From: paj@uk.co.gec-mrc (Paul Johnson)
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: sci.skeptic FAQ version 0.2.
Date: 25 Aug 92 16:27:51 GMT
Reply-To: paj@uk.co.gec-mrc (Paul Johnson)
Organization: GEC-Marconi Research Centre, Great Baddow, Essex

The Frequently Questioned Answers
=================================

Version 0.2

I hereby volunteer to maintain a sci.skeptic FAQ.  Unfortunately I
don't have much time to do this in, and anyway a FAQ should be the
Distilled Wisdom of the Net rather than just my bigoted point of view.
So I plan to write very little.  Instead I would like to request
submissions on a list of topics, and let all the net experts out there
fill in the details.  Submissions from any point of view and on any
sci.skeptic topic are welcomed, but please keep them short and to the
point.  The ideal submission is a short summary with one or two
references to other literature.  I have added comments in square
brackets where I think more information is particularly needed, but
don't let that stop you sending something else.

At some point in the future this FAQ will be cross-posted to
news.answers, but I want to get it reasonably complete first.

If you are reading this with a newsreader and want to follow up on
something, please copy the question to the subject line.  This is more
informative than a reference to the entire FAQ.

My email address in the header follows the UK grey book standard.
This is WRONG for the rest of the world.  Please mail submissions and
comments to <paj@gec-mrc.co.uk>.  If that bounces, try
<paj%uk.co.gec-mrc@ukc.ac.uk>, which explicitly routes your email via
the UK backbone.

This is in no way an "official" FAQ.  I am a computer scientist by
profession and deeply skeptical of paranormal claims (although I plan
to include pro-paranormal arguments here).  If anyone else with a less
skeptical point of view wants to start a FAQ list, please feel free.
I certainly can't stop you.

Disclaimer: The opinions in this article are not necessarily those of
	    GEC.

Other Topics
============

I would like to have some info on AIDS conspiracies and Velikovsky.
Submissions on these matters are invited.

Credits
=======

Thanks to all the people who have sent me submissions and comments.
There isn't enough room to thank everyone, but some of the more major
contributors are listed here:

York H. Dobyns <ydobyns@EDU.Princeton.phoenix> provided carbon 14
dating information, notes about current psi researchers and other
useful comments.

Dendrochronology information came from whheydt@com.PacBell.pbhya.

The questions "What are UFOs?" and "Are crop circles made by flying
saucers?" were answered by Chris Rutkowski <rutkows@ccu.umanitoba.ca>

Ken Shirriff <shirriff@sprite.Berkeley.EDU> provided information on
perpetual motion machines and the Leidenfrost reference.

Contents
========

Background
----------
0.1: What is sci.skeptic for?
0.2: What is sci.skeptic not for?
0.3: What is CSICOP?  Whats their address?
0.4: What is "Prometheus"?
0.5: Who are some prominent skeptics?
0.6: Aren't all skeptics just closed-minded bigots?
0.7: Aren't all paranormalists just woolly-minded fools?
0.8: What is a "conspiracy theory"?

The Scientific Method
---------------------

1.1: What is the scientific method?
1.2: What is the difference between a fact, a theory and a hypothesis?
1.3: Can science ever really prove anything?
1.4: If scientific theories keep changing, where is the Truth?
1.5: What evidence is needed for an extraordinary claim?
1.6: What is Occam's Razor?
1.7: Galileo was persecuted, just like researchers into <X> today.
1.8: What is the "Experimenter effect".

Psychic Powers
--------------

2.1: Is Uri Geller for real?
2.2: I have had a psychic experience.
2.3: What is "sensory leakage"?
2.4: Who are the main psi researchers?
2.5: Does dowsing work?
2.6: Could psi be inhibited by the presence of skeptics?

UFOs/Flying Saucers
-------------------
3.1  What are UFOs?
3.1.1: Are UFOs alien spacecraft?
3.1.2: Are UFOs natural phenomena?
3.1.3: But isn't it possible that aliens are visiting Earth?
3.2: Is it true that the US government has a crashed flying saucer?
     (MJ-12)?
3.3: What is "channeling"?
3.4: How can we test a channeller?
3.5: I am in telepathic contact with the aliens.
3.6: Some bozo has just posted a load of "teachings" from a UFO.  What
     should I do?
3.7: Are crop circles made by flying saucers?
3.7.1: Are crop circles made by "vortices"?
3.7.2: Are crop circles made by hoaxers?
3.7.3: Are crop circles radioactive?
3.7.4: What about cellular changes in plants within crop circles?
3.8: Have people been abducted by UFOs?
3.9: What is causing the strange cattle deaths?
3.10: What is the face on Mars?

Faith Healing and Alternative Therapies
---------------------------------------

4.1: Isn't western medicine reductionistic and alternatives holistic?
4.2: What is a double-blind trial?  What is a placebo?
4.3: Why should scientific criteria apply to alternative therapies?
4.4: What is homeopathy?
4.5: What is aroma therapy?
4.6: What is reflexology?
4.7: Does accupuncture work?
4.8: What about psychic surgery?
4.9: What is Crystal Healing?
4.10: Does religious healing work?
4.11: What harm does it do anyway?

Creation versus Evolution
-------------------------

5.1: Is the Bible evidence of anything?
5.2: Could the Universe have been created old?
5.3: What about Carbon-14 dating?
5.4: What is "dendrochronology"?
5.5: What is evolution?  Where do I find out more?
5.6: The second law of thermodynamics says....
5.7: How could living organisms arise "by chance"?
5.8: But doesn't the human body seem to be well designed?

Fire-walking
-----------

6.1: Is fire-walking possible?
6.2: Can science explain fire-walking?

New Age
-------

7.1: What do New Agers believe?
7.2: What is the Gaia hypothesis?

Perpetual Motion Machines
-------------------------

8.1: Why don't electrical machines work?
8.2: Why don't magnetic machines work?
8.3: Why don't mechanical machines work?
8.4: Magnets can levitate.  Where is the energy from?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Background
==========

0.1: What is sci.skeptic for?
-----------------------------

[Did anyone save the Charter? PAJ]

Sci.skeptic is for those who are skeptical about claims of the
paranormal to meet with those who believe in the paranormal.  In this
way the paranormalists can expose their ideas to scientific scrutiny,
and if there is anything in these ideas then the skeptics might learn
something.

However this is a very wide area, and some of the topics covered might
be better kept in their own newsgroups.  In particular the evolution
vs. creation debate is best kept in talk.origins.  General New Age
discussions belong in talk.religion.newage.  Strange "Heard it on the
grapevine" stories belong on alt.folklore.urban, which discusses such
things as vanishing hitchikers and the Everlasting Lightbulb
conspiracy.  Serious conspiracy theories should be kept on
alt.conspiracy, and theories about the assasination of President
Kennedy should be kept on alt.conspiracy.jfk.  CROSS-POSTING from
these groups is NOT APPRECIATED by the majority of sci.skeptic
readers.

The discussion of a topic in this FAQ is not an attempt to have the
final word on the subject.  It is simply intended to answer a few
common questions and provide a basis for discussion of common topics.

0.2: What is sci.skeptic not for?
---------------------------------

The scope of sci.skeptic extends into any area where hard evidence can
be obtained, but does not extend into speculation.  So religious
arguments are out of place here (take them to alt.atheism or
talk.religion.*).  On the other hand discussion about miracles and is
to be welcomed, since this is an issue where evidence can be obtained.

Topics which have their own groups should be taken to the appropriate
group.  See the previous answer for a partial list.

Also out of place are channelled messages from aliens.  If your
channelled message contains testable facts then post those.  Otherwise
we are simply not interested.  Take it to alt.alien.visitors.

The posting of large articles (>200 lines) is not a way to persuade
people.  See the section on "closed minded skeptics" below for some
reasons for this.  I suggest you summarise the article and offer to
mail copies to anyone who is interested.

Sci.skeptic is not an abuse group.  There is a regrettable tendency
for polite discussion here to degenerate into ad-hominem flames about
who said what to whom and what they meant.  PLEASE DO NOT FLAME.  You
won't convince anyone.  Rather the opposite.

0.3: What is CSICOP?  What is its address?
------------------------------------------

CSICOP stands for the "Committee for the Scientific Investigation of
Claims Of the Paranormal".  They publish a quarterly magazine called
"The Skeptical Inquirer".  Their address is:

	Skeptical Inquirer,
	Box 229,
	Buffalo, NY 14215-0229.

0.4: What is "Prometheus"?
--------------------------

Prometheus Books is a publisher specialising in skeptical books.
Their address is:

	Prometheus Books
	700 Amherst Street
	Buffalo, NY 14215-9918

0.5: Who are some prominent skeptics?
-------------------------------------

James "The Amazing" Randi is a professional stage magician who spends
much time and money debunking paranormal claims.  He has a standing
reward of $100,000 to anyone who can demonstrate paranormal powers
under controlled conditions, and he was recently sued by Uri Geller.

Martin Gardner is an author, mathematician and amateur stage magician
who has written several books dealing with paranormal phenomena,
including "Science: Good, Bad and Bogus" and "Fads and Fallacies in
the Name of Science".

Philip Klass is an author and UFO investigator.  He has written a
number of books debunking UFOs.

[Can someone supply me with potted biographies and publication lists
of these and other people? PAJ]

0.6: Aren't all skeptics just closed-minded bigots?
---------------------------------------------------

People who have failed to convince skeptics often say "Well all
skeptics are just closed-minded bigots who won't listen to me!".  This
is not true.  Skeptics pay close attention to the evidence.  If you
have no evidence then you will get nowhere.

Unfortunately life is short.  Most of us have better things to do than
investigate yet another bogus claim.  Some paranormal topics,
especially psi research and UFOlogy, produce vast quantities of low
grade evidence.  In the past people have investigated such evidence
carefully, but it always seems to evaporate when anyone looks at it
closely.  Hence skeptics should be forgiven for not bothering to
investigate yet another piece of low grade evidence before rejecting
it.

Of course there are some who substitute flaming and rhetoric for
logical argument.  We all lose our temper sometimes.

0.7: Aren't all paranormalists just woolly-minded fools?
--------------------------------------------------------

No.  Some just pick a belief and then search for evidence to support
it.  Others have had experiences which they find compelling evidence
for belief.  This includes channellers, palmists and dowsers.  Shouting
won't convince these people.  The best tactic is to explain why you
think they are wrong, and do it slowly and quietly.

Of course, some of them are confidence men out for a fast buck.  But
its best to assume innocence unless you can prove guilt.

[Any paranormalists out there want to add something? PAJ]

0.8: What is a Conspiracy Theory?
---------------------------------

A conspiracy theory is a belief that there is a large-scale conspiracy
by those in power to mislead and/or control the rest of the world.
Consider the following (mostly imaginary) example:

	There is a conspiracy amongst the computer programmers to
	control the world.  They are only allowing the public to have
	simple machines, while they control the really powerful ones.
	There is a computer in <city> they call "The Beast".  It has
	records about everyone.  They use this information to
	manipulate the politicians and businessmen who ostensibly rule
	the world into doing their will.  The Beast was prophesied in
	the Book of Revelations.

Conspiracy theories divide the world into three groups.  The
Conspirators, the Investigators, and the Dupes.  Conspirators have a
vast secret.  The Investigators have revealed parts of the conspiracy,
but much is still secret.  Investigators are always in great danger of
being silenced by Conspirators.  Dupes are just the rest of us.  Often
the Conspiritors show a mixture of incredible subtlety and stunning
stupidity.

Evidence produced by the Investigators is always either circumstantial
or evaporates when looked at carefully.  The theories can never be
disproved, since any evidence to the contrary can be dismissed as
having been planted by the Conspirators.  If you spend any time or
effort digging into the evidence produced by Investigators then you
will be labelled a Conspirator yourself.  Of course, nothing a
Conspirator says can be believed.


The Scientific Method
=====================

1.1: What is the "scientific method"?
-------------------------------------

The scientific method is the best way yet discovered for winnowing
the truth from lies and delusion.  The simple version looks something
like this:

	1: Observe some aspect of the universe.
	2: Invent a theory which is consistent with what you have
	   observed.
	3: Use the theory to make predictions.
	4: Test those predictions by experiments.
	5: Modify the theory in the light of your results.
	6: Go to step 3.

This leaves out the co-operation between scientists in building
theories, and the fact that it is impossible for every scientist to
independently do every experiment to confirm every theory.  Because
life is short, scientists have to trust other scientists.  So a
scientist who claims to have done an experiment and obtained certain
results will usually be believed, and most people will not bother to
repeat the experiment.

Experiments do get repeated as part of other experiments.  Most
scientific papers contain suggestions for other scientists to follow
up.  Usually the first step in doing this is to repeat the earlier
work.  So if a theory is the starting point for a significant amount
of work, then the initial experiments will get replicated a number of
times.

Some people talk about "Kuhnian paradigm shifts".  This refers to the
observed pattern of the slow extension of scientific knowledge with
occasional sudden revolutions.  This does happen, but it still follows
the steps above.

1.2: What is the difference between a fact, a theory and a hypothesis?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

In popular usage, a theory is just a vague and fuzzy sort of fact.
But to a scientist a theory is a conceptual framework that *explains*
existing facts and predicts new ones.  For instance, today I saw the
Sun rise.  This is a fact.  This fact is explained by the theory that
the Earth is round and spins on its axis while orbiting the sun.  This
theory also explains other facts, such as the seasons and the phases
of the moon, and allows me to make predictions about what will happen
tomorrow.

This means that in some ways the words "fact" and "theory" are
interchangeable.  The organisation of the solar system which I used as
a simple example of a theory is normally considered to be a fact which
is explained by Newton's theory of gravity.  And so on.

A hypothesis is a tentative theory which has not yet been tested.

[Can anyone explain this better? PAJ]

1.3: Can science ever really prove anything?
--------------------------------------------

Yes and no.  It depends on what you mean by "prove".

For instance, there is little doubt that an object thrown into the air
will come back down (ignoring spacecraft for the moment).  One could
frame a scientific theory which states "Things fall down".  I am about
to throw a stone into the air.  I use my theory to predict that the
stone will come back down.  Wow - it did!

But next time I throw a stone, it might not come down.  It might
hover, or go shooting off upwards.  So not even this simple theory has
been really proved.  But you would have to be very perverse to claim
that the next thrown stone will not come back down.  So for ordinary
everyday use, we can say that the theory is true.

You can think of facts and theories (not just scientific ones, but
ordinary everyday ones) as being on a scale of certainty.  Up at the
top end we have facts like "things fall down".  Down at the bottom we
have "the Earth is flat".  In the middle we have "I will die of heart
disease".  Some scientific theories are nearer the top than others,
but none of them ever actually reach it.  Skepticism is usually
directed at claims that contradict facts and theories that are very
near the top of the scale.  Any lower on the scale and they are best
discussed in the other sci newsgroups.

1.4: If scientific theories keep changing, where is the Truth?
--------------------------------------------------------------

In 1666 Isaac Newton proposed his theory of gravitation.  This was one
of the greatest intellectual feats of all time.  The theory explained
all the observed facts, and made predictions which were later tested
and found to be correct within the accuracy of the instruments being
used.  As far as anyone could see, Newton's theory was the Truth.

During the nineteenth century, more accurate instruments were used to
test Newton's theory, and found some slight discrepancies (for
instance, the orbit of Mercury wasn't quite right).  Albert Einstein
proposed his theories of Relativity, which explained the newly
observed facts and made more predictions.  Those predictions have now
been tested and found to be correct within the accuracy of the
instruments being used.  As far as anyone can see, Einstein's theory
is the Truth.

So how can the Truth change?  Well the answer is that it hasn't.  The
Universe is still the same as it ever was, and Newton's theory is as
true as it ever was.  If you take a course in physics today, you will
be taught Newton's Laws.  They can be used to make predictions, and
those predictions are still correct.  Only if you are dealing with
things that move close to the speed of light do you need to use
Einstein's theories.  If you are working at ordinary speeds and use
Einstein, you will get (almost) exactly the same answer as you would
with Newton.  It just takes longer, because using Einstein involves
rather more maths.

One other note about truth: science does not make moral judgements.
Anyone who tries to draw moral lessons from the laws of nature is on
very dangerous ground.  Evolution in particular seems to suffer from
this.  At one time or another it seems to have been used to justify
Naziism, Communism, and every other -ism in between.  These
justifications are all completely bogus.

1.5: What evidence is needed for an extraordinary claim?
--------------------------------------------------------

Extraordinary evidence.

An extraordinary claim is one that contradicts a fact which is close
to the top of the certainty scale discussed above.  So if you are
trying to contradict such a fact, you had better have facts available
which are even higher up the certainty scale.

1.6: What is Occam's Razor?
---------------------------

Ockham's Razor ("Occam" is a Latinised variant) is the principle
proposed by William of Ockham in the fifteenth century that
"Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate", which translates as
"entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily".  Various other
rephrasings have been incorrectly attributed to him.  In more modern
terms, if you have two theories which both explain the observed facts
then you should use the simplest until more evidence comes along.  See
W.M. Thorburn, "The Myth of Occam's Razor," _Mind_ 27:345-353 (1918)
for a detailed study of what Ockham actually wrote and what others
wrote after him.

The reason behind the razor is that for any given set of facts there
are an infinite number of theories which could explain them.  For
instance, if you have a graph with four points in a line then the
simplest theory which explains them is a linear relationship, but you
can draw an infinite number of different curves which all pass through
the four points.  There is no evidence that the straight line is the
right one, but it is the simplest possible solution.  So you might as
well use it until someone comes along with a point off the straight
line.

Also, if you have a few thousand points on the line and someone
suggests that there is a point which is off the line, its a pretty
fair bet that they are wrong.

A related rule which can be used to slice open conspiracy theories is
Hanlon's Razor: "Never attribute to malice that which can be
adequately explained by stupidity".  See the Jargon File (edited by
Eric Raymond) for more details.

1.7: Galileo was persecuted, just like researchers into <X> today.
------------------------------------------------------------------

People putting forward extraordinary claims often refer to Galileo as
an example of a great genius being persecuted by the establishment for
heretical theories.  They claim that the scientific establishment is
afraid of being proved wrong, and hence is trying to suppress the
truth.

This is a classic conspiracy theory.  The Conspirators are all those
scientists who have bothered to point out flaws in the claims put
forward by the researchers.

The usual rejoinder to someone who says "They laughed at Columbus,
they laughed at Galileo" is to say "And they also laughed at Coco the
Clown.

1.8: What is the "Experimenter effect"?
---------------------------------------

It is unconscious bias introduced into an experiment by the
experimenter.  It can occur in one of two ways:

 o Scientists doing experiments often have to look for small effects
   or differences between the things being experimented on.

 o Experiments require many samples to be treated in exactly the same
   way in order to get consistent results.

Note that neither of these sources of bias require deliberate fraud.

A classic example of the first kind of bias was the "N-ray",
discovered early this century.  Detecting them required the
investigator to look for very faint flashes of light on a
scintillator.  Many scientists reported detecting these rays.  They
were fooling themselves.

A classic example of the second kind of bias were the detailed
investigations into the relationship between race and brain capacity
in the last century.  Skull capacity was measured by filling the empty
skull with beans and then measuring the volume of beans.  A
significant difference in the results could be obtained by ensuring
that the beans in some skulls were better settled than others.  For
more details on this story, read Stephen Jay Gould's "The Mismeasure
of Man".

Psychic Powers
==============

2.1: Is Uri Geller for real?
----------------------------

The powers that Geller claims have *never* been demonstrated under
controlled conditions.  Geller does nothing which a competent stage
magician such as James Randi cannot do.  Randi has alleged that
Geller is a fraud.  Geller has sued Randi for libel.

2.2: I have had a psychic experience.
-------------------------------------

Thats pretty remarkable.  But before you post to the Net, consider:-

 * Could it just be coincidence?  The human mind is good at
   remembering odd things but tends to forget ordinary things, such as
   premonitions that didn't happen.  If psychic experiences happen to
   you on a regular basis then try writing down the premonitions when
   you have them and then comparing your record to later events.

 * If you think you have a mental link with someone you know, try a
   few tests with playing cards [Has anyone got a good protocol for
   this kind of thing? PAJ].

 * If you are receiving messages from elsewhere (e.g. UFOs), ask for
   specific information which you can then check.  A proof or
   counterexample of Fermat's Last Theorem (see the sci.math FAQ)
   for example [Has anyone got any better ones? PAJ]

2.3: What is "Sensory Leakage"?
-------------------------------

Sensory leakage is something that designers of tests for psi must be
careful to guard against.  Tests for psi use powerful statistical
tests to search for faint traces of communication.  Unfortunately the
fact that communication has taken place does not prove that it was
done by telepathy.  It could have been through some more mundane form
of signal.

For instance one experiment involved a "sender" in one room with a
stack of numbered cards (1-10) and a "receiver" in another room trying
to guess what the next card was.  The sender looked at a card and
pressed a button to signal to the receiver.  The receiver then tried
to guess the number on the card.  There was a definite correlation
between the card numbers and the guesses.  However the sender could
signal the receiver by varying the delays between buzzes.  When this
channel of communication was removed, the effect disappeared.

2.4: Who are the main psi researchers?
--------------------------------------

Targ and Puthoff spring to mind, but actually, Puthoff is no longer
doing psi research (I don't have any idea what Targ is up to these
days.) Granted, their SRI work is quite famous, but if we want to
review the historical (rather than currently active) figures, you
probably want to go back at least as far as the Rhines.

Helmut Schmidt, a physicist who has been looking at PK, is still
active at the Mind Science Foundation in Texas. (Sorry, I don't know a
more specific address than that.)

The Foundation for Research into the Nature of Man (FRNM), which is
what Rhine's work at Duke eventually developed into, is still active
near Duke. It is currently headed by K. Ramakrishna Rao.

The Koestler Chair of Parapsychology at the University of Edinborough
is, as far as I know, still active. The current incumbent is, I think,
named Robert Morris; his main assistant is Deborah Delanoy.

Active workers in the field that I can think of currently include Dean
Radin, who occasionally posts to sci.skeptic as dir2@gte.com, Jessica
Utts, and Ed May. The Parapsychological Association has a much larger
roster than that, of course, but I'm not a member myself and don't
have access to their membership roll.

2.5: Does dowsing work?
-----------------------

Dowsing is the art of finding underground water by extra-sensory
perception.  Sometimes tools are used.  The traditional one is a
forked hazel stick.  When held in the correct way this will twitch
in response to small muscle movements in the back and shoulders.
Another tool which has become popular in recent years is a pair of
rods mounted in tubes which are held in each hand just in front of the
user.

        Rod bent into tube.
        |
        V
       	r-------------------------------
       ||                    ^
       ||                    |
       || <- Tube           Rod
       ||
       ||
       ||

When water (or something else) is dowsed, the rods turn towards each
other.  Like the forked hazel stick it amplifies small movements of
the arm and shoulder muscles.

Unfortunately careful tests of dowsers have revealed absolutely no
ability to find water or anything else by extra-sensory perception.
Dowsing success stories can be explained by noting that wherever you
dig you will find water.  You just have to dig deep enough.

[Does anyone have a reference to the Skeptical Inquirer article on
this? PAJ]

2.6: Could psi be inhibited by the presence of skeptics?
--------------------------------------------------------

Psychic researchers have noted something they call the "shyness
effect" (or more grandly "psi-mediated experimenter effects").  This
is invoked to explain the way in which many subjects' psychic powers
seem to fade when exposed to careful scrutiny and proper controls.
Often it is alleged that having a skeptic in the audience can prevent
the delicate operation of psi.

This is a "catch-22" which makes any results consistent with a psi
hypothesis.  This renders the hypothesis unfalsifieable and therefore
unscientific.

UFOs and Flying Saucers
=======================

3.1  What are UFOs?
-------------------

UFOs are, simply, Unidentified Flying Objects, no more, no less.  This
means that if you are out one night and see a light moving in the sky
and cannot immediately identify it as a certain star, planet or other
object, then it is by definition a UFO.  THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE
SEEN AN ALIEN SPACESHIP.

A better question would be:

3.1.1  Are UFOs alien spacecraft?
---------------------------------

Probably not.  The vast majority of UFO reports, when investigated by
competent researchers (and that is a problem all by itself), can be
easily explained as natural or manmade objects misidentified for one
reason or another.  The actual percentage is around 95%.  A very few
reports are provable hoaxes.  The remaining few percent (some skeptics
argue that there are no remaining reports) are not explained at this
time.  Again, this does not mean that they are observations of alien
spaceships.  All we can say is that, given the information presently
available, some cases don't appear to be stars, balloons, airplanes,
aurorae. etc.  Given a great deal more time and effort, many more
could likely be identified.  It's possible that the witness(es) were
in error, or are very good liars.  And the remaining few cases?  Well,
the best we can say, as true skeptics, is that we don't know what they
were, but there is NO proof that they were alien spacecraft.

3.1.2  Are UFOs natural phenomena?
----------------------------------

Possibly.  A number of theories have been proposed, suggesting that
some UFOs are "plasmas" or variations of ball lightning or earthquake
lights.  Unfortunately, the theories seem to change to fit observed
data, rather than predict the observations.  Also, studies designed to
support the theories have used newspaper articles and raw, unsifted UFO
case lists for data, and therefore the studies do not appear to be
completely unbiased.  Perhaps time will tell.  Until then it is safe to
say that SOME UFOs are probably ball lightning or other rare natural
phenomena.

3.1.3  But isn't it possible that aliens are visiting Earth?
------------------------------------------------------------

Yes.  But it is also possible that there is an invisible snorg reading
this over your shoulder right now.

Basically, astronomers such as Carl Sagan are generally convinced that
there are other habitable planets in our galaxy, and that there may be
some form of life on them.  Assuming that parallel evolution occurred
on these other planets, there MIGHT be intelligent life forms there.
It is possible that some of these life forms could have an advanced
civilization, and perhaps have achieved space travel.  BUT - there is
no proof that this is so.  SETI programs such as those Carl Sagan is
involved with are "listening" to other stars in the hope of detecting
radio signals which might indicate intelligent life - kind of listening
for the equivalent of "Watson, come here, I need you!", or "I love
Lucy" in the infancy of our early communications.  Such searches have
been fruitless, so far.

IF there are aliens on distant planets, then it is possible that they
might have found a way to travel between stars in their lifetimes.
According to our present understanding of physics, this is not likely,
given the vast distances between stars.  Even travelling at the speed
of light (which cannot be done), a round trip to the NEAREST star would
take about ten years.  So, either the aliens have made a breakthrough
in physics, or they're not visiting Earth.

3.2: Is it true that the US government has a crashed flying saucer (MJ-12)?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is also known as the "Roswell Incident".  Philip Klass has
investigated this one and shown the reports to be bogus.  One of the
more notable items of "evidence" was a document "signed by the
president".  Klass showed that this signature was a photocopy of an
existing presidential signature.  [Can someone supply me with more
details please? PAJ]

All such allegations involve a conspiracy theory.  Sometimes these
conspiracy theories get very big indeed.  One common one involves a
treaty between the government and the saucer people whereby the
government stays in power and the saucer people get to abduct humans
for various gruesome purposes.

3.3: What is "channeling"?
--------------------------

"Channeling" is remarkably similar to Spiritualism.  The main
difference is that the relatives "on the other side" are replaced by a
wide variety of other beings.  This means that the channeler does not
have to worry about providing accurate information about people in the
audience.  The beings that channelers claim to speak for range from
enlightened aliens to humans who lived thousands of years ago to
discarnate intelligences who have never had bodies.

3.4: How can we test a channeler?
---------------------------------

Some channelled entities are alleged to come from the distant past.
They can be asked about events, climate and language in ways that can
be checked.

[I have read lists of questions which advanced beings should be able to
answer (e.g. Proof or counterexample of Fermat's Last Theorem).  Can
someone suggest more? PAJ]

3.5: I am in telepathic contact with the aliens.
------------------------------------------------

See the earlier section on psychic experiences and then try testing
your aliens to see if you get a specific answer.  If you can come up
with new facts which can be tested by scientists then you will be
listened to.  Otherwise you would do better on alt.alien.visitors.

3.6: Some bozo has just posted a load of "teachings" from a UFO.  What
----------------------------------------------------------------------
     should I do?
     ------------

You have several choices:

 * Ignore it.

 * Ask for evidence (see question 3.4 above).

 * Insult or flame the poster.  This is a bad idea.

3.7:  Are crop circles made by flying saucers?
---------------------------------------------

There is no convincing evidence that crop circles or any other kind of
UGM (Unusual Ground Markings) were made by aliens.  There are some
reports of lights being seen in and around crop circle sites, and a few
videos showing objects flitting over fields.  The lights are hardly
proof, and the objects in the videos seem to be pieces of foil or paper
being tossed about by the wind.

In a deliberate attempt to test crop circle "experts", a crop circle
was faked under the watchful eyes of the media.  When cerealogists were
called in, they proclaimed it genuine.

3.7.1:   Are crop circles made by "vortices"?
---------------------------------------------

Probably not.  There are a number of meteorologists who believe that
crop circle formations are created by rare natural forces such as
"ionised plasma vortices".  Basically, winds blowing across rolling
hills sometimes form eddies which in some circumstances (that have
never been quantified) become strong, downward spiralling drafts which
lay down the crop.  Cerealogists claim to have over two dozen witnesses
to such events.  Unfortunately, many more have said they have seen
flying saucers do the same thing.

If natural phenomena are the culprits, then why would the formations
occur mostly in southern England?  In one year, as many as 2000 (!)
crop circles were claimed there, with negligible ones elsewhere in the
world.

Scientific articles arguing for the reality of these vortices have
appeared regularly in the Journal of Meteorology.  But its editor is
the leading proponent of the theory, Dr. Terence Meaden.

Winds can lay down crop in patches known as lodging.  But geometric
patterns in fields can hardly be attributable to natural phenomena.
Meaden has changed his theory to first accomodate complex circles,
ovals and even triangles (!), but now admits that most circles are
hoaxes and the theory can only explain simpler patterns.

3.7.2:  Are crop circles made by hoaxers?
-----------------------------------------

Of course.  Although most people have heard only of two, Doug Bower and
Dave Chorley of England, many others have been caught, not only in
Britain but in other countries such as Canada.  Their methods range
from inscribed circles with a pole and a length of rope to more complex
systems involving chains, rollers, planks and measuring devices.

And as a further note: just because you can't prove a crop circle was
made by a hoaxer, you should not assume aliens were involved.  Remember
Occam's Razor (Section 1.6).

3.7.3:   Are crop circles radioactive?
--------------------------------------

This is a claim that has received wide circulation in UFO/cerealogy
circles (pardon the pun).  It is also untrue.  Examination of the data
from spectral analyses of soil taken from crop circles has shown that
there were no readings above the normal background levels.  The
proponents of this claim are debating this, however.

3.7.4:   What about cellular changes in plants within crop circles?
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, what about the changes?  Although this is another claim that is
widely circulated among ufologists and cerealogists, the evidence is
simply not very good.  A few photographs of alleged changes in the
"crystalline structure" of wheat stems were published in some
magazines and UFO publications.  The method used was spagyrical
analysis.  This is a technique involving crystallization of the
residue of organic material after harsh processing, invented three
centuries ago and popularized by Sir Kenelm Digby. Digby is known for
other wonderful inventions like condensation of sunlight and the
development of sword salve (which you had to put on the weapon rather
than on the wound, in order to cure the wound).  The fact that this
technique was tried at all casts serious doubts on the "researchers"
involved.

3.8: Have people been abducted by UFOs?
---------------------------------------

[Can someone let me have a couple of paragraphs on this? PAJ]

3.9: What is causing the strange cattle deaths?
-----------------------------------------------

The only information I have on these is a long file which came to me
via Len Bucuvalas <lpb@com.stratus.swdc.stratus> from ParaNet.  The
gist is that cattle and other animals have been found dead with
strange mutilations.  Organs, especially genitals, have been removed
but no blood appears to have been lost.  These events are also
sometimes associated with reports of alien encounters and UFOs.

[I seem to recall the Skeptical Inquirer doing an article on this.  As
I recall, it seems to be a case of insurance fraud.  Insurance
companies do not pay out for "Range deaths" of cattle from natural
causes, but will pay out for deaths not due to natural causes.  Can
anyone tell me more? PAJ]

3.10: What is the face on Mars?
-------------------------------

[A refereed journal printed a paper on this.  Can someone give me a
reference?  PAJ]

One of the Mars orbiters took a photograph of a part of Mars when the
sun was very low on the horizon.  The picture shows a "face" and some
nearby pyramids.  Both these structures are seen more by their shadows
than their actual shape.  The pyramid shadows appear regular because
their size is close to the limit of resolution of the camera, and the
"face" is just a chance arrangement of shadow over a couple of hills.
The human brain is very good at picking out familiar patterns in
random noise, so it is not surprising that a couple of Martian surface
features (out of thousands photographed) vaugely resemble a face when
seen in the right light.  Another feature nearby resembles Kermit the
Frog.

Faith Healing and Alternative Therapies
=======================================

Disclaimer: I am not medically qualified.  If you have a medical
	    problem then I strongly recommend that you go to a
	    qualified medical practitioner.  Asking the Net for
	    specific medical advice is always a bad idea.

4.1: Isn't western medicine reductionistic and alternatives holistic?
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Practitioners of alternative therapies often put forward the idea that
modern scientific medicine is reductionistic: it concentrates on those
parts of the body that are not working properly, and in so doing it
reduces the patient to a collection of organs.  Alternative therapies
try to consider the patient as a whole (a holistic approach).

This is a fine piece of rhetoric, but it doesn't mean anything.  It is
true that modern medicine looks at the details of diseases, trying to
find out exactly what is going wrong and what is causing it.  But it
also looks at the life of the patient, and tries to understand how the
patient interacts with his/her environment and how this interaction
can be improved.  For instance, smoking is known to cause a wide
variety of medical problems.  Hence doctors advise patients to give up
smoking as well as treating the individual illnesses which it causes.
When a patient presents with an illness then the doctor will not only
treat the illness but also try to understand how this illness was
caused in order to avoid a recurrence.

4.2: What is a double-blind trial?  What is a placebo?
------------------------------------------------------

A double-blind trial is the standard method for deciding whether or
not a treatment has any "real" effect.

A placebo is a "treatment" which has no physical effect.  The usual
form is a pill containing a little lactose (milk-sugar), although a
bitter-tasting liquid or injections of 1cc saline can be used instead.

The "placebo effect" is the observed tendency for patients to display
the symptoms they are told to expect.

The problem is that the state of mind of a patient is often a
significant factor in the effect of a course of treatment.  All
doctors know this; it is why "bedside manner" is considered so
important.  In statistical tests of new treatments it is even more
important, since even a small effect from the state of mind of a small
fraction of the patients in the trial can have a significant effect
on the results.  Hence new medicines are tested against a placebo.
The patients in the trial are randomly divided into two groups.  One
of these groups is given the real medicine, the other is given the
placebo.  Neither group knows which they have been given.  Hence the
state of mind for both groups will be similar, and any difference
between the two groups must be due to the drug.  This is a blind trial.

It has been found that patients can be unconciously affected by the
attitude and expectations of the doctor supplying the drug, even if
the doctor does not explicitly tell them what to expect.  Hence it is
usual for the doctor to be equally unaware which group is which.  This
is a "double blind" trial.  The job of remembering which group is
which is given to some administrative person who does not normally
come into contact with patients.

This causes problems for many alternative therapies because they do
something to the patient which is difficult to do in a placebo-like
manner.  For instance, a treatment involving the laying-on of hands
cannot be done in such a way that both patient and practitioner are
unaware as to whether a "real" laying on of hands has taken place.
There are partial solutions to this.  For instance one study employed
a three-way test of drug placebo, counseling and alternative therapy.

4.3: Why should scientific criteria apply to alternative therapies?
-------------------------------------------------------------------

So that we can tell if they work or not.  If you take an patient
and give them treatment then one of three things will happen: the
patient will get better, will get worse, or will not change.  And this
is true whether the treatment is a course of drugs chosen by a doctor,
an alternative therapy, or just counting to ten.

Many alternative therapies depend on "anecdotal evidence" where
particular cases got better after the therapy was applied.  Almost any
therapy will have some such cases, even if it actually harms the
patients.  And so anecdotal evidence of Mrs X who was cured of cancer
by this wonderful new treatment is not useful in deciding whether the
treatment is any good.

The only way to tell for sure whether or not an alternative treatment
works is to use a double-blind trial, or as near to it as you can get.
See the previous question.

4.4: What is homeopathy?
------------------------

Homeopathy is sometimes confused with herbalism.  A herbalist
prescribes herbs with known medicinal effects.  Two well known
examples are foxglove flowers (which contain digitalin) and willow
bark (which contains aspirin).  Folk remedies are now being studied
extensively in order to winnow the wheat from the chaff.

Homeopathists believe that if a drug produces symptoms similar to
certain disease then a highly diluted form of the same drug will cure
the disease.  The greater the dilution, the stronger this curative
effect will be (this is known as the law of Arndt-Schulz).  Great
importance is also attatched to the way in which the diluted solution
is shaken during the dilution.

People are skeptical about homeopathy because:

1: There is no known mechanism by which it can work.  Many homeopathic
   treatments are so diluted that not one molecule of the original
   substance is contained in the final dose.

2: The indicator symptoms are highly subjective.  Some substances have
   hundreds of trivial indicators.

3: Almost no clinical tests have been done.

4: It is not clear why trace impurities in the dilutants are not also
   fortified by the dilution mechanism.

Reports of one scientific trial that seemed to provide evidence for
homeopathy until a double-blind trial was set up can be found in
Nature vol 333, p.816 and further, and the few issues of Nature
following that, about until November of that year (1988).

4.5: What is aromatherapy?
--------------------------

A belief that the essential oils of various flowers have therapeutic
effects.  [Does anyone know more? PAJ]

4.6: What is reflexology?  What is iridology?
---------------------------------------------

Reflexology is an alternative therapy based on massage of the feet.
The idea is that parts of the body can be mapped onto areas of the
feet.  There is no known mechanism by which massaging the feet can
affect other parts of the body (other than the simple soothing and
relaxing effect that any massage gives) and no evidence that it
actually works.

Iridology is a remarkably similar notion.  Diseases are detected and
diagnosed by examining the iris of the eye.

4.7: Does accupuncture work?
----------------------------

[I don't know.  I have heard of a few studies.  Does anyone have more
information, especially references? PAJ]

[In reply to the above question, Jan Willem Nienhuys
<wsadjw@nl.tue.urc> says "Yes.  I have".  PAJ]

4.8: What about psychic surgery?
--------------------------------

Psychic surgeons have claimed to be able to make magical incisions,
remove cancers and perform other miracles.  To date, no investigation
of a psychic surgeon has ever found real paranormal ability.  Instead
they have found one of two things:

 1: Simple conjuring tricks.  The "surgeons" in these cases are
    confidence tricksters who prey on the desperate and the foolish.

 2: Delusions of grandeur.  These people are even more dangerous than
    the first catagory, as their treatments may actually cause harm in
    addition to whatever was wrong with the patient in the first
    place.

4.9: What is Crystal Healing?
-----------------------------

The belief that carrying a small quartz crystal will make you a
healthier person.  People selling these crystals use phrases like "the
body's natural energy fields" and "tuning into the right vibrational
frequencies".  All this sounds vaguely scientific but means absolutely
nothing.  Crystal Healing is mostly a New Age idea.  See the section
on the New Age below for more information.

4.10: Does religious healing work?
---------------------------------

This section will be filled in when I have time to dig out some info.
In general, no.

4.11: What harm does it do anyway?
----------------------------------

People have died when alternative practitioners told them to stop
taking conventional treatment.  Children have died when their parents
refused to give them conventional treatment.  These issues matter.

Most alternative treatments are harmless, so the "complementary
medicine" approach where conventional and alternative therapies
proceed in parallel will not hurt anyone physically (although it is a
waste of time and money).


Creation versus Evolution
=========================

5.1: Is the Bible evidence of anything?
---------------------------------------

In general, no.  It is true that most Christians take the truth of at
least some parts of the bible as an article of faith, but
non-Christians are not so constrained.  Quoting the bible to such a
person as "evidence" will simply cause them to question the accuracy
of the bible.  See the alt.atheism FAQ for more details.

Even most Christians accept that the Bible does not relate scientific
and historical facts, but rather reflect the thinking of times when it
was written.  Only fundamentalist sects assert that the Bible is
totally inerrant, a view that most contemporary priests, ministers,
rabbis, and theologians dismiss.

5.2: Could the Universe have been created old?
----------------------------------------------

An argument is sometimes put forwards along the following lines:

	We know from biblical evidence (see above) that the Universe
	is about 6,000 years old.  Therefore God created it 6,000
	years ago with fossils in the ground and light on its way from
	distant stars, so that there is no way of telling the real age
	of the Universe simply by looking at it.

This hypothesis is unfalsifiable, and therefore not a scientific one
(see the section on the scientific method).  It could also be made for
any date in the past (like last Tuesday).  Finally it requires that
God, who is alleged to speak to us through His Works, should be lying
to us by setting up a misleading Creation.  This seems to be rather
inconsistent with Biblical claims of God being the source of all
truth.

5.3: What about Carbon-14 dating?
---------------------------------

Isotope dating takes advantage of the fact that radioactive materials
break down at a rate independent of their environment. Any solid
object that formed containing radioactive materials therefore steadily
loses them to decay. If it is possible to compare the amount of
radioactive material currently present with the amount originally
present, one can deduce how long ago the object was formed. The amount
originally present cannot, of course, be observed directly, but can
be determined by indirect means, such as identifying the decay
products.

C-14 dating uses an unstable isotope of carbon that is constantly
being produced in the upper atmosphere by cosmic rays. This process
is in equilibrium with the decay of C-14 throughout the biosphere,
so the proportion of carbon that is C-14 as opposed to the stable
C-12 and C-13 isotopes is essentially constant in any living organism.
When an organism dies, it stops taking up new carbon from its
environment, but the C-14 in its body continues to decay. By measuring
the amount of C-14 left in organic remains, one can establish how
long ago the organism they came from died. Because C-14 has a
half-life of only a few thousand years, C-14 dating can only be
used for remains less than a few tens of thousands of years old--
after that, the C-14 is entirely gone, to all practical purposes.
Other isotopic dating techniques, such as potassium-argon dating,
use much longer-lived radionuclides and can reliably measure dates
billions of years in the past.

As far as I know, the "fudge factor" resulted from the fact that the
production rate isn't strictly constant, so the amount of C-14 in the
biosphere actually varies somewhat with time.  The nominal date from a
C-14 reading, based on the present concentration, therefore has to be
corrected to get the real date-- but once the correction has been
calculated once, using an independent dating tool like
dendrochronology (see below), it can be applied to any sample.


5.4: What is dendrochronology?
------------------------------

The science of dating wood by a study of annual rings.

[These figures and references come from a summary emailed to me by
whheydt@com.PacBell.pbhya.  Any mistakes are mine.  PAJ]

Everyone knows that when you cut down a tree the cut surface shows a
series of concentric rings, and that one of these rings is added each
year as the tree grows.  The lighter part of the ring is the summer
growth and the darker part is the winter growth.  Hence you can date a
tree by counting the rings.

But the rings are not evenly spaced.  Some rings are wider than
others.  These correspond to good and poor growing seasons.  So if you
have a piece of wood cut down a few thousand years ago, you can date
it by comparing the pattern of rings in your sample to known patterns
in recently cut trees (Bristlecone pines exist which are over 4600
years old, and core samples allow ring counting without killing the
tree).

Now for the clever bit.  The tree from which your sample came may have
been old before any trees now alive were even saplings.  So you can
extend the known pattern of rings back even further, and hence date
samples of wood which are even older.  By lining up samples of wood in
this way, dendrochronologists have been able to produce a continous
pattern of rings going back around 9,900 years.  This easily refutes
the chronology of Bishop Usher, who calculated from dates and ages
given in the Bible that the Earth was created in 4004 BC.

Dendrochronology is also valuable in providing calibration data for
C14 and other isotope dating methods.  See the previous question for
more details.

References:

	"Dendrochronology of the Bristlecone Pine....."
	by C. W. Ferguson, 1970.  Published in a book called
	"Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology"

This takes the record back 7484 years.  I am told that more recent
work published in Nature in 1991 [exact reference anyone?] has pushed
this back to the 9,900 years I mentioned above.

5.5: What is evolution?  Where can I find out more?
---------------------------------------------------

Many creationist "refutations" of evolution are based on a straw-man
argument.  The technique is to misrepresent the theory of evolution,
putting forward an absurd theory as "what scientists claim".  The
absurdity of this pseudo-evolution theory is then ridiculed.

Debunking all these refutations would take a lot of space.  Instead I
suggest that anyone interested should go and read the FAQ lists over
on talk.origins.  These contain good explanations of what evolution is
(and isn't).  I can also recommend books and essays on the subject by
Sephen Jay Gould.

[Perhaps the FAQ lists on talk.origins could be cross-posted?]

5.6: "The second law of thermodynamics says....
-----------------------------------------------

...that entropy is always increasing.  Entropy is a measure of the
randomness in a system.  So the universe is getting more and more
disordered.  But if this is so, how can life happen, since
evolutionists claim essentially that life is a system that becomes
more ordered with time?"

In fact the second law of thermodynamics only makes statements about
the whole universe.  Small parts of it can become better organised,
but only if some other part becomes less organised.

For instance, when you freeze water the molecules of H2O line up in
beautifully organised crystals.  This organisation does not violate
the second law of thermodynamics because the work done by the freezer
in extracting the heat from the water has caused the total entropy of
the *universe* to rise, even though the entropy of the *water* has
decreased.

Similarly the existence of life on earth has not decreased the entropy
of the universe, so the second law has not been violated.

5.7: How could living organisms arise "by chance"?
--------------------------------------------------

This is actually a less sophisticated version of the question above.
Consider the freezing water in the example.  The wonderful arrangement
in crystals arises from the random movement of water molecules.  But
ice crystals do not require divine intervention, and neither does
life.

Also, consider a casino.  An honest casino makes profits from roulette
wheels.  The result of a spin of a particular wheel is purely random,
but casinos make very predictable profits.  So in evolutionary theory,
even though the occurance of a particular mutation is random, the
overall effect of improved adaptation over time is not.

5.8: But doesn't the human body seem to be well designed?
---------------------------------------------------------

Not to me.  Consider a few pieces of the human body for a moment.  The
back for instance.  The reason we poor humans suffer so much from back
problems is that the back is actually not well designed.  And what
about human reproduction.  Can you imagine any engineer being proud of
having designed *that*?

Firewalking
===========

WARNING: Whatever the truth about firewalking may be, it is a
	 potentially dangerous activity.  Do not attempt it without
	 expert guidance.

[Please could one of the firewalkers on the net contribute a paragraph
or two for this section. PAJ]

6.1: Is firewalking possible?
-----------------------------

Yes.  It is possible to walk on a bed of burning wood without being
hurt.

6.2: Can science explain firewalking?
-------------------------------------

There are a number of theories which have been put forward to explain
firewalking.  Any or all may be the explanation for a particular
event.

o The dry wood coals used by firewalkers conduct heat very poorly.
  The coal itself may be very hot but it will not transfer that heat
  to something touching it.

o The coals are a very uneven surface, and the actual surface area of
  foot touching the coals is very small.  Hence the conduction of heat
  is even slower.

o Firewalkers do not spend very much time on the coals, and they keep
  moving.  Jan Willem Nienhuys <wsadjw@nl.tue.urc> adds that about 1
  second total contact time per foot seems on the safe side.

o Blood is a good conductor of heat.  What heat does get through is
  quickly conducted away from the soles of the feet.

o The "Leidenfrost" effect may play a part.  This occurs when a cold,
  wet object (like a foot) touches a hot, dry object (like a burning
  coal).  The water vaporises, creating a barrier of steam between the
  hot and cold objects.  Hence the two objects do not actually touch
  and evaporation from the cold object is much slower than might
  otherwise be expected.  Since steam is a relatively poor conductor
  of heat the foot does not get burned.  Jearl Walker, of Scientific
  American's "The Amateur Scientist" column, explains the Leidenfrost
  effect in the August 1977 issue; he walked across coals unharmed and
  attributes this to the Leidenfrost effect.  Other scientists believe
  that the Leidenfrost effect is unimportant in firewalking.

Some skeptics have challenged firewalkers to stand on hot metal plates
instead of coals.  Others have pointed out that making such a
challenge in the belief that the firewalker would be seriously hurt is
of dubious morality.

New Age
=======

7.1: What do New Agers believe?
-------------------------------

An awful lot, it would seem.  New Age seems to be a sort of
"roll-your-own" religion.  Some of the more common threads include:

o Divination, especially Tarot, I-Ching, and Western and Chinese
  Astrology.

o Green politics, especially the more extreme "deep green" movements.

o Flying saucers.

o "Alternative" health (see above).

o Vegetarianism.

o Pacifism.

o Conspiracy theories to explain why the rest of the world does not
  follow the same beliefs.

o Rejection of science and logic as tools for understanding the
  universe.  A reliance on feelings and intuition as guides to action.

o Pseudo-scientific jargon.  New Agers talk about "rebalancing energy
  fields" and "vibrational frequencies".  These sound vaguely
  scientific but in fact have no meaning at all.

o Eastern religions, especially "cult" religions.  Mainstream eastern
  religions such as Hinduism and Sihkism don't seem to attract New Age
  believers.  Most New Agers are actively against organised
  Christianity, but some favour heretical variants such as Gnosticism.

Not all of these are bad just because New Age people follow them, but
the rejection of logical argument as a basis for belief and action
often leads to bizarre beliefs and futile actions.  A recent example
was the vandalism of a GPS satelite while it was waiting to be
launched.  The vandals claimed that GPS was part of a nuclear
first-strike system.  In fact ICBMs use inertial guidance instead of
GPS, and have done for decades.

[Would any New Agers out there like to try summarising their beliefs
in a few paragraphs for this section?  This has been rather negative
and I would like to balance it. PAJ]

7.2: What is the Gaia hypothesis?
---------------------------------

There are several versions:

Religious: The planet (or the ecosphere) is aware, and tries to
	   preserve itself.

Strong: The planet/ecosphere reacts to preserve a homeostasis; if, for
	example, global warming raises the temperature then various
	changes in the planet's biota will occur which will (in some
	period of time) lower the temperature.

Weak: Life affects the conditions of life.

No scientist would disagree with the weak version given here; at the
other extreme, the "religious" version is not science (unless we can
find signs of that awareness).

Not only can we look at the ozone hole, global warming, or human
pollution, but the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere is also due to
the presence of life

The strong hypothesis is very much a matter of debate.  Most
scientists don't believe it, some don't think it's science, but others
feel they have good evidence.

Perpetual Motion Machines
=========================

8.1: Why don't electrical machines work?
----------------------------------------

Electrical perpetual motion machinists usually present a machine that
causes a small battery to generate a huge amount of power.  The most
common problem here is that the "huge amount of power" was incorrectly
measured.  AC power measurements are tricky; you can't just multiply
the voltage and current, because they may be out of phase.  Thus,
measuring 10 Volts and 10 Amps could indicate anything from 0 to 00
Watts, depending on the power factor.  In addition, most AC meters
expect a sinusoidal wave; if they are given some other wave they may
be totally wrong.  A simple argument against these machines is; "If
they can provide so much energy, why do they need the battery to keep
going?"

8.2: Why don't mechanical machines work?
----------------------------------------

Mechanical perpetual motion machines depend on rising and descending
weights.  The problem is that the amount of energy that you get out of
a descending weight is exactly the same amount that it took to raise
the weight in the first place: gravity is said to be a "conservative"
force.  So no matter what the weights do, you can't get energy out.

8.3: Why don't magnetic machines work?
--------------------------------------

Magnetic motors have a clever arrangement of magnets which keeps the
motor rotating forever.  Not surprisingly, whenever someone tries to
build one, the motor rotates for a while and then stops -- this is
usually attributed to the magnets "wearing out".  These motors usually
rely on using magnets as low-friction bearings, meaning the "motor"
can coast for a long time, but it doesn't supply any power.  Magnetism
is like gravity; you can store potential energy and get it back, but
you can't get more energy no matter what you try.

8.4: Magnets can levitate.  Where is the energy from?
-----------------------------------------------------

Levitating magnets do not require energy, any more than something
resting on a table requires energy.  Energy is the capacity for doing
work.  Work can be measured by force times distance.  Although the
magnets are exerting a force the levitated object is stationary, so
the magnets aren't supplying any energy.

8.5: But its been patented.
---------------------------

So what?  Patent offices will not grant a patent on a "perpetual
motion machine" but if you call it a "vacuum energy device" and claim
that it gets its energy from some previously unknown source then you
can probably get a patent.  Patent offices are there to judge whether
something has been invented before, not whether it will work.
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic