Science

One topic that gets lots of coverage in the pseudoscience circle is the so called Face on Mars.Outrageous claims on this "face" ranges from ancient astronauts, aliens to something to do with Jesus!Here are some links on the topic:

• Article in Space.com saying that Mars Face Breaks Under Questioning

On the Mediterranean coast west of the city of Alexandria, in Egypt, there is a belt of pumice embedded in the sedimentary stone that covers the landscape there. This article describes this belt and its possible origins.

One island in the Eastern Mediterranean is Thera, now known as Santorini, and is part of the Cyclades off the cost of Greece. This island was a Minoan colony in the Bronze age.

There is a lot of pseudo science around, and one have to be careful and be able to discern what is true (or plausible) and what is not.For a definition of pseudo science, see the Pseudo Science article in Wikipedia. A good article on how to detect pseudo science can be read at Web Exhibits, and is titled Seven Warning Signs for Bogus Science. You can also read on Pseudo Archeology.

Many hoaxes, absurd claims and pseudoscience have been forumlated around Ancient Egypt. From aliens build the pyramids, to alternative chronologies, to claims that all what we known about Egypt is wrong. One good site that debunks many of these claims is Catchpenny. For example, some have claimed that the inscriptions in the temple of Abydos are actually ancient helicopters. Giving rise to all absurd theories about Egyptians being much more advanced technologically, to the claims that aliens visted them!

Those who watch TV channels that delve into pseudoscience -- such as The Learning Channel (TLC) -- or love to visit fringe theory web sites, must have encountered Erich von Daniken or his web site.Von Daniken's theory is that ancient astronaut aliens visited Earth several times, and interacted with several civilization. The traces of these visits are everywhere, from ancient Peru to ancient Egypt.

Many people have claimed that the current chronology of ancient history is wrong, and that it needs to be revised.

Unfortunately, those who advocate such a Revised Chronology often use unscientific methods and attempts to push things to their own view.

It is amazing how people tend to revise history soon after it happens. Conspiracy theorists have the most absurd claims, one of which is that NASA did not land on the moon, and it was all faked in a studio setting!Wikipedia has a page dedicated to this claim, its possible origin, the main arguments and the rebuttalGoogle directory has a special sub category for this hoax.

Hoaxes and absurd claims have always been with humanity since societies started. With the proliferation of the internet, these hoaxes and absurd claims have become more visible due to the nature of the medium. Anyone can setup a web site and say whatever they want on it.One such absurd claim is one made by Richard C. Hoagland of Enterprise Mission. In true conspiracy theory fashion, he claims there are technological artifacts on Mars that are proof of previous civilizations on it. He also claims that NASA is covering up these findings, and keeping it away from the public.

In recent times, there has been lots of speculative pseudo-research that has flimsy footing in superficial similarities between similar words or roots in otherwise different languages.One can compare these linguistic theories with the other pseudo science (often by non specialists) such as the revised chronologies of David Rohl and Ahmed Osman.Much of this pseudo-research is politically motivated. Whether it is chauvinistic nationalism, or resentment for some situation (e.g.