A Quick Note About Evidence
A skeptic’s guide to weighing evidence: why subjective claims and eyewitness reports mislead, and why only objective, verifiable data deserves belief.
Skepticism
James Randi’s Project Alpha Hoax: How Two Magicians Fooled a Parapsychology Lab
Can a scientist be fooled by a simple magic trick? Project Alpha wasn't just a hoax; it was a four-year masterclass in how experimental trust can lead to scientific failure. Discover how James Randi used two amateur magicians to expose the massive procedural flaws in a university parapsychology lab.
The Bloody Host: How a Fungal Infestation Became a Eucharistic Miracle
A Texas church believed a communion wafer was bleeding—but lab tests found it wasn’t blood. It was a red-pigmented microbe. The faithful called it a miracle. Science called it a fungus.
How Revival Preachers and Hypnotists Hijack Your Memory
Memory isn’t a recording—it’s a rewrite. From revivals to hypnosis to courtroom drama, we explore how suggestion and emotion inflate our memories into false certainties that feel undeniably real.
The Resurrection, Fátima, and the Psychology of Memory
Eyewitness testimony fuels stories like the Resurrection and Fatima’s dancing sun. But what if memory—especially in moments of grief and faith—builds miracles from meaning?
The Fresno Weeping Tree: When Divine Tears Turn Out to Be Bug Poop
When a crape myrtle in Fresno began "weeping" in 2013, hundreds claimed it was a divine miracle. Discover the sticky biological reality involving aphids and "honeydew" that turned holy water into bug waste.
Everything You Always Wondered About Human Origins
A sweeping and sometimes absurd look at human evolution—from ancient primates to Homo sapiens—with fossils, DNA, and lots of tangents. This five-part primer unpacks how scientists trace our tangled roots.
The "Weeping Jesus" of Mumbai: A Miracle Drenched in Sewage
A statue of Jesus in Mumbai was declared miraculous when water dripped from its feet—until skeptic Sanal Edamaruku revealed it was leaking sewage. Then came the threats, the blasphemy charges, and exile.
Russell’s Teapot: The Universe’s Most Confounding Piece of Crockery (Or Why Belief Without Evidence is Like Chasing UFOs with a Butterfly Net)
Russell’s Teapot shows why the burden of proof sits with the claimant: if a claim can’t be tested, no one is obliged to believe it—no matter how confident the believer.