Coolest science toy ever

March 4th, 2008 by Ben Goldacre in not bad science, toys | 25 Comments »

Phun is without question the greatest computer toy in the history of the universe, if this had been around when I was a kid I would be a frickin genius by now. You don’t need things any more.

You can download the program for free here:

www.acc.umu.se/~emilk/

It’s extremely easy to use. As a starter tip, turn gravity off when you’re attaching stuff to the background (right click after selecting “affix” tool). Amusing and probably non-existent prize for the rudest video.

All bow before the might of the placebo effect, it is the coolest strangest thing in medicine

March 1st, 2008 by Ben Goldacre in homeopathy, placebo, regulating research | 31 Comments »

Ben Goldacre
The Guardian,
Saturday March 1 2008

It was fun to hear universal jubilation over the new meta-analysis showing once again that some antidepressants aren’t much cop in mild or moderate depression: most of all on the Today programme, where a newsreader said the industry was contesting the study on the basis that it was not in line “with patient experience”. I’ve always said that homeopaths mimic big pharma in their marketing spiel, but this is the first time I’ve seen it done the other way around, so bravo to pill peddlers of all shades. Read the rest of this entry »