My Collection of Pseudoscience Pages

Note: Please do not email me about the content of these pages. I don't agree with them, which should be obvious since I titled my page "Pseudoscience and Other Wackos." However, if you find any pages which you feel are worthy to be on this list, please email me at rstanek@umich.edu.

Quick Jump to Topics

• News on Ohio Science Standards
  
• News and Events
  
• Astronomy and Geology
  
• Catastrophism
  
• Creation "Science"
  
• Dinosaurs
  
• Face on Mars
  
• Lunar Landing
  
• Math and Logic
  
• Physics
  
• Prophecy
  
• Way Out There
  

News on Ohio Science Standards

• On a mildly related note, a professor of radiology at The Ohio State University took out a full page ad in the New York Times about his little theories on physics. One such example is his theory that the cosmic microwave background is actually produced by the Earth's oceans. And if that doesn't have you grabbing the kids and running for the underground shelter, how about his claim that parts of the sun's atmosphere are actually liquid? You get the canned goods; I'll get the phase diagram. Naturally, he also has a web page. Prize quote: "Why must these wackos always come from Ohio?" Oh, wait, that was me.
  
• The Ohio State Board of Education has held a hearing on intelligent design, with presentations by a biologist, a physicist (Lawrence Krauss!), and two philosphers from the Discovery Institute. This is all beyond ridiculous. I hate Ohio.
  
• The Ohio State Board of Education is seriously considering adding "intelligent design" to the curriculum, according to this article from the New York Times. You may be wondering, "Well, what is the governor's view on this?" From this article in the Columbus Dispatch, Gov. Taft is avoiding the issue, and waiting for the school board's recommendation. As a former resident of Ohio, I am embarrassed, yet somehow not surprised. The State Board of Education has a website with contact info, and their address is:
  Ohio Department of Education Building
  25 S. Front St., 7th Floor
  Columbus, OH 43215-4183
  
• Oh, right, the revised Ohio science curriculum has been posted online -- only as a 90-some page Word document, naturally. Yeah, that's convenient.
  
• The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a conservative thinktank, graded the science curriculum of each state, and also specifically graded their sections on evolution, in 2000. Ohio got an F for their evolution section. Yes, even before this whole intelligent design kerfuffle. It's worth noting that Kansas, which at the time had removed evolution from the curriculum, got an F-.
  
• The Ohio Citizens for Science have a terrific site dedicated to science education in the state of Ohio. They have links to plenty of topical articles, as well as news about the State Board of Education, and tips for writing letters to the Board.
  

• The second-largest county school board is Georgia is requiring a balance of evolution and the Bible (NY Times, 8/23/02. CNN article, 8/23/02.) Yes. In science classes. Prize quote: " About 2,000 parents had signed petitions objecting to the board's purchase of new science textbooks in the spring because the books taught evolution." What the hell kind of science textbooks were they using before this? A parent in the school district has approached the ACLU to challenge this policy, so I'll keep my eyes open for what happens next.
  
• There is a lecture and debate at MIT on the infamous Time Cube, given by Gene Ray, author of the website. It's Wednesday, January 30, at 3 p.m. Unfortunately, it's only open to MIT students; otherwise I would totally go and take notes. Alas.
  
• Arkansas Considers Banning Evolution from Textbooks (CNN, 3/22/01 -- I'd seen this on the news, but thanks to Vinay for finding the link) I cannot begin to describe why this article makes my blood boil. Arkansas is considering removing references to evolution and radiocarbon dating from all textbooks used in schools, museums, zoos, and libraries. Yes, let's deny our children the right to get a decent science education anywhere within the state of Arkansas. Prize quote: "'Do you believe you were descended from a monkey?' Rep. Denny Altes shot back. 'If we teach kids that they were descended from monkeys, don't you think they'll act like monkeys?'" Well, I guess believing you were divinely created makes you act like a holier-than-thou asshole.
  
• A Third of U.S. Schools Don't Teach Evolution (a.k.a. Why Johnny and Janey don't understand the need for a balanced ecosystem and are at the doctor's office demanding antibiotics for their viral infections) (CNN, 9/21/00 -- yeah, it's old, but I don't think that 1/3 of U.S. schools have had curriculum changes in the past six months.) This is based on an article in Nature that evaluated state standards on evolution, grading them A through F. For instance, Pennsylvania got an A. Ohio got an F. (A fact which I noted to my parents in an angry email, asking why we had to move from Pa. to Ohio.) Kansas got an F- at the time. This article is a great microcosm of the scientific illiteracy in this country. Prize quote: "Alabama, Texas and Nebraska teach evolution as one possibility for how the universe was created." Evolution has nothing to do with how the universe was created -- that's in the fields of astronomy, cosmology, and particle physics. So if they're teaching biological evolution in their astronomy classes, now I'm really worried.
  
• Lawmakers Might Require Teaching Creationism (CNN, 3/19/01) Michigan lawmakers are debating requiring schools to teach "alternatives" to evolution. Gee, I wonder just what those alternatives might be. Unfortunately, I think they will leave out my favorite alternative, that the universe was sneezed out of the nose of the Great Green Arkleseizure.
  
• Assault on Evolution (Salon.com, 2/28/01) This is an excellent article about theories of intelligent design, and how proponents are claiming it to be a scientific alternative to Darwinism. The article does a good job of pointing out some of the basic flaws and shortcomings of intelligent design, as well as the motivation of groups such as the Discovery Institute.
  
• Kansas Restores Evolution Standards for Science Classes, (CNN, 02/14/01). Yay!
  

Astronomy and Geology

• The page with the honor of being first on the list is the Association for Biblical Astronomy. Among other great scientific revelations, this page embraces geocentrism. Don't laugh too hard; Dr. Gerardous Bouw received his Ph.D. in astronomy from our very own Case Western Reserve University (Note #2: This was well before any of the current department members were here. So don't blame us.). Sigh.
  

• Another geocentrism page (yes, there's more than one out there) proudly proclaims that The Earth is Not Moving! Evidentally the heliocentric universe was the first step down the slippery slope. To make their point, they even have an article devoted to the ungodliness of Kepler and his mother. Prize quote (and believe me, it was hard to pick just one): " The ultimate Polish joke on the world is one word: COPERNICANISM!"
  

• In case you were wondering, this poorly-designed site answers the question of Where the Extraterrestrial Life Is. Evidentally, what we normally think of as dust clouds are actually swarms of black comets with liquid ocean interiors. The reasoning begins with tidal forces that heat planets such as Io, but then attempts are made to apply that to comets. Prize quote: "Comet Hale Bopp may have had a companion that would cause orbital heating."
  

• The Christian Geology Ministry site has the interesting distinction of being both bad science and bad religion. Not only was there a specific creation six thousand years ago, but it was a regeneration of everything. They also talk about Noah's flood, etc., and try to find geologic evidence that supports the Bible. They end up twisting the Bible in knots, which is pretty funny. Sorry, no prize quote from this page, but it certainly is a bizarre little read.
  

• The Earth Science Associates (primarily a Robert Gentry, who in his spare time writes annoying letters to the editor of the APS newsletter) seem to have hit upon the idea of using six data points from a lake in Ontario to prove that the Earth was instantaneously created. This of course also proves that "the Big Bang Theory is fatally flawed," and in fact everything we know about astronomy and cosmology is a crock of shit. Well, he can take his six data points and stick them where the cosmic microwave background don't shine. Prize quote: "Indeed, I believe God's special stones - the granites, Earth's foundation rocks - will soon fulfill their special appointment with destiny as they cry out (Luke 19:40) in calling men everywhere back to the worship of our magnificent Creator God. Rev. 14:6-7."
  

  
  

• The infamous Ted Holden has created a page discussing Theories of Catastrophism. He combines fossil evidence, ancient mythology, and bad physics to conclude that Saturn and Jupiter were recently very, very, close to us, and that Neanderthals used bio-engineering to help them defend Europe from modern man. Honest. Prize quote: "The more powerful electrostatic and electromagnetic nature of the Earth in ancient times was occasioned by and itself was the cause of a number of phenomena which divide the ancient world and our world into fundamentally different kinds of realities, resulting in the present FUBAR state of virtually every branch of science which attempts to make sense out of prehistoric conditions."
  

• The Institute for Creation Research, which somehow manages to award master's degrees in geology, astronomy, and biology, despite its teachings of a 6000-year old Earth. Because obviously all the other scientists in the world, publishing in their peer-reviewed journals, are COMPLETELY wrong . . . and if you dig deep enough into the articles on their site, they even appear to support geocentrism. Prize quote: "We believe God has raised up ICR to spearhead Biblical Christianity's defense against the godless dogma of evolutionary humanism."
  

• The Creation Research Society is another organization that tries to gain credibility by actually doing research. However, they shoot themselves in the foot with the line "First, members of the Society, which include research scientists from various fields of scientific accomplishment, are committed to full belief in the Biblical record of creation and early history." So much for scientific objectivity. Of course, their many articles and abstracts online all neatly point to the same conclusion about creation. Prize quote (which I might add was hard to find; this is a kind of boring site without much fire and brimstone): "Beyond about 10,000 years, the magnetic moment would exceed a reasonable estimate for any planet the nature of the earth, and by one million years the current required to generate the magnetic moment predicted on the basis of the decay curve would liberate enough beat to vaporize the earth." Nevermind that the magnetic field of the Earth actually flips. . .
  

• A helpful Creation-Evolution Encyclopedia has been compiled to disprove all sorts of evolutionary findings, as well as various astronomical and geological facts. Prize quote number one: "Here are facts of true science which can help you and others. Knowing the truth about origins can help people live happier, better lives." Okay, that might be true, since I am quite happy as a student of astronomy. This site also includes 106 facts that "disprove" the Big Bang and the origin of the stars. Prize quote number two: "The galaxies cannot be very old because the galactic magnetic field would cause a too-quick wrapping-up of the stars." Prize quote number three (yes, the page is that bad):"Only God could make two stars encircle each other, without crashing into one another."
  

• The Creation Science Resource (would it kill these people to come up with creative names?) is a web site that has little original content, but many links to articles on every topic imaginable -- young Earth, young Sun, the usual evolution stuff, etc. Sadly, there is no prize quote, but pick your favorite topic, and they'll have links to articles that will send your blood pressure through the roof.
  

• The Internet Center for Creation Science has lots of links to creationist websites, as well as a collection of essays, letters, and conversations the webauthor has had with various people. He also includes the responses he has gotten, so at least he is honest. Prize quote: "I confess that while messages were being posted that were pro-old earth, progressive creation, evolution, big bang, and so on I actually got depressed and saddened."
  

• The Biblical Creation Society Home Page is another one of those pesky young- Earth creationist websites. The fun starts under "Scientific Issues" when they work on their relativistic young universe. (Yeah, they have the usual on the age of the Earth, evolution, and dinosaurs, but I get a kick out of people playing around with cosmology to get a young universe.) Prize quote: "The original matter God created was ordinary liquid water. God transformed the water into various elements by compaction."
  

• Another Damn Creation Science Page. It has the same old, same old (or actually, same young Earth, same young universe) when it comes to the problems with evolution as opposed to creation. Racism and communism are both blamed on evolution (because as we all know, there was no racism prior to 1859) since evolution teaches us that we are mere animals. No prize quote, since they don't say anything too wacky that hasn't already been said.
  

• The True Origin Archive is meant to be the creationist answer to the excellent Talk.Origins Archive. However, it gets off on the wrong foot with the prize quote, "The question of origins is largely a matter of history -- not the domain of applied science." Many of their articles are direct rebuttals of TalkOrigins essays -- I provided the link to Talk.Origins as an example of a quality science website.
  

• Ted Holden has the very distinct "honor" of having two wacky pages worth checking out. This one tries to link The Theory of Evolution with Everything in this World Which is Bad. He links evolution to Nazis, which is always the quickest way to lose an argument. Prize quote: "To replace evolution with religion, you would have to find a religion as stupid [emphasis his] as evolution(ism), and that could not be done."
  

• The Creation Resources Trust covers the same old creationist crap in every other website, with a little bit of dinosaurs and material aimed at youngsters for good measure. It stands out because it's a British site, so revenge has finally been enacted upon the UK for the Spice Girls. Prize quote: "We also provide speakers for meetings and seminars, and arrange all-age 'Creation Discovery Days'®." "Creation Discovery Days" is a trademarked term! Were they afraid that someone would steal it? I think I'm going to squat on that url and see if they'll buy it from me.
  

• Want to go on a Creation Safari? I didn't think so, but this site offers them anyways. It's a chance to not only spout pseudoscience nonsense, but to spout pseudoscience nonsense in the field! What do they do when they find fossils? Prize quote (italics theirs): "The Christian world view gave birth to modern science; it did not and would not have arisen in non-Christian cultures." Well, there's some twelth-century Islamic scientists who would have a few things to say about that, except that they can't, because the Christians aggressively conquered the entire fucking world before anyone got around to developing modern science. Astronomy? Who needs astronomy? We have the Crusades!
  

• If desert safaris aren't your thing, perhaps you'd like to Discover Creation with Alpha Omega Institute by going on their Creation Mountain Adventures. I swear, I don't make any of this crap up. Prize quote: "Fascinating slide-illustrated creation and evolution presentations demonstrating the truth of Scripture!" They also link evolution to various ills of society (of course, you also have to think that sex is evil), and the second prize quote is :"Is there any wonder students need a self esteem class after such teaching in biology?" What the hell are you telling your children that their self-esteem hinges on being superior to and separate from everything else on this planet and in this universe?
  

• This site examines claims by those crazy paleontologists about Dinosaurs: Science or Science Fiction. Among the reasons we should doubt these numerous claims of dinosaur fossils is that researchers tend to find fossils after looking for them. Also, the researchers prepare fossils before displaying them -- a clear sign of fraud! They're all chicken bones, people! Prize quote: "Deep probing questions need to be asked of the entire 'dinosaur industry'."
  

• Although this site discusses many areas of creationism, its main focus is on Jesus Dinosaurs and More Dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are found all throughout the Bible, and therefore existed a mere four thousand years ago. The Earth is quite young, the Big Bang is crap, and really, it's a wonder that I remain positive and upbeat in the face of websites like this. Take a goddam physics class, people! Oh, right, prize quote: "Many of the dinosaurs died in the flood. But Noah also took two of each kind of dinosaur on the ark. So we know that many dinosaurs lived after the flood."
  

• The Creation Sensation (It's sweeping the nation! Unfortunately.) site promises a view of all of creation, but they focus on dinosaurs. Of course, these are recent dinosaurs that were in the Bible and chilled with Noah and his peeps. Prize quote: "When fossils are looked at in the light of God's Word, we understand that they are a testimony of a great judgement that once took place on this earth."
  

• This site relates the Face on Mars and the Tower of Babel to weave a story of "space travel, interplanetary wars, planetary explosions, giants, dragons, monsters, and visits by aliens who we worshipped as gods." He has many articles about the face on Mars, the Cyadonia region, and what NASA is hiding from us. He has also found a SECOND face on Mars, albeit one that doesn't resemble a face at all.
  

• This site presents a detailed analysis of the Face on Mars, including analysis of the new images from the Mars Global Surveyor. For those unfamiliar with the new images, they look LESS like a face than the original Voyager-era picture did.
  

• This page discusses the face and surrounding monuments of the Cyadonia region, and the message that the former inhabitants of the region were trying to leave to us. This page also has the same second face on Mars as the first page listed.
  

  
  

• This poorly-designed website claims that the Moon Landings were faked, based mainly on photographs of the lunar landing. Photographic tricks and shadows are used to "prove" that it was a NASA hoax. In a feeble effort to gain more credibility, the website also tries to use facts about the moon to prove its point. Prize quote: "If you look at the rock labeled R you will notice the letter C carved in the rock. Perhaps a gag left by the props department? "
  

• The author of this website on how the lunar landings were faked has even written a book about it, entitled NASA Mooned America. He uses photographic tricks to prove his point, as well as weird claims about the landscape and Hollywood sets. Prize quote: "Twenty five years ago, they [NASA] pulled off a heist that makes the "Great Train Robbery" look like a schoolboy prank."
  

  
  

• The Time Cube site is about time and the number four and god and nature, and might be the most inadvertantly hysterical site I have ever seen. Honest. It is poorly designed and poorly written, and I cannot even determine if it's a hoax or if the guy is serious. It even reads like one giant prize quote. Some examples: "The oscillation or imperfection of that straight line, represents the imperfection of all created life on Earth - depicted in Nature's Harmonic Time Cube. Without Time Cube, your life right is voided." "God is a word masturbation." "-1 x -1=+1 is stupid and evil." Props to Jim Jolley for finding this page.
  

• The Law of Logic page is quite possibly the worst web page I have ever, ever seen. This person (who actually emailed this page to me himself) claims that his logic is the answer to theoretical physics. At the very bottom of his page he has some links -- one to another page of his that is identical to this, only includes a photo and an email address -- and the others to moderately respectable sites. Prize quote: "LOGIC creates , makes . so if LOGIC creates , makes anything then LOGIC is CREATION ITSELF = THE CREATOR, THE MAKER." Huh?
  

Physics

• The Theodynamics Institute claims to use a new brand of physics to explore the cosmos and human consciousness. It's a mix of science, religion, and some guy's mid-life crisis. There's even a forum for wanna-be theodynamicists to propose new theories and discuss how they will redeem all of science and society. Prize quote: "The work presents a new set of terminology ('Theodynamics' jargon) that has been conceived for the purpose of synthesizing a number of unharmonious themes and terms in use." Unfortunately, all the writing on the site is of that quality.
  
  
• The creator of the Yun-Qi Kingdom pretty much spammed the entire American physics community with an email full of crap about relativity and math and physics. Fortunately, his website goes into even greater depth, and he proclaims himself divine. Or something like that. Prize quote: "When the new millennium begins, a great NEW KINGDOM also comes. It marks the END of SCIENCE."
  
• A Mr. Robert E. McElwaine (who actually holds a B.S. in physics and astronomy) has posted his Unorthodox Internet Articles, and I think you'll agree that this list would be incomplete without him. He has found a way to bypass the laws of thermodynamics, and make sure to check out his theory of a hollow earth.
  

• The Revelation 13 site is a strange, strange mix of New Age philosophy and Biblical inerrancy. Biblical prophecy is mixed with astrology to predict events in pop culture. Prize quote: "My method of prophecy combines Astrology and other New Age Schools, mythology, religion, and numerical analysis."
  

• The Superforce site uses solar storms to predict football scores and stock market fluctuations. They use data from a whole four days back in April to prove the accuracy of their methods, and check out their incorrect Super Bowl predictions. Prize quote: "Insects and animals are also affected by Ions, a bee can sting unprovoked on positive days."
  

• The Y Files has a lot of wacky stuff about alien contact, cosmology, Biblical prophecy, and the full moon. They analyze the above SuperForce site and give it their approval, sealing their fate forever in my eyes as a wacko site. Prize quote: "24% of the U.s. Presidential Vote swayed by the Full Moon effect."
  

• The ZetaTalk site is one that applies crackpot astronomy to government conspiracies and paranormal sightings of mythical beasts through overzealous use of hyperlinks. Aliens are here, the Pleiadeans will help with an upcoming "Pole Shift", and density is actually a spiritual state. This ground-breaking information comes to us courtesy of "Nancy", a "Zeta Emissary." Also posted on their site are transcripts of debates that they have had with the members of the sci.astro Usenet newsgroup. Why they would admit to this is beyond me, but then again, this is a site so bizarre that I can't come away with only one prize quote.
  

• The site The Four Winds claims to distribute truth to "the Four Winds of Earth-Shan." They have lots of theories on the formation of the solar system, the twin planet of Earth, and . . . well, something about the rotation of the galaxy around the Pleidades. Prize quote: ". . . the Khazarian Zionist Bolshevik evil world would-be-controllers have their Plan 2000 to destroy 50% of our earth's population and 85% of that of the U.S. by year 2000."
  

• The site The Phoenix Archives is related to the above site. They have archives of a few newsletters, plus merchandise and links. If nothing else, check out their opinions on Comet Hale-Bopp.