The Weekly Doubt | Issue 11

Posted 12:21pm Sunday 15th May 2016

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Australian conwoman Belle Gibson has just been fined over one million dollars for stealing a killing, and possibly killing other people.  Gibson claimed to have cancer in her kidneys, brain, blood, spleen, liver, and uterus. She also Read more...

The Weekly Doubt | Issue 10

Posted 12:42pm Sunday 8th May 2016

Never trust an atom. They make up everything.”  My workmate’s joke got me thinking of the topic for my column this week. It has layers. Layer 1: atoms do make up everything. Layer 2: the truth about atoms is not straightforward. Layer 3: Most non quantum physicists don’t Read more...

The Weekly Doubt | Issue 9

Posted 12:10pm Sunday 1st May 2016

Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual person’s beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual’s own culture. This is true, to a point, but often it translates as “We cannot pass judgement on people of other cultures, no matter Read more...

The Weekly Doubt | Issue 8

Posted 12:21pm Sunday 24th April 2016

Colostrum is a fluid that female mammals produce from their mammary glands after they give birth. It isn’t milk – it’s a clear, yellowish substance that will be the newborn baby’s first meal. As well as nutrients for the baby, colostrum contains antibodies produced by Read more...

The Weekly Doubt | Issue 7

Posted 12:16pm Sunday 17th April 2016

Hypnotic regression therapy is a process by which people believe they can uncover repressed memories years, or even decades, after they have been forgotten. For example, regression therapist Barbara Lamb specialises in uncovering memories of alien abductions. One of her patients discovered that she Read more...

The Weekly Doubt | Issue 6

Posted 11:47am Sunday 10th April 2016

Do you ever feel jealous of plants? Just sitting there, stuck in one place, never having to go looking for food, getting all the energy they need from the sunshine that shines right on top of them. What a life! Well, according to the breatharians, you don’t need to bother eating anymore Read more...

The Weekly Doubt | Issue 5

Posted 12:50pm Sunday 3rd April 2016

If you want to poison the entire population of a city, what could be a better method than to spray everyone from a plane? Quite a few things, actually, but I’ll get to that in a minute.  A “contrail” is a condensation trail left when a plane flies through the air. According Read more...

The Weekly Doubt | Issue 4

Posted 1:01pm Sunday 20th March 2016

When I was 14 my uncle read my palm. He told me that I would live a long life, but with a lot of misery. I would have many partners before I found one to settle down with, if I ever managed to keep a relationship going at all. I would have two children. I wouldn’t find a career until I was in Read more...

The Weekly Doubt | Issue 3

Posted 2:07pm Sunday 13th March 2016

According to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, water fluoridation is one of the “ten great public health achievements” of the 20th century. Fluoride reduces the rate of demineralisation caused by bacteria from sugar on the surface of the teeth. In order to be Read more...

The Weekly Doubt | Issue 2

Posted 2:46pm Sunday 6th March 2016

Last week I mentioned healing crystals as an example of the placebo effect, where something can make you feel better even though there is no logical reason why it should. I think crystals are beautiful and I own a few of them.  However, I don’t buy into the people who propose different Read more...