Skeptoid

Some people hear a mysterious rumble called the Hum in various places, and it's infamous in certain locales. The Taos Hum, the Bristol Hum, the Auckland Hum, the Kokomo Hum. Is there a single explanation for all of them?

The wet cell battery, a useless piece of pseudoscience hardware conceived by early 20th century celebrity psychic Edgar Cayce, is offered for sale to people with serious terminal and debilitating illnesses, with no hope of actual treatment.

"Super Size Me" was a highly dramatized documentary movie that stated fast food has extremely dangerous side effects. But, when we examine the issue skeptically, we see that the science tells us something very different.

Hundreds of claims exist to burn water to make energy, whether as a supplemental power source for your car or as some new kind of way to power the generation of electricity using free fuel and producing no emissions. Yet these systems all share a fatal flaw: They consume more energy than they produce.

MonaVie and other "superfruit" juices market themselves as great sources of antioxidants and the best way to prevent aging. When these claims are examined scientifically, neither is true; and especially not when compared to the country doctor's favorite axiom of an apple a day.

Conspiracy theorists allege that the collapse of 7 World Trade Center was a controlled demolition, executed by the US government. But their theory is inconsistent with all of the events in the seven hours preceding the collapse. Is it still possible?

Ever seen someone wearing a Q-Ray bracelet? They are said to have all sorts of wonderful health effects, of a type not yet understood by western science. One thing is understood: The courts, the FTC, and the Mayo Clinic aren't buying a word of it.

The world is full of hucksters trying to sell us products to "detoxify" our bodies, but nobody ever really hints at what these supposed "toxins" might be. Whether it's adhesive vinegar foot pads, electric foot baths, or pills that rubberize our stools into giant snakes, there's always some brand of snake oil offering to do what our livers and kidneys already do for free.

Skeptoid: Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena by Brian Dunning, with a foreword by James Randi, is now available as a book from Amazon.com. Autographed copies are also available through Skeptoid.com.

The battle between science and creationism may be the one getting the most headlines in the news, but the real battle is among the various types of creationists. Their radically differing belief systems are irreconciliable and at varying odds with science.

In this episode we examine why the flagrant misuse and mischaracterization of electronic equipment by ghost hunters is so stupid. We look at IR gear, EMF meters, cameras, ion and particle detectors, dowsing rods and audio gear.

Anti-microwave activists claim that food or water than has been microwaved is toxic to plants and animals, despite the lack of any victims, any useful research indicating this, or any plausible explanation of how or why such a thing might be possible.

If you've paid much attention to the Roswell Incident over the years, you may have concluded that it's so tangled that the truth will never be known. Fear not; the truth is quite simple, and Skeptoid unravels it for you here.

If you've grown up watching movies or having a mother dispensing folk remedies, you probably know and/or believe a whole array of false anecdotes about the way the human body works. In this episode we'll look at a number of the most popular with a skeptical eye.

Orang Pendek, which could be described as a miniature Bigfoot by some, is said to inhabit the jungles of Sumatra. Let's weigh the actual evidence for this creature against the tidal wave of local legend and lore from Sumatra's uncounted remote tribes.