Unused and Probably Unusable

Abel Pharmboy... clever name... is hosting this week's Skeptics' Circle, #31. (I hosted #28 a little while back. Hosting is always good clean fun... or at least fun. Beware the Pooflinger, I always say.)

Among my favorite bits of this episode: a prominently featured foot massager (wasn't there an Onion spoof about a miraculous new shoe insert that combined five kinds of pseudoscience? Anyone got a link?); a mention of the 10% of your brain nonsense (you use lots of your brain. really. truly. the 10% figure was never accurate. Although see the NY Times' Scan Shows Different Growth for Intelligent Brains for some interesting science on how the thickness of the cerebral cortex changes); and the question, How Should "Experts" Be Defined? I prefer the formulation, an Expert is someone from out of town, with a briefcase.

Check out the 31st edition of the Skeptics' Circle!

Check out the (folksy, and ever so charmin') 30th Skeptics' Circle at Paige's Page. As usual, plenty of autism and health care nonsense claims debunked. I particularly enjoyed this edition's section on Evolution - post topics include thermodynamics (it doesn't support creationism), the immune system (it doesn't support creationism) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (just guess).

Blawg Review #48, with a determinedly atypical format and content - I expect this to be a controversial artistic choice, to say the least - is up at Rethink(IP). I recommend a glance - it's not much like past iterations. It is, in a word, minimalist. I'm a bit mystified if the promised "other posts" are going to appear on Blawgr, the community blog (update: aha, there it is), but I do know this: it will take the average Blawg Review reader far less time than usual to peruse the entire review.

I had a great time hosting Blawg Review, and want to extend a thank-you to all the blawgers who contributed and linked, helping drive eyeballs and new readers to Unused & Probably Unusable.

I want to particularly recognize Bob Coffield, of Health Care Law Blog, who posted Colorful Spectrum of Blawg Review #47, with a nice historical note on the phrase "Philadelphia Lawyer."

... at the Huge Entity, we have the latest, highly poetic, edition of the Skeptics' Circle.

Two innovations of note: a clean chart layout, making it easy to peruse for topics or authors of interest. And, the use of Mu-Haiku exclusively in the post descriptions. Very good stuff. Check it out.