A Facebook friend posted a link to this. I will paste the text here and follow up with some discussion.
The Biggest Junk Science of 2023
By Ross Pomeroy December 11, 2023
People push junk science for all sorts of reasons. They might genuinely think that their treatment, belief, or product is valid. They might just be seeking fame or fortune – evidence be damned. Their fervent desire to believe might overwhelm any rational senses.
Pseudoscience ensnared our ancestors in the deep past, and it will continue to seduce our descendants in the far future. While we’ll likely never eliminate it, we can limit its influence through critical thinking and respect for scientific evidence. It also helps to call out egregious examples of junk science. Each year, RealClearScience does just this. Here are eight of the worst instances from 2023. (Afterwards, feel free to peruse our lists from 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019.)
8. Tennis Star Novak Djokovic says a skin patch is “the biggest secret of his career.” This year, Novak Djokovic, arguably the greatest tennis player of all time, was spotted wearing a skin patch on his chest. When asked about it, he called it the “biggest secret of his career.” So what is this amazing device?
As it turns out, it’s a TaoPatch, which its manufacturer touts as a “nanotechnological device based on carbon nanotubules and quantum dots” that applies “the principles of acupuncture to low-level laser therapy.” Wearing it supposedly “improves posture, movement and performance.”
Studies to support these claims are lacking, of course. The more likely reality is that TaoPatch is just a gussied up skin patch designed to feed on the incredulous. Each is sold for hundreds or even thousands of dollars! Djokovic, who is anti-vaccine and gluten intolerant (self-diagnosed), is an ideal, lucrative customer.
7. CVS Removes Worthless Cold Medications While Keeping Homeopathy on Shelves. This year, an FDA advisory panel finally voted that the decongestant phenylephrine is ineffective, recognizing what clinical trials have been showing since 2007. The drug is found in popular medications like Sudafed, Mucinex, Nyquil, and Benadryl, which collectively account for billions in sales. In response to the news, pharmacy chain CVS pulled the drugs from their shelves. That’s commendable.
But at the same time, CVS left on shelves homeopathic remedies. These are useless potions devised on the fanciful notion that diluting a substance in water enhances its ability to combat a medical condition. Even worse, they’re often sold right next to genuine medications. The cognitive dissonance for the sake of profit is astounding.
6. Gullible Doctors Claim That COVID-19 Vaccines Are Causing “Turbo Cancer.” This year, a number of doctors took to social media to conspiracize that COVID-19 vaccines are triggering a frightening, unprecedented rise in fast-spreading tumors, which they dubbed “turbo cancers.” Dr. David Gorski, a Professor in the cancer biology program at Wayne State University, fought back against these questionable claims whenever they arose. He notes that there’s no epidemiological evidence for the trend, nor is there any conceivable biological mechanism for COVID vaccines to trigger cancer.
5. Another Year, Another Company Selling Bleach as a Miracle Treatment. Make no mistake, you absolutely should not consume bleach – it could kill you. That hasn’t stopped the company Safrax from subtly marketing its bleach-containing tablets as treatments for autism (though representatives deny that’s what they are doing). In the past, the cleaner has often been a focus of hucksters attempting to make a buck. It’s been sold as a cure for just about everything over its long history of use.
4. Bed Bug Panic Grips France. In October, the French collectively freaked out over bed bugs. They thought the parasites were everywhere – in trains, at cinemas, even in their own homes. Media sources uncritically echoed the claims, with reports saying that all of Paris is “infested.” But while there likely was a slight uptick in bed bug populations this year, there definitely wasn’t a sudden, wide-scale eruption warranting mass panic. What really gripped France was a social panic fueled by the media.
3. Las Vegas Family Says Aliens Landed in Their Backyard. In June, the Kenmore family of Las Vegas called police to report an extraordinary emergency: aliens had landed in their backyard! They described the extraterrestrials as ten feet tall with large eyes. They subsequently showed reporters a ring-shaped depression apparently left by the craft.
But Google Maps revealed that the ring was there prior to the incident. As for the aliens, debunker Mick West speculated that the family might have seen raccoons sitting atop their fence in the dark. Neighbors reported a fiery streak through the sky that night, accompanied by a large bang. NASA confirmed that a large meteor was observed over Las Vegas.
2. Dopamine Detox: “The Latest TikTok, Silicon Valley Wellness Fad.” Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that, when it binds to certain receptors in the brain, triggers feelings of reward. But according to TikTok influencers and some Silicon Valley types, we’re getting too much of it and thus growing tolerant, which leads us to compulsively pursue more and more rewarding behaviors: Netflix binging, drugs, social media, etc.
“The overall idea is to avoid behaviors for a period of time that allegedly release dopamine,” explained Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale. “For either a few hours a day, or one day a week, or one week a year, you avoid any activity that might trigger a reward reaction in the brain. The claim is that this will keep your brain dopamine levels low and therefore “detox” your brain from dopamine.”
But, he says, the notion is nonsensical. “There is nothing inherently rewarding or pleasurable about dopamine. It just happens to be the neurotransmitter involved in the reward circuitry.”
A better way to manage incessant reward-seeking or compulsive behavior in general is to seek out cognitive behavioral therapy from a licensed therapist.
1. Scammers Present ‘Aliens’ to Mexico’s Congress. Unscrupulous individuals piecing together body parts to create fake aliens is nothing new. What is new is those stitched constructs (pictured top) being presented to a nation’s governing body as proof that extraterrestrials visited Earth. Jaime Maussan supposedly unearthed his aliens in Peru. That may be true – for parts of them. Scientists who analyzed the specimens have stated that they were clearly crafted from a collection of human and animal bones.
Obviously previous images of the property put the kibosh to that speculation.
Number 5: Oh my God! I will not even dive into that one.
Yes, people, it’s out there, and it is not going away soon.
Skeptical Analysis 