This is a list of topics that are generally considered pseudoscience by the scientific community. Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be scientific or factual but are inherently incompatible with the scientific method. Detailed discussion of these topics may be found on their main pages.
Criticism of pseudoscience, generally by the scientific community or skeptical organizations, involves critiques of the logical, methodological, or rhetorical bases of the topic in question. Some of the listed topics were subject to scientific research in the past and today are considered refuted, but resurrected in a pseudoscientific fashion. Other ideas presented here are entirely non-scientific, but have in one way or another impinged on scientific domains or practices.
Many adherents or practitioners of the topics listed here dispute their characterization as pseudoscience.
Physical sciences Astronomy and space sciences 2012 phenomenon – is a set of end times predictions claiming catastrophic events would occur on 21 December 2012, a belief rejected by Mayanist scholars as a modern pseudoscientific misinterpretation of the Long Count calendar. Ancient astronauts – is the belief that extraterrestrials visited Earth in antiquity and influenced human cultures. Astrology – is the belief that information about human affairs may be discerned by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Scientific testing of astrology has been conducted and no evidence has been found to support its premises or purported effects. Where astrology has made falsifiable predictions, it has been falsified. (see also Astrology and science) Creationist cosmologies – are explanations of the origins of the universe based on literal readings of Genesis, considered pseudoscientific for rejecting established cosmology and lacking empirical support. Face on Mars – is the claim that a rock formation in Cydonia Mensae on Mars is an artificial face created by intelligent life; a belief explained by pareidolia and rejected as pseudoscience after high-resolution imaging. Modern flat Earth beliefs – propose that Earth is a flat disc rather than a globe. Moon landing conspiracy theories – are claims that the Apollo Moon landings were faked, a form of pseudoscience contradicted by extensive physical, photographic, and independent verification. Nibiru cataclysm – is a prediction that a rogue planet would collide with Earth, a repeatedly failed doomsday claim widely regarded as pseudoscience.
Earth sciences
The Bermuda Triangle – is a region of the Atlantic Ocean where ship and aircraft disappearances has led to claims of unusual natural phenomena, paranormal encounters and interactions with extraterrestrials. Climate change denial – involves views which depart from the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its impacts on nature and human society, or the potential of adaptation to global warming by human actions. The Expanding Earth – was a hypothesis attempting to explain the position and relative movement of continents by increase in the volume of Earth. With the recognition of plate tectonics in the 20th century, the idea has been abandoned. Flood geology – is a creationist form of geology that says most of the geologic features on Earth are explainable by a global flood. The Hollow Earth – is a proposal that Earth is either entirely hollow or consists of hollow sections beneath the crust, including the existence of subterranean life. Megalithic geometry – posits the existence of an Earth-based geometry dating back to at least 3500 BCE. According to proponents, megalithic civilizations in Britain and Brittany had advanced knowledge of geometry and the size of Earth.
Physics Autodynamics – is a physics theory proposed in the 1940s that claims the equations of the Lorentz transformation are incorrect. This would invalidate Einstein's theories of special and general relativity, as well as Maxwell's equations. Free energy – is a class of perpetual motion that purports to create energy (violating the first law of thermodynamics) or extract useful work from equilibrium systems (violating the second law of thermodynamics). Water-fueled cars – are claimed to use water as fuel or produce fuel from water on board with no other energy input. Many such claims are part of investment frauds.State of New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety press release , 9 November 2006 Gasoline pill – was claimed to turn water into gasoline. Hongcheng Magic Liquid – is a scam in China in which a bus driver with no scientific education, claimed that he could turn regular water into a fuel by simply dissolving a few drops of his liquid in it. Orgone – is a pseudoscientific concept described as an esoteric energy or hypothetical universal life force, originally proposed in the 1930s.Kenneth S. Isaacs (psychoanalyst), 1999: "Orgone—a useless fiction with faulty basic premises, thin partial theory, and unsubstantiated application results. It was quickly discredited and cast away."Isaacs 1999, p. 240.
Applied sciences Agriculture
Lysenkoism – was a Soviet political campaign against genetics and science-based agriculture. It rejected Gregor Mendel's theory of inheritance and the concept of the "gene", and departed from Darwinian evolutionary theory by rejecting natural selection, viewing that concept as being incompatible with Marxist ideology. Biodynamic agriculture – is a method of organic farming that treats farms as unified and individual organisms. It uses a calendar which has been characterized as agricultural astrology and the substances and composts used have been described as unconventional and homeopathic. GMO skepticism – is the belief that genetically modified foods are inherently unsafe. This contradicts the scientific consensus.
Architecture Ley lines – is the proposal that ancient monuments were intentionally aligned with one another. A statistical analysis concluded that "the density of archaeological sites in the British landscape is so great that a line drawn through virtually anywhere will 'clip' a number of sites."
Health and medicine
Pseudoscientific medical practices are often known as quackery. In contrast, modern medicine is (or seeks to be) evidence-based. Abortion–breast cancer hypothesis – posits that having an induced abortion can increase the risk of breast cancer; a hypothesis that is at odds with mainstream scientific opinion and is rejected by major medical professional organizations. Access Consciousness – is an alternative medicine technique similar to a combination of phrenology, reiki, energy therapies and therapeutic touch, where health and wellness can be improved by touching the 32 "Energy Bars" on a person's head. Acupuncture – is the use of needles to stimulate acupuncture points and balance the flow of qi. There is no known anatomical or histological basis for the existence of acupuncture points or meridians. Some scholarly reviews conclude that acupuncture's effects are mainly attributable to the placebo effect. Related practices include Dry needling and Acupressure. Adrenal fatigue – is a pseudoscientific diagnosis that the adrenal glands are exhausted and unable to produce adequate quantities of hormones due to chronic stress or infections. Adrenal fatigue should not be confused with a number of actual forms of adrenal dysfunction such as adrenal insufficiency or Addison's disease. Alternative cancer treatments – are treatments for cancer that have not been approved by the government agencies responsible for the regulation of therapeutic goods and have not undergone properly conducted clinical trials. Among those that have been published, the methodology is often poor. Alternative or fringe medicine – is a phrase used interchangeably with alternative medicine, complementary medicine, integrative medicine, holistic medicine, natural medicine, unorthodox medicine, fringe medicine, unconventional medicine and New Age medicine; the terms are almost synonymous. Therapies are often framed as "natural" or "holistic", implicitly and intentionally suggesting that conventional medicine is "artificial" and "narrow in scope". Animal magnetism – was the name given by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century to what he believed to be an invisible natural force (Lebensmagnetismus) possessed by all living things. He believed that the force could have physical effects, including healing, and he tried without success to achieve scientific recognition of his ideas.Wolfart, Karl Christian; Friedrich Anton Mesmer. Mesmerismus: Oder, System der Wechselwirkungen, Theorie und Anwendung des thierischen Magnetismus als die allgemeine Heilkunde zur Erhaltung des Menschen (in German, facsimile of the 1811 edition). Cambridge University Press, 2011. . Foreword. Anthroposophic medicine – is a form of alternative medicine based on pseudoscientific and occult notions devised in the 1920s by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) in conjunction with Ita Wegman (1876–1943). It draws on Steiner's spiritual philosophy, which he called anthroposophy, and departs from fundamental biological, physical, and chemical principles. Cited in Applied kinesiology (AK) – is a technique claimed to be able to diagnose illness or choose treatment by testing muscles for strength and weakness. The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology stated there is "no evidence of diagnostic validity" of applied kinesiology. Auriculotherapy – is based on the idea that the ear is a micro-system which reflects the entire body. Conditions are alleged to be treatable by stimulation of the surface of the ear exclusively. Similar mappings are used in other areas of the body, including the practices of reflexology and iridology. These mappings are not based on or supported by any medical or scientific evidence. Autistic enterocolitis – is a nonexistent medical condition proposed by discredited British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield when he suggested a link between a number of common symptoms and autism. The existence of such an enterocolitis has been dismissed by experts as having "not been established". Ayurveda – is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. Many ayurvedic preparations contain toxic levels of lead, mercury, and arsenic. Balneotherapy – is the practice of immersing a subject in mineral water or mineral-laden mud; it is part of the traditional medicine of many cultures and originated in hot springs, cold water springs, or other sources of such water, like the Dead Sea. There is no evidence to indicate it is more effective than physical exercise, relaxation therapy, or mudpacks. Bates method – is an alternative therapy that attributes sight problems to "strain" of the eyes and asserts that relieving such "strain" will cure the problems. Optometry professor Elwin Marg wrote of Bates, "Most of his claims and almost all of his theories have been considered false by practically all visual scientists." Biorhythm theory – is an attempt to predict various aspects of a person's life through simple mathematical cycles. The theory was developed by Wilhelm Fliess in the late 19th century and was popularized in the United States in the late 1970s. Brain Gym – is an organization promoting a series of exercises claimed to improve academic performance. Though the organization claims the methods are grounded in good neuroscience, the underlying ideas are pseudoscience. Candida hypersensitivity – is the idea that chronic yeast infections are responsible for many common disorders and non-specific symptoms, including fatigue, weight gain, constipation, dizziness, muscle and joint pain, asthma. Carnivore diet – is a fad diet in which nothing is eaten but meat. As well as being unhealthy the diet has a damaging environmental impact.