The Skeptics Society

According to its "About Us" page, the Skeptics Society is a scientific and educational organization dedicated to the unbiased study of controversial subjects, especially in areas such as fringe science, paranormal phenomena, medical practices, evolution, puzzling historical events, and religion. Members of the society include scholars, scientists, professors, historians, and even magicians. One of the main goals is to promote critical thinking, curiosity, and open-mindedness in as many people as possible.

When I visited the site, the home page contained links to a number of recent articles, with subjects such as anti-science propaganda, the history of the Inquisition, why people believe weird things, and medical quackery. There are also links to podcasts of scholarly lectures and debates on topics such as the possibility of an afterlife, science and Nazism, and environmental politics. In perusing the forum, I came across discussions about sea serpents, alleged photos of aliens, Houdini, demonic possession, crystal skulls, and witchcraft.

The Skeptics Society is probably best-known for its publication of the quarterly Skeptic Magazine, which has been continuously published since 1992. It also puts out a "junior" version of the magazine and an email newsletter.

To visit this site, go to The Skeptics Society. In addition to the articles, there is a forum and an online book store.

World Mysteries Website

In addition to many well-known ancient mysteries, this website also covers some lesser-known modern puzzles. Included in the ancient category are articles about such varied subjects as high technology in the bible, ancient visitors from other planets, human origins, the location of Atlantis, the lost treasure of King Juba, the building of the tower of Babel, ancient observatories, the ark of the covenant, the purpose of Stonehenge and other megaliths, sacred geometry, and Nazca lines. Articles about modern mysteries cover crop circles, who was really behind the attack on the World Trade Center, theories about the origin of the universe, Tesla's experiments, crystal skulls, space vacuum theory, black holes in space, and the Bermuda triangle.

One interesting section of this site contains recent satellite images of various architectual wonders such as the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, the abandoned city of Petra, Chichen Itza, the Taj Mahal, and the Roman colosseum. Because they are taken from satellites, these high quality high-resolution photographs give a different perspective than the normally seen views of these famous structures.

In the modern mysteries area, I came across an article about the supposed hidden treasure of Rennes-le-Chateau in southern France. Best selling authors such as Dan Brown in his book The Da Vinci Code have tried to connect this supposed treasure with legends about the Holy Grail, and with theories that Mary Magdalene secretly married Jesus and bore a child whose descendants still preserve his bloodline. But this article focuses mostly on the original suspicions about a possible treasure, and the reliability of the local evidence for its possible existence.

Go to World Mysteries to view the complete selection of articles.