All posts tagged: claims

LMI International Analyzes Another Painting to Backup Van Gogh Claims

LMI International Analyzes Another Painting to Backup Van Gogh Claims

Published by skeptic

New York-based art research firm LMI International has come out fighting following backlash it faced last month after claiming a painting titled Elimar bought at a Minnesota garage sale for $50 was a long-lost work by Vincent van Gogh. After spending $30,000 on high-tech analysis, the company dated it to 1889 and said it’s worth $15 million. However, several van Gogh specialists have argued that the work was painted by a little-known 20th-century Danish artist called Henning Elimar, who died in 1989. They include Wouter van der Veen, a scholar specializing in the Dutch Post-Impressionist art who previously worked for Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum. He said the text “Elimar” in the bottom right-hand corner of Elimar is not its title (as LMI believes) but the artist’s signature. But LMI has now doubled down, by buying and analyzing what it claims is one of only two surviving works by the late Danish artist, titled Bridge and Stream, in a bid to prove he did not also paint Elimar. “Throughout the years-long research process of studying the …

Trust slams union over Windrush claims as strikes paused

Trust slams union over Windrush claims as strikes paused

Published by skeptic

Strikes that would have been the largest ever at an academy trust have been put on hold after the National Education Union (NEU) claimed a “landmark victory”. But the Harris Federation, the trust at the centre of the dispute, has slammed the union for trying to sow “division” and “create conflict” among staff – including by “inappropriately invoking the Windrush scandal”. The NEU had been balloting staff across 18 Harris schools on proposed walkouts over working conditions, after 90 per cent supported taking strike action in an indicative poll. But union members voted to end the 15-month dispute following ACAS talks. The NEU claims the discussions prompted a “significant change” in the trust’s position, but Harris denies this. NEU claims strike victory Among other things, the union stated Harris “finally” agreed “Caribbean and other overseas-trained teachers will have autonomy to decide when they are ready to move forward with the assessment-only route” for qualified status (QTS). Harris has been criticised for teachers it recruited from Jamaica reportedly being paid less than colleagues. NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede …

Harry Houdini Debunked Claims of Abraham Lincoln’s Spiritualism

Harry Houdini Debunked Claims of Abraham Lincoln’s Spiritualism

Published by skeptic

The evidence of Abraham Lincoln’s supposed belief in Spiritualism includes his attendance at séances, his alleged professions of belief to other believers, and “eyewitness” accounts of him asking (and listening to) the spirits’ advice on the conduct of the Civil War. Lincoln as Spiritualist gained public attention first from an 1863 newspaper article, then exploded due to an 1891 book by a self-professed psychic who held séances for the Lincolns in the White House, and culminated in the 1920s based mainly on the existence of a “spirit photo” of Mary Lincoln with her husband’s ghost standing behind her. Whether or not Lincoln was a Spiritualist did not matter to the average person, but to Spiritualists it was the proof and gravitas their religion needed to become accepted and proselytized throughout the world. As one New York editorialist wrote, “If it could be proven that Abraham Lincoln was in any way connected with Spiritualism, or did take counsel from any mediums, at a time when the nation’s weal or woe hung in the balance, or was …

International Investigations into Psychic Claims

International Investigations into Psychic Claims

Published by skeptic

In the Spring 1978 issue of Skeptical Inquirer, James Randi wrote a Special Report, “Tests and Investigations of Three ‘Psychics.’” And here we are, nearly half a century later, with zero evidence of any psychic powers. Some might argue we have made little progress eroding the public’s trust in psychics, and certainly we have had little impact on their ability to make money. Yet we have no alternative; how much worse would it be if we didn’t try? In two separate talks, longtime paranormal investigators Chris French and Richard Saunders shared stories about their long history of investigating psychics.  Chris French: Testing Claims With his new book, The Science of Weird Shit, having just been published, it was wonderful to see Chris French at CSICon 2024. His presentation was a series of stories in his long history of investigating the paranormal. My favorite story involved the testing of Derek Ogilvie, the mind reader for babies (I kid you not). For the investigation, Ogilvie was presented with six youngsters under thirty months old (with an adult …

Academy trusts on verge of going bust, report claims

Academy trusts on verge of going bust, report claims

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Academy trusts could be on the verge of going bust, a major report has warned, with even the biggest MATs taking a financial hit. However, the Kreston group, a network of accountancy firms, study found that CEO pay among the largest trusts is rising again after a period of “stagnation”. Kevin Connor Bishop Fleming head of academies Kevin Connor, a report author, said the research shows trusts “are heading towards a financial cliff edge as they grapple with costs” from  teacher pay rises and the SEND crisis. “This creates massive problems for the future which, without action, could become a silent stranglehold on the sector.” The academies benchmark report studies the accounts of more than 260 trusts. Here’s what you need to know… 1. More in-year deficits… The proportion of trusts racking up in-year deficits has more than trebled since 2021, from 19 per cent to 58 per cent. Secondary single-academy trusts were worst-hit, according to the analysis, as their overall reserves fell from an average surplus of £6,000 …

Google owes UK news industry £2.2bn from 2023, claims research

Google owes UK news industry £2.2bn from 2023, claims research

Published by Sam

Google News. Picture: Shutterstock New research has suggested UK news publishers are owed £2.2bn by Google for their contribution to the search platform in 2023 alone. Google responded that such studies are “misleading” and have been “debunked”, insisting it makes very little money from news content. The Public Interest News Foundation worked with FehrAdvice to calculate the value of journalism to Google with a survey of 1,484 people which observed their internet browsing habits. Participants revealed that Google is by far the most important way they searched for online information about current topics. Some 82% said they use search engines to find news (and Google itself is estimated to have 94% market share of online search in the UK). The survey also underlined the extent to which Google has become a destination for news content itself (rather than simply an aggregator which sends traffic to publishers). The research found that some 67% of those using Google for news get all the information they need on the platform without clicking out of it. Over the last …

Identity fusion with Trump reinforced his election fraud claims and narratives of victimhood

Identity fusion with Trump reinforced his election fraud claims and narratives of victimhood

Published by José

Why did so many Trump supporters continue to back him after his claims of election fraud in 2020 were disproven? A study published in PS: Political Science & Politics suggests that a deep psychological bond with the former president—referred to as “identity fusion”—played a key role in shaping their beliefs and bolstering their loyalty, even as new controversies and criminal charges emerged. The researchers, Philip Moniz of Northeastern University and William B. Swann of the University of Texas at Austin, aimed to understand why many Trump supporters remained loyal despite his repeated promotion of falsehoods about the election and subsequent criminal charges. Trump’s allegations of voter fraud, which were widely debunked, had far-reaching consequences, including the January 6 Capitol riot and ongoing polarization within the United States. The study sought to investigate how identity fusion could sustain belief in misinformation and shape political attitudes. “As Trump’s legal cases began to pile up in the run-up to the Republican presidential primary in 2024, we, like many others, were interested in what effect, if any, his legal …

What to know about DeepSeek AI, from cost claims to data privacy

What to know about DeepSeek AI, from cost claims to data privacy

Published by skeptic

CFOTO/Contributor/Getty Images A new player has entered the AI villa, and it’s creating significant disruption.  Chinese AI startup DeepSeek made waves last week when it released the full version of R1, the company’s open-source reasoning model that can outperform OpenAI’s o1. On Monday, App Store downloads of DeepSeek’s AI assistant — which runs V3, a model DeepSeek released in December — topped ChatGPT, which had previously been the most downloaded free app.  Also: I tested DeepSeek’s R1 and V3 coding skills – and we’re not all doomed (yet) DeepSeek R1 has also already climbed to the third spot overall on HuggingFace’s Chatbot Arena, under several Gemini models as well as ChatGPT-4o. Almost as soon as it dethroned OpenAI, DeepSeek began limiting signups due to a supposed cyberattack, and then followed up its big splash with a promising new image model.  DeepSeek’s chat page at the time of writing. Screenshot by Radhika Rajkumar/ZDNET What is DeepSeek? Founded by Liang Wenfeng in May 2023 (and thus not even two years old), the Chinese startup has challenged established AI companies with its open-source …