Young Australian Skeptics

The Pseudo Scientists — Episode 38

Jack and Jason discuss former No. 1 tennis player Margaret Court’s homophobic op-​​ed in the Herald Sun and a group of doctors calling for the removal of alternative medicine courses in Australian universities. Plus, Jack interviews PZ Myers, author of the famous science and atheism blog Pharyngula, about alien biology, getting more biologists involved in skeptical conferences and the impact and influence of the online skeptical community (recorded at TAM 9 in Las Vegas).

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PZ Myers, of course, blogs at Pharyngula over on the Freethought Blogs network.

This week’s “Houston, We Have A Problem” clip is intelligent design proponent Stephen C. Meyer in an ad for the Discovery Institute DVD “TrueU: Does God Exist?”.

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The Pseudo Scientists — Episode 37

Jason, Jack and Belinda talk about an increase in ghost photos and an Indian court ordering Facebook and Google to remove anti-​​religious content, and discuss how skeptics should talk to each other when they disagree. Plus, Richard and Jason interview Simon Singh about his libel lawsuit from the British Chiropractic Association, the state of British libel law and what it means for skeptics who want to fairly criticise the claims of others.

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You can find out more about Simon Singh at his personal website, and more about the British libel law battle at Sense about Science.

This week’s “Houston, We Have A Problem” clip is Pat Robertson claiming to know the 2012 US Presidential election results via a divine transmission from God.

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While there is no evidence that Baltic Amber Necklaces are beneficial to infants, unscrupulous marketeers are taking advantage of parents concerns for their children with practiced ease.

So-​​called Baltic Amber necklaces are marketed towards parents of teething infants as an ‘all natural’ treatment for teething pain, despite there being no evidence that they’re effective in any way. For readers not familiar with the “appeal to nature” it is an argument commonly used in advertising, marketing and empty rhetoric. Whenever you find a claim that a product or service is good, beneficial, and safe solely because it is ‘natural’, what you are seeing is the appeal to nature in action. We are expected to not realise that most natural things are dangerous e.g.: poison ivy, snake venom, UV radiation, serial killers, hemlock, bee stings, lightning; you get the point.

We’re also expected to believe that tying anything around a babies neck is ‘natural’, despite this aberrant behavior rarely occurring in nature for obvious reasons. As I’ve said previously, it’s difficult to see how tying tree resin around someone’s throat can be considered ‘natural’, but then I’m safely outside the target market.

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The Pseudo Scientists — Episode 36

Elliot, Jack, James and Jason discuss an update to Meryl Dorey’s appearance at the Woodford Folk Festival, misogynistic atheists on Reddit, and the Pope’s Christmas address. Plus, Richard and Alastair interview Brian Dunning, from the popular skeptical podcast Skeptoid (recorded at TAM Australia).

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You can find out more about Brian Dunning and Skeptoid at skeptoid​.com.

This week’s “Houston, We Have A Problem” clip was Cee Lo Green singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” on New Year’s Eve… with altered lyrics.

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I’ve read a lot of great science books this year, but the one that stood out the most for me so far was “Climate Change Denial; Heads in the Sand” by Haydn Washington and John Cook. With all the spin and political motivations behind climate change denial (especially at the moment in Australia with the introduction of the Carbon Tax), it’s great to have forms of media that neutralize the spin and simply present the science, such as this book.

If you’re a critical thinker and just want some cold, hard facts about climate change, this book has the facts; although the authors do admit that there are several other great books out there that explain the science in greater detail. You can also access a wealth of facts from John Cook’s website www​.skepticalscience​.com. What makes this book so great is that it gives a well-​​rounded account of the whole issue.

The book begins with the hard-​​hitting statement that skepticism and denial are different. Everyone should be skeptical about the world, scientists are especially skeptical, but denying something is to ignore all or some of the facts. You can’t ignore facts if you’re a scientist. The authors also set the definition of science straight by explaining that it is a discipline that deals with probabilities and evidence. You can never actually technically prove anything in science, so it relies on gathering facts and a large scientific consensus, until someone can disprove the theory. That’s how science works!

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The Pseudo Scientists — Episode 35

Richard, James and Jason discuss Christmas, Australian high school science education, new measures by the government to boost vaccination rates, and anti-​​vaccination exposure at the Woodford Folk Festival. Plus, Jack interviews rationalist singer-​​songwriter Shelley Segal, whose debut LP “An Atheist Album” was released in November.

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You can purchase “An Atheist Album” on iTunes.

This week’s “Houston, We Have A Problem” clip was Bryan Fisher explaining why God would have sent Christopher Hitchens to Hell.

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As featured on the fabulous JREF Swift blog! The book is now available to download, as well as purchase in e-​​book form!

Skeptical Blog Anthology — E-​​Book Format.

The Skeptical Blog Anthology  features essays by: Dr Phillip Plait of “Bad Astronomy”, Dr Karen Stollznow of the Point of Inquiry Podcast, Sharon Hill, Dr Petra Boynton, Brian Thompson of The Amateur Scientist podcast, Skeptic Blog’s Daniel Loxton and Yau-​​Man Chan, New York City Skeptics’ Lisa Bauer, UK Skeptic Dr Chris French, Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe’s Evan Bernstein and many others.

This book is a collection of reader-​​nominated blog posts, representing the best of a new wave of online skepticism. Collected over a year, it features a plethora of posts on topics ranging from the vaccination debate, paranormal claims, the ongoing creep of creationism into politics and education, conspiracy theories, homeopathy, outreach, all kinds of alternative medicine and even attempts to tackle the question “What is skepticism?”

Purchase the e-​​book (pdf) version of the Skeptical Blog Anthology here.

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The Pseudo Scientists — Episode 34

INTRO: Elliot, Jason and Belinda. Belinda/​Belder, Skepticamp Melbourne.

INTERVIEW: Jen McCreight (recorded at TAM 9 in Las Vegas).

NEWS: The end of the Blackmores/​Pharmacy Guild saga, and Rick Perry’s attempted censorship of an environmental report.

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You can find this weeks interviewee, Jen McCreight, at her blog Blag Hag, over on the Freethought Blogs network.

This week’s “Houston, We Have A Problem” clip was Deepak Chopra answering a question by mangaka, TED fellow and skeptic Sara Mayhew.

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