Mark Hanna
ACC and Alternative Medicine - Honest Universe
May 24, 2014 •
The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) is part of the healthcare system in New Zealand. To quote themselves on their purpose, they provide “comprehensive, no-fault personal injury cover for all New Zealand residents and visitors to New Zealand”. To put it simply, if you hurt yourself in an accident in New Zealand, ACC will likely pay […]
Fluoride in Onehunga - Honest Universe
May 05, 2014 •
In last month’s issue of my local community newsletter, Onehunga Community News, an article was published about water fluoridation. For those of you who are non-locals, Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland, and in general drinking water in Auckland is fluoridated. The article mentioned some of the recent national news about fluoridation, which I won’t […]
Homeopathy and Anecdotes - Honest Universe
Apr 22, 2014 •
In the Herald today, a letter to the editor from a Mr Barry Davis was published regarding an article about a recent scientific report on the evidence regarding homeopathy published by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council: Effectiveness of Homeopathy for Clinical Conditions: Evaluation of the Evidence The report evaluated the evidence regarding […]
Stargazing - Honest Universe
Apr 06, 2014 •
As I mentioned in an earlier post, after looking up at the night sky through binoculars for the first time over my summer holiday, I decided to buy a telescope this year. On the 27th of January, I went to see a show at the local observatory, Stardome, and ended up talking to one of […]
Poor Science Reporting on the Paleo Diet - Honest Universe
Apr 02, 2014 •
This morning I saw an article in the NZ Herald on the “paleo diet” that rather frustrated me. It seems like a great example of poor science reporting, trying its hardest to turn a study into a story instead of doing any actual science reporting. The role of a science reporter is not to sensationalise, […]
What Does “37% More Powerful” Really Mean? - Honest Universe
Feb 25, 2014 •
Yesterday, the Advertising Standards Authority released a decision regarding a TV advertisement for Panadol Extra. The advertisement claims that the product is “37% more powerful than standard paracetamol tablets”. Although this is not the claim that was challenged in the complaint, the advertiser, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), provided a citation in attempt to substantiate their claim. However, […]
Telescopes Are for Everyone - Honest Universe
Jan 16, 2014 •
UPDATE 2014/17/01 1:54pm NZDT: The content of the page has now been updated for the better, although its title still says “Telescopes for astronomy or land viewing; a great gift for him”. Over the summer holidays, for the first time ever I took some binoculars outside on a clear night and looked up at the […]