Bad Astronomy

Skeptic Check: Power Bands

arewealonelogoEvery couple of months I do a short interview with astronomer Seth Shostak called “Skeptic Check” (née “Brains on Vacation”) as part of the SETI’s Are We Alone radio program. In this month’s segment I diss the Power Bands that are popping up everywhere. These are simple rubber wristbands that the manufacturers claim help your body’s balanace, stamina, performance, and so on, despite no evidence that they can do so, and what look like extremely fishy demonstrations.

I wrote more about this topic in a post last week on the blog. I’ll note these Power Placebos are under fire in other places as well; for example the Australian government is casting a jaundiced eye at them as well. I love to see governments taking action when it comes to medical consumer protection!

Here’s a direct link to the interview MP3. Are We Alone is a great podcast, and I recommend subscribing. Every week there’s something fun and interesting on it!

Related posts:

- Are We Alone: Conservapedia relativity denialism
- Are We Alone Skeptic Check: Oil’s Pill
- Are We Alone: Bomb-sniffing magic wands version