Nick Tiller, Ph.D.
@nbtiller.bsky.social
Exercise scientist & author. New book, The Health and Wellness Lie. Writing/speaking on health, evidence, and scientific skepticism.
Do you know the difference between a science communicator and a science commodifier? In this month's @SkeptInquirer column, I explore how the latter cherry-pick studies, misappropriate data, and produce conclusions that dovetail with branded products. linktr.ee/NBTiller
From The Health and Wellness Lie | Chapter 1: Perverse incentives and harmful consequences.
Thrilled to announce that THE HEALTH AND WELLNESS LIE launches this Thursday, 16th July, in Europe, and is available for preorder in the US and Canada. 🇬🇧🇪🇺https://linktr.ee/TheHealthandWellnessLie, 🇺🇸🇨🇦https://www.amazon.com/Health-Wellness-Lie-Exposing-well-being/dp/1399424246 #Health #wellness ⬇️⬇️
Can pickle juice really cure muscle cramps? The "neural reflex" hypothesis is doing a LOT of heavy lifting. skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/pi... #worldcup #picklejuice
I have a feature article in this month's @UltraRunningMag: The science of ultra-running-related hallucinations. Scroll for the main takeaways. ➡️https://subscriber.ultrarunning.com/archive/article/tricks-of-the-mind-the-science-of-ultrarunning-hallucinations#24 [Sorry, subscribers only]
AG1 is arguably the most prominent of all powdered greens. They make bold claims such as “feel strong, vital, and nourished.” But what does the evidence say about the benefits of this popular supplement? Read the column in @SkeptInquirer for the lowdown. skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/ri... #AG1
Lock up your wellness grifters. The Health and Wellness Lie is available for preorder. #wellness #misinformation
Should You Take Nutrition Advice From a Chatbot? [Spoiler: USE CAUTION! 🚧] www.nytimes.com/2026/05/26/w... by @alicecallahan.bsky.social @nbtiller.bsky.social: "Chatbots are convenient and fast, but sometimes they give 'incredibly bad advice.'"
Should You Take Nutrition Advice From a Chatbot?
nytimes.com
Thank you @IrishSESA for your warm hospitality. I had a ball meeting everyone and exploring how bad science affects public health and trust in medicine. #wellness #misinformation #badscience #TheHealthAndWellnessLie
Catch me on this week's episode of the @Scienceofsport podcast, talking about chatbot #health #misinformation: ➡️https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkHH62nGpO0 ➡️https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/can-you-trust-ai-for-health-and-training-advice/id1461719225?i=1000766464444
Celebrating the 100th birthday of Sir David Attenborough: a British institution whose love of science and the natural world has inspired generations to leave the planet better than they found it.
Exercise is medicine. But as with all medicines, there's a MINIMUM dose required for benefits & an OPTIMUM range. There's also likely a TOXIC dose. For #exercise, the therapeutic ratio is high, but not infinite. ➡️https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34542868 ➡️https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32769665
Studies with food-industry involvement published in leading nutrition journals were ~six times more likely to report favorable findings than studies without industry involvement: 55.6% vs 9.7%. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC... #nutrition #research
My latest for @mcgilloss.bsky.social is a weighty tome: the hallmarks of pseudoscience. I'm very proud of it. Lots to chew on. W/ help from the amazing @nbtiller.bsky.social @mrmmarsh.bsky.social @caulfieldtim.bsky.social & Dr. Alice Howarth of @skepticswithak.org. www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...
The Hallmarks of Pseudoscience
I’ve been investigating pseudoscientific claims for 13 years now. The word “pseudoscience” means “fake science,” something that superficially looks like science—and is often sold as such—but that isn’...
mcgill.ca
My latest column in @SkeptInquirer explores the recent US executive order to expand research into psychedelics, and ibogaine in particular. How did it come about? And what are the risks? skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/th...
Tonight, 19:00 Eastern. skepticalinquirer.org/video/the-he...
The Health and Wellness Lie | Nick Tiller | Skeptical Inquirer Presents
Science has advanced enormously in the past 500 years, guided by experimental tests of theory and practice. In that same time, science teaching and education—guided primarily by tradition and dogma—h...
skepticalinquirer.org
A new study in BMJ Open found that popular AI chatbots frequently produced problematic responses to health & medical questions, including fabricated citations & answers delivered with confidence & certainty even when they were incorrect. @nbtiller.bsky.social www.medpagetoday.com/practicemana...
AI Chatbot Told Users That Herbal Remedies Can Treat Cancer
Nearly half of chatbot answers to medical questions deemed 'problematic' in study
medpagetoday.com
It's one of ChatGPT's most insidious tells: "It's not X; it's Y" has become shorthand for lazy AI slop. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... #AIWriting #ChatGPT
ChatGPT’s latest stylistic quirk is sinister, infuriating – and absolutely everywhere | Stuart Heritage
Once you start noticing “it’s not X, it’s Y” as you scroll online, you can’t fail to register it. I’ve become so hypervigilant that it has seeped into my subconscious thoughts
theguardian.com
Our NEW study in @BMJ_Open is an audit of 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 spread by popular AI chatbots. Learn more🧵1/7 Thx to amazing team: @CaulfieldTim @srmarcon at @UAlbertaLaw & @Jeukendrup @marco_zenone 🔗https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/16/4/e112695 #health #misinformation #AI
99% of #acupuncture studies from China report benefits of the therapy. "This isn’t routine bias; it’s the systematic sterilization of negative outcomes." Is it time we stop publishing acupuncture studies from China? New column in @SkeptInquirer.
"After trekkers reported nausea, dizziness or body aches, they were advised to descend and agree to costly emergency helicopter evacuations. Authorities said operators then used forged medical and flight documents to claim costs from international travel insurers."
A "good" VO2max for your age, like 60th-80th percentile, gives you all the "longevity" benefits the metric will provide. There is no lifespan advantage to being Olympic-level fit.
New feature in the Feb/Mar issue of @UltraRunningMag 🏃♂️🏃♀️🏔️
The daily use of AI, in everything from smartphones to stoplights, can be traced back to a simple game of checkers—played by Aurhur Samuel in 1959. ➡️https://gwern.net/doc/reinforcement-learning/model-free/1959-samuel.pdf
Bad science, lies, and possible fraud: The homeopathy paper that duped a mainstream journal. New column today in @SkeptInquirer #health #pseudoscience Read it ⬇️⬇️: h/t @theliverdoc
