Month: November 2013

Detecting Consciousness in the Vegetative

People in a vegetative state, usually as a result of brain trauma or anoxia (lack of oxygen) by definition have no signs of conscious awareness or activity. The definition, therefore, is based largely on the absence of evidence for consciousness. Of course, arguments based upon the absence of evidence are only as compelling as the degree to which evidence has been properly...

/ November 6, 2013

Update: Chiropractic Neck Manipulation and Stroke

Chiropractors frequently manipulate the neck. New evidence suggests that this is not without risks, in some cases of catastrophic outcomes.

/ November 5, 2013

The sad saga of an Amish girl with a curable cancer whose parents are refusing chemotherapy in favor of “natural healing”

In Ohio, an Amish girl named Sarah Hershberger is refusing chemotherapy for her leukemia, and her parents are supporting her. Akron Children's Hospital has instituted legal action to ensure that she receives life-saving treatment. As a motley crew of consisting of supporters of alternative medicine and anti-government libertarians are rallying to Sarah's cause. Will this girl receive the life-saving treatment she needs?

/ November 4, 2013

Alternative Microbiology

A man of science rises ever, in seeking truth; and if he never finds it in its wholeness, he discovers nevertheless very significant fragments; and these fragments of universal truth are precisely what constitutes science. ~ Claude Bernard. I almost never have to search for material for this blog. The Secret always seems to provide topics. Subject matter appears unbidden out of...

/ November 1, 2013