International Skeptics United

Another great episode!   First Cristina slays a few misconceptions about serial killers, next Pat sizes up the panel's knowledge about weights and measures with another game of 'name that.'   Lastly, Adam sniffs out the truth about dogs and chocolate.  

I'm joined this week by Alex Boklin to explore the topic of magical thinking especially in the context of Rhonda Byrne's "The Secret", and the similarities it bears to The Global Consciousness Project (GCP). The GCP puts forward the hypothesis that random number generators elicit statistically significant changes as a result of major world events.

Pain, grapes, nectar and thermal paper. Plus hand sanitisers, thermal paper, french fries, Bisphenol A and rat paws. Avoiding till receipts because our hands are still wet, it’s Skeptics with a K.

This Day in Skepticism: Polytechnique Massacre; Live Q&A with SGU listeners

This Day in Skepticism: JFK Assassination; Review of Interstellar; News Items: Landing on a Comet, Feeling of Presence, Doubting the Higgs, Food Babe Nonsense; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fiction

Interview with Scott Sigler; This Day in Skepticism: Kinetoscope; Special Reports: Favorite Pseudoscience; Science or Fiction

In this episode of Little Atoms, two philosophical interviews: Rebecca Newberger Goldstein received her doctorate in philosophy from Princeton University. Her award-winning books include the novels The Mind-Body Problem, Properties of Light, and 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction and nonfiction studies of Kurt Gödel and Baruch Spinoza. She has […]

Ebola has rocked the world in 2014, but why has this outbreak been so devastating? This week we get inside Ebola to find out about the virus itself, and how it causes disease and spreads. We talk to healthcare and charity workers on the ground in West Africa to find out how what is being done to stem the epidemic; we catch up on progress towards a vaccine and we hear how the virus is also crippling gorilla populations. Plus, in the news, the latest on the Rosetta mission to comet 67P-Churyumov-Gerasimenko and how Wikipedia can reveal what diseases are circulating and where...

0:00:00 Introduction Maynard   0:06:00 Dr Julie Lada, the Skeptical Vet We catch up with Dr Julie and find out what Dr Google has to do with being a vet.   0:24:17 A Week in Science The Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) is a national scientific not-for-profit organisation with a mission to bring science to people and people to science.   0:28:30 Evidence Please... with Jo Alabaster Homeopathy for Ebola is as crazy as it sounds... especially if you are a politician from New Zealand.

Interviews with Sheldon Helms and Siouxsie Wiles; This Day in Skepticism: Sara Josephine Baker; News Items: New Antibacterial, The Primeval Code, Curiosity Discovery, HAARP Closing, GMO Labeling; Science or Fiction

Elan is your DJ for this "humour" themed mash-up episode.   Unfortunately it is also his last appearance as a regular panelist on the podcast.   

What is randomness? How can we determine if some results are randomly generated or not? Why are random numbers important to us in our everyday life? These topics and more are discussed in this mini-episode on random numbers. Many readers will be vaguely familar with the idea of "X number of monkeys banging on Y number of typewriters for Z number of years" - the idea being that such a setup would produce random sequences of letters. The origin of this idea was the mathemetician Borel who was interested in whether or not 1,000,000 monkeys working for 10 hours per day might eventually reproduce the works of shakespeare. We explore this topic and provide some further details in the show notes which you can find over at dataskeptic.com

This week, the latest breakthroughs in cancer including blood tests to pick up the disease much earlier, new genetic treatments to trigger tumours to kill themselves, and a laser technique to zap cancers in hard-to-reach places. Plus, in the news, why working the night shift can curb your intellect, a super-enzyme that could cut millions off energy bills and the gut bacteria that keep you trim...

Serial killers, HIV, cancer cures and more from psychic shows. Plus blood stains, lanterns, and Michael Crichton. Pawning our shoes, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Do you believe in ghosts? For Halloween the Naked Scientists take a look at the spooky science of the supernatural. Is there evidence that paranormal beings exist and why do so many people believe in them? How do out-of-body experiences happen? What causes coincidences? Where did werewolves and vampires come from? And what tricks do magicians use to fool your senses? Join us for an eerie exploration of how the mind can create nightmarish experiences and mysterious beliefs...