Tag Archives: deception

Astrology fails scientific testing

By Ryan | Published: October 5, 2010

One third of Americans believe in Astrology, which suggests that the position of the stars at your birth provide insight into your personality and even the course of your life. Any regular readers ought to know I tend to stick with the scientific process when it comes to wishy-washy information, so it’s no particular surprise [...]

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HOW-TO: cheat your friends at poker for fun and profit

By Ryan | Published: October 9, 2009

Closing out the first ever theme week on the topic of deception, here’s a little do-it-yourself deceit lesson. Of course, it comes with the disclaimer that this is in the interest of protecting yourself from cheats, not to inflict it upon others… promise? So you find yourself playing poker with your grandma and your uncle. [...]

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FACT: Project Alpha convinced scientists that psychics are real

By Ryan | Published: October 8, 2009

This is part the fourth of “deception week”. This time we don the white coats and head into the lab to show that science is not immune to deception. (well… good science is) In 1979 half a million dollars was donated to the Washington University (in St. Louis) to create the McDonnal Laboratory for Psychical [...]

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FACT: carnival games are not meant to be won

By Ryan | Published: October 7, 2009

Post #3 of the deception theme week. Today’s con comes from the family-fun-filled carnival you’d find in Anytown, USA. A perfect place to deceive the people! So the story goes, on the last day of the fair, a huge tornado rips through the field. There is cotton candy and corn dogs all over the place. [...]

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FACT: a red herring smells too good to be true

By Ryan | Published: October 6, 2009

This is post #2 in this theme week on deception. Today we dig back to the roots of a popular turn of a phrase. Any time you watch a mystery movie, chances are you’ve been kept on your toes with a “red herring”… or false clues. This phrase has been a part of the English [...]

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FACT: the second world war was won with inflatable tanks

By Ryan | Published: October 5, 2009

Welcome to the first ever “theme week” on the LSNED blog. All week I’ll be posting exciting, thrilling, educational facts on the topic of… deception! Yup, deceptions big and small of all sorts. Stay tuned for a tricky week. The big turning point in World War II was the Normandy invasion, where allied troops managed [...]

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