Category: Everything Else

Taking a break from politics, here’s a neat news item: Prayer does not help you get pregnant after all.

It was a miracle that created headlines around the world. Doctors at one of the world’s top medical schools claimed to have scientifically proved the power of prayer.

Many Americans took the Columbia University research – announced in October 2001 after the terror attacks on New York and Washington – as a sign from God. It seemed to prove that praying helped infertile women to conceive.

But The Observer can reveal a story of fraud and cover-up behind the research. One of the study’s authors is a conman obsessed with the paranormal who has admitted to a multi-million-dollar scam.

Now, I am not even remotely a scientist, but there does seem to be something slightly hinky with the numbers in the study. If you look at Table II, the NIP group (not prayed for), had 28 preembryos implanted, of which 21 resulted in successful pregnancies. This is a success rate of 75%. The IP group (prayed for) had 62 preembryos implanted, of which 44 resulted in successful pregnancies. This is a success rate of 70% – a figure lower than the not prayed for group. So how did the authors come up with the original claim of a 100% improvement in implantation success? Or am I just a moron that can’t read the numbers correctly?

The Journal of Reproductive Medicine is apparently a reputable organization. Why they decided to publish this in the first place is a mystery to me. My guess is they didn’t know how to vet pseudo-science like the power of prayer and didn’t want to seem politically incorrect by outright refusing to print the study. Less likely – perhaps some misguided believers on the staff were so thrilled to see a study ‘proving’ their beliefs that the standard review procedure was skipped.

Either way, it’s another example of the pervasive influence of religion in America today and why it’s a problem.

An art gallery owner is assaulted because someone decided they didn’t like some of the art in her gallery – specifically, a painting showing US soldiers torturing naked men. The gallery is now closed.

What’s surprising is this happened in San Francisco, not a city know for its quanitity of right wing activists.

And to end the day, a bit of bad news.

‘Babylon 5’ actor Richard Biggs dies.

It’s sad when talent passes too soon.

Seen in the New York Times today: A Sports Turnaround: the Team Doctors Now Pay the Team.

Apparently there’s a new trend in player health care: “In an upside-down scenario spawned by an increasingly competitive health-care market, hospitals and medical practices

Atrios has a good one over on his blog today.

I’ve frequently said there are three kinds of cities (or colleges or countries or sports teams or insert any similar entity here).

People who live in 1st class cities never feel the need to tell everyone how great their city is. It speaks for itself. Think New York, Paris.

People who live in 2nd class cities feel the need to proclaim their greatness, and to convince you that they really are 1st class cities.

People who live in 3rd class cities just accept their lot and get on with their lives.

Scott and I disagreed whether San Francisco is a first or second class city. I think it’s borderline first class, he says definitely second class.

Speaking of first class cities, I’m going home to NYC next week. Unlike my Rome trip, ‘net access should be easy there, so I expect no blog interruptions.

Apparently Nick Berg was a Jew. Just like Daniel Pearl. Although his religion seems to have been less of an issue to the people who chopped off his head than his being an American. Still, the subtext is there and concerns me.