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-3.md
category: reference
title: Auditing (Scientology)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:10.624540+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: auditing-scientology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Incidents and implants === "Incidents" are events that happened to a person which continue to have a grip on their mind or spirit, and negatively affects them. It could be an accident or traumatic event that includes pain and subconscious commands, whether from this life or in a past life. Auditing procedures locate incidents in the person and relieve or erase them from the person's mind. "Implants" are an element of some incidents involving externally-imposed memories that contain commands and fictitious events. Hubbard alleges that the person will believe the implanted incident actually existed, and the commands in the implant make the person act strangely. A contemporary analogy would be the installing of a hypnotic command. However, the implants Hubbard presents in his lectures and writings are characterized by past-life incidents set in technologically advanced, space opera scenarios. Typically, these implants involve electronic fields entrapping and zapping a thetan (the being), installing commands, and showing cinema-like moving pictures to install false memories. Such incidents are alleged to have occurred millions or trillions of years ago. However, Hubbard believed that implantation is being performed in contemporary times by psychiatrists and priests. Methods of trapping and implanting a thetan might include


id: auditing-scientology-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-4.md
category: reference
title: Auditing (Scientology)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:10.624540+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: auditing-scientology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Claimed benefits === L. Ron Hubbard claimed benefits from auditing including improved IQ, improved ability to communicate, enhanced memory and alleviation of issues such as psychosis, dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. Some people have alleged that auditing amounts to medical treatment without a license, and in the 1950s, some auditors were arrested on the charge. The Church of Scientology disputes that it is practicing medicine, and it has successfully established in United States courts of law that auditing addresses only spiritual relief. According to the Church, the psychotherapist treats mental health and the Church treats the spiritual being. Hubbard clarified the difference between the two: If we processed a specific type of aberration, we of course would be in the field of mental healing, and so forth. But long ago we actually discovered that we must not process specific aberrations, which takes us out of the field of mental healing. It is quite fatal to do this because in the first place it's an evaluation for the case. In the second place, it's a negative type process; you're condemning the individual for hitting girls. Doesn't validate the individual at all. Do you follow? And if carried on very long,


id: aura-paranormal-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(paranormal)-0.md
category: reference
title: Aura (paranormal)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(paranormal)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:11.877987+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: aura-paranormal-20260505-0
summary:
According to spiritual beliefs, an aura or energy field is a colored emanation said to enclose a human body or any animal or object. In some esoteric positions, the aura is described as a subtle body. Psychics and holistic medicine practitioners often claim to have the ability to see the size, color and type of vibration of an aura. In spiritual alternative medicine, the human aura is seen as part of a hidden anatomy that reflects the state of being and health of a client, often understood to even comprise centers of vital force called chakras. Such claims are not supported by scientific evidence and are thus considered pseudoscience. When tested under scientific controlled experiments, the ability to see auras has not been proven to exist. == Etymology == In Latin and Ancient Greek, aura means wind, breeze or breath. It was used in Middle English to mean "gentle breeze". By the end of the 19th century, the word was used in some spiritualist circles to describe a speculated subtle emanation around the body. == History == The concept of auras was first popularized by Charles Webster Leadbeater, a former priest of the Church of England and a member of


id: aura-paranormal-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(paranormal)-1.md
category: reference
title: Aura (paranormal)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(paranormal)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:11.877987+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: aura-paranormal-20260505-0
summary:
Tests of psychic abilities to observe alleged aura emanations have repeatedly been met with failure. One test involved placing people in a dark room and asking the psychic to state how many auras she could observe. Only chance results were obtained. Recognition of auras has occasionally been tested on television. One test involved an aura reader standing on one side of a room with an opaque partition separating her from a number of slots which might contain either actual people or mannequins. The aura reader failed to identify the slots containing people, incorrectly stating that all contained people. In another televised test another aura reader was placed before a partition where five people were standing. He claimed that he could see their auras from behind the partition. As each person moved out, the reader was asked to identify where that person was standing behind the slot. He identified two out of five correctly. Attempts to prove the existence of auras scientifically have repeatedly met with failure; for example people are unable to see auras in complete darkness, and auras have never been successfully used to identify people when their identifying features are otherwise obscured in controlled tests. A 1999 study


id: auriculotherapy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auriculotherapy-0.md
category: reference
title: Auriculotherapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auriculotherapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:13.094510+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: auriculotherapy-20260505-0
summary:
Auriculotherapy (also auricular therapy, ear acupuncture, and auriculoacupuncture) is a form of alternative medicine based on the idea that the ear is a micro system and an external organ, which reflects the entire body, represented on the auricle, the outer portion of the ear. Conditions affecting the person's physical, mental, or emotional health are assumed to be treatable by stimulating the surface of the ear exclusively. Similar mappings are used by several modalities, including the practices of reflexology and iridology. These mappings are not based on or supported by any medical or scientific evidence, and are therefore considered to be pseudoscience. == History and development == French neurologist Paul Nogier invented auriculotherapy in 1957. Nogier developed a phrenological method of projection of a fetal Homunculus on the ear and published what he called the "Vascular Autonomic Signal" which measured a change in the amplitude of the pulse. That mechanism would only produce a signal upon the introduction of new information to the electromagnetic field of the patient. Nogier cited a 'principle of matching resonance' which he could use the vascular autonomic signal to detect the active points of the auricular microsystem. Nogier's Auricular acupuncture was introduced to China in 1958.


id: australo-melanesian-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australo-Melanesian-0.md
category: reference
title: Australo-Melanesian
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australo-Melanesian
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:14.315236+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: australo-melanesian-20260505-0
summary:
Australo-Melanesians (also known as Australasians or the Australomelanesoid, Australoid or Australioid race) is an outdated historical grouping of various people indigenous to Melanesia and Australia. Controversially, some groups found in parts of Southeast Asia and South Asia were also sometimes included. While most authors included Papuans, Aboriginal Australians and Melanesians (mainly from Fiji, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu), there was controversy about the inclusion of the various Southeast Asian populations grouped as "Negrito", or a number of dark-skinned tribal populations of the Indian subcontinent. The concept of dividing humankind into three, four or five races (often called Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid, and Australoid) was introduced in the 18th century and further developed by Western scholars in the context of "racist ideologies" during the age of colonialism. With the rise of modern genetics, the concept of distinct human races in a biological sense has become obsolete. In 2019, the American Association of Biological Anthropologists stated: "The belief in “races” as natural aspects of human biology, and the structures of inequality (racism) that emerge from such beliefs, are among the most damaging elements in the human experience both today and in the past." == Terminological history == The term "Australoid" was coined


id: autodynamics-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodynamics-0.md
category: reference
title: Autodynamics
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodynamics
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:15.509623+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: autodynamics-20260505-0
summary:
Autodynamics was a physics theory proposed by Ricardo Carezani (1921–2016) in the early 1940s as a replacement for Einstein's theories of special relativity and general relativity. Autodynamics never gained status as a viable alternative model within the physics community, and today is wholly rejected by mainstream science. == Main tenets of autodynamics == The primary claim of autodynamics is that the equations of the Lorentz transformation are incorrectly formulated to describe relativistic effects, which would invalidate special relativity, general relativity, and Maxwell's equations. The effect of the revised equations proposed in autodynamics is to cause particle mass to decrease with particle velocity, being exchanged with kinetic energy (with mass being zero and kinetic energy being equal to the rest mass at c). This exchange between mass and energy is the proposed mechanism underlying most of the derived conclusions of autodynamics. Ancillary predictions of autodynamics include: the nonexistence of the neutrino, the existence of additional particles that have not been observed by mainstream physicists (including the "picograviton" and the "electromuon"), the existence of additional decay modes for muons and interaction modes for energetic atomic nuclei. == Status of autodynamics == Autodynamics is rejected by the mainstream scientific community. A 1999 article


id: ayurveda-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-0.md
category: reference
title: Ayurveda
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ayurveda-20260505-0
summary:
Ayurveda (; IAST: āyurveda) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. Ayurveda has been adapted for Western consumption, notably by Baba Hari Dass in the 1970s and Maharishi ayurveda in the 1980s. The theory and practice of ayurveda are pseudoscientific, and many ayurvedic preparations, particularly in the rasa shastra tradition, contain toxic levels of lead, mercury, and arsenic. There is no evidence that cancer can be treated or cured through ayurveda. Ayurveda therapies have varied and evolved over more than two millennia. Therapies include herbal medicines, special diets, meditation, yoga, massage, laxatives, enemas, and medical oils. Early ayurvedic preparations were almost entirely based on complex herbal compounds based on the materia medica of South Asia. Minerals and other metal substances began to enter the traditional pharmacopoeia more pervasively after the eleventh century, under the influence of early Indian alchemy or rasashastra. Ancient ayurveda texts also taught surgical techniques, including rhinoplasty, lithotomy, sutures, cataract surgery, and the extraction of foreign objects. Historical evidence for ayurvedic terminology and concepts appear in the Buddhist Canon from the middle of


id: ayurveda-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-1.md
category: reference
title: Ayurveda
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ayurveda-20260505-0
summary:
According to ayurveda, the human body is composed of tissues (dhatus), waste (malas), and humoral fluids (doshas). The seven dhatus are chyle (rasa), blood (rakta), muscles (māmsa), fat (meda), bone (asthi), marrow (majja), and semen (shukra). Like the medicine of classical antiquity, the classic treatises of ayurveda divided bodily substances into five classical elements (panchamahabhuta) viz. earth, water, fire, air and ether. There are also twenty gunas (qualities or characteristics) which are considered to be inherent in all matter. These are organized in ten pairs: heavy/light, cold/hot, unctuous/dry, dull/sharp, stable/mobile, soft/hard, non-slimy/slimy, smooth/coarse, minute/gross, and viscous/liquid. The three postulated elemental bodily humours, the doshas or tridosha, are vata (air, which some modern authors equate with the nervous system), pitta (bile, fire, equated by some with enzymes), and kapha (phlegm, or earth and water, equated by some with mucus). Contemporary critics assert that doshas are not real, but are a fictional concept. The humours (doshas) may also affect mental health. Each dosha has particular attributes and roles within the body and mind; the natural predominance of one or more doshas thus explains a person's physical constitution (prakriti) and personality. Ayurvedic tradition holds that imbalance among the bodily and mental doshas is


id: ayurveda-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-2.md
category: reference
title: Ayurveda
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ayurveda-20260505-0
summary:
Animal products used in ayurveda include milk, bones, and gallstones. In addition, fats are prescribed both for consumption and for external use. Consumption of minerals, including sulfur, arsenic, lead, copper sulfate and gold, are also prescribed. The addition of minerals to herbal medicine is called rasashastra. Ayurveda uses alcoholic beverages called Madya, which are said to adjust the doshas by increasing pitta and reducing vatta and kapha. Madya are classified by the raw material and fermentation process, and the categories include: sugar-based, fruit-based, cereal-based, cereal-based with herbs, fermented with vinegar, and tonic wines. The intended outcomes can include causing purgation, improving digestion or taste, creating dryness, or loosening joints. Ayurvedic texts describe Madya as non-viscid and fast-acting, and say that it enters and cleans minute pores in the body. Purified opium is used in eight ayurvedic preparations and is said to balance the vata and kapha doshas and increase the pitta dosha. It is prescribed for diarrhea and dysentery, for increasing the sexual and muscular ability, and for affecting the brain. The sedative and pain-relieving properties of opium are considered in ayurveda. The use of opium is found in the ancient ayurvedic texts, and is first mentioned in the Sarngadhara


id: ayurveda-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-3.md
category: reference
title: Ayurveda
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ayurveda-20260505-0
summary:
It was reported in 2008 and again in 2018 that around 80 percent of people in India used ayurveda exclusively or combined with conventional Western medicine. A 2014 national health survey found that, in general, forms of the Indian system of medicine or AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha, and homeopathy) were used by about 3.5% of patients who were seeking outpatient care over a two-week reference period. In 1970, the Indian parliament passed the Indian Medical Central Council Act which aimed to standardise qualifications for ayurveda practitioners and provide accredited institutions for its study and research. In 1971, the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) was established under the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha medicine and Homoeopathy, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to monitor higher education in ayurveda in India. The Indian government supports research and teaching in ayurveda through many channels at both the national and state levels, and helps institutionalise traditional medicine so that it can be studied in major towns and cities. The state-sponsored Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) is designed to do research on ayurveda. Many clinics in urban and rural areas are run by professionals who


id: ayurveda-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-4.md
category: reference
title: Ayurveda
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ayurveda-20260505-0
summary:
==== Europe ==== The first ayurvedic clinic in Switzerland was opened in 1987 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In 2015, the government of Switzerland introduced a federally recognized diploma in ayurveda. == Classification and efficacy == Ayurvedic medicine is considered pseudoscientific because its premises are not based on science. Both the lack of scientific soundness in the theoretical foundations of ayurveda and the quality of research have been criticized. Although laboratory experiments suggest that some herbs and substances in ayurveda might be developed into effective treatments, there is no evidence that any are effective in themselves. There is no evidence they can prevent or treat cancer in humans. Ethnologist Johannes Quack writes that although the rationalist movement Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti officially labels ayurveda a pseudoscience akin to astrology, these practices are in fact embraced by many of the movement's members. A review of the use of ayurveda for cardiovascular disease concluded that the evidence is not convincing for the use of any ayurvedic herbal treatment for heart disease or hypertension, but that many herbs used by ayurvedic practitioners could be appropriate for further research. === Promotion === In India, promotion of ayurveda is undertaken by the Ministry of AYUSH through


id: ayurveda-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-5.md
category: reference
title: Ayurveda
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ayurveda-20260505-0
summary:
Some scholars assert that the concepts of traditional ayurvedic medicine have existed since the times of the Indus Valley civilisation but since the Indus script has not been deciphered, such assertions are moot. The Atharvaveda contains hymns and prayers aimed at curing disease. There are various legendary accounts of the origin of ayurveda, such as that it was received by Dhanvantari (or Divodasa) from Brahma. Tradition also holds that the writings of ayurveda were influenced by a lost text by the sage Agnivesha. Ayurveda is one of the few systems of medicine developed in ancient times that is still widely practised in modern times. As such, it is open to the criticism that its conceptual basis is obsolete and that its contemporary practitioners have not taken account of the developments in medicine. Responses to this situation led to an impassioned debate in India during the early decades of the twentieth century, between proponents of unchanging tradition (śuddha "pure" ayurveda) and those who thought ayurveda should modernize and syncretize (aśuddha "impure, tainted" ayurveda). The political debate about the place of ayurveda in contemporary India has continued to the present, both in the public arena and in government. Debate about the place


id: ayurveda-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-6.md
category: reference
title: Ayurveda
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ayurveda-20260505-0
summary:
=== Further development and spread === Ayurveda flourished throughout the Indian Middle Ages. Dalhana (fl. 1200), Sarngadhara (fl. 1300) and Bhavamisra (fl. 1500) compiled works on Indian medicine. The medical works of both Sushruta and Charaka were also translated into the Chinese language in the 5th century, and during the 8th century, they were translated into the Arabic and Persian language. The 9th-century Persian physician Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi was familiar with the text. The Arabic works derived from the ayurvedic texts eventually also reached Europe by the 12th century. In Renaissance Italy, the Branca family of Sicily and Gaspare Tagliacozzi (Bologna) were influenced by the Arabic reception of the Sushruta's surgical techniques. British physicians living in India observed rhinoplasty being performed using Indian methods, and reports on their rhinoplasty methods were published in London in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1794. Instruments described in the Sushruta Samhita were further modified in Europe. Joseph Constantine Carpue studied plastic surgery methods in India for 20 years and, in 1815, was able to perform the first major rhinoplasty surgery in the western world, using the "Indian" method of nose reconstruction. In 1840 Brett published an article about this technique. The British had shown


id: baghdad-battery-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery-0.md
category: reference
title: Baghdad Battery
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:17.899908+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: baghdad-battery-20260505-0
summary:
The Baghdad Battery or Parthian Battery Persian: باتری اشکانی ،is the name given to an artifact consisting of a ceramic pot, a tube of copper, and a rod of iron fixed together with bitumen. It was discovered in present-day Khujut Rabu, Iraq in 1936, close to the ancient city of Ctesiphon, the capital of the Parthian (150 BC – 223 AD) and Sasanian (224–650 AD) empires, and it is believed to date from either of these periods. Its origin and purpose remain unclear. Wilhelm König, at the time director of the laboratory of the National Museum of Iraq, suggested that the object functioned as a galvanic cell, possibly used for electroplating, or some kind of electrotherapy. There is no electroplated object known from this period, and the claims are universally rejected by archaeologists. An alternative explanation is that it functioned as a container for magic spells for protection, defense or curses. Ten similar clay vessels had been found earlier. Four were found in 1930 in Seleucia dating to the Sassanid period. Three were sealed with bitumen and contained a bronze cylinder, again sealed, with a pressed-in papyrus wrapper containing decomposed fiber rolls. They had been held in place with up


id: baghdad-battery-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery-1.md
category: reference
title: Baghdad Battery
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:17.899908+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: baghdad-battery-20260505-0
summary:
After the publication of a sensationalist article describing the jar in the March 1939 edition of Astounding Science-Fiction, electrical engineer Willard F. M. Gray at the General Electric plant in Pittsfield, Massachusetts made a reconstruction. Gray chose to test it with copper (II) sulphate solution as the electrolyte. He reported that this “worked quite well for a short time.” Arne Eggebrecht, a past director of the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim, claimed to have electroplated silver onto an unspecified surface. Using many replicas of the jar connected together, with grape juice as the electrolyte, Eggebrecht only produced a layer of silver 100 nanometres thick. Speaking to a reporter for BBC News, Bettina Schmitz, a researcher based at the same museum, said, "There does not exist any written documentation of the experiments which took place here in 1978... The experiments weren't even documented by photos, which really is a pity...I have searched through the archives of this museum and I talked to everyone involved in 1978 with no results." In 1993, W. Jansen reported an experiment with an electrolyte of diluted acetic acid with some dissolved benzoquinone in a cell and got "good experimental results". On the 29th episode (23 March 2005)


id: baghdad-battery-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery-2.md
category: reference
title: Baghdad Battery
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:17.899908+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: baghdad-battery-20260505-0
summary:
=== Alternative hypothesis === Wilhelm König noted the clear similarity of this jar with the 4 found in Seleucia and 6 found in Ctesiphon. In 1932, Kühnel described those found at Ctesiphon as containers for "conjurations, blessings and the like, written perhaps on papyrus". Emmerich Paszthory asserted the Khujut Rabu jar and those from Seleucia and Ctesiphon were clearly magic objects - as all the parts were known to be associated with magic in that time. As the tubes were copper, the spell was probably protective. "Magic nails have been preserved in large numbers." The iron nails were used to nail fast the contents. Brad Hafford of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Museum agreed with this analysis. The jars found in Seleucia were in the same vicinity as three magical or incantation bowls - made to protect against demons. Two of those bowls were covered with fake writing. Those two were found stacked together, covering a similarly inscribed eggshell. The jar found at Khujut Rabu' (the Baghdad Battery) was itself also found in association with magical bowls. The artifacts are similar to other objects believed to be storage vessels for sacred scrolls from nearby Seleucia on the Tigris. In


id: bates-method-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-0.md
category: reference
title: Bates method
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:19.108469+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bates-method-20260505-0
summary:
The Bates method is an ineffective and potentially dangerous alternative therapy aimed at improving eyesight. Eye-care physician William Horatio Bates (1860–1931) held the erroneous belief that the extraocular muscles produced changes in focus and that "mental strain" caused abnormal action of these muscles; hence he believed that relieving such "strain" would cure defective vision. In 1952, optometry professor Elwin Marg wrote of Bates, "Most of his claims and almost all of his theories have been considered false by practically all visual scientists." No type of training has been shown to change the refractive power of the eye. Moreover, certain aspects of the Bates method can put its followers at risk: They may damage their eyes through overexposure to sunlight, not wear their corrective lenses when they need them (e.g., while driving), or neglect conventional eye care, possibly allowing serious conditions to develop. == Early history == In 1891, Bates published an article in the New York Medical Journal claiming to have successfully reversed seven cases of nearsightedness, or myopia. In 1911, Bates published an article claiming to have taught myopic schoolchildren how to correctly focus in the distance. He recommended that schools post a Snellen chart in each classroom and


id: bates-method-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-1.md
category: reference
title: Bates method
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:19.108469+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bates-method-20260505-0
summary:
Bates suggested closing the eyes for minutes at a time to help bring about relaxation. He asserted that the relaxation could be deepened in most cases by "palming", or covering the closed eyes with the palms of the hands, without putting pressure on the eyeballs. If the covered eyes did not strain, he said, they would see "a field so black that it is impossible to remember, imagine, or see anything blacker", since light was excluded by the palms. However, he reported that some of his patients experienced "illusions of lights and colors" sometimes amounting to "kaleidoscopic appearances" as they "palmed", occurrences he attributed to his ubiquitous "strain" and that he claimed disappeared when one truly relaxed. This phenomenon, however, was almost certainly caused by Eigengrau or "dark light". In fact, even in conditions of perfect darkness, as inside a cave, neurons at every level of the visual system produce random background activity that is interpreted by the brain as patterns of light and color. If while palming one ends up applying pressure to the eyes, this may increase the risk of glaucoma. === Visualization === Bates placed importance on mental images, as he felt relaxation was the key to


id: bates-method-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-2.md
category: reference
title: Bates method
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:19.108469+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bates-method-20260505-0
summary:
Perhaps the most famous proponent of the Bates method was the British writer Aldous Huxley. At the age of 16, Huxley had an attack of keratitis, which, after an 18-month period of near-blindness, left him with one eye just capable of light perception and the other with an unaided Snellen fraction of 10/200. This was mainly due to opacities in both corneas, complicated by hyperopia and astigmatism. He was able to read only if he wore thick glasses and dilated his better pupil with atropine, to allow that eye to see around an opacity in the center of the cornea. In 1939, at the age of 45 and with eyesight that continued to deteriorate, he happened to hear of the Bates method and sought the help of Margaret Corbett, who gave him regular lessons. Three years later, he wrote The Art of Seeing, in which he related: "Within a couple of months, I was reading without spectacles, and what was better still, without strain and fatigue.... At the present time, my vision, though very far from normal, is about twice as good as it used to be when I wore spectacles." Describing the process, Huxley wrote, "Vision is not won


id: bates-method-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-3.md
category: reference
title: Bates method
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:19.108469+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bates-method-20260505-0
summary:
In 2004 the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) published a review of various research regarding "visual training", which consisted of "eye exercises, muscle relaxation techniques, biofeedback, eye patches, or eye massages", "alone or in combinations". No evidence was found that such techniques could objectively benefit eyesight, though some studies noted changes, both positive and negative, in the visual acuity of nearsighted subjects as measured by a Snellen chart. In some cases noted improvements were maintained at subsequent follow-ups. However, these results were not seen as actual reversals of nearsightedness, and were attributed instead to factors such as "improvements in interpreting blurred images, changes in mood or motivation, creation of an artificial contact lens by tear film changes, or a pinhole effect from miosis of the pupil." In 2005 the Ophthalmology Department of New Zealand's Christchurch Hospital published a review of forty-three studies regarding the use of eye exercises. They found that "As yet there is no clear scientific evidence published in the mainstream literature supporting the use of eye exercises" to improve visual acuity, and concluded that "their use therefore remains controversial." == General criticisms == === Dead-end === A frequent criticism of the Bates method is that it has


id: william-bates-physician-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bates_(physician)-0.md
category: reference
title: William Bates (physician)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bates_(physician)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:20.291653+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: william-bates-physician-20260505-0
summary:
William Horatio Bates (December 23, 1860 – July 10, 1931) was an American physician who practiced ophthalmology and developed what became known as the Bates method for better eyesight. The method was based in his theory that the eye does not focus by changing the power of the lens, but rather by elongating the eyeball through use of the extraocular oblique muscles; this model contradicted mainstream ophthalmology and optometry then and now. == Career == Bates graduated A.B. from Cornell University in 1881 and received his medical degree at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1885. He formulated a theory about vision health, and published the book Perfect Sight Without Glasses in 1920, and the magazine Better Eyesight from 1919 to 1930. Parts of Bates' approach to treating vision disorders were based on psychological principles that were contrary to many of the medical theories of the time and remain so. The Bates method still enjoys some limited acceptance as a modality of alternative medicine. Bates treated many patients, who claimed to have been cured of vision defects, especially myopia. This brought him into conflict with his peers. He defended himself by claiming that other physicians were in thrall


id: baunscheidtism-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baunscheidtism-0.md
category: reference
title: Baunscheidtism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baunscheidtism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:21.471712+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: baunscheidtism-20260505-0
summary:
Baunscheidtism is a form of alternative medicine created in the 19th century. The practice, a form of homeopathy, is named for its founder Carl Baunscheidt (1809–1873), a German mechanic and inventor. The legitimacy of baunscheidtism as an effective medical practice was questioned by at least 1880, when a Melbourne practitioner named Samuel Fischer lost a lawsuit he brought against a patient who failed to pay him, based on the objection that Fischer (a bootmaker) was not a qualified medical practitioner. == Lebenswecker == The lebenswecker (lit. 'life awakener' in German) or "artificial leech" was a medical device invented by Baunscheidt to pierce the skin with many fine needles. Billed as being able to cure myriad illnesses, the lebenswecker was used on skin treated with toxic oil. The resulting inflammation was alleged to draw the body's attention away from the patient's illness, thus effecting a cure. The diseases that could allegedly be cured with the lebenswecker included whooping cough, baldness, toothaches, and mental disorders. The device's popularity was great enough to support a market for "counterfeit" versions of the lebenswecker that were produced by Baunscheidt. == References ==


id: bdort-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDORT-0.md
category: reference
title: BDORT
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDORT
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:22.642607+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bdort-20260505-0
summary:
The Bi-Digital O-Ring Test (BDORT), characterized as a form of applied kinesiology, is a patented alternative medicine diagnostic procedure in which a patient forms an 'O' with his or her fingers, and the diagnostician subjectively evaluates the patient's health according to the patient's finger strength as the diagnostician tries to pry them apart. BDORT has been cited and characterized at length by the American Institute for Technology and Science Education as a specific and noteworthy example of pseudoscientific quackery. BDORT was invented by Yoshiaki Omura, along with several other related alternative medicine techniques. They are featured in Omura's self-published Acupuncture & Electro-Therapeutics Research, The International Journal, of which Omura is founder and editor-in-chief, as well as in seminars presented by Omura and his colleagues. Omura is registered to practice acupuncture in New York State. In the only known full, formal independent evaluation of BDORT or of any other BDORT-related treatment and technique by a mainstream scientific or medical body, the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal of New Zealand ruled, in two separate cases brought before it in 2003, that Richard Warwick Gorringe, MB, ChB of Hamilton, New Zealand, who used BDORT (which he also called "Peak Muscle Resistance Testing", or "PMRT")


id: bdort-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDORT-1.md
category: reference
title: BDORT
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDORT
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:22.642607+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bdort-20260505-0
summary:
=== Solar energy stored papers === Special solar energy: solar energy stored papers (SESP) is a device which Omura claims was developed using BDORT assessment and evaluation, that can capture a special healing power of sunlight. Omura uses index cards or other ordinary paper and he says the sunlight must be "captured" at the ideal times of sunrise and sunset. Omura says the energy can then be preserved in SESP while maintaining appropriate qigong polarity and shielding the papers from electromagnetic fields by carefully wrapping them in aluminum foil. Thus captured and preserved, he claims that special solar energy is effective in the treatment of a number of conditions, including arthritis, cancers, hypertension, and Alzheimer's disease. He has applied for a patent for this process. === Psychic healing === Omura, as published in his journal, has investigated the application of psychic healing and psychic surgery in Brazil, particularly that of Rubens Farias, Jr, who claims to channel the spirit of Dr Fritz. Applying the BDORT as his tool of evaluation, he concluded that the effects of psychic healing and psychic surgery were achieved through the application of qigong energy and the use of acupuncture points. == Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal


id: biodynamic-agriculture-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-0.md
category: reference
title: Biodynamic agriculture
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:23.917461+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: biodynamic-agriculture-20260505-0
summary:
Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture based on pseudoscientific and esoteric concepts initially developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). It was the first of the organic farming movements. It treats soil fertility, plant growth, and livestock care as ecologically interrelated tasks, emphasising spiritual and mystical perspectives. Biodynamics has much in common with other organic approaches – it emphasizes the use of manures and composts and excludes the use of synthetic (artificial) fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides on soil and plants. Methods unique to the biodynamic approach include its treatment of animals, crops, and soil as a single system, an emphasis from its beginnings on local production and distribution systems, its use of traditional and development of new local breeds and varieties. Some methods use an astrological sowing and planting calendar. Biodynamic agriculture uses various herbal and mineral additives for compost additives and field sprays; these are prepared using methods that are more akin to sympathetic magic than agronomy, such as burying ground quartz stuffed into the horn of a cow, which are said to harvest "cosmic forces in the soil". No difference in beneficial outcomes has been scientifically established between certified biodynamic agricultural techniques and similar organic and


id: biodynamic-agriculture-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-1.md
category: reference
title: Biodynamic agriculture
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:23.917461+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: biodynamic-agriculture-20260505-0
summary:
In the United States, biodynamic farming dates from 1926. From 1926 through to 1938, 39 farmers and gardeners in the US pursued biodynamic practices. The Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association was founded in 1938 as a New York state corporation. In Great Britain, biodynamic farming dates from 1927. In 1928 the Anthroposophical Agricultural Foundation was founded in England; this is now called the Biodynamic Agriculture Association. In 1939, Britain's first biodynamic agriculture conference, the Betteshanger Summer School and Conference on Biodynamic Agriculture, was held at Lord Northbourne's farm in Kent; Ehrenfried Pfeiffer was the lead presenter. In Australia, the first biodynamic farmer was Ernesto Genoni who in 1928 joined the Experimental Circle of Anthroposophical Farmers and Gardeners, followed soon after by his brother Emilio Genoni. Ernesto Genoni's first biodynamic farm was at Dalmore, in Gippsland, Victoria, in 1933. The following year, Ileen Macpherson and Ernesto Genoni founded Demeter Biological Farm at Dandenong, Victoria, in 1934 and it was farmed using biodynamic principles for over two decades. Bob Williams presented the first public lecture in Australia on biodynamic agriculture on 26 June 1938 at the home of the architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin at Castlecrag, Sydney. Since the


id: biodynamic-agriculture-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-2.md
category: reference
title: Biodynamic agriculture
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:23.917461+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: biodynamic-agriculture-20260505-0
summary:
The field sprays contain substances that stimulate plant growth including cytokinins. Some improvement in nutrient content of compost is evident from the ingredients included, but not necessarily as a result of the practices and exact preparations as Steiner described them. Although the preparations have direct nutrient values, modern biodynamic practitioners believe their benefit is to support the self-regulating capacities of the biota already present in the soil and compost. Critics of the practice have pointed out that no evidence or logic underlies the practices themselves, which instead are dependent on magical thinking and debunked theories of Steiner himself. There is no evidence that biodynamic practices have any benefit beyond the direct nutrients they add as fertilizer, which may itself be of smaller benefit than other traditionally organic or commercial fertilizers. ==== Field preparations ==== Field preparations, for stimulating humus formation: 500: A humus mixture prepared by filling a cow's horn with cow manure and burying it in the ground (40–60 cm below the surface) in the autumn. It is left to decompose during the winter and recovered for use as fertilizer the following spring. 501: Crushed powdered quartz stuffed into a cow's horn and buried in the ground in springtime


id: biodynamic-agriculture-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-3.md
category: reference
title: Biodynamic agriculture
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:23.917461+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: biodynamic-agriculture-20260505-0
summary:
== Reception == In a 2002 newspaper editorial, Peter Treue, agricultural researcher at the University of Kiel, characterized biodynamics as pseudoscience and argued that similar or equal results can be obtained using standard organic farming principles. He wrote that some biodynamic preparations more resemble alchemy or magic akin to geomancy. In a 1994 analysis, Holger Kirchmann, a soil researcher with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, concluded that Steiner's instructions were occult and dogmatic, and cannot contribute to the development of alternative or sustainable agriculture. According to Kirchmann, many of Steiner's statements are not provable because scientifically clear hypotheses cannot be made from his descriptions. Kirchmann asserted that when methods of biodynamic agriculture were tested scientifically, the results were unconvincing. Further, in a 2004 overview of biodynamic agriculture, Linda Chalker-Scott, a researcher at Washington State University, characterized biodynamics as pseudoscience, writing that Steiner did not use scientific methods to formulate his theory of biodynamics, and that the later addition of valid organic farming techniques has "muddled the discussion" of Steiner's original idea. Based on the scant scientific testing of biodynamics, Chalker-Scott concluded "no evidence exists" that homeopathic preparations improve the soil. In Michael Shermer's The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, Dan


id: biomesotherapy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomesotherapy-0.md
category: reference
title: Biomesotherapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomesotherapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:25.062777+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: biomesotherapy-20260505-0
summary:
Biomesotherapy is a pseudoscientific therapy that combines homeopathy, mesotherapy, and acupuncture. Saline and/or homeopathic solutions are injected subcutaneously at or along traditional acupuncture sites. Oral administration of homeopathic formulations may also form part of the treatment. Biomesotherapy is marketed as a form of pain management or as a generalised wellness treatment. Biomesotherapy was implicated in a cluster of mycobacterial infections in Australia in 2008. This therapy involves the oral administration of a homeopathic remedy and the injection of a sterile saline solution into certain trigger points in the body with the aim of stimulating the organ systems, which is known as the cutivistic response. Biomesotherapy is claimed designed to relax tense muscles, and primarily aims to help the body heal itself and normalize the nervous system. This therapy is often used to treat pain as a result of joint disease or other musculoskeletal problems. Biomesotherapy is claimed to help the body to treat the root of the pain. Biomesotherapy is not recommended for the treatment of heart disease, high blood pressure, depression, AIDS etc. There is no evidence to the efficacy of the treatment. == References == This article incorporates public domain text from the CDC as cited.


id: biorhythm-pseudoscience-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm_(pseudoscience)-0.md
category: reference
title: Biorhythm (pseudoscience)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm_(pseudoscience)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:27.359615+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: biorhythm-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
The biorhythm theory is the pseudoscientific idea that peoples' daily lives are significantly affected by rhythmic cycles with periods of exactly 23, 28 and 33 days, typically a 23-day physical cycle, a 28-day emotional cycle, and a 33-day intellectual cycle. The idea was developed by German otolaryngologist Wilhelm Fliess in the late 19th century, and was popularized in the United States in the late 1970s. The proposal has been independently tested and, consistently, no validity for it has been found. According to the notion of biorhythms, a person's life is influenced by rhythmic biological cycles that affect their ability in various domains, such as mental, physical, and emotional activity. These cycles begin at birth and oscillate in a steady (sine wave) fashion throughout life, and by modeling them mathematically, it is suggested that a person's level of ability in each of these domains can be predicted from day to day. It is built on the idea that the biofeedback chemical and hormonal secretion functions within the body could show a sinusoidal behavior over time. Most biorhythm models use three cycles: a 23-day physical cycle, a 28-day emotional cycle, and a 33-day intellectual cycle. These cycles are to be adjusted based


id: biorhythm-pseudoscience-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm_(pseudoscience)-1.md
category: reference
title: Biorhythm (pseudoscience)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm_(pseudoscience)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:27.359615+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: biorhythm-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
An examination of some 134 biorhythm studies found that the theory is not valid (Hines, 1998). It is empirically testable and has been shown to be false. Terence Hines believes that this fact implies that biorhythm theory 'can not be properly termed a pseudoscientific theory'. However, when the advocates of an empirically testable theory refuse to give up the theory in the face of overwhelming evidence against it, it seems reasonable to call the theory pseudoscientific. For, in fact, the adherents to such a theory have declared by their behaviour that there is nothing that could falsify it, yet they continue to claim the theory is scientific. (from Carroll's The Skeptic's Dictionary) The physiologist Gordon Stein in the book Encyclopedia of Hoaxes (1993) wrote:Both the theoretical underpinning and the practical scientific verification of biorhythm theory are lacking. Without those, biorhythms became just another pseudoscientific claim that people are willing to accept without required evidence. Those pushing biorhythm calculators and books on a gullible public are guilty of making fraudulent claims. They are hoaxers of the public if they know what they are saying has no factual justification.A 1978 study of the incidence of industrial accidents found neither empirical nor theoretical


id: black-salve-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_salve-0.md
category: reference
title: Black salve
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_salve
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:29.804399+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: black-salve-20260505-0
summary:
Black salve, also known by the brand name Cansema, is an ineffective and unsafe alternative cancer treatment. The product is commonly classified as an escharotic—a topical paste which destroys skin tissue and leaves behind a scar called an eschar. Escharotics were widely used to treat skin lesions in the early 1900s, but have since been replaced by safer and more effective treatments. Escharotics, such as black salves, are currently advertised by some alternative medicine marketers as treatments for skin cancer, often with unsubstantiated testimonials and unsupported claims of effectiveness. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has listed Cansema as a "fake cancer cure" and warns consumers to avoid it. == Usages and dangers == Cancer salves were first utilized during the Victorian period. As the medical profession started to gain a better understanding, many home remedies, black salve as one example, started to be criticized by medical professionals. An example of this is documented and labeled as a form of quackery in a 1955 Time magazine article: A 37-year-old housewife had a skin condition that later (at Duke) proved not to be a cancer. Convinced that it was, she had gone to a backwoods healer, who applied a salve. Soon,


id: blood-type-diet-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_diet-0.md
category: reference
title: Blood type diet
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_diet
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:30.997847+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: blood-type-diet-20260505-0
summary:
The blood type diets are fad diets advocated by several authors, the most prominent of whom is Peter J. D'Adamo. These diets are based on the notion that blood type, according to the ABO blood group system, is the most important factor in determining a healthy diet, and each author recommends a distinct diet for each blood type. The consensus among dietitians, physicians, and scientists is that these diets are unsupported by scientific evidence. In what was apparently the first study testing whether there was any benefit to eating the "right" diet according to one's blood type, a study published in 2014 compared "biomarkers" such as body mass index, blood pressure, and serum cholesterol and insulin among young people, and assessed their diets over a period of a month. Based on one's diet each person was classified as tending to follow the blood-type diet recommended for O, A, or B. While there were significant differences in some biomarkers between these groups, there was no significant interaction between diet and biomarkers. In other words, those who were eating the "right" diet for their blood type did not show different biomarker values on average compared to those eating the "wrong" diet. The


id: blood-type-personality-theory-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory-0.md
category: reference
title: Blood type personality theory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:32.145274+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: blood-type-personality-theory-20260505-0
summary:
The blood type personality theory is a pseudoscientific belief prevalent in East Asia that a person's blood type is predictive of a person's personality, temperament, and compatibility with others. The theory is generally considered a superstition by the scientific community. One of the reasons Japan developed the blood type personality indicator theory was in reaction to a claim from German scientist Emil von Dungern, that blood type B people were inferior. The popular belief originates with publications by Masahiko Nomi in the 1970s. Although some medical hypotheses have been proposed in support of blood type personality theory, the scientific community generally dismisses blood type personality theories as superstition or pseudoscience because of lack of evidence or testable criteria. Although research into the causal link between blood type and personality is limited, the majority of modern studies do not demonstrate any statistically significant association between the two. Some studies suggest that there is a statistically significant relationship between blood type and personality, although it is unclear if this is simply due to a self-fulfilling prophecy. == Overview == According to popular belief, people with type A blood are friendly and kind but also obsessive and anxious, people with type B are


id: blood-type-personality-theory-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory-1.md
category: reference
title: Blood type personality theory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:32.145274+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: blood-type-personality-theory-20260505-0
summary:
=== Controversial statistically significant data === However, some academic researchers have shown several statistically significant data in Japan and Korea. Akira Sakamoto and Kenji Yamazaki, Japanese social psychologists, analyzed 32,347 samples of annual opinion polls from 1978 through 1988. These results indicated that Japanese blood-typical stereotypes influenced their self-reported personalities – like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Cosy Muto and Masahiro Nagashima et al. (Nagasaki University) conducted a supplementary survey of Yamazaki and Sakamoto in 2011. They demonstrated that significant and the same difference in personalities between blood-types by using the same database as Samamoto and Yamazaki used. In the 1990s, the difference due to blood types was stabilized and variances became smaller. Then in the 2000s, the difference was statistically significant, too. However, the effect magnitude was extremely small, despite 'significance' in the statistical sense. Another Japanese social psychologist, Shigeyuki Yamaoka (Shotoku University), announced results of his questionnaires, which were conducted in 1999 (1,300 subjects) and 2006 (1,362 subjects), In both cases, the subjects were university students, and only subjects with enough knowledge of and belief in the "blood-type diagnosis" showed meaningful differences. He concluded that these differences must be the influence of mass media, especially TV programs. Yamaoka later examined


id: blood-type-personality-theory-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory-2.md
category: reference
title: Blood type personality theory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:32.145274+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: blood-type-personality-theory-20260505-0
summary:
== Popularity == In Japan, blood types are often used in women's magazines to determine relationship compatibility with potential or current partners. Blood type horoscopes are featured in morning television shows and daily newspapers. The blood types of celebrities are often listed in their infoboxes on Japanese Wikipedia. The four books of a series that describe people's character by blood type each ranked third, fourth, fifth, and ninth on a list of best-selling books in Japan in 2008. One survey showed that at least two-thirds of respondents from Chinese-speaking East Asian countries and regions believe in an association between blood types and personality. In a Japanese survey, more than half of Japanese respondents stated they were fond of talking about personalities based on blood types. The research also stated that people in Japan like blood-typical personality diagnoses, believe there is a relationship between blood type and personality, and feel its traits apply to themselves to a certain degree. Two other surveys showed similar results. Although there is no proven correlation between blood type and personality, many matchmaking services use it. In this way, it is similar to the use of astrological signs, which are also popular in Japan. Asking one's


id: bloodletting-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-0.md
category: reference
title: Bloodletting
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:33.324303+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bloodletting-20260505-0
summary:
Bloodletting (or blood-letting) is the deliberate withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease. Bloodletting, whether by a physician or by leeches, was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluids were regarded as "humors" that had to remain in proper balance to maintain health. It was the most common medical practice performed by surgeons from antiquity until the late 19th century, a span of over 2,000 years. In Europe, the practice continued to be relatively common until the end of the 19th century. The practice has been abandoned by modern-style medicine for all except a few very specific medical conditions. In the beginning of the 19th century, studies had begun to show the harmful effects of bloodletting. The modern term phlebotomy refers to the drawing of blood for laboratory analysis or blood transfusion. Therapeutic phlebotomy refers to the drawing of a unit of blood in specific cases like hemochromatosis, polycythemia vera, porphyria cutanea tarda, etc., to reduce the number of red blood cells. The traditional medical practice of bloodletting is considered a pseudoscience, though the method is still commonly used in forms of alternative medicine. == In the


id: bloodletting-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-1.md
category: reference
title: Bloodletting
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:33.324303+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bloodletting-20260505-0
summary:
A number of different methods were employed. The most common was phlebotomy, or venesection (often called "breathing a vein"), in which blood was drawn from one or more of the larger external veins, such as those in the forearm or neck. In arteriotomy, an artery was punctured, although generally only in the temples. In scarification (not to be confused with scarification, a method of body modification), the "superficial" vessels were attacked, often using a syringe, a spring-loaded lancet, or a glass cup that contained heated air, producing a vacuum within (see fire cupping). There was also a specific bloodletting tool called a scarificator, used primarily in 19th century medicine. It has a spring-loaded mechanism with gears that snaps the blades out through slits in the front cover and back in, in a circular motion. The case is cast brass, and the mechanism and blades steel. One knife bar gear has slipped teeth, turning the blades in a different direction than those on the other bars. The last photo and the diagram show the depth adjustment bar at the back and sides. Leeches could also be used. The withdrawal of so much blood as to induce syncope (fainting) was considered beneficial,


id: bloodletting-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-2.md
category: reference
title: Bloodletting
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:33.324303+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bloodletting-20260505-0
summary:
One reason for the continued popularity of bloodletting (and purging) was that, while anatomical knowledge, surgical and diagnostic skills increased tremendously in Europe from the 17th century, the key to curing disease remained elusive, and the underlying belief was that it was better to give any treatment than nothing at all. The psychological benefit of bloodletting to the patient (a placebo effect) may sometimes have outweighed the physiological problems it caused. Bloodletting slowly lost favour during the 19th century, after French physician Dr. Pierre Louis conducted an experiment in which he studied the effect of bloodletting on pneumonia patients. A number of other ineffective or harmful treatments were available as placebos—mesmerism, various processes involving the new technology of electricity, many potions, tonics, and elixirs. Yet, bloodletting persisted during the 19th century partly because it was readily available to people of any socioeconomic status. Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English write that the popularity of bloodletting and heroic medicine in general was because of a need to justify medical billing. Traditional healing techniques had been mostly practiced by women within a non-commercial family or village setting. As male doctors suppressed these techniques, they found it difficult to quantify various "amounts" of healing


id: bloodletting-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-3.md
category: reference
title: Bloodletting
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:33.324303+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bloodletting-20260505-0
summary:
Bloodletting is not self-administered. Out of 14 cultures in which the bloodletting practitioner was mentioned, the practitioner was always a third party. 13 out of 14 of the cultures had practitioners with roles related to medicine, while one culture had a practitioner whose role was not related to medicine. The idea of bloodletting removing "bad blood" that needs to be taken out was common, and was explicitly mentioned in 10 out of 14 cultures studied with detailed descriptions of bloodletting. Bloodletting is not thought to be effective against illness caused supernaturally by humans (e.g., witchcraft). This is surprising, because in most cultures witchcraft and sorcery can be blamed for ailments. But out of 14 cultures with detailed bloodletting descriptions, there was no evidence of bloodletting being used to cure witchcraft-related ailments, while bloodletting was recorded as a cure for ailments of other origins. The Azande culture has been recorded to believe that bloodletting does not work to cure human-related witchcraft ailments. Bloodletting is usually administered directly to the affected area, e.g. if the patient has a headache, a cut is made on the forehead. Out of 14 cultures with information on the localization of bloodletting, 11 at least sometimes removed


id: blue-monday-date-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Monday_(date)-0.md
category: reference
title: Blue Monday (date)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Monday_(date)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:34.512242+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: blue-monday-date-20260505-0
summary:
Blue Monday is a day in January (typically the third Monday of the month) which is said by UK travel agency Sky Travel to be the most depressing day of the year. It takes into account weather conditions and thus only applies to the Northern Hemisphere temperate zones. The day was given its name by former Cardiff University health psychologist Cliff Arnall in 2005. Arnall is a member of The British Psychological Society (BPS). Some have dismissed the idea as pseudoscience. Mental health advocacy groups, including the Samaritans and Mind, have used Blue Monday to facilitate talk about mental health. == Date == The date is generally reported as falling on the third Monday in January, but also on the second or fourth Monday. The first such date declared was 24 January in 2005 as part of a Sky Travel press release. == Calculation == The Blue Monday formula is expressed as: [ W + ( D − d ) ] × T Q M × N a {\displaystyle {\frac {[W+(D-d)]\times T^{Q}}{M\times N_{a}}}} Where: W {\displaystyle W} = Weather/Light exposure D − d {\displaystyle D-d} = Debt minus ability to pay T {\displaystyle T} = Time since Christmas Q {\displaystyle


id: body-memory-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory-0.md
category: reference
title: Body memory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:35.721939+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: body-memory-20260505-0
summary:
Body memory (BM) is a hypothesis that the body itself is capable of storing memories, as opposed to only the brain. While experiments have demonstrated the possibility of cellular memory, there are currently no known means by which tissues other than the brain would be capable of storing memories. Modern usage of BM tends to frame it exclusively in the context of traumatic memory and ways in which the body responds to recall of a memory. In this regard, it has become relevant in treatment for PTSD. == Overview == Peter Levine calls BM implicit memory or more specifically procedural memory, things that the body is capable of doing automatically and not in one's consciousness. He clarifies 3 types of BM and frames his work in terms of traumatic memory consequence and resolution: Learned motor actions - Action patterns that can be continuously modified over time by higher brain regions. Emergency response - Hardwired instinctual behaviors (i.e., fight or flight response, etc...). Attraction or repulsion - We are attracted to sources of nourishment and growth and repulsed from sources of injury or toxicity. Nicola Diamond elaborates on the opinion of philosopher Merleau-Ponty and asserts that BM is formed by doing.


id: body-memory-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory-1.md
category: reference
title: Body memory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:35.721939+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: body-memory-20260505-0
summary:
=== Stress and emotional memory === The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, through the release of glucocorticoids like cortisol, plays a pivotal role in stress and emotional memory. Cortisol enhances the consolidation of emotionally charged memories by modulating hippocampal activity, yet it can impair memory retrieval. This dual effect is supported by research showing that glucocorticoids improve consolidation of long-term memory, particularly for emotionally valenced information, while impairing retrieval processes. Dysregulation of this pathway is implicated in stress-related disorders such as PTSD, where the over-consolidation of fear-based memories occurs. Studies have demonstrated that glucocorticoids facilitate memory encoding but may compromise the retrieval of information, creating a dynamic interplay between memory formation and stress responses. Recent research has further elucidated how chronic stress shapes neural networks. Prolonged exposure to high cortisol levels can reduce hippocampal volume and inhibit neurogenesis, weakening the brain's capacity to form new memories while reinforcing maladaptive ones. Those same studies have shown that chronic exposure to elevated cortisol levels, whether through stress or medical conditions, can lead to morphological changes in the hippocampus, suppress neuronal proliferation, and reduce hippocampal volume. The dynamic interplay between memory formation and stress responses is evident in the research demonstrating that glucocorticoids facilitate memory


id: body-memory-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory-2.md
category: reference
title: Body memory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:35.721939+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: body-memory-20260505-0
summary:
=== Flatworms === Biologists at Tufts University have been able to train flatworms despite the loss of the brain and head. This may show memory stored in other parts of the body in some animals. A worm reduced to 1/279th of the original can be regrown within a few weeks and be trained much quicker to head towards light and open space for food, an unnatural behavior for a flatworm. With each head removed training times appear reduced. This may just be a sign of epigenetics showing the appearance of memory. However, in the 1950s and 1960s James McConnell flatworm experiments measured how long it took to learn a maze. McConnell trained some to move around a maze and then chopped them up and fed them to untrained worms. The untrained group learned faster compared to a control that had not been fed trained worms. McConnell believed the experiment indicated cellular memory. The training involved stressing the worms with electric shock. This kind of stress releases persistent hormones and shows no evidence for memory transfer. Similar experiments with mice being trained and being fed to untrained mice showed improved learning. It was not a memory that was transferred but hormone


id: bogdanov-affair-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-0.md
category: reference
title: Bogdanov affair
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bogdanov-affair-20260505-0
summary:
The Bogdanov affair was a controversy in the early 2000s over the legitimacy of the PhD degrees in theoretical physics obtained at the University of Burgundy by French twins Igor and Grichka Bogdanov in 2002 and 1999, respectively. The papers were published in reputable scientific journals, and were alleged by their authors to present a new theory describing what occurred before and at the Big Bang. The controversy began in 2002, with an allegation that the twins, popular in France for hosting science-themed TV shows, had obtained PhDs with nonsensical work. Rumors spread on Usenet newsgroups that their work was a deliberate hoax intended to target weaknesses in the peer review system that physics journals use to select papers for publication. While the Bogdanov brothers continued to defend the legitimacy of their work, the debate over whether it represented a contribution to physics spread from Usenet to many other internet forums, eventually receiving coverage in the mainstream media. A French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) internal report later concluded that their theses had no scientific value. The incident prompted criticism of the Bogdanovs' approach to science popularization, led to a number of lawsuits, and provoked reflection among physicists as


id: bogdanov-affair-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-1.md
category: reference
title: Bogdanov affair
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bogdanov-affair-20260505-0
summary:
== Origin == The Bogdanov brothers were born in 1949 in the small village of Saint-Lary, in the Gascony region of southwest France. The brothers each studied applied mathematics in Paris, but then began careers in television, hosting several popular programs on science and science fiction. The first of these, Temps X (Time X), ran from 1979 to 1989. In 1991, the Bogdanovs published their book Dieu et la Science (God and Science), drawn from interviews with Catholic philosopher Jean Guitton, which became a French bestseller. This book provoked a dispute of its own when University of Virginia astronomy professor Trinh Xuan Thuan accused the Bogdanovs of plagiarizing his 1988 book The Secret Melody: And Man Created the Universe. After a legal battle in France, during which a judge initially ruled in Thuan's favour, Thuan and the Bogdanovs settled out of court, and the Bogdanovs later denied all wrongdoing. Thuan suggests that the plagiarism suit pressed the brothers to obtain doctorates as fast as possible, since (according to Thuan) the back cover of the book claimed that the Bogdanovs held doctorates when they did not. In 1993, the brothers began work toward doctorates, first working under the mathematical physicist Moshé


id: bogdanov-affair-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-2.md
category: reference
title: Bogdanov affair
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bogdanov-affair-20260505-0
summary:
=== Thesis readers === One of the scientists who approved Igor Bogdanov's thesis, Roman Jackiw of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke to The New York Times reporter Dennis Overbye. Overbye wrote that Jackiw was intrigued by the thesis, although it contained many points he did not understand. Jackiw defended the thesis:All these were ideas that could possibly make sense. It showed some originality and some familiarity with the jargon. That's all I ask. In contrast, Ignatios Antoniadis (of the École Polytechnique), who approved Grichka Bogdanov's thesis, later reversed his judgment of it. Antoniadis told Le Monde, I had given a favorable opinion for Grichka's defense, based on a rapid and indulgent reading of the thesis text. Alas, I was completely mistaken. The scientific language was just an appearance behind which hid incompetence and ignorance of even basic physics. === Pre- and post-publication official commentary on the journal articles === In May 2001, the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity (CQG) reviewed an article authored by Igor and Grichka Bogdanov, titled "Topological theory of the initial singularity of spacetime". One of the referees' reports stated that the article was "Sound, original, and of interest. With revisions I expect the paper to


id: bogdanov-affair-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-3.md
category: reference
title: Bogdanov affair
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bogdanov-affair-20260505-0
summary:
No matter which way a pendulum swings, there is some point on the plane in which it swings. Yet this rephrasing is itself equivalent to the following statement: Any plane contains a point. If this was the essence of the statement, Baez noted, it cannot be very useful in "explaining the origin of inertia". Urs Schreiber, then a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hamburg, noted that the mention of the Foucault pendulum was at odds with the papers' general tone, since they generally relied upon more "modern terminology". (According to George Johnson, the Foucault pendulum is "an icon of French science that would belong in any good Gallic spoof.") Schreiber identified five central ideas in the Bogdanovs' work—"'result' A" through "'result' E"—which are expressed in the jargon of statistical mechanics, topological field theory and cosmology. One bit of jargon, the Hagedorn temperature, comes from string theory, but as Schreiber notes, the paper does not use this concept in any detail; moreover, since the paper is manifestly not a string theory treatise, "considering the role the Hagedorn temperature plays in string cosmology, this is bordering on self-parody." Schreiber concludes that the fourth "result" (that the spacetime metric "at the initial


id: bogdanov-affair-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-4.md
category: reference
title: Bogdanov affair
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bogdanov-affair-20260505-0
summary:
=== Claims of pseudonymous activity === One episode after the heyday of the affair involved the participation of an unidentified "Professor Yang". Using an e-mail address at the domain th-phys.edu.hk, an individual publishing under this name wrote to a number of individuals and on the Internet to defend the Bogdanov papers. This individual wrote to physicists John Baez, Jacques Distler and Peter Woit; to The New York Times journalist Dennis Overbye; and on numerous physics blogs and forums, signing his name "Professor L. Yang—Theoretical Physics Laboratory, International Institute of Mathematical Physics—HKU/Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong." It is the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology which is located in Clear Water Bay, not Hong Kong University (HKU), whose main campus is located in the Mid-Levels of Hong Kong Island. The Bogdanovs have claimed that the "domain name 'th-phys.edu.hk' was owned by Hong Kong University." This was not confirmed officially by HKU and no Prof. Yang existed on the roster of the HKU physics department; nor did the university have an "International Institute of Mathematical Physics". Suspicions were consequently raised that Professor L. Yang was actually a pseudonym of the Bogdanovs. However, Igor Bogdanov has maintained that Professor Yang is


id: bogdanov-affair-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-5.md
category: reference
title: Bogdanov affair
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bogdanov-affair-20260505-0
summary:
Alain Riazuelo, an astrophysicist at the Institut d'astrophysique de Paris, participated in many of the online discussions of the Bogdanovs' work. He posted an unpublished version of Grichka Bogdanov's PhD thesis on his personal website, along with his critical analysis. Bogdanov subsequently described this version as "dating from 1991 and too unfinished to be made public". Rather than suing Riazuelo for defamation, Bogdanov filed a criminal complaint of copyright (droit d'auteur) violation against him in May 2011. The police detained and interrogated Riazuelo. He came to trial and was convicted in March 2012. A fine of 2,000 euros the court imposed was suspended, and only one euro of damages was awarded. But in passing judgement the court stated that the scientist had "lacked prudence", given "the fame of the plaintiff". The verdict outraged many scientists, who felt that the police and courts should have no say in a discussion of the scientific merits of a piece of work. In April 2012, a group of 170 scientists published an open letter titled L'affaire Bogdanoff: Liberté, Science et Justice, Des scientifiques revendiquent leur droit au blâme (The Bogdanov Affair: Liberty, Science and Justice, scientists claim their right of critique). In 2014, the


id: bogdanov-affair-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-6.md
category: reference
title: Bogdanov affair
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bogdanov-affair-20260505-0
summary:
The much-anticipated New York Times article on the Bogdanov scandal has appeared. Alas, it suffers from the usual journalistic conceit that a proper newspaper article must cover a "controversy". There must be two sides to the controversy, and the reporter's job is to elicit quotes from both parties and present them side-by-side. Almost inevitably, this "balanced" approach sheds no light on the matter, and leaves the reader shaking his head, "There they go again..." Distler also suggested that the fact that the Bogdanovs had not uploaded their papers to the arXiv prior to publication, as was standard practice by that time, meant that the physics community must have paid vanishingly little attention to those papers before the hoax rumors broke. The affair prompted many comments about the possible shortcomings of the referral system for published articles, and also on the criteria for acceptance of a PhD thesis. Frank Wilczek, who edited Annals of Physics (and who would later share the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), told the press that the scandal motivated him to correct the journal's slipping standards, partly by assigning more reviewing duties to the editorial board. Prior to the controversy, the reports on the Bogdanov theses and


id: bone-setting-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone-setting-0.md
category: reference
title: Bone-setting
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone-setting
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:38.201225+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bone-setting-20260505-0
summary:
Bone-setting is a type of a folk medicine in which practitioners engage in joint manipulation, such as reducing joint dislocations and resetting bone fractures. The practice dates back thousands of years, has appeared throughout the globe, and predates formal training in accepted modern medical procedures. Before the advent of chiropractors, osteopaths, and physical therapists, bone-setters were the main providers of this type of treatment. == History == The practice of joint manipulation and treating fractures dates back to ancient times and has roots in most countries. The earliest known medical text, the Edwin Smith papyrus of 1552 BC, describes the Ancient Egyptian treatment of bone-related injuries. These early bone-setters would treat fractures with wooden splints wrapped in bandages or make a cast around the injury out of a plaster-like mixture. It is unknown whether they performed amputations. In the 16th century, monks and nuns with some knowledge of medicine became healers and bone-setters after the dissolution of monasteries in the British Isles. However, many bone-setters were non-religious, and most were self-taught. Their skills were then passed on from generation to generation, creating families of bone-setters. Notable families include the Taylor family of Whitworth, the Thomas family of Anglesey and the


id: bourgeois-pseudoscience-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourgeois_pseudoscience-0.md
category: reference
title: Bourgeois pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourgeois_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:39.413064+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bourgeois-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
Bourgeois pseudoscience (Russian: буржуазная лженаука, burzhuaznaya lzhenauka) was a term of condemnation in the Soviet Union for certain scientific disciplines that were deemed unacceptable from an ideological point of view due to their incompatibility with Marxism–Leninism. At various times pronounced "bourgeois pseudosciences" were: Mendelian genetics, cybernetics (artificial intelligence), quantum physics, theory of relativity,, geopolitics, sociology and particular directions in comparative linguistics (the now-debunked Japhetic theory of Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr, which was also refuted by Joseph Stalin in "Marxism and Problems of Linguistics"). The term was not used by Stalin himself, who rejected the notion that all sciences must have a class nature. Stalin removed all mention of “bourgeois biology” from Trofim Lysenko’s report, The State of Biology in the Soviet Union, and in the margin next to the statement that “any science is based on class” Stalin wrote, “Ha-ha-ha!! And what about mathematics? Or Darwinism?” The term or its synonyms was used in the 1951 and 1954 editions of the Short Philosophical Dictionary: "Cybernetic is a reactionary pseudoscience originated in the United States... A form of modern mechanicism.", "Eugenics is a bourgeois pseudoscience", "Weismannism-Morganism - bourgeois pseudoscience, designed to justify capitalism". Today, most scholars agree in characterizing eugenics as rooted


id: brain-washing-book-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-Washing_(book)-0.md
category: reference
title: Brain-Washing (book)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-Washing_(book)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:40.558555+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: brain-washing-book-20260505-0
summary:
Brain-Washing: A Synthesis of the Russian Textbook on Psychopolitics is a Red Scare, black propaganda book, first published by the Church of Scientology in 1955 about brainwashing. The text falsely claims to be a synthesis of existing, actual brainwashing manuals circulating in the Soviet Union. Several different versions were distributed with somewhat different contents. Its actual author is unclear; it is widely believed to have been authored by Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, though radical rightist activist Kenneth Goff claimed to be its compiler and some believe he was the author. In this text, many of the practices Scientology opposes (psychiatry teaching, brain surgery, electroshock, income tax) are described as communist-led conspiracies, and its technical content is limited to suggesting more of these practices on behalf of the Soviet Union. The text also describes the Church of Scientology as the greatest threat to communism. There are some differences in the various versions of the text in circulation. The Church of Scientology withdrew it from publication several months later; it continued to be distributed, largely by far-right groups, based on the version distributed by Goff. == Background and publication == The text claims to be a synthesis of various


id: brain-washing-book-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-Washing_(book)-1.md
category: reference
title: Brain-Washing (book)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-Washing_(book)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:40.558555+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: brain-washing-book-20260505-0
summary:
Some, including Morris Kominsky, suggest that the author was Kenneth Goff. Goff, a former Communist who later became a radical antisemite, authored numerous tracts on a variety of topics. He claimed that he had been "conditioned" into communism by Soviet forces, and some of his works prior to the publication of the manual dealt with brainwashing as a theme. Goff personally claimed that he was the original compiler of the book, but had not authored the material. After Goff died, far-right activist Gordon Mohr, who knew Goff, denied that Hubbard wrote it and instead credited it to Goff. Several versions of the book list Goff as the author, while a number of publishers avoid the difficulty of authorship by listing the author as "anonymous." However, none of the versions attributed to him are dated and there is no evidence they predate the Scientology publication. Kominsky claimed that Goff wrote it. Introvigne doubted that it had been written by Goff, calling the material far different than his style, which he called "quite unpolished" and lacking familiarity with psychological jargon. Introvigne concluded that "there is more evidence, and good arguments, for a Hubbard rather than a Goff authorship". == Content == There


id: brainspotting-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainspotting-0.md
category: reference
title: Brainspotting
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainspotting
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:41.731435+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: brainspotting-20260505-0
summary:
Brainspotting is a psychotherapy approach developed in 2003 that aims to help individuals process psychological trauma and other distress by maintaining specific eye positions believed to be linked to unprocessed experiences. The evidence base for brainspotting is limited; small pilot and comparative studies suggest possible benefits, but its theoretical foundations have not been empirically validated. Several psychologists characterize brainspotting as a pseudoscience or fringe medicine, though some consider it to be an emerging therapy. == History == Therapist David Grand indicates he developed brainspotting in 2003 after working with 9/11 survivors and other patients. David Grand was previously trained in psychoanalysis in the 1980s and EMDR in 1993. He combined EMDR, psychoanalysis, and somatic experiencing into a modality he titled “Natural Flow EMDR,” which became the precursor for brainspotting. == Technique == Grand states that the motto of brainspotting is, “Where you look affects how you feel”. He has hypothesized that allowing one’s gaze to be focused on a specific external location will maintain the brain’s focus on an internal location where traumatic memories are stored, which would promote processing of these memories. Grand believes that influencing the visual field will influence neurological and psychological processes. Currently, no such evidence


id: brilliant-light-power-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-0.md
category: reference
title: Brilliant Light Power
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:42.960234+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: brilliant-light-power-20260505-0
summary:
Brilliant Light Power, Inc. (BLP), formerly BlackLight Power, Inc. of Cranbury, New Jersey, is a company founded by Randell L. Mills, who claims to have discovered a new energy source from what he says is the electron in a hydrogen atom dropping below its ground energy state into a "hydrino state". The claims lack corroborating scientific evidence and the proposed hydrino states are unphysical and incompatible with key equations of quantum mechanics. BLP has announced several times that it was about to deliver commercial products based on Mill's theories but has never delivered any working product. Mills has self-published a closely related book, The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Physics and has co-authored numerous articles on hydrino-related phenomena. Critical analyses have been published in the peer reviewed journals Physics Letters A, New Journal of Physics, Journal of Applied Physics, and Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics. In 2009, IEEE Spectrum magazine characterized it as a "loser" technology because "most experts don't believe such lower states exist, and they say the experiments don't present convincing evidence" and mentioned that physicist Wolfgang Ketterle had said the claims are "nonsense". == Company == The company, originally called HydroCatalysis Inc., was founded in 1991


id: brilliant-light-power-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-1.md
category: reference
title: Brilliant Light Power
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:42.960234+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: brilliant-light-power-20260505-0
summary:
== Criticism == In 1999, the Nobel prize winning physicist Philip Warren Anderson said he is "sure that it's a fraud", and in the same year another Nobel prize winning physicist, Steven Chu, called it "extremely unlikely". The following year, a 2000 patent based on its hydrino-related technology was later withdrawn by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) due to contradictions with known physics laws and other concerns about the viability of the described processes, citing Park and others. An April 2000 editorial column by Robert L. Park and an outside query by an unknown person prompted Group Director Esther Kepplinger of the USPTO to review this new patent herself. Kepplinger said that her "main concern was the proposition that the applicant was claiming the electron going to a lower orbital in a fashion that I knew was contrary to the known laws of physics and chemistry", and that the patent appeared to involve cold fusion and perpetual motion. Kepplinger contacted another Director, Robert Spar, who also expressed doubts on the patentability of the patent application. This caused the USPTO to withdraw from issue the patent application before it was granted and re-open it for review, and to


id: brilliant-light-power-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-2.md
category: reference
title: Brilliant Light Power
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:42.960234+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: brilliant-light-power-20260505-0
summary:
"BlackLight Power (BLP), founded 17 years ago as HydroCatalysis, announced last week that the company had successfully tested a prototype power system that would generate 50 KW of thermal power. BLP anticipates delivery of the new power system in 12 to 18 months. The BLP process, discovered by Randy Mills, is said to coax hydrogen atoms into a "state below the ground state", called the "hydrino". There is no independent scientific confirmation of the hydrino, and BLP has a patent problem. So they have nothing to sell but bull shit. The company is therefore dependent on investors with deep pockets and shallow brains." – Park In 2008, Robert L. Park wrote that BLP has benefited from wealthy investors who allocate a proportion of their funds to risky ventures with a potentially huge upside, but that in the case of BLP since the science underlying the offering was "just wrong" investment risk was, in Park's view, "infinite". Various scientists also voiced their opinions as far back as the 1990s. Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1997, said "it's extremely unlikely that this is real, and I feel sorry for the funders, the people who are backing this". In 1999, Princeton


id: brilliant-light-power-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-3.md
category: reference
title: Brilliant Light Power
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:42.960234+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: brilliant-light-power-20260505-0
summary:
== Peer-reviewed criticisms == In the 2000s, several reviewed articles were published criticizing Hydrino theory for being incompatible with Quantum Mechanics. For example, in 2005, Andreas Rathke of the European Space Agency, publishing in the New Journal of Physics, wrote that Mills' description of quantum mechanics is "inconsistent and has several serious deficiencies", and that there is "no theoretical support of the hydrino hypothesis". Rathke said it would be helpful if Mills' experimental results could be independently replicated, and suggested that any evidence produced should be reconsidered in the context of a conventional physical explanation. One inconsistency of Mills' CQM with quantum mechanics regards its inability to be reconciled with the probability density function in quantum mechanics. Rathke stated, "However, while solutions of the Schrödinger equation with n<1 indeed exist, they are not square integrable. This violates not only an axiom of quantum mechanics, but in practical terms prohibits that these solutions can in any way describe the probability density of a particle." In the same year, the Journal of Applied Physics published a critique by A.V. Phelps of the 2004 article, "Water bath calorimetric study of excess heat generation in resonant transfer plasmas" by J. Phillips, R. Mills and


id: burzynski-clinic-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-0.md
category: reference
title: Burzynski Clinic
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:44.243805+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: burzynski-clinic-20260505-0
summary:
The Burzynski Clinic is a clinic selling an unproven cancer treatment, which has been characterized as harmful quackery. It was founded in 1976 and is located in Houston, Texas, in the United States. It offers a form of chemotherapy originally called "antineoplaston therapy" devised by the clinic's founder Stanislaw Burzynski in the 1970s. Antineoplaston is Burzynski's term for a group of urine-derived peptides, peptide derivatives, and mixtures. There is no accepted scientific evidence of benefit from antineoplaston combinations for various diseases, and the Clinic's claimed successes have not been replicated by independent researchers. The therapy has been rebranded in various ways over the years to mirror fashions in medicine, for example as a kind of "immunotherapy". The therapy is administered through the ruse of running a large numbers of clinical trials, which long-time Burzynski lawyer Richard Jaffe described as "a joke". The clinic has been the focus of criticism primarily due to the way its antineoplaston therapy is promoted, the costs for people with cancer participating in trials of antineoplastons and problems with the way these trials are run. Legal cases have been brought as a result of the sale of the therapy without regulatory approval. Burzynski is also the


id: burzynski-clinic-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-1.md
category: reference
title: Burzynski Clinic
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:44.243805+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: burzynski-clinic-20260505-0
summary:
According to the National Cancer Institute, as of August 2019, "no phase III randomized, controlled trials of antineoplastons as a treatment for cancer have been conducted. Publications have taken the form of case reports, phase I clinical trials, toxicity studies, and phase II clinical trials", and "for the most part, these publications have been authored by the developer of the therapy, Dr. Burzynski, in conjunction with his associates at the Burzynski Clinic. Although these studies often report remissions, other investigators have not been successful in duplicating these results." From 1991 to 1995, the NCI initiated multiple phase II trials of antineoplastons. In 1995, after over $1 million had been spent on these trials, they were stopped due to fundamental conflicts between NCI investigators and Burzynski and his employees, notably around Burzynski's insistence on approving all protocols in the NCI trial. Since the mid-1990s, Burzynski registered some sixty clinical trials of antineoplastons and, in December 2010, a Phase III trial that did not open for patient recruitment. The results of these trials are seldom published in reputable journals, and the few that have been do not confirm the worth of the clinic's treatments. The aim of registering so many trials, according


id: burzynski-clinic-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-2.md
category: reference
title: Burzynski Clinic
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:44.243805+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: burzynski-clinic-20260505-0
summary:
=== FDA warnings === In 1978, FDA representatives warned Burzynski that he was violating federal law because he was not administering antineoplastons in the context of a clinical trial. In 1981, FDA wrote in a letter, "the FDA advises persons who inquire about Burzynski's alleged cure that we do not believe the drug is fit for administration to humans and that there is no reason to believe Dr. Burzynski has discovered an effective cure for cancer." In 1996, Burzynski's use and advertising of antineoplastons as an unapproved cancer therapy were deemed to be unlawful by the U.S. FDA and the Texas Attorney General, and limits on the sale and advertising of the treatment were imposed as a result. In 2009, the FDA issued a warning letter to the Burzynski Research Institute, stating that an investigation had determined the Burzynski Institutional Review Board (IRB) "did not adhere to the applicable statutory requirements and FDA regulations governing the protection of human subjects." It identified a number of specific findings, among them that the IRB had approved research without ensuring risk to patients was minimized, had failed to prepare required written procedures or retain required documentation, and had failed to conduct required continuing


id: burzynski-clinic-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-3.md
category: reference
title: Burzynski Clinic
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:44.243805+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: burzynski-clinic-20260505-0
summary:
Another warning issued in October 2012 notes that the Burzynski Clinic is advertising investigational drugs as being "safe and effective", noting: Promotion of an investigational new drug is prohibited under FDA regulations at 21 CFR 312.7(a), which states, "A sponsor or investigator, or any person acting on behalf of a sponsor or investigator, shall not represent in a promotional context that an investigational new drug is safe or effective for the purposes for which it is under investigation or otherwise promote the drug. This provision is not intended to restrict the full exchange of scientific information concerning the drug, including dissemination of scientific findings in scientific or lay media. Rather, its intent is to restrict promotional claims of safety or effectiveness of the drug for a use for which it is under investigation and to preclude commercialization of the drug before it is approved for commercial distribution."The websites, including the posted press releases and embedded videos, contain claims such as the following that promote Antineoplastons as safe and/or effective for the purposes for which they are being investigated or otherwise promote the drugs. [...] Since Antineoplastons are investigational new drugs, the products' indication(s), warnings, precautions, adverse reactions, and dosage and


id: burzynski-clinic-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-4.md
category: reference
title: Burzynski Clinic
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:44.243805+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: burzynski-clinic-20260505-0
summary:
=== Texas Medical Board === In December 2010, the use of chemotherapeutic agents by the clinic has been characterized as "random" and their use of unapproved combinations "with no known benefits but clear harms" by the Texas Medical Board, which regulates and licenses physicians in the state of Texas, led to a case against Burzynski by that board. Burzynski was acquitted because he had not personally written the prescriptions. In July 2014, the board filed a 202-page complaint against Burzynski to the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings. The complaint addressed allegations by the Board including misleading patients into paying exorbitant charges, misrepresenting unlicensed persons to patients as licensed medical doctors, and misleading patients into accepting care from providers without significant education or training related to cancer treatment. Citing examples of problems with 29 patients, which were listed in the document, the board said that "unapproved combinations of highly toxic chemotherapy" were prescribed "in ways that caused harm to several patients." In July 2015, Burzynski's counsel, Richard Jaffe, withdrew from the case citing a potential conflict of interest, a result of Jaffe's pursuing actions against Burzynski in bankruptcy court. With the addition of replacement counsel, the hearing was set to


id: burzynski-clinic-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-5.md
category: reference
title: Burzynski Clinic
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:44.243805+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: burzynski-clinic-20260505-0
summary:
=== Legal threats to online critics === In November 2011, a music writer and editor for the British newspaper The Observer sought help raising £200,000 to have his 4-year-old niece, who was diagnosed with glioma, treated at the Burzynski Clinic. Several bloggers reported other cases of patients who had spent similar amounts of money on the treatment, and had died, and challenged the validity of Burzynski's treatments. Marc Stephens, identifying himself as a representative of the Burzynski Clinic, sent emails accusing them of libel and demanding that coverage of Burzynski be removed from their sites. One of the bloggers who received threatening e-mails from Stephens was Rhys Morgan, a 17-year-old sixth-form student from Cardiff, Wales, at the time, previously noted for exposing the Miracle Mineral Supplement. Another was Andy Lewis, a skeptic and publisher of the Quackometer blog. Following the publicity fallout resulting from the legal threats made by Stephens against the bloggers, the Burzynski Clinic issued a press release on November 29, 2011, confirming that the Clinic had hired Stephens "to provide web optimization services and to attempt to stop the dissemination of false and inaccurate information concerning Dr. Burzynski and the Clinic", apologizing for comments made by Stephens


id: buteyko-method-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buteyko_method-0.md
category: reference
title: Buteyko method
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buteyko_method
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:45.441681+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: buteyko-method-20260505-0
summary:
The Buteyko method or Buteyko breathing technique is a practice used to help regulate breathing, primarily as a treatment for asthma and other respiratory conditions. Buteyko asserts that numerous medical conditions, including asthma, are caused or exacerbated by chronically increased respiratory rate or hyperventilation. The method aims to correct hyperventilation and encourage shallower, slower breathing. Treatments include a series of reduced-breathing exercises that focus on nasal-breathing, breath-holding and relaxation. Advocates of the Buteyko method claim that it can alleviate symptoms and reliance on medication for patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and chronic hyperventilation. The medical community questions these claims, given limited and inadequate evidence supporting the theory and efficacy of the method. == History == The Buteyko method was originally developed in the 1950s by physiologist Konstantin Buteyko in the Soviet Union. The first official study into the effectiveness of the Buteyko method on asthma was undertaken in 1968 at the Leningrad Institute of Pulmonology. The second, held at the First Moscow Institute of Pediatric Diseases in April 1980, eventually led to the head of the ministry of health to issue an order (No 591) for the implementation of the Buteyko method in the treatment of bronchial


id: california-drought-manipulation-conspiracy-theory-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_drought_manipulation_conspiracy_theory-0.md
category: reference
title: California drought manipulation conspiracy theory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_drought_manipulation_conspiracy_theory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:46.683248+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: california-drought-manipulation-conspiracy-theory-20260505-0
summary:
The California drought manipulation conspiracy theory is a conspiracy theory that proposes that the 2011–2017 drought was a deliberate, man-made phenomenon, created by weather modification. It is largely promoted by a number of self-proclaimed "independent researchers" and "scientists", and by alternative news outlets. The theory has been dismissed by the scientific community and mainstream media as fringe science or pseudoscience. == Key claims and components == The 2011–2017 drought inspired alarm among many, leading to the emergence of conspiracy theories purporting to explain the cause of a complex problem using oversimplified and non-evidence-based explanations. Many of the proponents claim that chemtrails are used to affect storm clouds, in such a manner as to suppress the development of precipitation. This would occur because of the presence of too many cloud condensation nuclei, or "cloud seeds", in a single area. Others say that technologies similar to HAARP (a federal ionospheric research program, which was decommissioned in 2015), are being used to create a large and stubborn high-pressure area over the West Coast of the United States. They claim that this, also, discourages storms and rainfall. Dane Wigington and his group GeoEngineering Watch were the most visible proponents of this theory. Wigington said


id: camel-urine-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_urine-0.md
category: reference
title: Camel urine
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_urine
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:47.855252+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: camel-urine-20260505-0
summary:
Camel urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in a camel's anatomy. Urine from camels has been used in medicine for centuries, being a part of Bedouin, ayurvedic, and Islamic Prophetic medicine. According to the World Health Organization, the use of camel urine as a medicine lacks scientific evidence. After the spread of MERS-CoV infections, the WHO urged people to refrain from drinking "raw camel milk or camel urine or eating meat that has not been properly cooked". == Composition == Camel urine comes out as a thick syrup. The kidneys and intestines of a camel are very efficient at reabsorbing water. Camels' kidneys have a 1:4 cortex to medulla ratio. Thus, the medullary part of a camel's kidney occupies twice as much area as a cow's kidney. Secondly, the camel's renal corpuscles have a smaller diameter, which reduces surface area for filtration. These two major anatomical characteristics enable camels to conserve water and limit the volume of urine in extreme desert conditions. Each kidney of an Arabian camel has a capacity of around 0.86 litres and can produce urine with high chloride concentrations. Like the horse, the dromedary has no gall bladder, an organ that requires water to function.


id: candida-hypersensitivity-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candida_hypersensitivity-0.md
category: reference
title: Candida hypersensitivity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candida_hypersensitivity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:49.029802+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: candida-hypersensitivity-20260505-0
summary:
Candida hypersensitivity is a pseudoscientific syndrome promoted by William G. Crook, M.D. It is spuriously claimed that chronic yeast infections are responsible for many common disorders and non-specific symptoms including fatigue, weight gain, constipation, dizziness, muscle and joint pain, asthma, and others. == Background == Candida albicans is a fungus that colonizes a large majority of the population (meaning it is present in the body but not causing an infection or any problems). Under certain conditions, however, it can cause an infection. The most common manifestations are thrush (a superficial Candida infection in the mouth) and vaginitis, also commonly referred to as a yeast infection. Several Candida species can also cause a serious infection known as invasive candidiasis, which can be systemic if blood borne (candidaemia). This is almost always restricted to those with compromised immune systems, such as patients undergoing chemotherapy or with advanced AIDS, or undergoing medical treatments. == Symptoms == After reading publications by C. Orian Truss, M.D., Crook proposed the idea that a condition he termed systemic candidiasis, or Candida hypersensitivity, was responsible for a long list of common conditions and non-specific symptoms including fatigue, asthma, psoriasis, sexual dysfunction, and many others. The list of symptoms


id: carctol-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carctol-0.md
category: reference
title: Carctol
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carctol
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:50.214923+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: carctol-20260505-0
summary:
Carctol is an ineffective cancer treatment made by mixing eight Indian herbs. First promoted in 1968 by Nandlal Tiwari, it gained widespread popularity in United Kingdom. Carctol has been aggressively marketed as being able to treat cancer and reduce the side-effects of chemotherapy. However, there is no medical evidence that it has any benefits whatsoever for people with cancer. == Background == Carctol is a herbal dietary supplement marketed with claims it is based on traditional ayurvedic medicine. It is made from Hemidesmus indicus, Tribulus terrestris, Piper cubeba, Ammani vesicatoria, Lepidium sativum, Blepharis edulis, Smilax china, and Rheum australe (syn. R. emodi). It was In 2009, Edzard Ernst wrote that it was still promoted in the United Kingdom; public relations companies hired by its sellers had garnered it wide coverage on the web and, according to the British Medical Journal, in the media generally. == Criticism == Edzard Ernst has noted a complete absence of any form of scientific evidence to assert that carctol is any beneficial to cancer patients. A few studies about the chemical composition of carctol along with inconclusive surveys of patients who used it were noted to be published in non-peer reviewed journals. Cancer Research UK


id: carnivore-diet-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_diet-0.md
category: reference
title: Carnivore diet
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_diet
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:52.701527+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: carnivore-diet-20260505-0
summary:
The carnivore diet (also called a zero carb diet) is a high-protein fad diet in which only animal products such as meat, dairy and eggs are consumed. The carnivore diet is associated with pseudoscientific health claims. The diet lacks dietary fiber, can lead to deficiencies of vitamins, and can increase the risk of chronic diseases. The lion diet is a highly restrictive form of the carnivore diet, in which only beef is eaten. A recent fad inspired by the carnivore diet is the animal-based diet in which fruit, honey and raw dairy are added. == History == The idea of an exclusive meat diet can be traced to the German writer Bernard Moncriff, author of The Philosophy of the Stomach: Or, An Exclusively Animal Diet in 1856, who spent a year living on only beef and milk. In the 1870s, Italian physician Arnaldo Cantani prescribed his diabetic patients an exclusive animal-based diet. In the 1880s an American, James H. Salisbury, advocated a meat diet consisting of 2 to 4 pounds of lean beef and 3 to 5 pints of hot water daily for 4 to 12 weeks. It became known as the meat and hot water diet, or Salisbury diet.


id: caspian-race-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_race-0.md
category: reference
title: Caspian race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:53.947156+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: caspian-race-20260505-0
summary:
The Caspian race was a supposed sub-race of the Caucasian race in the context of a now-outdated model of dividing humanity into different races which was developed originally by Europeans in support of colonialism. The term was used by M. G. Abdushelishvili (1979) as constituting a branch of the Mediterranean race or Irano-Afghan race. In Soviet-era anthropology, the term was used to include Tats and Azerbaijanis. The Caspian race was said to be prevalent among the Azerbaijanis, Kumyks and Tsakhurs. Genrietta Leonidovna Khit said that as a form of racial admixture the Caspian subtype was represented among Turkmens and Talyshs. == Notes ==


id: cataclysmic-pole-shift-hypothesis-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis-0.md
category: reference
title: Cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:55.185842+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cataclysmic-pole-shift-hypothesis-20260505-0
summary:
The cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis is a pseudo-scientific claim that there have been recent, geologically rapid shifts in the axis of rotation of Earth, causing calamities such as floods and tectonic events or relatively rapid climate changes. There is evidence of precession and changes in axial tilt, but this change is on much longer time-scales and does not involve relative motion of the spin axis with respect to the planet. However, in what is known as true polar wander, the Earth rotates with respect to a fixed spin axis. Research shows that during the last 200 million years a total true polar wander of some 30° has occurred, but that no rapid shifts in Earth's geographic axial pole were found during this period. A characteristic rate of true polar wander is 1° or less per million years. Between approximately 790 and 810 million years ago, when the supercontinent Rodinia existed, two geologically rapid phases of true polar wander may have occurred. In each of these, the magnetic poles of Earth shifted by approximately 55° due to a large shift in the crust. == Definition and clarification == The geographic poles are defined by the points on the surface of Earth


id: cataclysmic-pole-shift-hypothesis-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis-1.md
category: reference
title: Cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:55.185842+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cataclysmic-pole-shift-hypothesis-20260505-0
summary:
While there are reputable studies showing that true polar wander has occurred at various times in the past, the rates are much smaller (1° per million years or slower) than predicted by the pole shift hypothesis (up to 1° per thousand years). Analysis of the evidence does not lend credence to Hapgood's hypothesized rapid displacement of layers of Earth. Data indicates that the geographical poles have not deviated by more than about 5° over the last 130 million years, contradicting the hypothesis of a cataclysmic polar wander event. More rapid past possible occurrences of true polar wander have been measured: from 790 to 810 million years ago, true polar wander of approximately 55° may have occurred twice. == See also == Dzhanibekov effect Large low-shear-velocity provinces Low-velocity zone Ultra low velocity zone Inner core super-rotation Intermediate axis theorem Global catastrophic risk Earth Changes North Magnetic Pole South Magnetic Pole Tollmann's bolide hypothesis The Nibiru cataclysm, another pseudoscientific hypothesis that has often been suggested as a cause for cataclysmic pole shifts == References == == External links == Alleged "Evidence" of Earth Crustal Displacement (Pole Shift)Analysis of specific evidence used to argue for geologically recent Pole Shift Fingerprints of the Gods


id: caucasian-race-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-0.md
category: reference
title: Caucasian race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:56.351278+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: caucasian-race-20260505-0
summary:
The Caucasian race (also Caucasoid, Europid, or Europoid) is an obsolete racial classification of humans based on a now-disproven theory of biological race. The Caucasian race was historically regarded as a biological taxon which, depending on which of the historical race classifications was being used, usually included ancient and modern populations from Europe, Western Asia, North Africa, South Asia, and some parts of Central Asia and the Horn of Africa. Introduced in the 1780s by members of the Göttingen school of history, the term denoted one of three purported major races of humans (those three being Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid). In biological anthropology, Caucasoid has been used as an umbrella term for phenotypically similar groups from these different regions, with a focus on skeletal anatomy, and especially cranial morphology, without regard to skin tone. Ancient and modern "Caucasoid" populations were thus not exclusively "white", but ranged in complexion from white-skinned to dark brown. Since the second half of the 20th century, physical anthropologists have switched from a typological understanding of human biological diversity towards a genomic and population-based perspective, and have tended to understand race as a social classification of humans based on phenotype and ancestry as well as cultural


id: caucasian-race-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-1.md
category: reference
title: Caucasian race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:56.351278+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: caucasian-race-20260505-0
summary:
=== Carleton Coon === There was never consensus among the proponents of the "Caucasoid race" concept regarding how it would be delineated from other groups such as the proposed Mongoloid race. Carleton S. Coon (1939) included the populations native to all of Central and Northern Asia, including the Ainu people, under the Caucasoid label. Many scientists maintained the racial categorizations of color established by Meiners' and Blumenbach's works, along with many other early steps of anthropology, well into the 20th century as they were increasingly used to justify political policies such as segregation and immigration restrictions. For example, Thomas Henry Huxley (1870) classified all populations of Asian nations as Mongoloid. Lothrop Stoddard (1920) in turn classified as "brown" most of the populations of the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Central Asia and South Asia. He counted as "white" only European peoples and their descendants, as well as a few populations in areas adjacent to or opposite southern Europe, in parts of Anatolia and parts of the Rif and Atlas mountains. In 1939, Coon claimed that the Caucasian race had originated through admixture between Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens of the "Mediterranean type" which he considered to be


id: caucasian-race-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-2.md
category: reference
title: Caucasian race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:56.351278+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: caucasian-race-20260505-0
summary:
=== Subraces === The postulated subraces vary depending on the author, including but not limited to Mediterranean, Atlantid, Nordic, East Baltic, Alpine, Dinaric, Turanid, Armenoid, Iranid, Indid, Arabid, and Hamitic. Some authors also proposed a Pamirid race (or Pamir-Fergana race) in Central Asia, named after the Pamir range and the Fergana valley. H.G. Wells argued that across Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Asia, Central Asia and South Asia, a Caucasian physical stock existed. He divided this racial element into two main groups: a shorter and darker Mediterranean or Iberian race and a taller and lighter Nordic race. Wells asserted that Semitic and Hamitic populations were mainly of Mediterranean type, and Aryan populations were originally of Nordic type. He regarded the Basques as descendants of early Mediterranean peoples, who inhabited western Europe before the arrival of Aryan Celts from the direction of central Europe. The "Northcaucasian race" is a sub-race proposed by Carleton S. Coon (1930). It comprises the native populations of the North Caucasus, the Balkars, Karachays and Vainakh (Chechens and Ingushs). An introduction to anthropology, published in 1953, gives a more complex classification scheme: "Archaic Caucasoid Races": Ainu people in Japan, Australoid race, Dravidian peoples, and


id: caucasian-race-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-3.md
category: reference
title: Caucasian race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:56.351278+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: caucasian-race-20260505-0
summary:
=== Literature === Augstein, HF (1999). "From the Land of the Bible to the Caucasus and Beyond". In Harris, Bernard; Ernst, Waltraud (eds.). Race, Science and Medicine, 1700–1960. New York: Routledge. pp. 58–79. ISBN 978-0-415-18152-5. Baum, Bruce (2006). The rise and fall of the Caucasian race: a political history of racial identity. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-9892-8. Blumenbach, Johann Friedrich (1775) On the Natural Varieties of Mankind – the book that introduced the concept Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca (2000). Genes, Peoples and Languages. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-7139-9486-5. Gould, Stephen Jay (1981). The Mismeasure of Man. New York: Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-01489-1. – a history of the pseudoscience of race, skull measurements, and IQ inheritability Guthrie, Paul (1999). The Making of the Whiteman: From the Original Man to the Whiteman. Chicago: Research Associates School Times. ISBN 978-0-948390-49-4. Piazza, Alberto; Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca & Menozzi, Paolo (1996). The History and Geography of Human Genes. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-02905-4. – a major reference of modern population genetics Stoddard, Theodore Lothrop (1924). Racial Realities in Europe. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Wolf, Eric R. & Cole, John N. (1999). The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine


id: charlatan-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlatan-0.md
category: reference
title: Charlatan
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlatan
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:57.508219+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: charlatan-20260505-0
summary:
A charlatan (also called a swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, power, fame, or other advantages through pretense or deception. One example of a charlatan appears in the Canterbury Tales story "The Pardoner's Tale," with the Pardoner who tricks sinners into buying fake religious relics. Synonyms for charlatan include shyster, quack, or faker. Quack is a reference to quackery or the practice of dubious medicine, including the sale of snake oil, or a person who does not have medical training who purports to provide medical services. == Etymology == The English word comes from French charlatan, a seller of medicines who might advertise his presence with music and an outdoor stage show. The best known of the Parisian charlatans was Tabarin, whose skits and farces – which were influenced by commedia dell'arte – inspired the 17th century playwright Molière. The word is also similar to Spanish charlatán, an indiscreetly talkative person, a chatterbox. Etymologists trace charlatan ultimately from Italian, either from ciarlare, to chatter or prattle; or Cerretano, a resident of Cerreto, a village in Umbria, known for its quacks in the 16th century, or a mixture of


id: chemtrail-conspiracy-theory-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-0.md
category: reference
title: Chemtrail conspiracy theory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:58.736438+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: chemtrail-conspiracy-theory-20260505-0
summary:
The chemtrail conspiracy theory is the erroneous belief that long-lasting condensation trails left in the sky by high-flying aircraft are actually "chemtrails" consisting of chemical or biological agents, sprayed for nefarious purposes undisclosed to the general public. Believers in this conspiracy theory say that while normal contrails dissipate relatively quickly, contrails that linger must contain additional substances. Those who subscribe to the theory speculate that the purpose of the chemical release may be solar radiation management, weather modification, psychological manipulation, human population control, biological or chemical warfare, or testing of biological or chemical agents on a population, and that the trails are causing respiratory illnesses and other health problems. Chemtrail conspiracy theories emerged in the late 1990s after publication of a 1996 United States Air Force (USAF) report on weather modification, with the Air Force accused of secretly spraying substances via aircraft. The theories spread through internet forums and were popularised by radio host Art Bell from 1999. Chemtrails have been dismissed by the scientific community. There is no evidence that purported chemtrails differ from normal water-based contrails routinely left by high-flying aircraft under certain atmospheric conditions. Proponents have tried to prove that chemical spraying occurs, but their analyses have


id: chemtrail-conspiracy-theory-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-1.md
category: reference
title: Chemtrail conspiracy theory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:58.736438+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: chemtrail-conspiracy-theory-20260505-0
summary:
Proponents of the chemtrail conspiracy theory say that chemtrails can be distinguished from contrails by their long duration, asserting that the chemtrails are those trails left by aircraft that persist for as much as a half-day or transform into cirrus-like clouds. The proponents claim that after 1995, contrails had a different chemical composition and lasted a lot longer in the sky; proponents fail to acknowledge evidence of long-lasting contrails shown in World War II–era photographs. Proponents characterize contrails as streams that persist for hours and that, with their criss-cross, grid-like, or parallel stripe patterns, eventually blend to form large clouds. Proponents view the presence of visible color spectra in the streams, unusual concentrations of sky tracks in a single area, or lingering tracks left by unmarked or military airplanes flying atypical altitudes or locations as markers of chemtrails. Photographs of barrels installed in the passenger space of an aircraft for flight test purposes have been claimed to show aerosol dispersion systems. The barrels' actual purpose is to simulate the weight of passengers or cargo. The barrels are filled with water, and the water can be pumped from barrel to barrel to test different centers of gravity while the aircraft is


id: chemtrail-conspiracy-theory-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-2.md
category: reference
title: Chemtrail conspiracy theory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:58.736438+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: chemtrail-conspiracy-theory-20260505-0
summary:
=== Incidents === In 2001, in response to requests from constituents, U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich introduced (but did not author) H.R. 2977 (107th), the Space Preservation Act of 2001, which would have permanently prohibited basing weapons in space, listing chemtrails as one of a number of "exotic weapons" that would be banned. Proponents have interpreted this explicit reference to chemtrails as official government acknowledgment of their existence. Skeptics noted that the bill in question also mentions "extraterrestrial weapons" and "environmental, climate, or tectonic weapons". The bill received an unfavorable evaluation from the United States Department of Defense and died in committee, with no mention of chemtrails appearing in the text of any of Kucinich's three subsequent failed attempts to enact a Space Preservation Act. In 2003, in a response to a petition by concerned Canadian citizens that "chemicals used in aerial sprayings are adversely affecting the health of Canadians", the Government House Leader responded: "There is no substantiated evidence, scientific or otherwise, to support the allegation that there is high altitude spraying conducted in Canadian airspace. The term 'chemtrails' is a popularised expression, and there is no scientific evidence to support their existence." The House leader added, "it is our


id: david-hatcher-childress-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hatcher_Childress-0.md
category: reference
title: David Hatcher Childress
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hatcher_Childress
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:17:59.903663+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: david-hatcher-childress-20260505-0
summary:
David Hatcher Childress (born June 1, 1957) is an American author, and the owner of Adventures Unlimited Press, a publishing house established in 1984 specializing in books on topics such as ancient mysteries, unexplained phenomena, pseudohistory, and historical revisionism. His own works primarily concentrate on pseudoarchaeological and pseudoscientific topics such as "UFOs, secret societies, suppressed technology, cryptozoology [and] conspiracy theory". Childress, having no degree, refers to himself as a "rogue archaeologist". == Biography == Born in France to American parents, and raised in Colorado and Montana, United States, Childress went to University of Montana–Missoula to study archaeology, but left college in 1976 at 19 to begin travelling in pursuit of his archaeological interests. After several years in Asia and then Africa, Childress moved in 1983 to Stelle, Illinois, a community founded by New Age writer Richard Kieninger; Childress had been given one of Kieninger's books while touring Africa. Childress chronicled his explorations in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s in his Lost Cities and Ancient Mysteries series of books. Childress's first book, A Hitchhikers Guide to Africa and Arabia, was published in 1983 by Chicago Review Press. In 1984, Childress moved to Kempton, Illinois, and established a publishing company named Adventures


id: chinese-herbology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-0.md
category: reference
title: Chinese herbology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:01.077830+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: chinese-herbology-20260505-0
summary:
Chinese herbology (traditional Chinese: 中藥學; simplified Chinese: 中药学; pinyin: zhōngyào xué) is the theory of traditional Chinese herbal therapy, which accounts for the majority of treatments in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A Nature editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", and said that the most obvious reason why it has not delivered many cures is that the majority of its treatments have no logical mechanism of action. The term herbology is misleading in the sense that, while plant elements are by far the most commonly used substances, animal, human, and mineral products are also used, some of which are poisonous. In the Huangdi Neijing they are referred to as 毒藥 (pinyin: dúyào) which means "poison-medicine". Paul U. Unschuld points out that this is similar etymology to the Greek pharmakon and so he uses the term pharmaceutic. Thus, the term medicinal (instead of herb) is usually preferred as a translation for 藥 (pinyin: yào). Research into the effectiveness of traditional Chinese herbal therapy is of poor quality and often tainted by bias, with little or no rigorous evidence of efficacy. There are concerns over a number of potentially toxic Chinese herbs, including Aristolochia which is thought to cause cancer. == History


id: chinese-herbology-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-1.md
category: reference
title: Chinese herbology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:01.077830+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: chinese-herbology-20260505-0
summary:
Typically, one batch of medicinals is prepared as a decoction of about 9 to 18 substances. Some of these are considered as main herbs, some as ancillary herbs; within the ancillary herbs, up to three categories can be distinguished. Some ingredients are added to cancel out toxicity or side-effects of the main ingredients; on top of that, some medicinals require the use of other substances as catalysts. === Chinese patent medicine === Chinese patent medicine (中成藥; 中成药; zhōngchéng yào) is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine. They are standardized herbal formulas. From ancient times, pills were formed by combining several herbs and other ingredients, which were dried and ground into a powder. They were then mixed with a binder and formed into pills by hand. The binder was traditionally honey. Modern teapills, however, are extracted in stainless steel extractors to create either a water decoction or water-alcohol decoction, depending on the herbs used. They are extracted at a low temperature (below 100 °C (212 °F)) to preserve essential ingredients. The extracted liquid is then further condensed, and some raw herb powder from one of the herbal ingredients is mixed in to form a herbal dough. This dough is then machine


id: chinese-herbology-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-2.md
category: reference
title: Chinese herbology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:01.077830+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: chinese-herbology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Country of origin === Many herbs indigenous to other countries have been incorporated into the Chinese materia medica. Xi Yang Shen (Radix panacis quinquefolii), imported from North American crops, translates as 'western ginseng,' while Dong Yang Shen (Radix ginseng Japonica), grown in and imported from North Asian countries, is 'eastern ginseng.' == Toxicity == From the earliest records regarding the use of medicinals to today, the toxicity of certain substances has been described in all Chinese materia medica. Since TCM has become more popular in the Western world, there are increasing concerns about the potential toxicity of many traditional Chinese medicinals including plants, animal parts and minerals. For most medicinals, efficacy and toxicity testing are based on traditional knowledge rather than laboratory analysis. The toxicity in some cases could be confirmed by modern research (i.e., in scorpion); in some cases it could not (i.e., in Curculigo). Further, ingredients may have different names in different locales or in historical texts, and different preparations may have similar names for the same reason, which can create inconsistencies and confusion in the creation of medicinals, with the possible danger of poisoning. Edzard Ernst "concluded that adverse effects of herbal medicines are an important


id: chinese-herbology-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-3.md
category: reference
title: Chinese herbology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:01.077830+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: chinese-herbology-20260505-0
summary:
The traditional practice of using now-endangered species is controversial within TCM. Modern Materia Medicas such as Bensky, Clavey and Stoger's comprehensive Chinese herbal text discuss substances derived from endangered species in an appendix, emphasizing alternatives. Parts of endangered species used as TCM drugs include tiger bones and rhinoceros horn. Poachers supply the black market with such substances, and the black market in rhinoceros horn, for example, has reduced the world's rhino population by more than 90 percent over the past 40 years. Concerns have also arisen over the use of turtle plastron and seahorses. TCM recognizes bear bile as a medicinal. In 1988, the Chinese Ministry of Health started controlling bile production, which previously used bears killed before winter. Now bears are fitted with a sort of permanent catheter, which is more profitable than killing the bears. More than 12,000 asiatic black bears are held in "bear farms", where they suffer cruel conditions while being held in tiny cages. The catheter leads through a permanent hole in the abdomen directly to the gall bladder, which can cause severe pain. Increased international attention has mostly stopped the use of bile outside of China; gallbladders from butchered cattle (牛胆; 牛膽; niú dǎn)


id: chinese-herbology-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-4.md
category: reference
title: Chinese herbology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:01.077830+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: chinese-herbology-20260505-0
summary:
Ji Desheng (1898–1981), Chinese herbalist from Nantong. Li Ching-Yuen (died 1933), Chinese herbalist, martial artist and tactical advisor. Aw Chu Kin (died 1908), Burmese Chinese herbalist, inventor of Tiger Balm. Ing Hay (1862–1952), migrated to the United States in 1887 and practiced traditional Chinese medicine in Oregon. == See also == == References == Chen, John K.; Chen, Tina T. (2004). Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology. Art of Medicine Press. ISBN 0-9740635-0-9. Archived from the original on 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2012-02-09. Chen, John K.; Chen, Tina T. (2009). Pocket Atlas of Chinese Medicine. Art of Medicine Press. ISBN 978-0-9740635-7-7. Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2012-02-09. Ergil, M.; et al. (2009). Pocket Atlas of Chinese Medicine. Thieme. ISBN 978-3-13-141611-7. Foster, S.; Yue, C. (1992). Herbal emissaries: bringing Chinese herbs to the West. Healing Arts Press. ISBN 978-0-89281-349-0. Kiessler, Malte (2005). Traditionelle Chinesische Innere Medizin (in German). Elsevier, Urban & Fischer. ISBN 978-3-437-57220-3. Goldschmidt, Asaf (2009). The Evolution of Chinese Medicine: Song Dynasty, 960-1200. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-42655-8. Sivin, Nathan (1987). Traditional Medicine in Contemporary China. Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan. ISBN 978-0-89264-074-4. Unschuld, Paul U. (1985). Medicine in China: A History of Ideas.


id: chromotherapy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromotherapy-0.md
category: reference
title: Chromotherapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromotherapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:02.227433+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: chromotherapy-20260505-0
summary:
Chromotherapy, sometimes called color therapy, colorology or cromatherapy, is a pseudoscientific form of alternative medicine which proposes certain diseases can be treated by exposure to certain colors. Its practice is considered to be quackery. Chromotherapists claim to be able to use light in the form of color to balance "energy" lacking from a person's body, whether it be on physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental levels. For example, they thought that shining a colored light on a person would cure constipation. Historically, chromotherapy has been associated with mysticism and occultism. Color therapy is unrelated to photomedicine, such as phototherapy and blood irradiation therapy, which are scientifically accepted medical treatments for a number of conditions, as well as being unrelated to photobiology, which is the scientific study of the effects of light on living organisms. == History == Avicenna (980–1037), seeing color as of vital importance both in diagnosis and in treatment, discussed chromotherapy in The Canon of Medicine. He wrote that "color is an observable symptom of disease" and also developed a chart that related color to the temperature and physical condition of the body. His view was that red moved the blood, blue or white cooled it, and yellow reduced


id: chromotherapy-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromotherapy-1.md
category: reference
title: Chromotherapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromotherapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:02.227433+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: chromotherapy-20260505-0
summary:
== Scientific rejection == Chromotherapy is a popular pseudoscience. Its practice is regarded by health experts and historians as a form of quackery. According to a book published by the American Cancer Society, "available scientific evidence does not support claims that alternative uses of light or color therapy are effective in treating cancer or other illnesses". Regarding Dinshah Ghadiali's work, science writer Martin Gardner had described him as "perhaps the greatest quack of them all". According to Gardner, photographs of Ghadiali at work in his laboratory are "indistinguishable from stills of a grade D movie about a mad scientist". Historian Deborah Ascher Barnstone has noted that chromotherapy is "distinct from scientifically verified light treatments such as neonatal jaundice treatment. As, unlike chromotherapy, the light used in such therapies, whether scientifically proven or not, was not always colored, their particulars are not relevant in this context." Photobiology, the term for the scientific study of the effects of light on living tissue, has sometimes been used instead of the term chromotherapy in an effort to distance it from its roots in Victorian mysticism and to strip it of its associations with symbolism and magic. Light therapy is a specific treatment approach using


id: church-of-scientology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-0.md
category: reference
title: Church of Scientology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: church-of-scientology-20260505-0
summary:
The Church of Scientology was started in 1953 by L. Ron Hubbard to promote and practice his Scientology theories and techniques. The term 'Church of Scientology' (abbreviated 'the Church') does not refer to any one corporate entity, but instead serves as a collective label for a network of privately‑held organizations, unified under the direction of its leader David Miscavige who serves as the central authority. Most of the top-level management divisions are located at 6331 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, California, or the building's side entrance 1710 Ivar Avenue. The Church of Scientology International (CSI) is officially the "mother church" responsible for guiding the other public-facing Scientology centers, which are called "orgs". Management and advanced orgs are staffed exclusively by members of the Sea Org, which is a strict organization for the most dedicated core of Scientologists. The Church has been the subject of a number of controversies. While in some countries it has attained legal recognition as a religious, a charitable, or a tax-exempt organization, it has also been described as a dangerous cult and a manipulative profit-making business in government inquiries, media investigative reports, superior court judgements and parliamentary debates. == History == In 1950, L. Ron Hubbard established


id: church-of-scientology-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-1.md
category: reference
title: Church of Scientology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: church-of-scientology-20260505-0
summary:
Missions of Scientology Missions are the smallest service organizations, and they operate as independent franchises. They are owned by a "mission holder" and licensed to operate by Scientology Missions International which receives 10% tithes and supervises them. Missions offer beginning services to newcomers to Scientology, then push their clients to higher level service orgs, for which they earn a commission. Missions are not financially supported by the central organization, and must purchase a Mission Starter Package, which in 2011 cost $35,000 (equivalent to $63,600 in 2025), and purchase all subsequent material from the main organization. Scientology Life Improvement Centers and Dianetics Centers These centers are operated by a local Church of Scientology and are small "store front" locations with the purpose of selling books and offering very basic services to get people interested in Scientology. Central org, Class V org This organization is what most people think of as "a Church of Scientology". It offers a full range of auditing and auditor training services up to the level of Clear on The Bridge to Total Freedom. They were called Class V orgs because the auditor training level up to Clear was called the "Class V auditor course". Ideal org An


id: church-of-scientology-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-2.md
category: reference
title: Church of Scientology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: church-of-scientology-20260505-0
summary:
Golden Era Productions is a 500+ acre property in California also known as Gold Base, occupied by the Church of Scientology since 1979. It is where they make Scientology films, reproduce audio recordings of Hubbard's lectures, and assemble E-meters. === Scientology Media Productions and Scientology Network === In 2011, the Church of Scientology purchased KCET-TV's studio facilities. After five years of renovations and upgrades, the 4.5-acre property was reopened in 2016 as "Scientology Media Productions". The facilities included "three soundstages, postproduction tools, control rooms, music studios, mixing rooms, art departments, scene shops, radio booths, screening rooms, a magazine production space, a live-events hub" and 136,000 square feet of space. In 2018, they launched the Scientology Network. === Bridge Publications and New Era Publications === Bridge Publications, Inc. (incorporated 1981 in California) is the publisher for Scientology books and magazines in the United States, and New Era Publications International, Aps is the publisher in Europe. Former publishing organizations include Distribution Center Inc. (Maryland 1955), Publications Organization United States (California 1971), and Scientology Publications Limited (UK 1991). As of 2023, the print and distribution center for Bridge Publications is located at 5600 E Olympic Blvd, Commerce, California, occupies 185,000 square feet, and


id: church-of-scientology-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-3.md
category: reference
title: Church of Scientology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: church-of-scientology-20260505-0
summary:
Hubbard moved to England shortly after founding Scientology, where he oversaw its worldwide development from an office in London for most of the 1950s. In 1959, he bought Saint Hill Manor, a Georgian manor house near the Sussex town of East Grinstead. During Hubbard's years at Saint Hill, he traveled extensively, providing lectures and training in Australia, South Africa in the United States, and developing materials that would eventually become Scientology's "core systematic theology and praxis". While in Saint Hill, Hubbard worked with a staff of nineteen and urged others to join. On September 14, 1959, he wrote: "Here, on half a hundred acres of lovely grounds in a mansion where we have not yet found all the bedrooms, we are handling the problems of administration and service for the world of Scientology. We are not very many here and as the sun never sets on Scientology we are very busy thetans." The most important achievement of the Saint Hill period was Hubbard's execution of the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course (SHBC). It was delivered by Hubbard from March 1951 to December 1966 and, within the Church of Scientology, is considered the best training course for budding "auditors" in the


id: church-of-scientology-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-4.md
category: reference
title: Church of Scientology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: church-of-scientology-20260505-0
summary:
The Church of Scientology maintains a large base on the outskirts of Trementina, New Mexico, for the purpose of storing their archiving project: engraving Hubbard's writings on stainless steel tablets and encasing them in titanium capsules underground. An aerial photograph showing the base's enormous Church of Spiritual Technology symbols on the ground caused media interest and a local TV station broke the story in November 2005. According to a report in The Washington Post, the organization unsuccessfully attempted to coerce the station not to air the story. == Finances == In 2008, the Church of Scientology and its large network of corporations, nonprofits and other legal entities were estimated to bring in around 500 million US dollars in annual revenue. According to 2011 tax documents, the Church of Scientology International and Church of Spiritual Technology in the US had a combined $1.7 billion in assets. Scientologists can attend classes, exercises or counseling sessions for a set range of "fixed donations"; however, membership without courses or auditing is possible. According to a sociological report entitled "Scientology: To Be Perfectly Clear", progression between levels above "clear" status cost $15,760.03 in 1980 (equivalent to $61,583 in 2025). Scientologists can reduce their costs by


id: church-of-scientology-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-5.md
category: reference
title: Church of Scientology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: church-of-scientology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Classification === From 1952 until 1966, Scientology was administered by an organization called the Hubbard Association of Scientologists (HAS), established in Arizona on September 10, 1952. In 1954, the HAS became the HASI (HAS International). The Church of Scientology was incorporated in California on February 18, 1954, changing its name to "The Church of Scientology of California" (CSC) in 1956. In 1966, Hubbard transferred all HASI assets to CSC, thus gathering Scientology under one tax-exempt roof. In 1967, the IRS stripped all US-based Scientology entities of their tax exemption, declaring the organization's activities were commercial and operated for the benefit of Hubbard. Controversy followed the organization in those years, but its growth continued in the 1960s. New facilities were formed in Paris (1959), Denmark (1968), Sweden (1969), and Germany (1970). In the 1970s the religion spread through Europe: in Austria (1971), Holland (1972), Italy (1978), and Switzerland (1978). Centers of Scientology were in 52 countries by the time the 80s came in and grew to 74 by 1992. The organization sued and lost repeatedly for 26 years trying to regain its tax-exempt status. The case was eventually settled in 1993, at which time the organization paid $12.5 million to


id: church-of-scientology-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-6.md
category: reference
title: Church of Scientology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: church-of-scientology-20260505-0
summary:
The Scientology organization has continued to aggressively target people it deems suppressive. In 1998, regarding its announcement that it had hired a private investigator to look into the background of a Boston Herald writer who had written a series on the organization, Robert W. Thornburg, dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University, said, "No one I know goes so far as to hire outsiders to harass or try to get intimidating data on critics. Scientology is the only crowd that does that." It has apparently continued as recently as 2010. In 2007, when BBC journalist John Sweeney was making Scientology and Me, an investigative report about the organization, he was subjected to harassment: In LA, the moment our hire car left the airport we realised we were being followed by two cars. In our hotel a weird stranger spent every breakfast listening to us. Sweeney subsequently made a follow-up documentary, The Secrets of Scientology, in 2010 during which he was followed and filmed on multiple occasions and one of his interviewees was followed back to his home. The Church of Scientology was convicted of fraud by a French court in 2009, a decision upheld by the supreme Court of Cassation


id: church-of-scientology-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-7.md
category: reference
title: Church of Scientology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: church-of-scientology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Legal waivers === Working with lawyer Bill Drescher, we drafted and implemented one-sided agreements that everyone who partakes in scientology services is required to sign—forfeiting the right to sue and any rights to access the records of scientology services, and even giving scientology authorization to hold the signee against their will should they have a psychotic episode so they can participate in the Introspection Rundown. Due to previous litigation against the Church of Scientology, and particularly the civil and criminal cases surrounding the death of Lisa McPherson, COS drafted several contracts, releases and waivers which all individuals must sign in order to start any service with COS, no matter how small or introductory. They must be signed again before any major service, and new contracts signed for each Scientology corporate entity the individual visits. One particular waiver—called the "Lisa Clause" by critics of Scientology—states that a member will not seek any psychiatric treatment, and gives permission for the Church of Scientology to detain any member suspected of a psychotic break or other serious mental breakdown. Such detention is to provide the Introspection Rundown, a procedure where an individual is kept isolated from everyone, with no communication. This controversial procedure


id: clairvoyance-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance-0.md
category: reference
title: Clairvoyance
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:04.683720+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: clairvoyance-20260505-0
summary:
Clairvoyance (; from French clair 'clear' and voyance 'vision') is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ('one who sees clearly'). Claims for the existence of paranormal and psychic abilities such as clairvoyance have not been supported by scientific evidence. Parapsychology explores this possibility, but the existence of the paranormal is not accepted by the scientific community. The scientific community widely considers parapsychology, including the study of clairvoyance, a pseudoscience. == Usage == Pertaining to the ability of clear-sightedness, clairvoyance refers to the paranormal ability to see persons and events that are distant in time or space. It can be divided into roughly three classes: precognition, the ability to perceive or predict future events, retrocognition, the ability to see past events, and remote viewing, the perception of contemporary events happening outside the range of normal perception. The English connotations of seeing through time are not always present in concepts of clairvoyance in other languages. The French usage, for example, has more emphasis on spatial connotations and


id: clairvoyance-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance-1.md
category: reference
title: Clairvoyance
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:04.683720+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: clairvoyance-20260505-0
summary:
Early researchers of clairvoyance included William Gregory, Gustav Pagenstecher, and Rudolf Tischner. Clairvoyance experiments were reported in 1884 by Charles Richet. Playing cards were enclosed in envelopes and a subject under hypnosis attempted to identify them. The subject was reported to have been successful in a series of 133 trials but the results dropped to chance level when performed before a group of scientists in Cambridge. J. M. Peirce and E. C. Pickering reported a similar experiment in which they tested 36 subjects over 23,384 trials. They did not find above chance scores. Ivor Lloyd Tuckett (1911) and Joseph McCabe (1920) analyzed early cases of clairvoyance and concluded they were best explained by coincidence or fraud. In 1919, the magician P. T. Selbit staged a séance at his flat in Bloomsbury. The spiritualist Arthur Conan Doyle attended and declared the clairvoyance manifestations genuine. A significant development in clairvoyance research came when J. B. Rhine, a parapsychologist at Duke University, introduced a standard methodology, with a standard statistical approach to analyzing data, as part of his research into extrasensory perception. A number of psychological departments attempted and failed to repeat Rhine's experiments. At Princeton University, W. S. Cox (1936) produced 25,064


id: clairvoyance-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance-2.md
category: reference
title: Clairvoyance
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:04.683720+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: clairvoyance-20260505-0
summary:
== Scientific reception == According to scientific research, clairvoyance is generally explained as the result of confirmation bias, expectancy bias, fraud, hallucination, self-delusion, sensory leakage, subjective validation, wishful thinking or failures to appreciate the base rate of chance occurrences and not as a paranormal power. Parapsychology is generally regarded by the scientific community as a pseudoscience. In 1988, the US National Research Council concluded "The committee finds no scientific justification from research conducted over a period of 130 years, for the existence of parapsychological phenomena." Skeptics say that if clairvoyance were a reality, it would have become abundantly clear. They also contend that those who believe in paranormal phenomena do so for merely psychological reasons. According to David G. Myers (Psychology, 8th ed.): The search for a valid and reliable test of clairvoyance has resulted in thousands of experiments. One controlled procedure has invited 'senders' to telepathically transmit one of four visual images to 'receivers' deprived of sensation in a nearby chamber (Bem & Honorton, 1994). The result? A reported 32 percent accurate response rate, surpassing the chance rate of 25 percent. But follow-up studies have (depending on who was summarizing the results) failed to replicate the phenomenon or produced


id: clean-and-environmentally-safe-advanced-reactor-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_and_Environmentally_Safe_Advanced_Reactor-0.md
category: reference
title: Clean and Environmentally Safe Advanced Reactor
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_and_Environmentally_Safe_Advanced_Reactor
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:05.813522+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: clean-and-environmentally-safe-advanced-reactor-20260505-0
summary:
The Clean and Environmentally Safe Advanced Reactor (CAESAR) is a nuclear reactor concept created by Claudio Filippone, the former Director of the Center for Advanced Energy Concepts at the University of Maryland, College Park and CEO of HoloGens LLC. The concept's key element is the use of steam as a moderator, making it a type of reduced moderation water reactor. Because the density of steam may be controlled very precisely, Filippone claims it can be used to fine-tune neutron fluxes to ensure that neutrons are moving with an optimal energy profile to split 23892U nuclei – in other words, cause fission. There seems to be some discrepancy between "media overview" material and technical details: "assembly containing only U-238 (or natural uranium, or nuclear waste) and positioned near an existing nuclear reactor acting as the "jump starter" of CAESAR." this suggests that U-238 is the raw material used to breed fissile Pu-239 that is used in the core like any fast-neutron breeder reactor concept. However the neutronic (and burnup) simulation CAESAR is nowhere near other fast-breeder concepts or what is required in 2024. The CAESAR reactor design exploits the fact that the fission products and daughter isotopes produced via nuclear reactions


id: cloudbuster-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudbuster-0.md
category: reference
title: Cloudbuster
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudbuster
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:06.989895+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cloudbuster-20260505-0
summary:
A cloudbuster is a device designed by Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957), which Reich claimed could produce rain by manipulating what he called "orgone energy" present in the atmosphere. The cloudbuster was intended to be used in a way similar to a lightning rod: focusing it on a location in the sky and grounding it in some material that was presumed to absorb orgone—such as a body of water—would draw the orgone energy out of the atmosphere, causing the formation of clouds and rain. Reich conducted dozens of experiments with the cloudbuster, calling the research "Cosmic orgone engineering". There have been no verified instances of a cloudbuster actually working and producing noticeable weather change, such as causing rain. Orgone therapy is seen as pseudoscience. A modern reinvention of cloudbuster is being sold under names of chembuster, orgone cannon or akasha pillar. It is marketed as a countermeasure against chemtrails (conspiracy theory relating to aircraft condensation trails). == Construction == A cloudbuster consists of an array of parallel hollow copper tubes which are connected at the rear to a series of flexible copper hoses which are equal or slightly smaller in diameter to the parallel tubes. Alternatively, the rear of the


id: colon-cleansing-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_cleansing-0.md
category: reference
title: Colon cleansing
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_cleansing
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:08.244186+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: colon-cleansing-20260505-0
summary:
Colon cleansing, also known as colon therapy, colon hydrotherapy, a colonic, or colonic irrigation, encompasses a number of alternative medical therapies claimed to remove toxins from the colon and intestinal tract by removing accumulations of feces. Colon cleansing in this context should not be confused with an enema which introduces fluid into the colon, often under mainstream medical supervision, for a limited number of purposes including severe constipation and medical imaging. Some forms of colon hydrotherapy use tubes to inject water, sometimes mixed with herbs or other liquids, into the colon via the rectum using special equipment. Oral cleaning regimes use dietary fiber, herbs, dietary supplements, or laxatives. Those who practice colon cleansing believe in autointoxication, that accumulations of putrefied feces line the walls of the large intestine and that these accumulations harbor parasites or pathogenic gut flora, causing nonspecific symptoms and general ill health. Autointoxication, a term coined in 1884 by the French physician Charles Jacques Bouchard, is a hypothesis based on medical beliefs of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks and was discredited in the early 20th century. Nonetheless, during the 2000s Internet marketing and infomercials of oral supplements supposedly for colon cleansing increased. There is no scientific evidence


id: colorpuncture-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorpuncture-0.md
category: reference
title: Colorpuncture
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorpuncture
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:09.451408+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: colorpuncture-20260505-0
summary:
Colorpuncture, cromopuncture, or color light acupuncture, is a pseudoscientific alternative medicine practice based on "mystical or supernatural" beliefs which asserts that colored lights can be used to stimulate acupuncture points to promote healing and better health. It is a form of chromotherapy or color therapy. There is no known anatomical or histological basis for the existence of acupuncture points or meridians, and there is no scientific support for the efficacy of colorpuncture. == Background == Colorpuncture was developed in the 1980s by German naturopath and acupuncturist Peter Mandel, who named it esogetic colorpuncture. "Esogetic" is a term coined by Mandel to refer to the "merger of esoteric wisdom of life with the energetic principles of life's processes". Mandel cited Fritz-Albert Popp, who claimed that the body's cells communicate with each other through a steady stream of photons. This is not a scientifically recognized method of cell communication. Using Kirlian photography, Mandel concluded that the acupuncture meridians absorb and disseminate colored light within the body. Colorpuncture is based on the idea that illness and pain occur when an individual has strayed off his or her "life path". For example, a treatment might be intended to release an emotional blockage to heal


id: conscientiology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientiology-0.md
category: reference
title: Conscientiology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientiology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:10.629810+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: conscientiology-20260505-0
summary:
Conscientiology is a dissident movement from Spiritism, of a pseudoscientific nature, founded by Brazilian physician and medium Waldo Vieira. It proposes the integral study of consciousness, advocating for belief in parapsychic phenomena – such as out-of-body experiences – and in the seriality of life through reincarnation. According to this perspective, consciousness (also called ego, soul, or spirit) is said to have an independent existence that transcends biological life. Self-described as an "unconventional science," Conscientiology adopts the so-called "consciential paradigm," which values subjective approaches and personal experimentation over traditional scientific methodology. The movement emerged from Projectiology, a more applied subfield, and both share the same paradigm, often being treated as parts of a single system in their literature. Conscientiology employs a series of scientistic neologisms, such as "ressoma" (reactivation of the soma/physical body) as a replacement for the term "reincarnation". Although some of the scarce scientific literature classifies it as a religious phenomenon – situated within the context of the New Age or post-traditional religiosities – and identifies its scientistic discourse as a continuation of Allan Kardec's theodicy, its adherents reject any religious connotation, presenting it strictly as a study and research proposal. == Beliefs and practices == Conscientiology posits the


id: correactology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correactology-0.md
category: reference
title: Correactology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correactology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:11.814379+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: correactology-20260505-0
summary:
Correactology is a system of alternative medicine based on the unsubstantiated claim that "regulating the density of cells" in the body improves a wide range of ailments. An offshoot of chiropractics, the treatment was developed in Sudbury (Ontario) in 2002 by brothers Michael and Allan Lapointe. It has been branded a pseudoscience by critics and the sole training program in the subject has been taken to court by former students. During correactology treatments, the practitioners hold their hands over patients, snap their fingers, and apply a light touch to the person's skin. Allan Lapointe claims they are first looking for "areas of resistance in the eight segments of cells, indicating areas of pathological or anatomical dysfunction." The practitioner then allegedly uses his hands to change the behaviour of proteins present in human cells, to improve wellness and reduce pain: "We cause a cascading effect to change the behaviour of the proteins. When the proteins change, our behaviour changes because, of course, proteins control all." Medical professionals have been questioning the practice as it becomes more widespread. The deputy editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal Matthew Stanbrook denounced the claims made by the practitioners: "That is pseudo-science that uses a


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-0.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
False information, including disinformation and conspiracy theories about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messaging, and mass media. False information has been propagated by celebrities, politicians, and other prominent public figures. Many countries have passed laws against "fake news", and thousands of people have been arrested for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. The spread of COVID-19 misinformation by governments has also been significant. Commercial scams have claimed to offer at-home tests, supposed preventives, and "miracle" cures. Several religious groups have claimed their faith will protect them from the virus. Without evidence, some people have claimed the virus is a bioweapon accidentally or deliberately leaked from a laboratory, a population control scheme, the result of a spy operation, or the side effect of 5G upgrades to cellular networks. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared an "infodemic" of incorrect information about the virus that poses risks to global health. While belief in conspiracy theories is not a new phenomenon, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this can lead to adverse health effects. Cognitive biases, such as jumping to conclusions and confirmation bias, may be linked to


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-1.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
The consensus among virologists is that the most likely origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to be natural crossover from animals, having spilled-over into the human population from bats, possibly through an intermediate animal host, although the exact transmission pathway has not been determined. Genomic evidence suggests an ancestor virus of SARS-CoV-2 originated in horseshoe bats. An alternative hypothesis under investigation, deemed unlikely by the majority of virologists given a lack of evidence, is that the virus may have accidentally escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the course of standard research. A poll in July 2021 found that 52% of US adults believe COVID-19 escaped from a lab. Unsubstantiated speculation and conspiracy theories related to this topic have gained popularity during the pandemic. Common conspiracy theories state that the virus was intentionally engineered, either as a bio-weapon or to profit from the sale of vaccines. According to the World Health Organization, genetic manipulation has been ruled out by genomic analysis. Many other origin stories have also been told, ranging from claims of secret plots by political opponents to a conspiracy theory about mobile phones. In March 2020, the Pew Research Center found that a third of Americans believed COVID-19


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-2.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
==== Gain-of-function research ==== One idea used to support a laboratory origin invokes previous gain-of-function research on coronaviruses. Virologist Angela Rasmussen argued that this is unlikely, due to the intense scrutiny and government oversight gain-of-function research is subject to, and that it is improbable that research on hard-to-obtain coronaviruses could occur under the radar. The exact meaning of "gain of function" is disputed among experts. In May 2020, Fox News host Tucker Carlson accused Anthony Fauci of having "funded the creation of COVID" through gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). Citing an essay by science writer Nicholas Wade, Carlson alleged that Fauci had directed research to make bat viruses more infectious to humans. In a hearing the next day, US senator Rand Paul alleged that the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) had been funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan, accusing researchers including epidemiologist Ralph Baric of creating "super-viruses". Both Fauci and NIH Director Francis Collins have denied that the US government supported such research. Baric likewise rejected Paul's allegations, saying that his lab's research into the potential in bat coronaviruses for cross-species transmission was not deemed gain-of-function by NIH or the University of North Carolina, where he


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-3.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
According to The Economist, conspiracy theories exist on China's internet about COVID-19 being created by the CIA in order to "keep China down". According to an investigation by ProPublica, such conspiracy theories and disinformation have been propagated under the direction of China News Service, the country's second largest government-owned media outlet controlled by the United Front Work Department. Global Times and Xinhua News Agency have similarly been implicated in propagating disinformation related to COVID-19's origins. NBC News however has noted that there have also been debunking efforts of US-related conspiracy theories posted online, with a WeChat search of "Coronavirus [disease 2019] is from the U.S." reported to mostly yield articles explaining why such claims are unreasonable. In March 2020, two spokesmen for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhao Lijian and Geng Shuang, alleged at a press conference that Western powers may have "bio-engineered" COVID-19. They were alluding that the US Army created and spread COVID-19, allegedly during the 2019 Military World Games in Wuhan, where numerous cases of influenza-like illness were reported. A member of the U.S. military athletics delegation based at Fort Belvoir, who competed in the 50mi Road Race at the Wuhan games, became the subject of


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-4.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
==== In the Muslim world ==== Iran's Press TV asserted that "Zionist elements developed a deadlier strain of coronavirus against Iran." Similarly, some Arab media outlets accused Israel and the United States of creating and spreading COVID-19, avian flu, and SARS. Users on social media offered other theories, including the allegation that Jews had manufactured COVID-19 to precipitate a global stock market collapse and thereby profit via insider trading, while a guest on Turkish television posited a more ambitious scenario in which Jews and Zionists had created COVID-19, avian flu, and Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever to "design the world, seize countries, [and] neuter the world's population". Turkish politician Fatih Erbakan reportedly said in a speech: "Though we do not have certain evidence, this virus serves Zionism's goals of decreasing the number of people and preventing it from increasing, and important research expresses this." Israeli attempts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine prompted negative reactions in Iran. Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi denied initial reports that he had ruled that a Zionist-made vaccine would be halal, and one Press TV journalist tweeted that "I'd rather take my chances with the virus than consume an Israeli vaccine." A columnist for the Turkish Yeni Akit


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-5.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
The first conspiracy theories purporting a link between COVID-19 and 5G mobile networks had already appeared by the end of January 2020. Such claims spread rapidly on social media networks, leading to the spread of misinformation in what has been likened to a "digital wildfire". In March 2020, Thomas Cowan, a holistic medical practitioner who trained as a physician and operates on probation with the Medical Board of California, alleged that COVID-19 is caused by 5G. He based this on the claims that African countries had not been affected significantly by the pandemic and Africa was not a 5G region. Cowan also falsely alleged that the viruses were waste from cells that were poisoned by electromagnetic fields, and that historical viral pandemics coincided with major developments in radio technology. The video of Cowan's claims went viral and was recirculated by celebrities, including Woody Harrelson, John Cusack, and singer Keri Hilson. The claims may also have been recirculated by an alleged "coordinated disinformation campaign", similar to campaigns used by the Internet Research Agency in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The claims were criticized on social media and debunked by Reuters, USA Today, Full Fact and American Public Health Association executive director Georges C.


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-6.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
=== American scientist selling virus to China === In April 2020, rumors circulated on Facebook, alleging that the US Government had "just discovered and arrested" Charles Lieber, chair of the Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department at Harvard University for "manufacturing and selling" the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to China. According to a report from Reuters, posts spreading the rumor were shared in multiple languages over 79,000 times on Facebook. Lieber was arrested in January 2020, and later charged with two federal counts of making an allegedly false statement about his links to a Chinese university, unrelated to the virus. The rumor of Lieber, a chemist in an area entirely unrelated to the virus research, developing COVID-19 and selling it to China has been discredited. === Meteor origin === In 2020, a group of researchers that included Edward J. Steele and Chandra Wickramasinghe, the foremost living proponent of panspermia, speculated in ten research papers that COVID-19 originated from a meteor spotted as a bright fireball over the city of Songyuan in Northeast China in October 2019 and that a fragment of the meteor landed in the Wuhan area, which started the first COVID-19 outbreaks. However, the group of researchers did not provide


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-7.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
==== Nurse whistleblower ==== In January 2020, a video circulated online appearing to be of a nurse named Jin Hui in Hubei, describing a far more dire situation in Wuhan than reported by Chinese officials. However, the BBC said that, contrary to its English subtitles in one of the video's existing versions, the woman does not claim to be either a nurse or a doctor in the video and that her suit and mask do not match the ones worn by medical staff in Hubei. The video claimed that more than 90,000 people had been infected with the virus in China, that the virus could spread from one person to 14 people (R0 = 14) and that the virus was starting a second mutation. The video attracted millions of views on various social media platforms and was mentioned in numerous online reports. The claimed R0 of 14 in the video was noted by the BBC to be inconsistent with the expert estimation of 1.4 to 2.5 at that time. The video's claim of 90,000 infected cases was noted to be 'unsubstantiated'. ==== Alleged leak of death toll by Tencent ==== In February 2020, Taiwan News published an article claiming that


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-8.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
==== Misleading Johns Hopkins News-Letter article ==== In November 2020, an article by Genevieve Briand (assistant director for the Master's program in Applied Economics at JHU) was published in the student-run Johns Hopkins News-Letter claiming to have found "no evidence that COVID-19 create[d] any excess deaths". The article was later retracted after it was used to promote conspiracy theories on right-wing social media accounts and misinformation websites, but the presentation was not removed from YouTube, where it had been viewed more than 58,000 times as of 3 December 2020. Briand compared data from spring 2020 and January 2018, ignoring expected seasonal variations in mortality and unusual peaks in the spring and summer of 2020 compared to previous spring and summer months. Briand's article failed to account for the total excess mortality from all causes reported during the pandemic, with 300,000 deaths associated with the virus per CDC data in 2020. Deaths per age group were also shown as a proportion percentage rather than as raw numbers, obscuring the effects of the pandemic when the number of deaths increases but the proportions are maintained. The article also suggested that deaths attributed to cardiac and respiratory diseases in infected persons were incorrectly


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-9.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
=== California herd immunity in 2019 === In March 2020, Victor Davis Hanson publicized a theory that COVID-19 may have been in California in the fall of 2019 resulting in a level of herd immunity to at least partially explain differences in infection rates in cities such as New York City vs Los Angeles. Jeff Smith of Santa Clara County stated that evidence indicated the virus may have been in California since December 2019. Early genetic and antibody analyses refute the idea that the virus was in the United States prior to January 2020. === Patient Zero === In March 2020, conspiracy theorists started the false rumor that Maatje Benassi, a US army reservist, was "Patient Zero" of the pandemic, the first person to be infected with COVID-19. Benassi was targeted because of her participation in the 2019 Military World Games at Wuhan before the pandemic started, even though she never tested positive for the virus. Conspiracy theorists even connected her family to the DJ Benny Benassi as a Benassi virus plot, even though they are not related and Benny had also not had the virus. === Airborne === Before mid-2021 the World Health Organization (WHO) denied that COVID readily


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-10.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
=== Bat soup === Some media outlets, including Daily Mail and RT, as well as individuals, disseminated a video showing a Chinese woman eating a bat, falsely suggesting it was filmed in Wuhan and connecting it to the outbreak. However, the widely circulated video contains unrelated footage of a Chinese travel vlogger, Wang Mengyun, eating bat soup in the island country of Palau in 2016. Wang posted an apology on Weibo, in which she said she had been abused and threatened, and that she had only wanted to showcase Palauan cuisine. The spread of misinformation about bat consumption has been characterized by xenophobic and racist sentiment toward Asians. In contrast, scientists suggest the virus originated in bats and migrated into an intermediary host animal before infecting people. === Large gatherings === South Korean "conservative populist" Jun Kwang-hun told his followers there was no risk to mass public gatherings as the virus was impossible to contract outdoors. Many of his followers are elderly. === Lifetime of the virus === Misinformation has spread that the lifetime of SARS-CoV-2 is only 12 hours and that staying home for 14 hours during the Janata curfew would break the chain of transmission. Another message claimed


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-11
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-11.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
=== Public use of face masks === Authorities, especially in Asia, recommended wearing face masks in public early in the pandemic. In other parts of the world, authorities made conflicting (or contradictory) statements. Several governments and institutions, such as in the United States, initially dismissed the use of face masks by the general population, often with misleading or incomplete information about their effectiveness. Commentators have attributed the anti-mask messaging to attempts at managing mask shortages caused by initial inaction, remarking that the claims went beyond the science, or were simply lies. In February 2020, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams tweeted "Seriously people—STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus [disease 2019]"; he later reversed his position with increasing evidence that masks can limit the spread of COVID-19. In June 2020, Anthony Fauci (a key member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force) confirmed that the American public were told not to wear masks from the beginning, due to a shortage of masks, and then explained that masks do actually work. Some media outlets claimed that neck gaiters were worse than not wearing masks at all in the COVID-19 pandemic, misinterpreting a study which was


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-12
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-12.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
=== Religious protection === A number of religious groups have claimed protection due to their faith. Some refused to stop practices, such as gatherings of large groups, that promoted the transmission of the virus. In Israel, some Ultra-Orthodox Jews initially refused to close synagogues and religious seminaries and disregarded government restrictions because "The Torah protects and saves", which resulted in an eight-fold faster rate of infection among some groups. In South Korea the River of Grace Community Church in Gyeonggi Province spread the virus after spraying salt water into their members' mouths in the belief that it would kill the virus, while the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu where a church leader claimed that no Shincheonji worshipers had caught the virus in February while hundreds died in Wuhan, later caused the biggest spread of the virus in the country. In Tanzania, President John Magufuli, instead of banning congregations, urged the faithfuls to go to pray in churches and mosques in the belief that it will protect them. He said that COVID-19 is a devil, therefore "cannot survive in the body of Jesus Christ; it will burn" (the "body of Jesus Christ" refers to the Christian church). Despite the COVID-19


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-13
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-13.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
=== Herbal treatments === Various national and party-held Chinese media heavily advertised an "overnight research" report by Wuhan Institute of Virology and Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, on how shuanghuanglian, an herb mixture from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), can effectively inhibit COVID-19. The report led to a purchase craze of shuanghuanglian. The president of Madagascar Andry Rajoelina launched and promoted in April 2020 a herbal drink based on an artemisia plant as a miracle cure that can treat and prevent COVID-19 despite a lack of medical evidence. The drink has been exported to other African countries. Based on in-vitro studies, extracts of E. purpurea (Echinaforce) showed virucidal activity against coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2. Because the data was experimental and solely derived from cell cultures, antiviral effects in humans have not been elucidated. As a result, regulatory agencies have not recommended the use of Echinacea preparations for the prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19. === Vitamin C === During the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, vitamin C was the subject of more FDA warning letters than any other quack treatment for COVID-19. In April 2021, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines stated that "there


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-14
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-14.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
=== Dangerous treatments === Proponents of Miracle Mineral Supplement (an aqueous solution of chlorine dioxide that is generally considered ineffective and dangerous for treating disease) have also promoted it as a treatment for COVID-19. On July 8, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration in the US raided the family compound of Mark Grenon, founder of Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, a promoter and distributor of MMS. In October 2023, Mark, alongside many of his family members, were sentenced to prison for distributing an unapproved and misbranded drug. Twelve people were hospitalized in India when they ingested the poisonous thornapple (Datura stramonium AKA Jimsonweed) after seeing the plant recommended as a 'coronavirus [disease 2019] home remedy' in a TikTok video. Datura species contain many substances poisonous to humans, mainly through anticholinergic effects. === Silver === In February 2020, televangelist Jim Bakker promoted a colloidal silver solution, sold on his website, as a remedy for COVID-19; naturopath Sherrill Sellman, a guest on his show, falsely stated that it "hasn't been tested on this strain of the coronavirus, but it's been tested on other strains of the coronavirus and has been able to eliminate it within 12 hours". The US Food


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-15
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-15.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
=== Return of wildlife === During the pandemic, many false and misleading images or news reports about the environmental impact of the COVID-19 pandemic were shared by clickbait journalism sources and social media. A viral post that originated on Weibo and spread on Twitter claimed that a pack of elephants descended on a village under quarantine in China's Yunnan, got drunk on corn wine, and passed out in a tea garden. A Chinese news report debunked the claim that the elephants got drunk on corn wine and noted that wild elephants were a common sight in the village; the image attached to the post was originally taken at the Asian Elephant Research Center in Yunnan in December 2019. Following reports of reduced pollution levels in Italy as a result of lockdowns, images purporting to show swans and dolphins swimming in Venice canals went viral on social media. The image of the swans was revealed to have been taken in Burano, where swans are common, while footage of the dolphins was filmed at a port in Sardinia hundreds of miles away. The Venice mayor's office clarified that the reported water clarity in the canals was due to the lack of sediment


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-16
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-16.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
== Efforts to combat misinformation == In February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) described a "massive infodemic", citing an over-abundance of reported information, which was false, about the virus that "makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it". The WHO stated that the high demand for timely and trustworthy information has incentivised the creation of a direct WHO 24/7 myth-busting hotline where its communication and social media teams have been monitoring and responding to misinformation through its website and social media pages. The WHO specifically debunked several claims as false, including the claim that a person can tell if they have the virus or not simply by holding their breath; the claim that drinking large amounts of water will protect against the virus; and the claim that gargling salt water prevents infection. === Social media === In early February 2020, Facebook, Twitter, and Google announced that they were working with WHO to address misinformation on their platforms. In a blog post, Facebook stated that it would remove content flagged by global health organizations and local authorities that violate its content policy on misinformation leading to "physical harm". Facebook is also giving


id: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-17
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-17.md
category: reference
title: COVID-19 misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: covid-19-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
=== Government censorship === In many countries, censorship was performed by governments, with "fake news" laws being enacted to criminalize certain types of speech regarding COVID-19. Often, people were arrested for making posts online. In March 2020, the Turkish Interior Ministry reported 93 suspects and 19 arrests of social media users whose posts were "targeting officials and spreading panic and fear by suggesting the virus had spread widely in Turkey and that officials had taken insufficient measures". In April 2020, Iran's military said that 3600 people had been arrested for "spreading rumors" about COVID-19 in the country. In Cambodia, at least 17 individuals who expressed concerns about the spread of COVID-19 were arrested between January and March 2020 on "fake news" charges. In April 2020, Algerian lawmakers passed a law criminalizing "fake news" deemed harmful to "public order and state security". In the Philippines, China, India, Egypt, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Kenya, South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, Somalia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Montenegro, Serbia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong, people have been arrested for allegedly spreading false information about the COVID-19 pandemic. The United Arab Emirates has introduced criminal penalties


id: cow-urine-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_urine-0.md
category: reference
title: Cow urine
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_urine
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:14.224508+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cow-urine-20260505-0
summary:
Cow urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in cows. It has a sacred role in Zoroastrianism and Hinduism. Urophagia, the consumption of urine, was used in several ancient cultures for various health, healing, and cosmetic purposes; urine drinking is still practiced today. Cow urine is used as medicine in some places of India, Myanmar, and Nigeria. Proponents' claims about its curing diseases and cancer have no scientific backing. == Hinduism == Cow urine is considered sacred in Hinduism. Cow urine is used in the making of pancha-gavya, for use in Hindu rituals. The Mahabharata narrates a story about how Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, came to reside in cow dung. In the legend, Lakshmi asks cows to let her live in their bodies because they are pure and sinless. The cows refuse, describing her as unstable and fickle. Lakshmi begs them to accept her request, saying that others would ridicule her for being rejected by the cows, and agreeing to live in the most despised part of their body. The cows then allow her to live in their dung and urine. == Usage == === Folk medicine === Consuming cow urine is used as folk medicine in some cultures.


id: crackpot-index-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crackpot_index-0.md
category: reference
title: Crackpot index
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crackpot_index
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:15.428235+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: crackpot-index-20260505-0
summary:
The Crackpot Index is a number that rates scientific claims or the individuals that make them, in conjunction with a method for computing that number. It was proposed by John C. Baez in 1992, and updated in 1998. While the index was created for its humorous value, the general concepts can be applied in other fields like risk management. == Baez's crackpot index == The method was initially proposed semi-seriously by mathematical physicist John C. Baez in 1992, and then revised in 1998. The index used responses to a list of 37 questions, each positive response contributing a point value ranging from 1 to 50; the computation is initialized with a value of −5. An earlier version only had 17 questions with point values for each ranging from 1 to 40. Sample point assignments: 1 point for every statement that is widely agreed on to be false. 5 points for each mention of "Einstien", "Hawkins" or "Feynmann" [sic]. 10 points for offering prize money to anyone who proves and/or finds any flaws in your theory. 20 points for every use of science fiction works or myths as if they were fact. 40 points for comparing those who argue against your


id: craniosacral-therapy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosacral_therapy-0.md
category: reference
title: Craniosacral therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosacral_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:16.624530+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: craniosacral-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
Craniosacral therapy (CST) or cranial osteopathy is a form of alternative medicine that uses gentle touch to feel non-existent rhythmic movements of the skull's bones and supposedly adjust the immovable joints of the skull to achieve a therapeutic result. CST is a pseudoscience and its practice has been characterized as quackery. It is based on fundamental misconceptions about the anatomy and physiology of the human skull and is promoted as a cure-all for a variety of health conditions. Medical research has found no significant evidence that either CST or cranial osteopathy confers any health benefit, and attempts to manipulate the bones of the skull can be harmful, particularly for children or infants. The basic assumptions of CST are not true, and practitioners produce conflicting and mutually exclusive diagnoses of the same patients. == Effectiveness and safety == Practitioners of CST claim it is effective in treating a wide range of conditions, sometimes claiming it is a cancer cure, or a cure-all. Practitioners particularly advocate the use of CST on children. The American Cancer Society cautions that CST should never be used on children under age two. Pediatricians have expressed concern at the harm CST can cause to children and infants.


id: created-kind-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Created_kind-0.md
category: reference
title: Created kind
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Created_kind
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:17.829620+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: created-kind-20260505-0
summary:
In creationism, a religious view based on a literal reading of the Book of Genesis and other biblical texts, created kinds are purported to be the original forms of life as they were created by God. They are also referred to in creationist literature as kinds, original kinds, Genesis kinds, and baramins (baramin is a neologism coined by combining the Hebrew words bará (בָּרָא‎, 'created') and min (מִין‎, 'kind')). The idea is promulgated by Young Earth creationists and biblical literalists to support their belief in the literal truth of the Genesis creation narrative and the Genesis flood narrative during which, they contend, the ancestors of all land-based life on Earth were housed in Noah's Ark. Old Earth creationists also employ the concept, rejecting the idea of universal common descent while not necessarily accepting a literal interpretation of a global flood or a six-day creation in the last ten thousand years. Both groups accept that some lower-level microevolutionary change occurs within the biblically created kinds. Creationists believe that not all creatures on Earth are genealogically related, and that living organisms were created by God in a finite number of discrete forms with genetic boundaries to prevent interbreeding. This viewpoint claims that


id: creation-evidence-museum-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Evidence_Museum-0.md
category: reference
title: Creation Evidence Museum
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Evidence_Museum
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:19.029441+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: creation-evidence-museum-20260505-0
summary:
The Creation Evidence Museum of Texas, originally Creation Evidences Museum, is a creationist museum in Glen Rose in Somervell County in central Texas, United States. Founded in 1984 by Carl Baugh for the purpose of researching and displaying exhibits that support creationism, it portrays the Earth as six thousand years old and humans coexisting with non-avian dinosaurs, disputing that the Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old and non-avian dinosaurs became extinct 65.5 million years before human beings arose. == History and projects == The Creation Evidence Museum was founded by Carl Baugh, a young Earth creationist, after he came to Glen Rose in 1982 to research claims of fossilized human footprints alongside dinosaur footprints in the limestone banks of the Paluxy River, near Dinosaur Valley State Park. He claims to have excavated 475 dinosaur footprints and 86 human footprints, which form the basis of the Creation Evidence Museum as well as other exhibits. Baugh, who does not have an accredited degree, remains the director and main speaker for CEM. In 2001 Baugh and Creation Evidence Museum were featured on The Daily Show where Baugh likened human history to The Flintstones and the show poked fun at his claims about


id: creation-evidence-museum-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Evidence_Museum-1.md
category: reference
title: Creation Evidence Museum
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Evidence_Museum
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:19.029441+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: creation-evidence-museum-20260505-0
summary:
The "London Artifact", also known as the "London Hammer", an out-of-place artifact found in 1934 in London, Texas. This is a hammer "of recent American historical style" (18th or 19th century) found in a limestone concretion that has been claimed to be Ordovician period or Cretaceous rock. It was examined by scientists who concluded that the stone had not necessarily been part of the surrounding rock formation but could have formed around the hammer relatively recently: "The stone is real, and it looks impressive to someone unfamiliar with geological processes.... Minerals in solution can harden around an intrusive object dropped in a crack or simply left on the ground if the source rock (in this case, reportedly Ordovician) is chemically soluble." The "Burdick Track", a human footprint in Cretaceous rock. Glen J. Kuban and geologist Gregg Wilkerson described anatomical errors in the "footprint", and remains of algae which indicate that it was carved into the bottom of a limestone slab, similar to other tracks that were carved in the Dinosaur Valley State Park area. The "Fossilized Human Finger", a finger where tissues appear to have been replaced by Cretaceous stone. The stone was not found in situ and according to


id: creation-science-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-0.md
category: reference
title: Creation science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: creation-science-20260505-0
summary:
Creation science or scientific creationism is a pseudoscientific form of young Earth creationism which claims to offer scientific arguments for certain literalist and inerrantist interpretations of the Bible. It is often presented without overt faith-based language, but instead relies on reinterpreting scientific results to argue that various myths in the Book of Genesis and other select biblical passages are scientifically valid. The most commonly advanced ideas of creation science include special creation based on the Genesis creation narrative and flood geology based on the Genesis flood narrative. Creationists also claim they can disprove or reexplain a variety of scientific facts, theories and paradigms of geology, cosmology, biological evolution, archaeology, history, and linguistics using creation science. Creation science was foundational to intelligent design. The overwhelming consensus of the scientific community is that creation science fails to qualify as scientific because it lacks empirical support, supplies no testable hypotheses, and resolves to describe natural history in terms of scientifically untestable supernatural causes. Courts, most often in the United States where the question has been asked in the context of teaching the subject in public schools, have consistently ruled since the 1980s that creation science is a religious view rather than a scientific


id: creation-science-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-1.md
category: reference
title: Creation science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: creation-science-20260505-0
summary:
Creation science began in the 1960s, as a fundamentalist Christian effort in the United States to prove Biblical inerrancy and nullify the scientific evidence for evolution. It has since developed a sizable religious following in the United States, with creation science ministries branching worldwide. The main ideas in creation science are: the belief in creation ex nihilo (Latin: out of nothing); the conviction that the Earth was created within the last 6,000–10,000 years; the belief that humans and other life on Earth were created as distinct fixed "baraminological" kinds; and "flood geology" or the idea that fossils found in geological strata were deposited during a cataclysmic flood which completely covered the entire Earth. As a result, creationists also challenge the geologic and astrophysical measurements of the age of the Earth and the universe along with their origins, which creationists believe are irreconcilable with the account in the Book of Genesis. Creation science proponents often refer to the theory of evolution as "Darwinism" or as "Darwinian evolution." The creation science texts and curricula that first emerged in the 1960s focused upon concepts derived from a literal interpretation of the Bible and were overtly religious in nature, most notably proposing Noah's flood


id: creation-science-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-2.md
category: reference
title: Creation science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: creation-science-20260505-0
summary:
Sudden creation of the universe, and, in particular, life, from nothing; The insufficiency of mutation and natural selection in bringing about development of all living kinds from a single organism; Changes only with fixed limits of originally created kinds of plants and animals; Separate ancestry for man and apes; Explanation of the earth's geology by catastrophism, including the occurrence of worldwide flood; and A relatively recent inception of the earth and living kinds." This legislation was examined in McLean v. Arkansas, and the ruling handed down on January 5, 1982, concluded that creation-science as defined in the act "is simply not science". The judgement defined the following as essential characteristics of science: It is guided by natural law; It has to be explanatory by reference to nature law; It is testable against the empirical world; Its conclusions are tentative, i.e., are not necessarily the final word; and It is falsifiable. The court ruled that creation science failed to meet these essential characteristics and identified specific reasons. After examining the key concepts from creation science, the court found: Sudden creation "from nothing" calls upon a supernatural intervention, not natural law, and is neither testable nor falsifiable Objections in creation science that


id: creation-science-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-3.md
category: reference
title: Creation science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: creation-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== Intelligent design splits off === In 1984, The Mystery of Life's Origin was first published. It was co-authored by chemist and creationist Charles B. Thaxton with Walter L. Bradley and Roger L. Olsen, the foreword written by Dean H. Kenyon, and sponsored by the Christian-based Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE). The work presented scientific arguments against current theories of abiogenesis and offered a hypothesis of special creation instead. While the focus of creation science had until that time centered primarily on the criticism of the fossil evidence for evolution and validation of the creation myth of the Bible, this new work posed the question whether science reveals that even the simplest living systems were far too complex to have developed by natural, unguided processes. Kenyon later co-wrote with creationist Percival Davis a book intended as a "scientific brief for creationism" to use as a supplement to public high school biology textbooks. Thaxton was enlisted as the book's editor, and the book received publishing support from the FTE. Prior to its release, the 1987 Supreme Court ruling in Edwards v. Aguillard barred the teaching of creation science and creationism in public school classrooms. The book, originally titled Biology and


id: creation-science-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-4.md
category: reference
title: Creation science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: creation-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== Metaphysical assumptions === Creation science makes the a priori metaphysical assumption that there exists a creator of the life whose origin is being examined. Christian creation science holds that the description of creation is given in the Bible, that the Bible is inerrant in this description (and elsewhere), and therefore empirical scientific evidence must correspond with that description. Creationists also view the preclusion of all supernatural explanations within the sciences as a doctrinaire commitment to exclude the supreme being and miracles. They claim this to be the motivating factor in science's acceptance of Darwinism, a term used in creation science to refer to evolutionary biology which is also often used as a disparagement. Critics argue that creation science is religious rather than scientific because it stems from faith in a religious text rather than by the application of the scientific method. The United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has stated unequivocally, "Evolution pervades all biological phenomena. To ignore that it occurred or to classify it as a form of dogma is to deprive the student of the most fundamental organizational concept in the biological sciences. No other biological concept has been more extensively tested and more thoroughly corroborated


id: creation-science-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-5.md
category: reference
title: Creation science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: creation-science-20260505-0
summary:
Creation science is not falsifiable: An idea or hypothesis is generally not considered to be in the realm of science unless it can be potentially disproved with certain experiments, this is the concept of falsifiability in science. The act of creation as defined in creation science is not falsifiable because no testable bounds can be imposed on the creator. In creation science, the creator is defined as limitless, with the capacity to create (or not), through fiat alone, infinite universes, not just one, and endow each one with its own unique, unimaginable and incomparable character. It is impossible to disprove a claim when that claim as defined encompasses every conceivable contingency. Creation science violates the principle of parsimony: Parsimony favours those explanations which rely on the fewest assumptions. Scientists prefer explanations that are consistent with known and supported facts and evidence and require the fewest assumptions to fill the remaining gaps. Many of the alternative claims made in creation science retreat from simpler scientific explanations and introduce more complications and conjecture into the equation. Creation science is not, and cannot be, empirically or experimentally tested: Creationism posits supernatural causes which lie outside the realm of methodological naturalism and scientific experiment.


id: creation-science-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-6.md
category: reference
title: Creation science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: creation-science-20260505-0
summary:
Flood geology is a concept based on the belief that most of Earth's geological record was formed by the Great Flood described in the story of Noah's Ark. Fossils and fossil fuels are believed to have formed from animal and plant matter which was buried rapidly during this flood, while submarine canyons are explained as having formed during a rapid runoff from the continents at the end of the flood. Sedimentary strata are also claimed to have been predominantly laid down during or after Noah's flood and orogeny. Flood geology is a variant of catastrophism and is contrasted with geological science in that it rejects standard geological principles such as uniformitarianism and radiometric dating. For example, the Creation Research Society argues that "uniformitarianism is wishful thinking." Geologists conclude that no evidence for such a flood is observed in the preserved rock layers and moreover that such a flood is physically impossible, given the current layout of land masses. For instance, since Mount Everest currently is approximately 8.8 kilometres in elevation and the Earth's surface area is 510,065,600 km2, the volume of water required to cover Mount Everest to a depth of 15 cubits (6.8 m), as indicated by Genesis 7:20,


id: creation-science-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-7.md
category: reference
title: Creation science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: creation-science-20260505-0
summary:
In the 1970s, young Earth creationist Robert V. Gentry proposed that radiohaloes in certain granites represented evidence for the Earth being created instantaneously rather than gradually. This idea has been criticized by physicists and geologists on many grounds including that the rocks Gentry studied were not primordial and that the radionuclides in question need not have been in the rocks initially. Thomas A. Baillieul, a geologist and retired senior environmental scientist with the United States Department of Energy, disputed Gentry's claims in an article entitled, "'Polonium Haloes' Refuted: A Review of 'Radioactive Halos in a Radio-Chronological and Cosmological Perspective' by Robert V. Gentry." Baillieul noted that Gentry was a physicist with no background in geology and given the absence of this background, Gentry had misrepresented the geological context from which the specimens were collected. Additionally, he noted that Gentry relied on research from the beginning of the 20th century, long before radioisotopes were thoroughly understood; that his assumption that a polonium isotope caused the rings was speculative; and that Gentry falsely argued that the half-life of radioactive elements varies with time. Gentry claimed that Baillieul could not publish his criticisms in a reputable scientific journal, although some of Baillieul's criticisms


id: michael-cremo-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cremo-0.md
category: reference
title: Michael Cremo
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cremo
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:21.407744+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: michael-cremo-20260505-0
summary:
Michael A. Cremo (born July 15, 1948), also known by his devotional name Drutakarmā dāsa, is an American independent researcher who describes himself as a Vedic creationist and an "alternative archeologist." He argues that humans have lived on Earth for millions of years. Based on artifacts allegedly found in the Eocene auriferous gravels of Table Mountain, California and discussed in his book Forbidden Archeology, Cremo argues for the existence of modern humans on Earth as early as 30 to 40 million years ago. Forbidden Archeology, which he wrote with Richard L. Thompson, has attracted criticism from mainstream scholars, who describe it as pseudoscientific. == Early life and education == Cremo was born in Schenectady, New York. Cremo's father, Salvatore Cremo, was a United States military intelligence officer. Michael Cremo lived with his family in Germany, where he went to high school. They spent several summers traveling throughout Europe. He attended George Washington University from 1966 to 1968, then served in the United States Navy. == Religious views == Cremo is a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and the Bhaktivedanta Institute. He has written several books and articles about Hindu spirituality using the pen-name Drutakarmā dāsa. He


id: the-critical-eye-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Critical_Eye-0.md
category: reference
title: The Critical Eye
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Critical_Eye
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:22.558528+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-critical-eye-20260505-0
summary:
The Critical Eye is a Discovery Science Channel documentary series examining pseudoscientific and paranormal phenomena. The eight-part documentary series aired from October 2002 through February 2003 and was hosted by actor and scientific skeptic William B. Davis. == Series description == The Critical Eye, alternately labeled as just Critical Eye, was produced by the Discovery Science Channel, and was produced in association with Skeptical Inquirer Magazine. The show was described by cosmolearning.org as "William B. Davis hosts this programme bringing to the viewers the science behind the paranormal and the unexplained." == Historical event references == The series discusses several notable events: The 1990 civil trial brought against Judas Priest alleging subliminal messaging in their music The Stargate Project The Phoenix Lights The Roswell UFO incident Project Blue Book The Heaven's Gate mass suicide == Episodes == Each episode of the series consists of four or five segments focused specifically on one pseudoscientific or paranormal phenomenon. Each segment begins by explaining the phenomenon in question, discusses it with both scientists/skeptics and proponents/believers, and concludes with street interviews regarding the legitimacy of the phenomenon in question. == References ==


id: critical-positivity-ratio-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio-0.md
category: reference
title: Critical positivity ratio
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:23.760203+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: critical-positivity-ratio-20260505-0
summary:
The critical positivity ratio (also known as the "Losada ratio" or the "Losada line") is a largely discredited concept in positive psychology positing an exact ratio of positive to negative emotions which distinguishes "flourishing" people from "languishing" people. The ratio was proposed by psychologists Barbara Fredrickson and Marcial Losada, who believed that they had identified an experimental measure of affect whose model-derived positive-to-negative ratio of 2.9013 defined a critical separation between flourishing and languishing individuals, as reported in their 2005 paper in American Psychologist. This concept of a critical positivity ratio was widely embraced by academic psychologists and the lay public; Fredrickson and Losada's paper had been cited more than 320 times by January 2014, and Fredrickson wrote a popular book expounding the concept of "the 3-to-1 ratio that will change your life". In it she wrote, "just as zero degrees Celsius is a special number in thermodynamics, the 3-to-1 positivity ratio may well be a magic number in human psychology." The first consequential re-evaluation of the mathematical modeling behind the critical positivity ratio was published in 2008 by a group of Finnish researchers from the Systems Analysis Laboratory at Aalto University (Jukka Luoma, Raimo Hämäläinen, and Esa Saarinen). The


id: critical-positivity-ratio-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio-1.md
category: reference
title: Critical positivity ratio
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:23.760203+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: critical-positivity-ratio-20260505-0
summary:
=== Initially ignored questioning === The first critical evaluation of the mathematical modeling behind the critical positivity ratio was published by a group of Finnish researchers—Luoma, Hämäläinen, and Saarinen of the Systems Analysis Laboratory at Aalto University—in 2008. The authors noted that "[o]nly very limited explanations are given about the modeling process and the meaning and interpretation of its parameters... [so that] the reasoning behind the model equations remains unclear to the reader"; moreover, they noted that "the model also produces strange and previously unreported behavior under certain conditions... [so that] the predictive validity of the model also becomes problematic." Not widely impactful at the time, Losada's earlier modeling article was also critiqued by Andrés Navas in a French language publication, a note in the CNRS publication, "Images des Mathématiques", which also failed to attract a wide readership. In their followup to Fredrickson's immediate response to the rebuttal, Brown, Sokal, and Friedman note as a footnote to their submission:After the publication of Brown et al. (2013), Andrés Navas kindly drew our attention to his article (Navas, 2011) in which a very similar (though briefer) critique of Losada (1999) was made. [This footnote was unfortunately omitted from the published version of


id: critical-positivity-ratio-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio-2.md
category: reference
title: Critical positivity ratio
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:23.760203+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: critical-positivity-ratio-20260505-0
summary:
=== Follow-up from Brown, Sokal, and Friedman === The original rebuttal authors were openly critical about Fredrickson's partial retraction, and American Psychologist published their response to it in 2014, where they emphatically argued that there was no evidence whatsoever, as of that date, for the existence of a critical positivity ratio (i.e., a tipping-point for positivity). In 2014, the rebuttal authors also responded to comments from others on their 2013 work, noting Nickerson's concurrence regarding the lack of empirical evidence for a critical positivity ratio, and lauding her distinction between the within-person and within-time types of theories, noting that "[b]oth types of theories are valuable... but... conceptually distinct and by no means equivalent" and that they believed that "this distinction deserves to be more widely discussed in the literature on research methods". noting that Hämäläinen, Luoma, and Saarinen "concede our main point, namely the complete lack of justification for the use of the Lorenz equations in modeling the time evolution of human emotions", but confronting the "no clear mathematical errors" assertion, stating thatAmong the purely mathematical errors clearly noted... are Fredrickson and Losada's assertion that the r = 22 data (alleged to be characteristic of “medium-performance teams”) end up in


id: crop-circle-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-0.md
category: reference
title: Crop circle
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:24.899510+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: crop-circle-20260505-0
summary:
A crop circle, crop formation, or corn circle is a pattern created by flattening a crop, usually a cereal. The term was coined in the early 1980s. Crop circles have been described as all falling "within the range of the sort of thing done in hoaxes" by Taner Edis, professor of physics at Truman State University. Although obscure natural causes or alien origins of crop circles are suggested by fringe theorists, there is no scientific evidence for such explanations, and all crop circles are consistent with human causation. In 1991, two hoaxers, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, took credit for having created over 200 crop circles throughout England in widely-reported interviews. The number of reports of crop circles increased substantially after interviews with them. In the United Kingdom, reported circles are not distributed randomly across the landscape, but appear near roads, areas of medium to dense population, and cultural heritage monuments, such as Stonehenge or Avebury. They usually appear overnight. Nearly half of all crop circles found in the UK in 2003 were located within a 15 km (9.3 mi) radius of the Avebury stone circles. In contrast to crop circles or crop formations, archaeological remains can cause cropmarks in


id: crop-circle-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-1.md
category: reference
title: Crop circle
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:24.899510+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: crop-circle-20260505-0
summary:
=== 20th century === In 1932, archaeologist E. C. Curwen observed four dark rings in a field at Stoughton Down near Chichester, but could examine only one: "a circle in which the barley was 'lodged' or beaten down, while the interior area was very slightly mounded up." In Fortean Times, David Wood reported that in 1940 he made crop circles near Gloucestershire using ropes. In 1963, Patrick Moore described a crater in a potato field in Wiltshire that he considered was probably caused by an unknown meteoric body. In nearby wheat fields, there were several circular and elliptical areas where the wheat had been flattened. There was evidence of "spiral flattening". He thought they could be caused by air currents from the impact, since they led towards the crater. Astronomer Hugh Ernest Butler observed similar craters and said they were likely caused by lightning strikes. During the 1960s, there were many reports of UFO sightings and circular formations in swamp reeds and sugarcane fields in Tully, Queensland, Australia, and in Canada. For example, on 8 August 1967, three circles were found in a field in Duhamel, Alberta, Canada; Department of National Defence investigators concluded that it was artificial but couldn't


id: crop-circle-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-2.md
category: reference
title: Crop circle
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:24.899510+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: crop-circle-20260505-0
summary:
== Bower and Chorley == In 1991, two self-professed pranksters, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, made headlines by saying they had started the crop circle phenomenon in 1978, using simple tools consisting of a plank of wood, rope, and a baseball cap fitted with a loop of wire to help them walk in straight lines. To prove their case they made a circle in front of journalists; a "cereologist" (advocate of paranormal explanations of crop circles), Pat Delgado, examined the circle and declared it authentic before it was revealed that it was a hoax. Inspired by Australian crop circle accounts from 1966, Bower and Chorley claimed to be responsible for all circles made prior to 1987, and for more than 200 crop circles in 1978–1991 (with 1,000 other circles not being made by them). Writing in Physics World, Richard Taylor of the University of Oregon said that "the pictographs they created inspired a second wave of crop artists. Far from fizzling out, crop circles have evolved into an international phenomenon, with hundreds of sophisticated pictographs now appearing annually around the globe." == Art and business == After reports of simple circles in the 1970s, increasingly complex geometric designs have been


id: crop-circle-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-3.md
category: reference
title: Crop circle
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:24.899510+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: crop-circle-20260505-0
summary:
=== Human origin === The scientific consensus on crop circles is that they are constructed by human beings as hoaxes, advertising, or art. The most widely known method for a person or group to construct a crop formation is to tie one end of a rope to an anchor point and the other end to a board which is used to crush the plants. It is also possible to bend grass without breaking it, if it has recently rained—a method that was used to create crop circles in Hungary in 1992. Skeptics of the paranormal point out that all characteristics of crop circles are fully compatible with their being made by hoaxers. Bower and Chorley confessed in 1991 to making the first crop circles in southern England. When some people refused to believe them, they deliberately added straight lines and squares to show that they could not have natural causes. In a copycat effect, increasingly complex circles started appearing in many countries around the world, including fractal figures. Physicists have suggested that the most complex formations might be made with the help of GPS and lasers. In 2009, a circle formation was made over the course of three consecutive nights


id: crop-circle-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-4.md
category: reference
title: Crop circle
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:24.899510+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: crop-circle-20260505-0
summary:
Since becoming the focus of widespread media attention in the 1980s, crop circles have been the subject of speculation by various paranormal, ufological, and anomalistic investigators, ranging from proposals that they were created by bizarre meteorological phenomena to messages from extraterrestrial beings. There has also been speculation that crop circles have a relation to ley lines. Some paranormal advocates think that crop circles are caused by ball lightning and that the patterns are so complex that they have to be controlled by some entity. Some proposed entities are Gaia asking to stop global warming and human pollution, God, supernatural beings (for example Indian devas), the collective minds of humanity through a proposed "quantum field", and extraterrestrial beings. Responding to local beliefs that "extraterrestrial beings" in UFOs were responsible for crop circles appearing, the Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) described crop circles as "man-made". Thomas Djamaluddin, research professor of astronomy and astrophysics at LAPAN stated, "We have come to agree that this 'thing' cannot be scientifically proven." Among others, paranormal enthusiasts, ufologists, and anomalistic investigators have offered hypothetical explanations that have been criticised as pseudoscientific by sceptical groups and scientists, including the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. No credible


id: cryonics-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-0.md
category: reference
title: Cryonics
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:26.108623+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cryonics-20260505-0
summary:
Cryonics (from Greek: κρύος kryos, meaning "cold") is the low-temperature freezing (usually at −196 °C or −320.8 °F or 77.1 K) and storage of human remains in the hope that resurrection may be possible in the future. Cryonics is regarded with skepticism by the mainstream scientific community. It is generally viewed as a pseudoscience, and its practice has been characterized as quackery. Cryonics procedures can begin only after the "patients" are clinically and legally dead. Procedures may begin within minutes of death, and use cryoprotectants to try to prevent ice formation during cryopreservation. It is not possible to reanimate a corpse that has undergone vitrification (ultra-rapid cooling), as this damages the brain, including its neural circuits. The first corpse to be frozen was that of James Bedford, in 1967. As of 2014, remains from about 250 bodies had been cryopreserved in the United States, and 1,500 people had made arrangements for cryopreservation of theirs. Even if the resurrection promised by cryonics were possible, economic considerations make it unlikely cryonics corporations could remain in business long enough to deliver. The "patients", being dead, cannot continue to pay for their own preservation. Early attempts at cryonic preservation were made in the 1960s


id: cryonics-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-1.md
category: reference
title: Cryonics
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:26.108623+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cryonics-20260505-0
summary:
=== Revival === Revival would require repairing damage from lack of oxygen, cryoprotectant toxicity, thermal stress (fracturing), and freezing in tissues that do not successfully vitrify, followed by reversing the cause of death. In many cases, extensive tissue regeneration would be necessary. This revival technology remains speculative. === Legal issues === Historically, people had little control over how their bodies were treated after death, as religion held jurisdiction over the matter. Later, secular courts began to exercise jurisdiction over corpses and use discretion in carrying out deceased people's wishes. Most countries legally treat preserved bodies as deceased persons because of laws that forbid vitrifying someone who is medically alive. In France, cryonics is not considered a legal mode of body disposal; only burial, cremation, and formal body donation to science are allowed, though bodies may legally be shipped to other countries for cryonic freezing. As of 2015, British Columbia prohibits the sale of arrangements for cryonic body preservation. In Russia, cryonics falls outside both the medical industry and the funeral services industry, making it easier than in the U.S. to get hospitals and morgues to release cryonics candidates. In 2016, the English High Court ruled in favor of a mother's


id: cryonics-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-2.md
category: reference
title: Cryonics
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:26.108623+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cryonics-20260505-0
summary:
== Reception == Cryonics is generally regarded as a fringe pseudoscience. Between 1982 and November 2018, the Society for Cryobiology rejected members who practiced cryonics, and issued a public statement saying that cryonics "is an act of speculation or hope, not science", and as such outside the scope of the Society. Russian company KrioRus is the first non-U.S. vendor of cryonics services. Yevgeny Alexandrov, chair of the Russian Academy of Sciences commission against pseudoscience, said there was "no scientific basis" for cryonics, and that the company was based on "unfounded speculation". Scientists have expressed skepticism about cryonics in media sources, and the Norwegian philosopher Ole Martin Moen has written that the topic receives a "minuscule" amount of attention in academia. While some neuroscientists contend that all the subtleties of a human mind are contained in its anatomical structure, few will comment directly on cryonics due to its speculative nature. People who intend to be frozen are often "looked at as a bunch of kooks". Cryobiologist Kenneth B. Storey said in 2004 that cryonics is impossible and will never be possible, as cryonics proponents are proposing to "overturn the laws of physics, chemistry, and molecular science". Neurobiologist Michael Hendricks has said,


id: cryptozoology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology-0.md
category: reference
title: Cryptozoology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:27.350647+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cryptozoology-20260505-0
summary:
Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti, the chupacabra, the Jersey Devil, or the mokele-mbembe. Cryptozoologists refer to these entities as cryptids, a term coined by the subculture. Because it does not follow the scientific method, cryptozoology is considered a pseudoscience by mainstream science: it is a branch of neither zoology nor folklore studies. It was originally founded in the 1950s by zoologists Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan T. Sanderson. Scholars have noted that the subculture rejected mainstream approaches from an early date, and that adherents often express hostility to mainstream science. Scholars studying cryptozoologists and their influence (including cryptozoology's association with Young Earth creationism) noted parallels in cryptozoology and other pseudosciences such as ghost hunting and ufology, and highlighted uncritical media propagation of cryptozoologist claims. == Terminology, history, and approach == As a field, cryptozoology originates from the works of Bernard Heuvelmans, a Belgian zoologist, and Ivan T. Sanderson, a Scottish zoologist. Notably, Heuvelmans published On the Track of Unknown Animals (French: Sur la piste des bêtes ignorées) in 1955,


id: cryptozoology-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology-1.md
category: reference
title: Cryptozoology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:27.350647+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cryptozoology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Expeditions === Cryptozoologists have often led unsuccessful expeditions to find evidence of cryptids. Bigfoot researcher René Dahinden led searches into caves to find evidence of sasquatch, as early sasquatch legends claimed they lived in rocky areas. Despite the failure of these searches, he spent years trying to find proof of bigfoot. Lensgrave Adam Christoffer Knuth led an expedition into Lake Tele in the Congo to find the Mokele-mbembe in 2018. While the expedition was a failure, they discovered a new species of green algae. === Young Earth creationism === A subset of cryptozoology promotes the pseudoscience of Young Earth creationism, rejecting conventional science in favor of a literal Biblical interpretation and promoting concepts such as "living dinosaurs". Science writer Sharon Hill observes that the Young Earth creationist segment of cryptozoology is "well-funded and able to conduct expeditions with a goal of finding a living dinosaur that they think would invalidate evolution". Anthropologist Jeb J. Card says that "[c]reationists have embraced cryptozoology and some cryptozoological expeditions are funded by and conducted by creationists hoping to disprove evolution." In a 2013 interview, paleontologist Donald Prothero notes an uptick in creationist cryptozoologists. He observes that "[p]eople who actively search for Loch Ness


id: cryptozoology-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology-2.md
category: reference
title: Cryptozoology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:27.350647+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cryptozoology-20260505-0
summary:
Unexplained appearances of mystery animals are reported all over the world today. Beliefs in the existence of fabulous and supernatural animals are ubiquitous and timeless. In the continents discovered by Europe indigenous beliefs and tales have strongly influenced the perceptions of the conquered confronted by a new natural environment. In parallel with the growing importance of the scientific approach, these traditional mythical tales have been endowed with sometimes highly artificial precision and have given birth to contemporary legends solidly entrenched in their territories. The belief self-perpetuates today through multiple observations enhanced by the media and encouraged (largely with the aim of gain for touristic promotion) by the local population, often genuinely convinced of the reality of this profitable phenomenon." Campion-Vincent says that "four currents can be distinguished in the study of mysterious animal appearances": "Forteans" ("compiler[s] of anomalies" such as via publications like the Fortean Times), "occultists" (which she describes as related to "Forteans"), "folklorists", and "cryptozoologists". Regarding cryptozoologists, Campion-Vincent says that "this movement seems to deserve the appellation of parascience, like parapsychology: the same corpus is reviewed; many scientists participate, but for those who have an official status of university professor or researcher, the participation is a private hobby".


id: crystal-healing-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_healing-0.md
category: reference
title: Crystal healing
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_healing
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:28.600502+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: crystal-healing-20260505-0
summary:
Crystal healing is a pseudoscientific, alternative medicine practice that uses semiprecious stones and crystals such as quartz, agate, amethyst or opal. Adherents of the practice claim that these have healing powers, but there is no scientific basis for this claim. Practitioners of crystal healing believe they can boost low energy, prevent bad energy, release blocked energy, and transform a body's aura. Believers in crystal healing engage in various physical activities with crystals, typically involving holding, wearing, placing or meditating with the stones. While the practice is popular, it fosters commercial demand for crystals, which can result in environmental damage and exploitative child labor to mine the crystals. Some popular crystals used by believers such as shungite frequently contain heavy metals and present toxicity risks to those handling them for extended periods or ingesting substances which were in contact with the crystals. == History == === Origins === Ancient Egyptians used amulets, which they believed to possess magical properties. The amulet's shape, decoration, inscription, color, material or ritual performed with the amulet dictated its power. Amulets were worn or placed on the body, in the form of stones, piercings, rings, necklaces or other jewelry. The Egyptians used amulets to benefit their


id: cupping-therapy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupping_therapy-0.md
category: reference
title: Cupping therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupping_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:29.899253+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cupping-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
Cupping therapy (or cup massage) is a pseudoscientific treatment method in which a local suction is created on the skin by using heated cups. As an alternative medicine practice, it is primarily used in Asia, but it is also used in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. There is no conclusive evidence supporting the claimed health benefits of cupping, and critics have characterized the practice as quackery. Cupping practitioners attempt to use cupping therapy for a wide array of medical conditions including fevers, chronic low back pain, poor appetite, indigestion, high blood pressure, acne, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, anemia, stroke rehabilitation, nasal congestion, infertility, and menstrual period cramping. Despite the numerous ailments for which practitioners claim cupping therapy is useful, there is insufficient evidence demonstrating any health benefits. Cupping is generally not harmful for most people. However, there are some risks of harm, especially from wet cupping and fire cupping. Bruising and skin discoloration are among the adverse effects of cupping and are sometimes mistaken for child abuse. In rare instances, the presence of these marks on children has led to legal action against parents who had their children receive cupping therapy. == History == The origin of cupping


id: cupping-therapy-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupping_therapy-1.md
category: reference
title: Cupping therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupping_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:29.899253+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cupping-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
== Claimed mechanism of action == Proponents claim cupping has a therapeutic effect and removes unspecified "toxins", stagnant blood, or "vital energy" when used over acupuncture points with the goal of improving blood circulation. == Methods == Modern suction devices are sometimes used instead of the traditional cups. A cup massage is performed with medical cups, which have vacuum-sucking, thermochemical, and reflectory impact on the skin, hypoderm, muscles and nerves. A cup massage lasts 10 to 20 minutes and is accompanied with the feeling of warmth. It can be slightly uncomfortable to the patient. A cup massage can be performed on almost all areas of human body. Most often cup massage is used to massage back, chest, limbs, and even face. While details vary between practitioners, societies, and cultures, the practice consists of drawing tissue into a cup placed on the targeted area by creating a partial vacuum – either by the heating and subsequent cooling of the air in the cup or via a mechanical pump. The cup is usually left in place for somewhere between five and fifteen minutes. Cupping therapy types can be classified using four distinct methods of categorization. The first categorization system relates to "technical


id: manfred-curry-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_Curry-0.md
category: reference
title: Manfred Curry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_Curry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:31.039575+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: manfred-curry-20260505-0
summary:
Manfred Curry (11 December 1899 – 13 February 1953) was a physician, inventor, sailor and author of American citizenship. He was born in Munich, Germany; his father (Charles) was American and his mother (Adele) Russian. == Career == An accomplished athlete and yachtsman who represented the US at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games, he sailed more than 1400 regattas many of which he won. In later life he worked as a doctor specialising in bioclimatics and became the self-proclaimed discoverer of the pseudoscientific phenomenon of "geomagnetic lines" or "Earth radiation" (ger. Erdstrahlen) called the Curry Grid. In 1925, Curry wrote a pioneering book on yacht aerodynamics and racing tactics, published through to the present day and widely translated, describing how he undertook a scientific study on sailboat design, testing various rig configurations in a wind-tunnel at Göttingen. The significance of his book within yachting has been described by stating that he was the first to bring engineering analysis of the design of sailboats to the public eye. In the book, he describes several of his inventions or developments that are in widespread use today, including the fully battened mainsail, developments to Genoa jibsails and spinnakers, the 'Park Avenue' boom and


id: cymatics-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics-0.md
category: reference
title: Cymatics
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:32.201545+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cymatics-20260505-0
summary:
Cymatics (from Ancient Greek: κῦμα, romanized: kŷma, lit. 'wave') is a subset of modal vibrational phenomena. The term was coined by Swiss physician Hans Jenny (1904–1972). Typically the surface of a plate, diaphragm, or membrane is vibrated, and regions of maximum and minimum displacement are made visible in a thin coating of particles, paste, or liquid. Different patterns emerge in the excitatory medium depending on the geometry of the plate and the driving frequency. The apparatus employed can be simple, such as the Chinese spouting bowl, in which copper handles are rubbed and cause the copper bottom elements to vibrate. Other examples include the Chladni plate and the so-called cymascope. == History == On July 8, 1680, Robert Hooke was able to see the nodal patterns associated with the modes of vibration of glass plates. Hooke ran a bow along the edge of a glass plate covered with flour, and saw the nodal patterns emerge. The German musician and physicist Ernst Chladni noticed in the eighteenth century that the modes of vibration of a membrane or a plate can be observed by sprinkling the vibrating surface with a fine dust (e.g., lycopodium powder, flour or fine sand). The powder moves


id: cymatics-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics-1.md
category: reference
title: Cymatics
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:32.201545+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cymatics-20260505-0
summary:
== Influences on art and music == Devices for displaying nodal images have influenced visual arts and contemporary music. Artist Björk created projections of cymatics patterns by using bass frequencies on tour for her album Biophilia. Hans Jenny's book on Chladni figures influenced Alvin Lucier and helped lead to Lucier's composition Queen of the South. Jenny's work was also followed up by Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) founder György Kepes at MIT. His work in this area included an acoustically vibrated piece of sheet metal in which small holes had been drilled in a grid. Small flames of gas burned through these holes and thermodynamic patterns were made visible by this setup. In the mid-1980s, visual artist Ron Rocco, who also developed his work at CAVS, employed mirrors mounted to tiny servo motors, driven by the audio signal of a synthesizer and amplified by a tube amp to reflect the beam of a laser. This created light patterns which corresponded to the audio's frequency and amplitude. Using this beam to generate video feedback and computers to process the feedback signal, Rocco created his "Andro-media" series of installations. Rocco later formed a collaboration with musician David Hykes, who practiced a


id: daffy-s-elixir-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daffy's_Elixir-0.md
category: reference
title: Daffy's Elixir
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daffy's_Elixir
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:33.374658+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: daffy-s-elixir-20260505-0
summary:
Daffy's Elixir (also sometimes known as Daffey's Elixir or Daffye's Elixir) is a name that has been used by several patent medicines over the years. It was originally designed for diseases of the stomach, but was later marketed as a universal cure. It remained a popular remedy in Britain and later the United States of America throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. == Origins == Daffy's Elixir was one of the most popular and frequently advertised patent medicines in Britain during the 18th century. It is reputed to have been invented by clergyman Thomas Daffy, rector of Redmile, Leicestershire, in 1647. He named it elixir salutis (lit. elixir of health) and promoted it as a generic cure-all. == Ingredients == An early recipe for "True Daffy" from 1700 lists the following ingredients: aniseed, brandy, cochineal, elecampane, fennel seed, jalap, manna, parsley seed, raisin, rhubarb, saffron, senna and spanish liquorice. Chemical analysis has shown this to be a laxative made mostly from alcohol. Other recipes include Guiuacum wood chips, caraway, Salt of Tartar, and scammony. == Uses == According to an early nineteenth century advertisement it was used for the following ailments: The Stone in Babies and Children; Convulsion fits; Consumption


id: daffy-s-elixir-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daffy's_Elixir-1.md
category: reference
title: Daffy's Elixir
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daffy's_Elixir
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:33.374658+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: daffy-s-elixir-20260505-0
summary:
== Early advertisements == Daffy’s original elixir salutis, vindicated against all counterfeits, &c. or, An advertisement by mee, Anthony Daffy, of London, citizen and student in physick, By way of vindication of my famous and generally approved cordial drink, (called elixir salutis) from the notoriously false suggestions of one Tho. Witherden of Bear-steed in the county of Kent, Gent. (as pretended;) Jane White, Robert Brooke, apothecary, and Edward Willet; all new upstatrt counterfitors of my elixir, and Ape-like imitators of my long since printed Books and Directions, (some of them, nigh verbatim, or word for word) and that to the jeopardy of many good, (but mis-in-formed) Peoples Healths, and Lives too; as also, from the false pretentions of other more sneaking Cub-Quacks, not yet lickt into form, but remaining Moon-blind brats, (still in swadling-clouts) I mean the numerous crew of libellous pamphleteeirs, which are (if possible) more dangerous counterfeiters of my Elixer . . . Advertisement by mee, Anthony Daffy s.n., 1690?]. Daffy’s original and famous elixir salutis: the choice drink of health: or, health-bringing drink. Being a famous cordial drink, found out by the providence of the Almighty, and (for above twenty years) experienced by himself, and divers persons


id: dean-drive-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive-0.md
category: reference
title: Dean drive
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:34.590638+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dean-drive-20260505-0
summary:
The Dean drive was a device created and promoted by inventor Norman Lorimer Dean (1902–1972) that he claimed to be a reactionless drive. Dean claimed that his device was able to generate a uni-directional force in free space, in violation of Newton's third law of motion from classical physics. His claims generated notoriety because, if true, such a device would have had enormous applications, completely changing human transport, engineering, space travel and more. Dean made several controlled private demonstrations of a number of different devices; however, no working models were ever demonstrated publicly or subjected to independent analysis and Dean never presented any rigorous theoretical basis for their operation. Analysts conclude that the motion seen in Dean's device demonstrations was likely reliant on asymmetrical frictional resistance between the device and the surface on which the device was set ("stick and slip"), resulting in the device moving in one direction when in operation, driven by the vibrations of the apparatus. == Early publicity == The Dean drive obtained a good deal of publicity in the 1950s and 1960s via the columns and conference presentations of John W. Campbell, the longtime editor of Astounding Science Fiction magazine. At that time, Campbell believed


id: dean-drive-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive-1.md
category: reference
title: Dean drive
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:34.590638+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dean-drive-20260505-0
summary:
=== Purported weight loss === Dean made a demonstration for a representative of the magazine Popular Mechanics of one of his "Dean drive" devices. The witness reported that "While suspended above the ground, was able to pull a load to itself without itself being pulled toward the load". Another version of the machine was reported to be "able to apply a force to a hand, without moving—yet when the machine was turned off an equivalent force applied by the hand easily moved the machine". William O. Davis, who witnessed the latter demonstration, wrote in his notebook about Dean's explanation of how the device worked, "... does not strike me as valid ... For this reason I have decided to undertake a theoretical study of dynamic systems to see if a concept can be evolved which will describe a world in which Dean's Drive can exist and yet where other known facts are not contradicted." Davis produced a hypothesis, and it was published in Analog in 1962. Later analysis has revealed that the interactions of vibration, friction, and resonance with the springs of the scale are likely the root cause of the apparent weight loss reported by Campbell and others of


id: debunker-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debunker-0.md
category: reference
title: Debunker
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debunker
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:35.747040+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: debunker-20260505-0
summary:
A debunker is a person or organization that exposes or discredits claims believed to be false, exaggerated, or pretentious. The term is often associated with skeptical investigation of controversial topics such as UFOs, claimed paranormal phenomena, cryptids, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, religion, and exploratory or fringe areas of scientific or pseudoscientific research. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, to "debunk" is defined as: "to expose the sham or falseness of." The New Oxford American Dictionary defines "debunk" as "expose the falseness or hollowness of (a myth, idea, or belief)". If debunkers are not careful, their communications may backfire – increasing an audience's long-term belief in myths. Backfire effects can occur if a message spends too much time on the negative case, if it is too complex, or if the message is threatening. == Etymology == The American Heritage Dictionary traces the passage of the words bunk (noun), debunk (verb), and debunker (noun) into American English in 1923 as a belated outgrowth of bunkum. The first recorded use of the words was in 1828, apparently related to a poorly received "speech for Buncombe County, North Carolina" given by North Carolina representative Felix Walker during the 16th United States Congress (1819–1821). The


id: debunker-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debunker-1.md
category: reference
title: Debunker
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debunker
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:35.747040+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: debunker-20260505-0
summary:
== Notable organizations == American Council on Science and Health Committee for Skeptical Inquiry James Randi Educational Foundation The MythBusters, a program on the Discovery Channel. Two former special effects technicians, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, test the validity of urban legends. The National Institute of Standards and Technology debunked the World Trade Center controlled demolition conspiracy theories. Popular Mechanics has released several publications also debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories, in particular those mentioned in Loose Change. Quackwatch The Skeptics Society Snopes debunks or validates urban legends. == Backfire effects == Australian Professorial Fellow Stephan Lewandowsky and John Cook, Climate Communication Fellow for the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and author at Skeptical Science, co-wrote Debunking Handbook, in which they warn that debunking efforts may backfire. Backfire effects occur when science communicators accidentally reinforce false beliefs by trying to correct them, a phenomenon known as belief perseverance. Cook and Lewandowsky offer possible solutions to the backfire effects as described in different psychological studies. They recommend spending little or no time describing misconceptions because people cannot help but remember ideas that they have heard before. They write: "Your goal is to increase people's familiarity with the facts." They recommend


id: demonic-ufo-hypothesis-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonic_UFO_hypothesis-0.md
category: reference
title: Demonic UFO hypothesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonic_UFO_hypothesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:36.963507+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: demonic-ufo-hypothesis-20260505-0
summary:
The demonic UFO hypothesis is the proposal that unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings are the result of a satanic influence, or are themselves demons. Psychologist Tim Lomas and theologian Brendan Case from the Harvard Human Flourishing Program argue that interpretations of anomalous aerial phenomena are shaped by the cultural and religious frameworks available to witnesses, with earlier “angelic” readings giving way in modern times to “alien” ones, and that such labels function as interpretive categories for making anomalous experiences intelligible rather than as definitive claims about the phenomenon’s nature. == Chronology == Occultist Marjorie Cameron connected the 1952 Washington, D.C. UFO incident to the recent death of her partner Jack Parsons, a rocketry expert and disciple of Aleister Crowley. In 1954, faith healer and evangelist Walter Vinson "W.V." Grant Sr published the booklet "Men in Flying Saucers Identified: Not a Mystery!" suggesting UFOs were demonic. In the end of the 1960s, British UFO author Gordon Creighton endorsed the theory. In the wake of the 1973 Pascagoula incident, Rev. Bill Riddick preached a sermon suggesting UFOs were demonic. In 1974, Clifford Wilson authored UFOs and their Mission Impossible which popularized the demonic hypothesis. In the 1975 book UFOs: What on Earth


id: dermo-optical-perception-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermo-optical_perception-0.md
category: reference
title: Dermo-optical perception
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermo-optical_perception
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:38.123323+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dermo-optical-perception-20260505-0
summary:
Dermo-optical perception (DOP, also known as dermal vision, dermo-optics, skin vision, skin reading, finger vision, cutaneous perception, digital sight, and bio-introscopy) is a term that is used in parapsychological literature to denote the alleged capability to perceive colors, differences in brightness, and/or formed images through the skin (without using the eyes, as distinct from blindsight), especially upon touching with the fingertips. Typically, people who claim to have dermo-optical perception claim to be able to see using the skin of their fingers or hands. People who claim to have DOP often demonstrate it by reading while blindfolded. The effect has not been demonstrated scientifically. Paroptic vision – also known as paroptic sense, eyeless vision, eyeless sight, para-optic perception, extra-optical vision or extra-retinal vision (not to be confused with extra-retinal information, an unrelated neuroscientific concept) – is a broader term referring to the alleged ability to perceive visual phenomena by any means without the light from the scene entering the eyes. Besides DOP it includes for example the ability to see an object enclosed by a box that is impervious to light. == History == The first Western scientific reports are from the 17th century. Scattered cases kept being reported over the


id: dermo-optical-perception-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermo-optical_perception-1.md
category: reference
title: Dermo-optical perception
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermo-optical_perception
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:38.123323+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dermo-optical-perception-20260505-0
summary:
== Scientific reception == Experiments into DOP by scientists have shown no effect. Alleged positive results have not been accepted by the mainstream scientific community due to procedures not being tight enough to prevent cheating by participants, problems with replicating the effect reliably, and concerns about the colors being recognized by the texture of the ink on the paper (people who are blind from an early age can recognize Braille patters that only have .2 millimeters of elevation above the paper, and the limit of relief distinction in fingers is still unknown). In summary, DOP has not been demonstrated scientifically. Most of DOP positive results have been explained as cheating by participants, either via the use of magicians' tricks, or via "peeking down the nose" (cheating by participants) In recent years, DOP has been the object of mainstream research that had no links with ESP. Apart from trickery, there are several hypotheses about how fingers could "see" radiation emitted by the colors in the paper, but none have been tested successfully. For example, people can hold their fingers near to painted and non-painted surfaces, and distinguish them by how much corporal heat is radiated back to their fingers. While it


id: detoxification-alternative-medicine-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_(alternative_medicine)-0.md
category: reference
title: Detoxification (alternative medicine)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_(alternative_medicine)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:39.234044+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: detoxification-alternative-medicine-20260505-0
summary:
Detoxification (often shortened to detox and sometimes called body cleansing) is a type of alternative medicine treatment which aims to rid the body of unspecified "toxins" – substances that proponents claim accumulate in the body over time and have undesirable short-term or long-term effects on individual health. It is not to be confused with detoxification carried out by the liver and kidneys, which filter the blood and remove harmful substances to be processed and eliminated from the body. Activities commonly associated with detoxification include dieting, fasting, consuming exclusively or avoiding specific foods (such as fats, carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, juices, herbs), colon cleansing, chelation therapy, certain kinds of IV therapy and the removal of dental fillings containing amalgam. Scientists and health organizations have criticized the concept of detoxification for its unsound scientific basis and for the lack of evidence for claims made. The "toxins" usually remain undefined, with little to no evidence of toxic accumulation in the patient. The British organisation Sense about Science has described some detox diets and commercial products as "a waste of time and money", while the British Dietetic Association called the idea "nonsense" and a "marketing myth". Dara Mohammadi summarizes "detoxing" as "a scam [...] a


id: detoxification-alternative-medicine-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_(alternative_medicine)-1.md
category: reference
title: Detoxification (alternative medicine)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_(alternative_medicine)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:39.234044+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: detoxification-alternative-medicine-20260505-0
summary:
=== Unsound scientific basis === A 2015 review of clinical evidence about detox diets concluded: "At present, there is no compelling evidence to support the use of detox diets for weight management or toxin elimination. Considering the financial costs to consumers, unsubstantiated claims and potential health risks of detox products, they should be discouraged by health professionals and subject to independent regulatory review and monitoring." Detoxification and body cleansing products and diets have been criticized for their unsound scientific basis, in particular their premise of nonexistent "toxins" and their appropriation of the legitimate medical concept of detoxification. According to the Mayo Clinic, the "toxins" typically remain unspecified, and there is little to no evidence of toxic accumulation in patients treated. According to a British Dietetic Association (BDA) Fact Sheet, "The whole idea of detox is nonsense. The body is a well-developed system that has its own builtin mechanisms to detoxify and remove waste and toxins." It went on to characterize the idea as a "marketing myth", while other critics have called the idea a "scam" and a "hoax". The organization Sense about Science investigated "detox" products, calling them a waste of time and money. Resulting in a report that concluded


id: detoxification-foot-baths-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_baths-0.md
category: reference
title: Detoxification foot baths
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_baths
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:40.459020+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: detoxification-foot-baths-20260505-0
summary:
Detoxification foot baths, also known as foot detox, ionic cleansing, ionic foot bath and aqua/water detox are pseudoscientific alternative medical devices marketed as being able to remove toxins from the human body. They work by providing an electric current to an electrode array immersed in a salt water solution. When switched on, the electrodes rapidly rust in a chemical process called electrolysis which quickly turns the water brown. This reaction happens regardless of whether or not a person's feet are immersed in the water, and no toxins from the human body have ever been detected in the water after use. == Description == Detoxification foot baths first became popular with consumers in the early 2000s and quickly became popular in spas due to the theatre of the visible brown water and sludge produced by the devices. One manufacturer of the device, known as Aqua Detox, states that the concept is based on research from the 1920s to 1930s by Royal Rife, an inventor who claimed his Rife Devices could "devitalize disease organisms" by vibrating them at certain frequencies. Detoxification foot baths consist of two major components, a simple container in which to place the feet and an electrode array. Usually


id: detoxification-foot-pads-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_pads-0.md
category: reference
title: Detoxification foot pads
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_pads
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:41.617652+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: detoxification-foot-pads-20260505-0
summary:
Detoxification foot pads are pseudoscientific alternative medical adhesive foot pads or patches that manufacturers claim can dramatically improve health when placed under the feet during sleep. Some of these pads may contain ingredients such as "distilled bamboo vinegar" that allegedly pull toxins from the body, but critics have shown that the process is not scientifically viable. On January 3, 2008, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released an urgent warning regarding the potential dangers of many imported pharmaceutical substances, including several brands of detox foot patches. In April 2008, in response to questions from the Associated Press, an FDA spokeswoman said regarding the agency's investigation of the claims made for Kinoki foot pads that "basically, when we open up a case it means that the violation might be in terms of the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, such as when (product makers) make false, misleading claims." In August 2008, National Public Radio commissioned a laboratory test to look for heavy metals in used pads, which Kinoki claims are extracted from the body. The test found none. NPR also discovered that the pads change from white to grey when exposed to moisture, including sweat, and not necessarily because they


id: deutsche-physik-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik-0.md
category: reference
title: Deutsche Physik
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:42.825405+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: deutsche-physik-20260505-0
summary:
Deutsche Physik (German: [ˈdɔʏtʃə fyˈziːk], lit. "German Physics") or Aryan Physics (German: Arische Physik) was a nationalist movement in the German physics community in the early 1930s which had the support of many eminent physicists in Germany. The term appears in the title of a four-volume physics textbook by Nobel laureate Philipp Lenard in the 1930s. Deutsche Physik was opposed to the work of Albert Einstein, who was ethnically Jewish, and other modern theoretically based physics, which was disparagingly labeled "Jewish physics" (German: Jüdische Physik). == Origins == This movement began as an extension of a German nationalistic movement in the physics community which went back to the start of World War I with Austria's declaration of war on 28 July 1914. On 25 August 1914, during the German Rape of Belgium, German troops used petrol to set fire to the library of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. The burning of the library led to a protest note which was signed by eight distinguished British scientists, namely William Bragg, William Crookes, Alexander Fleming, Horace Lamb, Oliver Lodge, William Ramsay, Lord Rayleigh, and J. J. Thomson. In 1915, this led to a counter-reaction in the form of an "appeal" formulated by Wilhelm


id: deutsche-physik-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik-1.md
category: reference
title: Deutsche Physik
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:42.825405+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: deutsche-physik-20260505-0
summary:
When the Nazis entered the political scene, Lenard quickly attempted to ally himself with them, joining the party at an early stage. With another Nobel laureate in Physics, Johannes Stark, Lenard began a campaign to label Einstein's relativity as Jewish physics. Lenard and Stark benefited considerably from this Nazi support. Under the rallying cry that physics should be more "German" and "Aryan", Lenard and Stark embarked on a Nazi-endorsed plan to replace physicists at German universities with "Aryan physicists". By 1935, though, this campaign was superseded by the Nuremberg Laws of 1935. There were no longer any Jewish physics professors in Germany, since under the Nuremberg Laws, Jews were not allowed to work in universities. Stark in particular also tried to install himself as the national authority on "German" physics under the principle of Gleichschaltung (literally, "coordination") applied to other professional disciplines. Under this Nazi-era paradigm, academic disciplines and professional fields followed a strictly linear hierarchy created along ideological lines. In his 1938 paper, "The Pragmatic and the Dogmatic Spirit in Physics", Stark contrasted a "pragmatic spirit" driven by experimentation, against a "dogmatic spirit" dominated by theoretical frameworks. He claimed that pragmatic spirit was exhibited primarily by men of the


id: dianetics-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-0.md
category: reference
title: Dianetics
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:44.107872+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dianetics-20260505-0
summary:
Dianetics is a set of pseudoscientific ideas and practices regarding the human mind invented in 1950 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Dianetics was originally conceived as a form of psychological treatment, but was rejected by the psychological and medical establishments as pseudoscientific and ineffective. It was the precursor to Scientology and has since been incorporated into it. It involves a process called "auditing", which uses an electrical resistance meter, ostensibly to remove emotional burdens and "cure" people from their troubles. "Auditing" uses techniques from hypnosis that are intended to create dependency and obedience in the auditing subject. Hubbard eventually decided to present Dianetics as a form of spirituality that is part of the Church of Scientology, after several practitioners were arrested for practicing medicine without a license and a prosecution trial was pending against the first Dianetics organization that Hubbard founded in Elizabeth, New Jersey. As well as escaping prosecution, Hubbard also saw the possibility of reducing the tax burden from the sale of Dianetics books and methods. == Premise == The word Dianetics was coined from Greek dia meaning "through" and nous meaning "mind". The pseudoscientific Dianetics ideas seek to explain the metaphysical relationship between the mind


id: dianetics-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-1.md
category: reference
title: Dianetics
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:44.107872+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dianetics-20260505-0
summary:
== Concepts == In the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, Hubbard describes techniques that he suggests can rid people of fears and psychosomatic illnesses. A basic idea in Dianetics is that the mind consists of two parts: the "analytical mind" and the "reactive mind". The "reactive mind", which operates when a person is physically unconscious, acts as a record of shock, trauma, pain, and otherwise harmful memories. Experiences such as these are dubbed "engrams". Dianetics is proposed as a method to erase engrams in the reactive mind to achieve a state of clear. In Dianetics, the unconscious or reactive mind is described as a collection of "mental image pictures", which contain the recorded experience of past moments of unconsciousness, including all sensory perceptions and feelings involved, ranging from prenatal experiences, infancy and childhood, to even the traumatic feelings associated with events from past lives and extraterrestrial cultures. The type of mental image picture created during a period of unconsciousness involves the exact recording of a painful experience. Hubbard called this phenomenon an engram, and defined it as "a moment of 'unconsciousness' containing physical pain or painful emotion and all perceptions and is not available to the analytical


id: dianetics-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-2.md
category: reference
title: Dianetics
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:44.107872+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dianetics-20260505-0
summary:
== Therapeutic claims == The slick craftsman of mass-production science-fiction, mustering his talents and energies for a supreme effort, produces [...] a fictional science. Had dianetics been presented as fiction [...] it might have been, like other ingenious science-fiction, good entertainment. In August 1950, amid the success of Dianetics, Hubbard held a demonstration at Los Angeles's Shrine Auditorium where he presented a young woman called Sonya Bianca (a pseudonym) to a large audience, including many reporters and photographers, as "the world's first Clear". Despite Hubbard's claim that she had "full and perfect recall of every moment of her life", Bianca proved unable to answer questions from the audience testing her memory and analytical abilities, including the question of the color of Hubbard's tie. Hubbard explained Bianca's failure to display her promised powers of recall to the audience by saying that he had used the word "now" in calling her to the stage, and thus inadvertently frozen her in "present time", which blocked her abilities. In the late 1950s, Hubbard claimed that several people had reached the state of Clear by the time he presented Bianca as the world's first; these others, Hubbard said, he had successfully cleared in the late


id: dianetics-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-3.md
category: reference
title: Dianetics
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:44.107872+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dianetics-20260505-0
summary:
What Hubbard touts as a science of mind lacks one key element that is expected of a science: empirical testing of claims. The key elements of Hubbard's so-called science don't seem testable, yet he repeatedly claims that he is asserting only scientific facts and data from many experiments. It isn't even clear what such "data" would look like. Most of his data is in the form of anecdotes and speculations ... Such speculation is appropriate in fiction, but not in science. The validity and practice of auditing have been questioned by a variety of non-Scientologist commentators. Commenting on the example cited by Winter, the science writer Martin Gardner asserts that "nothing could be clearer from the above dialogue than the fact that the dianetic explanation for the headache existed only in the mind of the therapist, and that it was with considerable difficulty that the patient was maneuvered into accepting it." Other critics and medical experts have suggested that Dianetic auditing is a form of hypnosis. Hubbard, who had previously used hypnosis for entertainment purposes, strongly denied this connection and cautioned against hypnosis in Dianetics auditing. Professor Richard J. Ofshe, a leading expert on false memories, suggests that the feeling


id: dinosaur-of-ta-prohm-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur_of_Ta_Prohm-0.md
category: reference
title: Dinosaur of Ta Prohm
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur_of_Ta_Prohm
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:45.294513+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dinosaur-of-ta-prohm-20260505-0
summary:
The "dinosaur of Ta Prohm" is a bas-relief in the Khmer Empire temple-monastery of Ta Prohm. Numerous reliefs of various animals are present in the temple; the "dinosaur" is one of its more ambiguous artworks. The relief first gained modern notoriety in the late 1990s when the lobe-like features running down the animal's back were compared to the back plates of stegosaurian dinosaurs. The relief has since become a popular piece of "evidence" for the fringe belief that non-avian dinosaurs once coexisted with humans. There is no academic consensus on what animal is depicted. The supposed back plates are likely stylized background foliage, present in many of the other reliefs at the temple. Other than this feature, the animal bears little resemblance to stegosaurs and instead possesses marked anatomical differences, such as in the proportions and features of its head and in its lack of a thagomizer (tail spikes). Some of its anatomical features have been compared to chameleons and rhinoceroses. It is not certain that the relief was intended to depict a real animal at all, since some reliefs in the temple depict mythical creatures. Since Ta Prohm is a popular site for film crews, it has also been


id: disc-assessment-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment-0.md
category: reference
title: DISC assessment
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:46.440148+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: disc-assessment-20260505-0
summary:
A DISC assessment is a pseudoscientific personality testing tool based on psychologist William Moulton Marston's DISC emotional and behavioural theory, first published in 1928. These assessments claim to improve job performance by categorizing individuals into four personality traits: dominance, inducement, submission, and compliance. The scientific validity of the DISC assessment has not been demonstrated, and psychologists question its predictive validity. Despite this, the DISC assessment remains widely used in business, coaching and organizational development. == History == The DISC personality theory was first outlined in the book Emotions of Normal People, published in 1928, and written by Polygraph promoter William Moulton Marston, with likely contributions by Olive Byrne and Elizabeth Holloway Marston. Marston never developed a formal assessment tool nor patented his work. As a result, multiple organizations have since interpreted and commercialized the DISC framework in different ways, leading to a variety of DISC-based assessments with differing formats, report styles, and levels of scientific validation. == Types == The first self-assessment based on Marston's DISC theory was created in 1956 by Walter Clarke, an industrial psychologist. In 1956, Clarke created the Activity Vector Analysis, a checklist of adjectives on which he asked people to indicate descriptions that were accurate


id: disclose-tv-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclose.tv-0.md
category: reference
title: Disclose.tv
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclose.tv
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:47.580504+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: disclose-tv-20260505-0
summary:
Disclose.tv is a disinformation outlet based in Germany that presents itself as a news aggregator. It is known for promoting conspiracy theories and fake news, including COVID-19 misinformation and anti-vaccine narratives. The website was created in 2007 as a conspiracy forum focused around content such as UFOs and paranormal phenomena. In 2021, it rebranded itself as a news aggregator on its social media platforms and website. Disclose.tv pushes far-right content, conspiracy theories and misleading information together with real news taken from other sources frequently without attribution, and platforms hate speech, including Holocaust denial and neo-Nazism, on its message groups. == History == Archived versions of Disclose.tv were found as far back as March 2007 by Logically, a British anti-disinformation organisation. In its initial form, the website operated as a forum focusing on user-generated content discussing topics such as UFOs, paranormal phenomena and conspiracy theories. The website's name references the concept of "disclosure" in the UFO community, referring to the time they believe the government will confirm the existence of aliens and release information about them. In April 2012, Disclose.tv announced a redesign of its website. During the 2010s, Disclose.tv's content became more political, with users' posts on the site casting


id: disclose-tv-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclose.tv-1.md
category: reference
title: Disclose.tv
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclose.tv
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:47.580504+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: disclose-tv-20260505-0
summary:
Disclose.tv presents itself as a news aggregator on its social media platforms, promoting conspiracy theories and misleading information together with real news taken from other sources frequently without attribution. It has misrepresented past events as having taken place in the present, such as reporting on a March 2020 curfew in Bavaria in October 2021. Logically noted that over half of Disclose.tv's eight most popular tweets featured no attribution as of January 2022, and stated that the website's continued uncritical coverage of conspiracy narratives and UFOs since its September 2021 relaunch revealed its links to pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. Dittrich stated that the website often creates content "that doesn't look like it's conspiracy-driven" and is occasionally shared by "apolitical people or people on the left who don't know its true purpose". Mündges said that it was not very common for a Germany-based website to be producing content in another language for an international audience, adding: "It is more common that items from the English-language media, for example the 'Stop the steal' narrative, are taken and translated into German". === Prior to 2021 relaunch === In 2012, Disclose.tv published a story titled "List of All FEMA Concentration Camps in America Revealed", which


id: discovery-institute-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute-0.md
category: reference
title: Discovery Institute
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:48.709313+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: discovery-institute-20260505-0
summary:
The Discovery Institute (DI) is a politically conservative think tank that advocates the pseudoscientific notion of intelligent design (ID). It was founded in 1991 in Seattle as a non-profit offshoot of the Hudson Institute. It has been denounced as a "propaganda mill" by various prominent critics. Its "Teach the Controversy" campaign aims to permit the teaching of anti-evolution, intelligent-design arguments in United States public high school science courses in place of accepted scientific theories, positing that a scientific controversy exists over whether evolution is a reality, when in fact there is none. == History == The institute was cofounded in 1991 by Bruce Chapman and George Gilder as a non-profit educational foundation and think tank. It was started as a branch organization of the Hudson Institute, an Indianapolis-based conservative think tank. It is named after the Royal Navy ship HMS Discovery in which George Vancouver explored Puget Sound in 1792. The organization was incorporated in 1991. === Discovery Institute Press === Discovery Institute Press is the institute's publishing arm and has published intelligent design books by its fellows including David Berlinski's Deniable Darwin & Other Essays (2010), Jonathan Wells' The Myth of Junk DNA (2011) and an edited volume titled


id: discovery-institute-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute-1.md
category: reference
title: Discovery Institute
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:48.709313+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: discovery-institute-20260505-0
summary:
==== Homelessness ==== Christopher Rufo, an activist who later opposed the teaching of critical race theory, wrote frequently on the subject of homelessness while he worked for the Discovery Institute. In his 2018 Discovery Institute-funded policy paper "Seattle Under Siege: How Seattle's Homelessness Policy Perpetuates the Crisis and How We Can Fix It," Rufo said that four groups—"socialist intellectuals", "compassion brigades", the "homeless-industrial complex", and the "addiction evangelists"—had successfully framed the debate on homelessness and diverted funding to their projects. He described how the "compassion brigade" had called for social justice using terms such as "compassion, empathy, bias, inequality, root causes, systemic racism." Rufo brought negative attention to All Home, which at the time was King County, Washington's homelessness agency, by sharing a video of a stripper performing at a conference on homelessness. All Home's director was placed on administrative leave and resigned shortly thereafter. Caitlin Bassett of the Discovery Institute has contributed opinion articles that criticize governmental response to homelessness as wasteful and counterproductive to the goal of ending homelessness. The Discovery Institute opposes the Housing First approach, preferring to prioritize treating homeless people for mental illness or drug addiction. ==== 2020 United States presidential election ==== Scott S.


id: list-of-discredited-substances-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_discredited_substances-0.md
category: reference
title: List of discredited substances
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_discredited_substances
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:49.911207+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-discredited-substances-20260505-0
summary:
This is a list of substances or materials generally considered discredited. A substance can be discredited in one of three ways: It was widely believed to exist at one time but no longer is. Such substances are often part of an obsolete scientific theory. It was once believed to have drastically different properties from those accepted now. It was widely claimed and believed to possess significant properties that are no longer attributed to it. It is currently believed to exist as part of a theory that has not met the theoretical and experimental requirements of mainstream science. In particular, such a theory must be predictive. == Substances whose existence is discredited == == Substances whose properties are discredited == This is not to be construed as implying that these items–as they are understood today–are discredited. What is listed are fire, water, metal, etc. as universal principles or fundamentals. Classical elements and Chinese elements discredited by atomic theory and nuclear physics. Fire (classical element) Water (classical element) Earth (classical element) Air (classical element) Wood (classical element) Metal (classical element) Aether (classical element): Now known not to exist (see above) The four bodily humours: Blood, Phlegm, Black Bile, and Yellow Bile. Fluids


id: dit-da-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dit_da-0.md
category: reference
title: Dit da
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dit_da
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:51.077410+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dit-da-20260505-0
summary:
Dit da (Chinese: 跌打; pinyin: diē dǎ; Jyutping: dit3 daa2; lit. 'fall [and] hit'), tit da or die da is a traditional Chinese medicine discipline used to treat trauma and injuries such as bone fractures, sprains, and bruises. Methods include bone-setting and occasional use of topical preparations such as the dit da jow. Die da originated among martial artists in Guangdong. In Hong Kong, 跌打 is pronounced as "tid da" in Hong Kong Cantonese. == Background == Before one learns hitting others, one learns being hit. [Hence] before one learns the martial arts, one learns dit-da. Dit da originated in Guangdong, China, and was usually practiced by martial artists who knew aspects of traditional Chinese medicine. Dit da specialists may also use or recommend dit da jow, other Chinese medical therapies, and in modern times, the use of Western medicine if serious injury is involved. Dit da is not commonly practiced in the West, but it is currently practiced in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. == History == The development of dit-da grew out of study by martial artists in Foshan, the main origin of "Southern-style" Chinese martial arts. This city has supported a rich martial arts tradition


id: dna-teleportation-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_teleportation-0.md
category: reference
title: DNA teleportation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_teleportation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:52.216081+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dna-teleportation-20260505-0
summary:
DNA teleportation is a pseudoscientific claim which suggests that DNA can produce electromagnetic signals (EMS) that are measurable when highly diluted in water. The claim suggests these signals can allegedly be recorded, transmitted electronically and re-emitted on another distant pure water sample, where the DNA can replicate through polymerase chain reaction, despite the absence of the original DNA in the new water sample. The idea was introduced by the Nobel laureate Luc Montagnier in 2009. It is similar in principle to water memory, a similar pseudoscientific claim popularised by Jacques Benveniste in 1988. No independent research has been conducted to support the claim and to this day, there is no known or plausible scientific mechanism by which it might work. == Electromagnetic signals from DNA == === Bacterial DNA === In 2009, Montagnier and his collaborators published a paper titled "Electromagnetic signals are produced by aqueous nanostructures derived from bacterial DNA sequences" in which they reported that bacterial DNA can produce an electromagnetic signal (EMS) that is transferred through the cell culture medium. In a medium of T lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell), they cultured bacterial DNA from Mycoplasma pirum and Escherichia coli. After filtering to remove all


id: dna-teleportation-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_teleportation-1.md
category: reference
title: DNA teleportation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_teleportation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:52.216081+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dna-teleportation-20260505-0
summary:
== Responses and criticisms == The 2009 publications were immediately followed by scientific comments and criticisms of the credibility of the purported phenomenon, as well as the authenticity of the research. According to chemist Jeff Reimers of the University of Sydney, Australia, "If the results are correct, these would be the most significant experiments performed in the past 90 years, demanding re-evaluation of the whole conceptual framework of modern chemistry." The credibility of the peer-review system of the journal Interdisciplinary Sciences: Computational Life Sciences, in which the 2009 papers were published, was questioned. It was a new journal of which Montagnier is chairman of the editorial board. Gary Schuster, at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, compared it to pathological science. Paul Myers at the University of Minnesota Morris also described it as "pathological science." He described the paper as "one of the more unprofessional write-ups I've ever run across" and criticized the publication process as having an "unbelievable" turnaround time: "another suspicious sign are the dates. This paper was submitted on 03 January 2009, revised on 05 January 2009, and accepted on 06 January 2009", leading him to ask: "Who reviewed this, the author's mother? Maybe someone even closer.


id: doctrine-of-signatures-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures-0.md
category: reference
title: Doctrine of signatures
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:53.410449+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: doctrine-of-signatures-20260505-0
summary:
The doctrine of signatures, also known as the doctrine of correspondences, is a biomedicinal theory of pseudoscience. It states that herbs or animals have physical or behavioral traits that mirror the ailment it can successfully treat. Theological justifications, such as that of botanist William Cole, were that God would want to show men what plants would be useful for. The doctrine of signatures has a debated origin. Many historians believe it begins with primitive thinking methods, while other historians believe it originated with Dioscorides and was popularized in the 16th and 17th centuries after Jakob Böhme coined the doctrine of signatures in his book The Signature of All Things. This theory is a possible explanation for the ancient discovery of medicinal properties; however, there is no definitive proof as to whether the medicinal property or the connection in physical/behavioral traits was realized first. The theory later became a scientific basis for trying new remedies solely based upon their qualities in an attempt to find new medicines. While there are some homeopathic remedies that are still used today which have been connected to this theory, there are also remedies from this theory which have been found harmful. For instance, birthwort (so-called


id: doctrine-of-signatures-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures-1.md
category: reference
title: Doctrine of signatures
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:53.410449+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: doctrine-of-signatures-20260505-0
summary:
It is worth noting that it is possible that these are post hoc attributions—the appearance and treatment linked after the medicinal property was discovered. Depending on the article, remedies connected to the doctrine vary in number and consistency. == Scientific, spiritual, and social context == Signatures are often described as post hoc attributions and mnemonics used to remember the properties of a plant rather than the reason it was originally used. There is no scientific or historical evidence that plant shapes and colors have aided in the discovery of their medical uses. In Europe, the idea of doctrine of signatures was linked with Christian beliefs. However, similar theories were created within black magic with sympathetic magic. Similar theories have been observed all over the world in ancient Egypt, China, pre-Columbian America, and the Middle East. This can also explain how varied, and at times contradictory, applications of the doctrine can be because traditional botany is subject to optimal foraging theory. Remedies would, in many cases, be based on the environmental availability of that resource rather than its objective effectiveness. Some sociologists frame the doctrine of signatures as a type of "enchantment", the idea that it is not just what one


id: doktor-koster-s-antigaspills-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doktor_Koster's_Antigaspills-0.md
category: reference
title: Doktor Koster's Antigaspills
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doktor_Koster's_Antigaspills
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:54.558335+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: doktor-koster-s-antigaspills-20260505-0
summary:
Doktor Koster's Antigaspills were an early-20th-century alternative medication intended to treat stomach upset and excessive flatulence. They are best known for being administered to Adolf Hitler by his physician, Theodor Morell, to treat Hitler's stomach ailments. Morrell, regarded as a quack by Hitler's associates, administered a wide variety of unorthodox concoctions and medications to Hitler beginning in 1936. The pill's active ingredients consisted primarily of atropine (an extract of Atropa belladonna) and strychnine. == References ==


id: maurice-doreal-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Doreal-0.md
category: reference
title: Maurice Doreal
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Doreal
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:55.710363+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: maurice-doreal-20260505-0
summary:
Maurice Doreal (1898–1963), born Claude Doggins, was an American occultist and founder of the Brotherhood of the White Temple. Doreal claimed that during a 1925 visit to the Great Pyramids of Giza, he discovered a set of ancient emerald tablets belonging to the Egyptian deity Thoth, whom he re-imagined as a king of Atlantis. Doreal then claimed to have translated the text, which he published as the Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean (not to be confused with the medieval Hermetic text called the Emerald Tablet). == Occult views == In around 1930, Maurice Doreal formed the Brotherhood of the White Temple in Denver, having been involved in Theosophy. He claimed that in 1931, in Los Angeles, he met two Atlanteans who took him to a cave underneath Mount Shasta. Doreal quickly developed a cosmology focused on the inner earth, describing "underground races" he claimed to have learned about from the Atlanteans. Doreal developed theories of an underground serpent race. During the 1950s, Doreal incorporated aliens into his views. He combined these all into a theory that in the second half of the 20th century, the serpent race would ally with the Antichrist. He believed that there were "three types


id: dowsing-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-0.md
category: reference
title: Dowsing
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:56.970197+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dowsing-20260505-0
summary:
Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate many types of object and material without the use of a technical equipment or scientific apparatus. It can be applied to seek for ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, claimed radiations (radiesthesia), gravesites, or malign "earth vibrations". It is also known as divining (especially in water divining), doodlebugging (particularly in the United States, in searching for petroleum or treasure) or water finding, or water witching (in the United States). A Y-shaped twig or rod, or two L-shaped ones, called dowsing rods or divining rods are normally used, and the motion of these are said to reveal the location of the target material. The motion of such dowsing devices is generally attributed to random movement, or to the ideomotor phenomenon, a psychological response where a subject makes motions unconsciously. The scientific evidence shows that dowsing is no more effective than random chance. It is therefore regarded as a pseudoscience. == History == === Early divination and religion === Dowsing originated in ancient times, when it was treated as a form of divination. The Catholic Church banned the practice completely. Protestant Reformer Martin Luther perpetuated the Catholic ban, in


id: dowsing-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-1.md
category: reference
title: Dowsing
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:56.970197+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dowsing-20260505-0
summary:
...There are many great contentions between miners concerning the forked twig, for some say that it is of the greatest use in discovering veins, and others deny it. ... All alike grasp the forks of the twig with their hands, clenching their fists, it being necessary that the clenched fingers should be held toward the sky in order that the twig should be raised at that end where the two branches meet. Then they wander hither and thither at random through mountainous regions. It is said that the moment they place their feet on a vein the twig immediately turns and twists, and so by its action discloses the vein; when they move their feet again and go away from that spot the twig becomes once more immobile. ... In the 16th century, German deep mining technology was in enormous demand all over Europe. German miners were licensed to live and work in England, particularly in the Stannaries (tin mines) of Devon and Cornwall and in Cumbria. In other parts of England, the technique was used in the royal mines for calamine. By 1638 German miners were recorded using the technique in silver mines in Wales. The Middle Low German


id: dowsing-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-2.md
category: reference
title: Dowsing
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:56.970197+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dowsing-20260505-0
summary:
Traditionally, the most common method used is the dowsing twig, a forked (Y-shaped) branch from a tree or bush. Some dowsers prefer branches from particular trees, and some prefer the branches to be freshly cut. Hazel twigs in Europe and witch-hazel in the United States are traditionally commonly chosen, as are branches from willow or peach trees. The two ends on the forked side are held one in each hand with the third (the stem of the Y) pointing straight ahead. The dowser then walks slowly over the places where the target (for example, minerals or water) may be, and the dowsing rod is expected to dip, incline or twitch when a discovery is made. This method is sometimes known as "willow witching." Some dowsers would hang a golden ring on the edge of the dowsing rod, or split the tip to slide in a silver coin. === Pair of rods === Many modern dowsers use a pair of L-shaped metal rods. One rod is held in each hand, with the short arm of the L held upright, and the long arm pointing forward. The upright arm is often free to rotate inside a tube. When something is "found," the


id: dowsing-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-3.md
category: reference
title: Dowsing
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:56.970197+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dowsing-20260505-0
summary:
=== Betz 1990 study === In a 1987–88 study in Munich by Hans-Dieter Betz and other scientists, 500 dowsers were initially tested for their skill, and the experimenters selected the best 43 among them for further tests. Water was pumped through a pipe on the ground floor of a two-story barn. Before each test, the pipe was moved in a direction perpendicular to the water flow. On the upper floor, each dowser was asked to determine the position of the pipe. Over two years, the dowsers performed 843 such tests and, of the 43 pre-selected and extensively tested candidates, at least 37 showed no dowsing ability. The results from the remaining 6 were said to be better than chance, resulting in the experimenters' conclusion that some dowsers "in particular tasks, showed an extraordinarily high rate of success, which can scarcely if at all be explained as due to chance … a real core of dowser-phenomena can be regarded as empirically proven." Five years after the Munich study was published, Jim T. Enright, a professor of physiology who emphasized correct data analysis procedure, contended that the study's results are merely consistent with statistical fluctuations and not significant. He believed the experiments


id: drapetomania-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapetomania-0.md
category: reference
title: Drapetomania
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapetomania
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:58.190792+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: drapetomania-20260505-0
summary:
Drapetomania was a proposed mental illness that, in 1851, American physician Samuel A. Cartwright hypothesized as the cause of enslaved Americans fleeing captivity. This hypothesis was based on the belief that slavery was such an improvement upon the lives of slaves that only those suffering from some form of mental illness would wish to escape. Cartwright specifically cited the tendency of slaves to flee the plantations that held them. Since slaves happy with their condition would not want to leave, he inferred that such people had to be sick, impervious to the natural order of things. He published an article about black slaves' illnesses and idiosyncrasies in De Bow's Review. Contemporarily reprinted in the South, Cartwright's article was widely mocked and satirized in the northern United States. The concept has since been debunked as pseudoscience and shown to be part of the edifice of scientific racism. The term derives from the Greek δραπέτης (drapetēs, 'a runaway [slave]') and μανία (mania, 'madness, frenzy'). As late as 1914, the third edition of Thomas Lathrop Stedman's Practical Medical Dictionary included an entry for drapetomania, defined as "vagabondage, dromomania; an uncontrollable or insane impulsion to wander." == Description == Cartwright described the disorder—which, he


id: drug-fraud-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_fraud-0.md
category: reference
title: Drug fraud
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_fraud
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:18:59.358366+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: drug-fraud-20260505-0
summary:
Drug fraud is a type of fraud in which drugs, legal or illegal, are cut or altered in such a way that diminishes their value below that which they are sold for. == Illegal drug fraud == This type of drug fraud occurs when the dealer cuts or commingles the pure drug with a similar substance such as baby powder or powdered milk. When this is sold to the user, the user receives less of a high and so must buy more to get the previous high. There may also be adverse health consequences as a result of the cutting substance, such as a bad trip or overdose. This can also be seen in prescription drugs. == Legal drug fraud == Legal drug fraud occurs when a physician prescribes medication for a patient under false pretenses. This may be because the manufacturers of the drug have paid the doctor a fee to dispense their drug. Another cause may be drug pricing fraud, in which a physician prescribes a patient expensive drugs, that they may or may not need, in order to profit from the receipts. Patients too, may participate in this. A common method is the forging of doctor prescriptions


id: dry-needling-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling-0.md
category: reference
title: Dry needling
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:00.518749+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dry-needling-20260505-0
summary:
Dry needling, also known as trigger point dry needling and intramuscular stimulation, is a treatment technique used by various healthcare practitioners, including physical therapists, physicians, and chiropractors, among others. Acupuncturists usually maintain that dry needling is adapted from acupuncture, but others consider dry needling as a variation of trigger point injections. It involves the use of either solid filiform needles or hollow-core hypodermic needles for therapy of muscle pain, including pain related to myofascial pain syndrome. Dry needling is mainly used to treat myofascial trigger points, but it is also used to target connective tissue, neural ailments, and muscular ailments. The American Physical Therapy Association defines dry needling as a technique used to treat dysfunction of skeletal muscle and connective tissue, minimize pain, and improve or regulate structural or functional damage. There is conflicting evidence regarding the effectiveness of dry needling. Some results suggest that it is an effective treatment for certain kinds of muscle pain, while other studies have shown no benefit compared to a placebo; however, not enough high-quality, long-term, and large-scale studies have been done on the technique to draw clear conclusions about its efficacy. Currently, dry needling is being practiced in the United States, Canada, Europe,


id: dry-needling-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling-1.md
category: reference
title: Dry needling
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:00.518749+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dry-needling-20260505-0
summary:
== Technique == The technique for dry needling depends on which tissue is being targeted and the overall objective of the treatment. For example, one of the most common treatment objectives for dry needling, myofascial trigger points (TrPs), differs physiologically from treatments for scar tissue, connective tissue problems, and other medical issues. In the treatment of trigger points for persons with myofascial pain syndrome, dry needling is an invasive procedure in which a filiform needle is inserted into the skin and muscle directly at a myofascial trigger point. A myofascial trigger point consists of multiple, hyperirritable contraction knots related to the production and maintenance of the pain cycle; essentially, myofascial trigger points will generate much local pain upon stimulation or irritation. Deep dry needling for treating trigger points was first introduced by the Czech neurologist Karel Lewit in 1979. Lewit had noticed that the success of injections into trigger points in relieving pain was apparently unconnected to the analgesic used. Dry needling can be divided into categories in terms of depth of penetration: deep and superficial dry needling. Deep dry needling will inactivate myofascial trigger points by provoking a local twitch response (LTR), which is an involuntary spinal cord reflex


id: dry-needling-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling-2.md
category: reference
title: Dry needling
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:00.518749+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dry-needling-20260505-0
summary:
=== Relation to acupuncture === The debated distinction between dry needling and acupuncture has become a controversy because it relates to an issue of scope of practice of various professions. Acupuncturists claim that dry needling is a form of acupuncture that does not fall in the scope of physical therapists, chiropractors, or the majority of other healthcare professionals; whereas those healthcare professionals claim dry needling is not acupuncture, but rather a procedure that is rooted in biomedical modern sciences. Becoming a certified acupuncturist requires hundreds of hours spent in educational programs, national-level exams, and good professional standing. On the other hand, to be certified in dry needling requires continued education or a certification program that is not yet regulated with strict standards; in addition, there is a general lack of policymakers, evaluation systems, or healthcare standards governing the technique of dry needling. Many physical therapists and chiropractors have asserted that they are not practicing acupuncture when dry needling; however, much of dry needling research has been done concerning acupuncture. They assert that much of the basic physiological and biomechanical knowledge that dry needling utilizes is taught as part of their core physical therapy and chiropractic education and that the specific


id: duluth-model-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_model-0.md
category: reference
title: Duluth model
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_model
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:01.734691+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: duluth-model-20260505-0
summary:
The Duluth model is a pseudoscientific protocol for coordinated intervention of community resources against intimate partner violence (IPV). While it remains the primary means of addressing such violence in many American states, legal, social, and academic critics widely consider the model to be pseudoscientific, less effective compared to other protocols, or biased because it incorrectly categorically rejects women's violence, violence within same-sex relationships, bidirectional abuse,, and theoretically unsound as it was not created through academic study. Academics have demonstrated that it is an extreme, negative, and polarized model. The Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP) devised the protocol to bring law enforcement, family law, and social work agencies together in a "Coordinated Community Response" ("CCR") to purportedly reduce violence against women and rehabilitate perpetrators of domestic violence. The DAIP developed the curriculum in Duluth, Minnesota, whence its name. The model describes coordinating community agencies to provide a consistent response to female victims of Intimate Partner Violence that has three primary goals: Ensuring survivor safety. Providing a way to hold offenders/abusive partners accountable for their violence. Changing the climate of tolerance for this form of violence. Part of this model is the men's behavior change program Creating a Process of Change for


id: duluth-model-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_model-1.md
category: reference
title: Duluth model
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_model
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:01.734691+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: duluth-model-20260505-0
summary:
== Criticism == Criticism of the Duluth Model has centered on the program's sexist insistence that men are perpetrators who are violent because they have been socialized in a patriarchy that condones male violence, and that women are victims who are violent only in self-defense. Some critics argue that "programs based on the Duluth Model may ignore research linking domestic violence to substance abuse and psychological problems, such as attachment disorders, traced to childhood abuse or neglect, or the absence of a history of adequate socialization and training." Others criticize the Duluth Model as being overly confrontational rather than therapeutic, focusing solely on changing the abuser's actions and attitudes rather than dealing with underlying emotional and psychological issues. Donald Dutton, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia who has studied abusive personalities, states: "The Duluth Model was developed by people who didn't understand anything about therapy." Dutton also observes that "lesbian battering is more frequent than heterosexual battering". Philip W. Cook comments that in the case of homosexual domestic violence, the patriarchy is absent: there is no male dominance of women in same-sex relationships, and in fact female on female abuse is reported more than twice as frequently


id: dunstan-baby-language-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunstan_Baby_Language-0.md
category: reference
title: Dunstan Baby Language
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunstan_Baby_Language
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:02.908958+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dunstan-baby-language-20260505-0
summary:
Dunstan Baby Language is a hypothesis about infantile vocal reflexes as signals, in humans. The hypothesis is that across cultures and linguistic groups there are five sounds, each with a meaning, that are used by infants before the language acquisition period. The hypothesis was developed by Australian former mezzo-soprano, Priscilla Dunstan, and has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. In a 2023 Nature paper, researchers have not been able to validate Dunstan's theory, and only found infant cries to carry age and identity information. == Dunstan's hypothesis == Between 0–3 months, infants make what Dunstan calls "sound reflexes." According to Dunstan, we all have reflexes, like sneezes, hiccups, and burps, that all have a recognizable pattern when sound is added to the reflex. There are other reflexes that all babies experience, and when sound is added to these, a distinct, preemptive "cry" will occur before the infant breaks into what Dunstan calls the hysterical cry. Dunstan states that these preemptive cries can indicate what the infant requires (e.g., food, comfort, sleep), and they escalate to the hysterical cry if they are not answered. As the infant matures past 3 months in vocalization, the sound reflexes become replaced with more


id: dysaesthesia-aethiopica-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysaesthesia_aethiopica-0.md
category: reference
title: Dysaesthesia aethiopica
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysaesthesia_aethiopica
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:04.101771+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dysaesthesia-aethiopica-20260505-0
summary:
In psychiatry, dysaesthesia aethiopica (literally "Ethiopian bad feeling", "black bad feeling") was an alleged mental illness described by American physician Samuel A. Cartwright in 1851, which proposed a theory for the cause of laziness among slaves. Today, dysaesthesia aethiopica is not recognized as a disease, but instead considered an example of pseudoscience, and part of the edifice of scientific racism. == History == Applied exclusively to African Americans, dysaesthesia aethiopica was characterized by partial insensitivity of the skin and "so great a hebetude of the intellectual faculties, as to be like a person half asleep." Other symptoms included dry, thick, rough skin and "lesions of the body discoverable to the medical observer, which are always present and sufficient to account for the symptoms." Cartwright contended that the existence of dysaesthesia aethiopica was "clearly established by the most direct and positive testimony," but other doctors had failed to notice it because their "attention [had] not been sufficiently directed to the maladies of the negro race." Cartwright said that overseers referred to this condition as "rascality", as if the slaves' clumsiness and erratic actions were intentional, but he disagreed, claiming that it was in fact a physical disease, which he believed was


id: e-meter-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-0.md
category: reference
title: E-meter
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:05.250291+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: e-meter-20260505-0
summary:
The E-Meter (also electropsychometer and Hubbard Electrometer) is an electronic device used in Scientology that allegedly "registers emotional reactions". After claims by L. Ron Hubbard that the procedures of auditing, which used the E-Meter, could help heal diseases, the E-Meter became the subject of litigation. Since then, the Church of Scientology publishes disclaimers declaring that the E-Meter "by itself does nothing", is incapable of improving health, and is used solely for spiritual purposes. == History == === Mathison === Volney Mathison built an Electrodermal activity meter based on a Wheatstone bridge, a vacuum tube amplifier, and a large moving-coil meter that projected an image of the needle on the wall. He patented his device in 1954 as an electropsychometer or E-meter, and it came to be known as the "Mathison Electropsychometer". In Mathison's words, the E-meter "has a needle that swings back and forth across a scale when a patient holds on to two electrical contacts". Mathison recorded in his book, Electropsychometry, that the idea of the E-Meter came to him in 1950 while listening to a lecture by L. Ron Hubbard: In 1950 ... I next attended a series of lectures being given by a very controversial figure, who


id: e-meter-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-1.md
category: reference
title: E-meter
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:05.250291+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: e-meter-20260505-0
summary:
E-meters are used by Scientology practitioners known as "auditors". Scientology materials refer to the subject as the "preclear". The auditor gives the preclear a series of commands or questions while the preclear holds a pair of cylindrical electrodes ("cans") connected to the meter, and the auditor notes both the verbal response and the activity of the meter. Auditor training includes familiarization with a number of characteristic needle movements, each with a specific significance. Religion scholar Dorthe Refslund Christensen describes the e-meter as "a technical device that could help the auditor locate engrams and areas of change when auditing a preclear". Scientology concepts associated with the E-meter and its use are regarded by the scientific and medical communities as pseudoscience, as the E-meter has never been subjected to clinical trials as a therapeutic tool. Scientologists claim that in the hands of a trained operator, the meter can indicate whether a person has been relieved from the spiritual impediment of past experiences. In accordance with a 1974 federal court order, the Church of Scientology asserts that the E-meter is intended for use only in church-sanctioned auditing sessions; it is not a curative or medical device. The E-meters used by the Church were


id: e-meter-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-2.md
category: reference
title: E-meter
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:05.250291+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: e-meter-20260505-0
summary:
=== Electronics === One of E-meter's primary components is a Wheatstone bridge, an electrical circuit configuration invented in 1833 that enables the detection of very small differences between two electrical impedances (in this case, resistances). The E-meter is constructed so that one resistance is the subject's body and the other is a rheostat controlled by the operator. A small voltage from the battery is applied to electrodes held in the subject's hands. As the electrical properties (electrodermal activity) of the subject's body change during the counseling, the resulting changes in the small electric current are displayed in needle movements on a large analog panel meter. The dial face is without numbers because the absolute resistance in ohms is relatively unimportant, while the operator watches primarily for characteristic needle motions. The voltage applied to the electrodes is less than 1.5 V, and the electric current through the subject's body is less than a half a milliampere. In the Scientology E-meter, the large control, known as the "tone arm", adjusts the meter bias, while a smaller one controls the gain. The operator manipulates the tone arm to keep the needle near the center of the dial so its motion is easily observed.


id: e-meter-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-3.md
category: reference
title: E-meter
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:05.250291+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: e-meter-20260505-0
summary:
The Church claimed that they had not written any publication that the E-meter could or would heal anything and sued to get the property back. Years of litigation ensued. In the first trial beginning on April 3, 1967, the jury found that the Church misrepresented the E-meter, and the judge ordered the confiscated materials destroyed. However, in 1969 the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed the verdict; the Church, it said, had made substantial showing that Scientology is a religion and the government had done nothing to rebut the claim. The US Court of Appeals wrote: [The Founding Church has] made no attempt to contradict the expert testimony introduced by the Government. They have conceded that the E-meter is of no use in the diagnosis or treatment of disease as such, and have argued that it was never put forward as having such use. Auditing or processing, in their view, treats the spirit of man, not his body, though through the healing of the spirit the body can be affected. They have culled from their literature numerous statements disclaiming any intent to treat disease and recommending that Scientology practitioners send those under their care to doctors


id: e-meter-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-4.md
category: reference
title: E-meter
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:05.250291+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: e-meter-20260505-0
summary:
In 1964, the government of Victoria, Australia, held a Board of Inquiry into Scientology which returned its findings in a document colloquially known as the Anderson Report. Psychiatrist Ian Holland Martin, honorary federal secretary of the Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, gave evidence that the E-Meter "used for Scientology" was a "psycho-galvano-meter" and was "dangerous in unqualified hands". He said that if the E-meter "was suggested to possess mysterious powers" to someone who did not understand that it had "been thoroughly discredited as a lie detector" then "that person would be suggestible to ideas foisted on him by the operator". The final report of the inquiry stated that the E-meter enabled Scientology to assume, intensify and retain control over the minds and wills of preclears. Fears of its abilities keep them in constant subjection. Its use can be so manipulated by cunningly phrased questions that almost any desired result can be obtained, and it is used unscrupulously to dominate students and staff alike. All the evil features of scientology are intensified where the E-meter is involved. When used in conjunction with hypnotic techniques, its evil impact is greatly increased. This simple electrical device is not, of course, the


id: ear-candling-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_candling-0.md
category: reference
title: Ear candling
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_candling
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:06.479579+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ear-candling-20260505-0
summary:
Ear candling, also called ear coning or thermal-auricular therapy, is a pseudoscientific alternative medicine practice claiming to improve general health and well-being by lighting one end of a hollow candle and placing the other end in the ear canal. Medical research has shown that the practice is both dangerous and ineffective and does not functionally remove earwax or toxicants, despite product design contributing to that impression. == Technique == Medical News Today describes the process of ear candling: Ear candles are typically about 10 inches long, hollow, and tapered. A person lights them at their widest end. They are usually made of fabric soaked in wax or a mixture of substances, often paraffin and beeswax. To perform ear candling, a person will lie on their side and insert a candle into the ear. Usually, a square or circle made of paper, tin foil, or plastic acts as a cover to prevent hot wax from dripping onto the face, neck, or hair. Once the candle and covering are secure, a person will light the candle for 10–20 minutes. Wax does not go into the ear during this process. Ear candle makers and supporters claim that the lit candle creates enough warmth


id: earthquake-sensitivity-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_sensitivity-0.md
category: reference
title: Earthquake sensitivity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_sensitivity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:09.780483+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: earthquake-sensitivity-20260505-0
summary:
Earthquake sensitivity and earthquake sensitive are pseudoscientific terms defined by Jim Berkland to refer to certain people who claim sensitivity to the precursors of impending earthquakes, manifested in "dreams or visions, psychic impressions, or physiological symptoms", the latter including "ear tones" (ringing in the ears), headaches, and agitation. It is claimed that "[a] person with a very sensitive body may also have some subtle reaction to whatever animals react to". Proponents have speculated that these may result from: 1) piezoelectric effects due to changes in the stress of the Earth's crust, 2) low-frequency electromagnetic signals, or 3) from the emission of radon gas. Although proponents suggest the possibility that the claimed effects might work through known physical phenomena, and thus be amenable to scientific study, these claims are pseudoscientific in that no evidence of such effects, nor any theory of how such effects might be perceived, has been presented in the scientific literature. What the scientific literature does have is various reports showing that animals do not show disturbed or altered behavior attributable to earthquake precursors (other than foreshocks). Aside from whether such phenomena can be detected (by any means), the "consistent failure to find reliable earthquake precursors" has led


id: ebola-misinformation-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_misinformation-0.md
category: reference
title: Ebola misinformation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_misinformation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:11.005459+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ebola-misinformation-20260505-0
summary:
Multiple conspiracy theories, hoaxes, and quack cures have circulated about ebola viruses, regarding the origin of outbreaks, treatments for ebola virus disease, and preventative measures. == Unproven and disproven treatments == During the Western African Ebola virus epidemic (2013-2016), a number of unproven and fake treatments were marketed online in the United States, including snake venom, vitamin C, "Nano Silver", and various homeopathic and herbal remedies, including clove oil, garlic, and ewedu soup. Gary Coody, national health fraud coordinator for the FDA, described the purveyors of these unproven treatments as "like storm-chasing roofers, who go and try to defraud people after a big storm. Some of them may be making an honest mistake; other companies are trying to rip people off." Coody also said the problem with implausible and unproven remedies is not only that they are unlikely to work, but also that such treatments may lead to patients delaying effective and timely medical care in a hospital setting. == Implausible and disproven methods for preventing Ebola == During the 2014 and 2019 outbreaks, a number of hoax remedies for the prevention of Ebola were spread online. One such common thread was the frequent use of essential oils. There is


id: elastic-therapeutic-tape-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_therapeutic_tape-0.md
category: reference
title: Elastic therapeutic tape
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_therapeutic_tape
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:12.213282+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: elastic-therapeutic-tape-20260505-0
summary:
Elastic therapeutic tape, also called kinesiology tape or kinesiology therapeutic tape, Kinesio tape, k-tape, or KT is an elastic cotton strip with an acrylic adhesive that is purported to ease pain and disability from athletic injuries and a variety of other physical disorders. In individuals with chronic musculo­skeletal pain, research suggests that elastic taping may help relieve pain, but not more than other treatment approaches, and no evidence indicates that it can reduce disability in chronic pain cases. No convincing scientific evidence indicates that such products provide any demonstrable benefit in excess of a placebo, with some declaring it a pseudo­scientific treatment. == History == Kenzo Kase, a Japanese–American chiro­practor, developed the product in the 1970s. The company he founded markets variants under the brand name "Kinesio" and takes legal action to prevent the word being used as a genericised trademark. A surge in popularity resulted after the product was donated to Olympic athletes in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and 2012 London Summer Olympics. The tapes' prominence and mass introduction to the general public have been attributed to Kerri Walsh who wore the tape on her shoulder, and who along with Misty May-Treanor dominated the 2008 beach volleyball event.


id: elastic-therapeutic-tape-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_therapeutic_tape-1.md
category: reference
title: Elastic therapeutic tape
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_therapeutic_tape
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:12.213282+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: elastic-therapeutic-tape-20260505-0
summary:
== Effectiveness == Manufacturers have made a wide variety of claims, including that it provides physical support for muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints. KT Health's web site at one point claimed the tape "lifts the skin, decompressing the layers of fascia, allowing for greater movement of lymphatic fluid which transports white blood cells throughout the body and removes waste products, cellular debris, and bacteria". This increase in the inter­stitial space purportedly reduces pressure on the body's nociceptors, which detect pain, and stimulates mechano­receptors, to improve overall joint pro­prio­ception. Critics say these claims are not supported by evidence. In the 2012 article "Scientists sceptical as athletes get all taped up", Reuters reported that "In a review of all the scientific research so far, published in the Sports Medicine journal in February, researchers found 'little quality evidence to support the use of Kinesio tape over other types of elastic taping in the management or prevention of sports injuries". Some researchers claim that what athletes are experiencing is just a placebo effect. In July 2012, Steven Novella writing in Science-Based Medicine in the article "Olympic Pseudo­science", examined the use of KT in the larger context of "sports-related pseudo­science". Novella says "The world of


id: electroacupuncture-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroacupuncture-0.md
category: reference
title: Electroacupuncture
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroacupuncture
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:13.345193+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: electroacupuncture-20260505-0
summary:
Electroacupuncture is a form of acupuncture where a small electric current is passed between pairs of acupuncture needles. The Cochrane Collaboration, a group of evidence-based medicine (EBM) reviewers, reviewed acupuncture and electroacupuncture for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Because of the small number and poor quality of studies, they found no evidence to recommend its use for this condition. The reviewers concluded: "Although the results of the study on electroacupuncture show that electroacupuncture may be beneficial to reduce symptomatic knee pain in patients with RA 24 hours and 4 months post treatment, the reviewers concluded that the poor quality of the trial, including the small sample size preclude its recommendation. The reviewers further conclude that acupuncture has no effect on ESR, CRP, pain, patient's global assessment, number of swollen joints, number of tender joints, general health, disease activity and reduction of analgesics. These conclusions are limited by methodological considerations such as the type of acupuncture (acupuncture vs electroacupuncture), the site of intervention, the low number of clinical trials and the small sample size of the included studies." A 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis found inconclusive evidence that electroacupuncture was effective for nausea and vomiting and hyperemesis gravidarum during pregnancy. The


id: electrohomeopathy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrohomeopathy-0.md
category: reference
title: Electrohomeopathy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrohomeopathy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:14.530601+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: electrohomeopathy-20260505-0
summary:
Electrohomeopathy, also called electrohomoeopathy, electropathy or the Mattei cancer cure, is a historical proposed alternative to miasma theory and then-increasingly popular germ theory, as well as associated techniques. Invented in the 19th century by Count Cesare Mattei, the name is derived from a combination of electro (for electric bio-energy), homeo (Greek for "similar" or "like") and pathy (from the Greek word "pathos," which means "suffering"); it is an herbal medicine system that relies on the claimed healing properties of plants. The theory never saw significant mainstream success and the ideas have been characterized as quackery and described as "utter idiocy". == History and criticism == Electrohomeopathy was devised by Cesare Mattei (1809–1896) in the latter part of the 19th century. Mattei, a nobleman living in a castle in the vicinity of Bologna, studied natural science, anatomy, physiology, pathology, chemistry and botany. He ultimately focused on the supposed therapeutic power of "electricity" in botanical extracts. Mattei made bold, unsupported claims for the efficacy of his treatments, including the claim that his treatments offered a nonsurgical alternative to cancer. His treatment regimens were met with scepticism by medical orthodoxy: The electrohomeopathic system is an invention of Count Mattei who prates of "red,"


id: electromagnetic-hypersensitivity-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_hypersensitivity-0.md
category: reference
title: Electromagnetic hypersensitivity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_hypersensitivity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:19:15.755092+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: electromagnetic-hypersensitivity-20260505-0
summary:
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is a claimed sensitivity to electromagnetic fields, to which adverse symptoms are attributed. EHS has no scientific basis and is not a recognized medical diagnosis, although it is generally accepted that the experience of EHS symptoms is of psychosomatic origin. Claims are characterized by a "variety of non-specific symptoms, which afflicted individuals attribute to exposure to electromagnetic fields." Attempts to justify the claim that EHS is caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields have amounted to pseudoscience. Those self-diagnosed with EHS report adverse reactions to electromagnetic fields at intensities well below the maximum levels permitted by international radiation safety standards. Provocation trials have found that such claimants are unable to distinguish between exposure and non-exposure to electromagnetic fields. A systematic review of medical research in 2011 found no convincing scientific evidence for symptoms being caused by electromagnetic fields. Since then, several double-blind experiments have shown that people who report electromagnetic hypersensitivity are unable to detect the presence of electromagnetic fields and are as likely to report ill health following a sham exposure as they are following exposure to genuine electromagnetic fields, suggesting the cause in these cases is the nocebo effect. As of 2005, the WHO recommended that


