Conspiracy news & views from all angles, up-to-the-minute and uncensored
Vaccine uptake is critical for public healthRobin Utrecht/Shutterstock When I read the 1998 study falsely claiming there was a link between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism, I was shocked. Shocked by how bad the paper was, shocked that it was published in a high-status …
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“Everybody knows flying is bad for the climate…”oversnap/Getty Images Many years ago, I went to report on a climate science meeting at University College London. I have no memory of what the meeting was about, but I do remember a lot else about that day. When I arrived, there were protesters …
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Malerapaso/Getty Images Last Word is New Scientist’s long-running series in which readers give scientific answers to each other’s questions, ranging from the minutiae of everyday life to absurd astronomical hypotheticals. To answer a question or ask a new one, email lastword@newscientist.com When a …
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Malerapaso/Getty Images When a bubble, or spirit, level is level, what does that mean relative to Earth? Pat FrenchLongdon-upon-Tern, Shropshire, UK There is a well-known story of a gentleman who held that Earth was flat. He took a spirit level on a long-haul flight and afterwards announced that, …
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Oscar Collica/Alamy If Earth was flat, how would gravity manifest? Mel EarpMacclesfield, Cheshire, UK That is a brilliantly simple question, yet so revealing. To answer this, we need to put to one side how an Earth with a flat side would form. With Newtonian gravity, this would be quite difficult, …
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Disinformation fuels conspiracy theories that can be hard to dismantleSkorzewiak/Shutterstock Large language model chatbots like those powering ChatGPT can reduce people’s beliefs in conspiracy theories by debating with them. And the approach they employ could even teach people better ways of …
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Protesters against 5G technology gather in Amsterdam, the NetherlandsStanley Gontha/Pro Shots/Alamy Troubled by FaithOwen Davies (Oxford University Press) IN EARLY 2020, 5G mobile technology got caught up in a conspiracy theory that saw cellphone towers being set on fire across Europe. This kind of …
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Michelle D’urbano WHEN we think about a conspiracy theory – assuming it is one we don’t ourselves believe – it is easy to be dismissive. Why should we care if a few misguided people think the world is flat or the government is covering up evidence of aliens? Conspiracy theories feel like a niche …
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Several conspiracy theories flourished during the covid-19 pandemic John B Hewitt/Alamy The vast majority of methods for quashing belief in conspiracy theories have little or no effect and the ones that do work are impractical. That is the conclusion of a review of 25 studies assessing various …
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David McRaney’s argument that it is possible to find common ground with those holding diametrically opposing views is a tonic, finds Chris Stokel-Walker Society 29 June 2022 By Chris Stokel-Walker A gay pride parade in São Paulo, Brazil, in June this year Andre Penner/AP/Shutterstock How Minds …
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