Skeptical reporter @ 2013-07-19

Skeptical Reporter for July 19th, 2013 Skechers is finally paying back the customers it's accused of deceiving with the false promise that its athletic shoes would magically tone their booties like TV stars. The Federal Trade Commission is mailing more than half a million refund checks to purchasers of Shape-ups and other so-called toning shoes from Skechers after the company agreed to pay a $40 million settlement. The FTC said that Skechers (SKX) was paying the price for having "deceptively advertised its toning shoes, including making unfounded claims that its Shape-ups shoes would help people lose weight, and strengthen and tone their buttocks, legs and abdominal muscles". Skechers recruited celebrities to tout the shoe's claims, like Brooke Burke of "Dancing with the Stars" and Kim Kardashian. Skechers isn't the only shoe company to pay the price of false booty-shaping claims. Reebok had to pay the FTC $25 million in 2011 for "deceptively" advertising the buttock-toning abilities of EasyTone shoes. A group of skeptics has offered to help a Tasmanian ghost hunting organisation as it investigates paranormal activity. Evidence presented by the Tasmanian Ghost hunting Society has been criticized by the Launceston Skeptics group. Last week, the ABC was invited to join the society as it investigated the historic Franklin House in Launceston. The group says it recorded shapes and sounds in the 200-year-old house that defy explanation. But the Launceston Skeptics group has criticized the evidence which has been posted online, as spokesman David Tyler says the observations were not compelling. "It has to be good, if it's an extraordinary claim, that is that there are ghosts there it needs very solid evidence," he said. Despite their doubts, the skeptics have raised the possibility of helping the ghost hunters observe future investigations. The Ghost Hunting society says it is open to the idea, provided it is approached in the right spirit. Unlucky in life and love? If you are used to having things in the palm of your hands, here's a lifeline. For the Koreans, those lovers of all things beautiful and cosmetic surgeons, have now turned the scalpel, the electric scalpel that is, to the palms to alter those lines on them that dictate destiny. All that is needed is 10 to 15 minutes out of one's existence to alter between five and 10 lines, and that stage of life is history. Cosmetic surgeons in Japan are increasing their income with this type of intervention. Takaaki Matsuoka, who has performed 20 such operations at Shonan Beauty Clinic's Shinjuku branch in Tokyo, gave one woman a wedding line and soon after she wrote to him saying she had married. Two others are said to have struck the lottery, with the luckier one winning 2.9 million yen. In the UK, pregnant women with morning sickness have been told to visit their GP by public health experts, after a nutritional supplement marketed to reduce symptoms was found to contain high levels of heavy metals. The warning from Public Health England comes after they received reports pregnant women in Asian and African communities in London were using ‘calabash chalk’ to treat their morning sickness. The treatment - also known as Argile, La Craie, Mabele, Nzu or Shiley - was recently seized by environmental health officers and was shown to have elevated levels of the metals lead and arsenic. Dr Yvonne Doyle, regional director for PHE London, said: ‘It is of great concern to us that pregnant women may be taking these chalk products as a nutritional supplement during pregnancy. We strongly advise against taking any medicinal or “remedy” product while pregnant without talking to your GP or health visitor about the health risk’. And now let’s look at some news in science. An "intelligent" knife that can sniff out tumours to improve cancer surgery has been developed by scientists. The Imperial College London team hope to overcome the dangerous and common problem ...