Nebraska Man was a hypothetical ape indigenous to North America, proposed in 1922, soon determined to be in error and formally retracted in 1927. The only reason anyone has ever heard of it today is because the creationist community later latched onto it as evidence of the evolutionary conspiracy. Read more ›
“Gay bowel syndrome” is a term coined in the mid-1970s to describe a disparate group of ano-rectal disorders reported primarily in gay men. The problem is that it’s neither gay-specific, confined to the bowel nor a syndrome. The term is… Read more ›
Confabulation (also called false memory or pseudomemory) is a term in cognitive psychology defined as a recollection of something that never happened. This can range from something as minor as misremembering an item on a list to fabricating an entire… Read more ›
Parapsychology is the supposedly scientific study of paranormal phenomena involving the human mind. This includes such things as psychokinesis, clairvoyance, and telepathy. The goal is to apply the rigors of the scientific method to the world of the paranormal.
A pseudojournal is an imitation scientific journal intended to promote and gain respectability for pseudoscience or marketing by claiming that the claims within have been peer reviewed.
Cold fusion is the claim of nuclear reactions at relatively low temperatures, rather than at millions of degrees. The most commonly-touted system is an electrolytic cell with a palladium cathode electrolyzing deuterium oxide (heavy water).
Boskop Man (Homo capensis) was a claimed hominid from 10,000 years ago. They had remarkably large brains and childlike facial features, and were super-evolved geniuses, with IQs of 150, compared to us mere Homo sapiens. Unfortunately, they were a figment… Read more ›