Skull-Penetration Interventions to Combat Zombies

An article in the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, February 2019, Volume :51 Number 1, discusses the question of evidence in assessing traumatic brain injuries (TBI) by using the example of Zombies. The article begins : “Despite anecdotal evidence seen on television and in movies, there is zero actual research to support penetrating traumatic brain injury […]

University Course Proposal: “Calling Bullshit”

Professors Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin West from University of Washington have developed a new interdisciplinary course with the compelling title of Calling Bullshit. From publication bias to fake news, bullshit is everywhere. And it’s important to be able to navigate it, separate delusion from reality, and call out bullshit when we see it. In a post-truth world, […]

Evidence from Mozart’s fly swatter, maybe

The Bibliolore blog presents discusses the meaning and import of what may be the remains of a small animal murdered by a famous musical composer: Franz Niemetschek’s legendary report that La clemenza di Tito was composed in 18 days was not seriously challenged until 1960, when Tomislav Volek published important archival materials relating to the chronology of the opera’s […]

A cheerfully depressing investigation: “Which Placebo to Cure Depression?”

This study pokes a pointed stick into lots of questions about medicine, science, and scholarship. The lead author writes (in a note to us) that “It addresses a paradox in modern medicine: antidepressants are often considered to be mere placebos [1] despite the fact that meta-analyses are able to rank them [2]: it follows that it […]