From our podcast Skeptics with a K, we go back to the primary sources for claims made for the #placeboeffect, including claims that two pills are better than one or that red pills work better than blue. Turns out the evidence is often flawed. #placebo #podcast

#Placebo Effect Myths: Injections work better than pills? In fact, according to a 2015 review, more dramatic placebos are not associated with stronger placebo effects. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25639981/

#Placebo Effect Myths: Placebos work even when you know it’s a placebo? Regression to the mean will happen regardless of what you believe about what you have taken. But these studies are also prone to bias because of their reliance on self-reported data.

#Placebo Effect Myths: Exercise works better when you believe you’re exercising. This claim is based on a study which failed to replicate.

#Placebo Effect Myths: Placebo surgery is effective for shoulder pain? Many of these surgery studies actually demonstrate that the operation is ineffective. Others are confounded by the patients in the placebo group receiving physiotherapy while in recovery.

#Placebo Effect Myths: Branded painkillers work better? Actually, the study found only a very small effect and the trial design has a high risk for bias. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6786566/

In a strange event on April 19th, 1995, McArthur Wheeler executed a bank robbery while wearing a disguise consisting of lemon juice smeared on his face. His rationale was rooted in the belief that lemon juice, commonly used as invisible ink, would render him undetectable by CCTV

Down to the last 50 QED in-person tickets still available! Have you got yours?

Eeek, only 50 tickets left for QED. If you are thinking of going, you better think fast!

Which skeptical activist deserves praise? Which pseudoscientist deserves attention? Two weeks left to nominate your best and worst of 2023!

Jim Humble, founder of Miracle Mineral Supplement, died this week. Back in 2010, I (along with @Hayleystevens) interviewed Jim, in what I think might be the only interview he ever gave to people who didn't agree with him. You can listen to it here: merseysideskeptics.org.uk/podcasts/be-re…

Here’s a CV template created by Harvard. I have uploaded the word form to a google drive so you don’t have to create from scratch. You just need to edit and include your details.

This year's Rusty Razor award will be announced on Saturday, as part of the evening entertainment at QED. It remains to be seen whether this year's winner will go on to have a lasting influence on political decisions a year from now.

As there's a chance some of my old QED pals might be back here for the weekend, I should mention there's only a week left until 3 of 3 in my stupid marathon challenge If there's any money left after last night's shenanigans, give it to Grassroots Suicide Prevention! Tinyurl.com/mike-runs

I'll be recruiting a PhD student in the next cycle - please pass this along to anyone who might interested in joining my lab at Cornell! Open-ended, but interest in topics relating to intuition/reason, metacognition, overconfidence, misinformation, or beliefs is a bonus!

This sign on the new Merseyrail trains bothers me so much. Surely, if you have managed to get a device to and onto the train it is, by definition, portable.

Well, this is awkward. Do I win a prize or anything at least Behind The Bastards ?

YES

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has died at 100. As the media prepares to sanitize his legacy, history will not forget his true record of bloodshed and war crimes in the service of Empire

The IPP prisoner scandal, and the death of Matthew Price | Emma McClure Matthew had been free from prison for almost 10 years, when the hopelessness of his situation led him to take his own life – another victim of the IPP prisoner scandal skeptic.org.uk/2024/04/irrede…