http://www.scienceandreason.ca science, reason and critical thinking Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:17:43 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Recently the Environmental Working Group released a report on sunscreen, recommending only 39 of 500 sunscreens investigated. The report has been picked up by media outlets and now sunscreen is being touted as cancer-causing and hormone-disrupting. Let’s examine some of the issues and concerns the report raises. One of EWG’s concerns is that many sunscreens [...]]]> http://www.scienceandreason.ca/newsletter/is-sunscreen-bad-for-you/ The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice (1995), by Christopher Hitchens Review by Peter Mosier If you thought that Mother Teresa (nee Agnes Bojaxhiu) was an example of a good person doing good things, this short work (98 pages) will probably change your mind. Christopher Hitchens lays out a case for Mother Teresa [...]]]> http://www.scienceandreason.ca/newsletter/book-review/ I’ve been looking at different complex systems lately; I’m becoming more and more fascinated with a term called “Emergence.” It’s when you perceive a complex and beautiful pattern from a huge amount of individual, simple objects guided by simple rules. You see this in flocking birds, insect swarms, ant colonies, blizzards, long wispy filaments, diaphanous [...]]]> http://www.scienceandreason.ca/newsletter/the-beauty-in-television-snow/ James Randi came out of the closet last month and I speak for the Association for Science and Reason when I say, “Congratulations, Randi!” Why congratulations? What’s the big whoop? Coming out of the closet can be a momentous and often torturous event. Fear is what keeps people in the closet, but the freedom and [...]]]> http://www.scienceandreason.ca/newsletter/come-on-or-out-skeptics%e2%80%94we-need-you/ I love that there is a skeptical ‘movement.’ I love knowing that there are like-minded people out there, compatriots with whom I can bitch and moan, hash out ideas, learn something, debate, and have some laughs. I love that here in Toronto we meet once a month at our Skeptics in the Pub event to [...]]]> http://www.scienceandreason.ca/newsletter/lets-get-some-movement-in-the-movement/ I recently overheard something that no doubt many of us have heard in one form or another — that you can pay a heavy price for breaking the laws of nature. Since I wasn’t party to the conversation I resisted the urge to butt in, but there was definitely some squirming on my part. That [...]]]> http://www.scienceandreason.ca/newsletter/science-its-the-law/ “Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other.” - Francis Bacon, Of Death We often hear that religion was born of fear, that primitive peoples needed something to comfort them. Personally, I doubt it. Fear may be [...]]]> http://www.scienceandreason.ca/newsletter/religion-was-not-born-of-fear/ http://www.scienceandreason.ca/religion/killing-for-religion/ It’s that time of year again: there’s a chill in the air, malls are playing the same music over and over, and the whining about the alleged attempts to expunge Christmas has begun. There are many symbols of the season, but the Christmas tree is the most iconic. Most skeptics know that the tradition of [...]]]> http://www.scienceandreason.ca/religion/what-the-bible-says-about-christmas-trees/ Every year since I’ve become politically cognizant it seems I’ve had to endure people bickering about the ‘controversy’ over Christmas. Is it a war on Christmas, as the American right-wing TV and radio hosts purport? Is it offensive to say “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” as opposed to “Merry Christmas?” Is being inclusive and saying [...]]]> http://www.scienceandreason.ca/religion/im-dreaming-of-a-secular-christmas/