Home : Skeptical Inquirer magazine

Volume 29, Number 2
March/April 2005

• Buy this back issue
• One Longsome Argument
• Hyperbole in Media Reports on Asteroids and Impacts
• The Bizarre Columbia University 'Miracle' Saga Continues
• 'Stupid Dino Tricks': A Reply to Hovind's Web Response
• Was a Quack Doctor Jack the Ripper?

Evolution and Evidence

One Longsome Argument

By any objective measure, the evolution of species ranks among the most successful scientific theories ever. So why is the message not getting through?

Dennis R. Trumble

Moonshine

Why the Peppered Moth Remains an Icon of Evolution

The peppered moth evolved a dark form in response to soot covering its habitat during the industrial revolution. Or did it? There has been speculation that the data were faked or manipulated. An investigation shows that this criticism is without foundation.

Matt Young and Ian Musgrave

Media and Misinformation

Hyperbole in Media Reports on Asteroids and Impacts

News releases and media reporting on asteroid impact-related science frequently exaggerate the uniqueness and significance of new research. We should be skeptical of all claims of scientific revolutions.

David Morrison

Ringing False Alarms

Skepticism and Media Scares

The American public gets from its news media a steady stream of "wake up calls" to panic over-daily or weekly alerts of things to worry about, crises to address. Though many of these problems are real, others are little more than phantom fears. Since the news media give us no way to distinguish the real problems from the exaggerated ones, the best antidote is a healthy dose of skepticism.

Benjamin Radford

Article

The Glaring Garret Ghost

Since 1878, the horror-stricken face of Henry Wells has supposedly glared from the garret window of the Pickens County Courthouse in Carrollton, Alabama. Is it real?

Mark W. Durm

Columns

Editor's Note

Evolution and Evidence

News and Comment

• New Government Peer Review Leaves Cold Fusion Still Out in the Cold
• PBS Premiers NOVA ScienceNow
• Psychic Detectives Fail in the Real World but Succeed on TV
• Bin Laden Dead, Powell President? Psychics' Predictions for 2004 Missed Big Time
• Blundered Predictions in 2004: A Sylvia Browne Review
• Holy Grilled Cheese?
• NMSR's Best and Worst of 2004 Awards

Investigative Files

ntuition: The Case of the Unknown Daughter

Joe Nickell

Thinking About Science

Do Extraordinary Claims Really Require Extraordinary Evidence?

Massimo Pigliucci

Notes on a Strange World

Was a Quack Doctor Jack the Ripper?

Massimo Polidoro

Science Best Sellers

Forum

Scientists and the Election

Ralph Estling

Comforting Thoughts about Death That Have Nothing to Do with God

Greta Christina

Follow-up

The Bizarre Columbia University 'Miracle' Saga Continues

Bruce L. Flamm

'Stupid Dino Tricks': A Reply to Hovind's Web Response

Greg Martinez

Letters to the Editor

Reviews

A Matter of Days: Resolving a Creation Controversy

By Hugh Ross

Timothy H. Heaton

Cautio Criminalis, or a Book on Witch Trials

By Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld

James M. Wood