最“僞科學”大獎：鯨魚精液讓海水變鹹？

From whale sperm to colon cleansers to the shape of a woman's foot when she has an orgasm, celebrities did not disappoint during 2011 with their penchant for peddling suspect science in the world's media.

In its annual list of what it considers the year's worst abuses against science, the Sense About Science (SAS) campaign named reality TV star Nicole Polizzi, Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann and American singer-songwriter Suzi Quatro as top offenders, with their dubious views on why the sea is salty, the risks of cervical cancer vaccines and the colon.

"I used to get a lot of sore throats and then one of my sisters told me that all illnesses start in the colon. I started taking a daily colon cleanser powder mixed with fresh juice every morning and it made an enormous difference," Quatro told the Daily Mail newspaper.

"The colon is very important in some diseases, but it certainly is not the cause of all illnesses," said Melita Gordon, a consultant gastroenterologist said in the review.

While the review is partly about entertainment, the campaign group stresses it also has a serious aim - to make sure pseudo-science is not allowed to become accepted as true.

After Bachmann used an appearance on a television show to tell a story of a woman from Tampa, Florida, who said her daughter had become "mentally retarded" after getting an HPV vaccine designed to protect against cervical cancer, doctors said they feared the damage done may take many years to reverse.

The review also highlighted a bizarre quote from TV personality Polizzi, who declared recently: "I don't really like the beach. I hate sharks, and the water's all whale sperm. That's why the ocean's salty."

Simon Boxall, a marine expert and oceanographer dismissed Polizzi's suggestion. "It would take a lot of whale sperm to make the sea that salty," he said.

Some of the most intriguing pseudo-scientific suggestions came via repeated second hand information picked up at parties - never the most reliable source.

Christian Louboutin, a French footwear designer, was taken with something a fellow party guest told him about shoes.

"She said that what is sexual in a high heel is the arch of the foot, because it is exactly the position of a woman's foot when she orgasms. So putting your foot in a heel, you are putting yourself in a possibly orgasmic situation," he explained.

Kevan Wylie, a consultant in sexual medicine, responded drily that it's important to differentiate cause from effect. "A woman's foot may be in this position during orgasm, but that does not mean that putting her foot into this position under other circumstances will result in orgasm," he said.從鯨魚精液、結腸清洗劑、到女性高潮時腳的形狀，2011年，名人們在全球媒體上宣傳“僞科學”的偏好可真沒讓大家失望。

在科學智識組織評選的年度“僞科學”榜單中，真人秀明星妮可•波利茲、共和黨總統候選人米歇爾·巴赫曼、美國創作歌手蘇西•奎特蘿名列榜首，他們發表的可疑言論包括鯨魚精液導致海水變鹹、宮頸癌疫苗有害，以及結腸是萬病之源。

奎特蘿告訴《每日郵報》：“我以前總是喉嚨痛，後來一位姐妹告訴我說，所有的疾病都始自結腸。於是我開始每天早晨喝一份結腸清潔粉，用鮮果汁衝調，後來感覺好多了。”

胃腸病專家顧問梅利塔•戈登在這期總結回顧中說：“結腸對某些疾病來說很重要，但絕不是萬病之源。”

雖然這期總結回顧是半娛樂的，但該組織強調也有嚴肅目的，就是確保公衆不要相信僞科學。

巴赫曼曾在一期電視節目中講述了佛羅里達州坦帕市一位女性的故事，這位女性說自己的女兒在接種預防宮頸癌的HPV病毒疫苗後“智力遲鈍”。節目播出後，醫生表示擔心節目的反面影響會持續多年。

這期總結回顧還着重指出了電視名人波利茲的怪誕言論。波利茲最近宣稱：“我真不喜歡海灘。我恨鯊魚，海水裏全是鯊魚精液，所以才那麼鹹。”

海運專家兼海洋學家西蒙•伯克斯爾反駁了這一言論。他說：“需要太多鯨魚精液才能使海水變鹹。”

一些最有趣的僞科學提議得自派對中經數次轉述的二手消息，這從不是最可靠的消息源。

一位派對賓客告訴了法國鞋類設計師克里斯提•魯布托一個有關鞋子的消息，令他着迷。

他解釋說：“她說高跟鞋的性感之處在於腳部的弓形，因爲女性性高潮時腳部就是這種姿勢。所以穿上高跟鞋，你就處在了可能達到性高潮的姿勢。”

性藥物顧問凱萬•維利諷刺地迴應稱，分清因果很重要。他說：“女性的腳部在性高潮時可能處於這種姿勢，但這並不意味着在其它環境下把腳放成這種姿勢就會達到性高潮。”