#david derbyshire

[downthetubes]

Oak Tree Books have recently released a new Tomorrow People novella based on the original series created by Roger Price, first shown on ITV in the 1970s

New The Tomorrow People novella, "Prime Factors", out now

[hyperwave]

The idea of summoning the spirits took thrilling hold of the Victorian imagination – and has its adherents now. But the psychology behind spiritualism is more intriguing

[empiricaldaily]

He believes the reported positive effects are so weak they may not even be the work of a placebo but a regression to the mean – the phenomenon whereby patients get better on their own, but attribute their recovery to whatever treatment they have had. Does it matter? Surely if patients believe acupuncture works, that is good enough, given that the treatment is relatively cheap. 'It matters for two reasons,' says Colquhoun. 'It is absolutely contrary to the increased openness that doctors are supposed to have: it involves a direct lie to the patient. Second, if – as appears to be the case – most placebo effects are quite small, then patients don't get much benefit from it anyway. They might get some psychological boost, but it doesn't cure their pain effectively; and that boost is not worth the dishonesty.'

David Derbyshire. 2013.  (Title: Why acupuncture is giving sceptics the needle)