International Skeptics United

Interview with Brian Malow; This Day in Skepticism: Baby Fae; News Items: 1000 Exoplanets, Scientific Literacy and the Tea Party, PPMOs, Wind turbine Syndrome; Who's that Noisy; Science or Fiction

Marcus Chown is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. Formerly a radio astronomer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, he is currently cosmology consultant of the weekly science magazine New Scientist. He is the author of the bestsellingQuantum Theory Cannot Hurt You, The Never Ending Days of Being Dead and The Magic Furnace. He also wrote The Solar […]

The gang celebrates Halloween in skeptical fashion in episode 268 of The Reality Check. Darren starts things off by looking into the so-called "flesh-eating 'zombie' drug" Krokodil. Adam then looks into the recent media coverage stating that Oreos are more addictive than cocaine. Elan closes the show by answering the question of whether or not reading in the dark damages your eyes.

It is the creepy time of year once again. To celebrate the coming of All-Hallows-Eve, Derek has a chat with Greg Gage, a neuroscientist who is dedicated to bringing citizen science to the world of what goes on in the brain. As the founder of 'Backyard Brains', Greg has invented do-it-yourself equipment which you can use, at home, to conduct experiments which demonstrate how the nervous system works. Nothing could be more fitting around Halloween than learning how you can create your own 'zombie' cockroach!

A young pilot who disappeared in 1978 is popularly believed to have been abducted by aliens. But it turns out there's a more likely Earthly explanation.

Introduction Richard Saunders 0:03:36 Dr Rachie Reports.. with Dr Rachael Dunlop  This week Dr Rachie chats with Dr David Hawkes from the Florey Institute in Melbourne. Just what is "The Skeptic Zone Virus"? 0:19:20 The Health of Sydney Harbour Richard Saunders takes a stroll down to the Sydney Institute of Marine Science and chats with Associate Professor Emma Johnston. The science of Sydney Harbour and more! 0:39:00 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. 0:42:00 Maynard's Spooky Action... Maynard visits SkeptiCamp Sydney and interviews a wide range of people about all sorts of things. Highlights include a chat with Peter and Vanessa.

What is the scale of the superbug problem? How much is antibiotic resistance costing? Can new antibiotics be made that cannot be bypassed by bacteria? And what new drugs are already in the pipeline. In this infectious episode of the Naked Scientists, we put the rise of antimicrobial resistance under the microscope and ask what scientists are doing to combat the problem. Plus, why the abominable snowman hasn't been discovered...yeti, 46-million-year-old blood from a fossilised mosquito, phage therapy for C. diff and the brain wash-out that happens when we sleep...

This Day in Skepticism: Johnnetta Cole; News Items: Money Predicts Apocalypse, Herbal Supplements, Politics and Dogma, Singularity vs Bridge; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Cooling Drinks; Name That Logical Fallacy; Science or Fiction

Episode 267 is here!   First the gang is joined by Dina Tsirlin who explores supervised injection sites such as Insight in Vancouver.  Next the panel has a heated discussion about the book "Who Owns The Future" by Jaron Lanier.  Finally, Adam examines an episode of Punky Brewster and asks: are refrigerators death traps?   For show notes or to comment on this episode please visit trcpodcast.com

Ben Rawlence was formerly a senior researcher on Africa for Human Rights Watch. He has written for the Guardian, Prospect, London Review of Books, and others and contributed to BBC Radio 4. He studied Swahili and history at the University of London and received his master’s in international relations from the University of Chicago. Ben’s first book […]

The accidental conspiracy special! With the SAS, Princess Diana, mountaineers and Jesus of Nazareth. Plus Tales from Texas, Renny Harlin, Withnail and I and tight red trousers. Honestly, we didn’t conspire to talk about conspiracies… co-incidences genuinely do happen! It’s Skeptics with a K.

Was the story of The Conjuring the true story of how Ed and Lorraine Warren fought demonic forces in Rhode Island? In this special episode of MonsterTalk, we hear a different side to the story of America’s first family of ghost hunting. Features interviews with investigators Joe Nickell and Steven Novella. READ the episode notes

A line of reasoning named for Socrates helps us help believers in the strange re-examine their beliefs, achieving a change of mind where a direct confrontation might fail.

How do you dig a 26 mile tunnel beneath a city and below the water table? This week we drop in on Crossrail, who are busy constructing a new commuter line below the UK capital, to discover how massive tunnels are made in the modern era. Plus, we take a walk along the World's first and oldest tunnel built below a river to hear how it was made, and we find out what present-day tunnelling is turning up of London's past. Also, news of a drug that can repair the brain damage done by multiple sclerosis, and a planet found floating alone in interstellar space...

Introduction Richard Saunders 0:05:25 Maynard's Spooky Action... Maynard visits SkeptiCamp Sydney and interviews a wide range of people about all sorts of things. Highlights include a chat with Heidi Robertson from the Northern Rivers, Spoon Bending with Saunders and Cup Cakes! 0:55:40 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.