International Skeptics United

How has new technology changed the face of sport? This week we delve into the science behind the tennis rackets that professional players use, the diets that top athletes follow, and how systems like Hawkeye are revolutionising the way that rules are enforced. Plus, we hear about new evidence that dolphins refer to each other by name, and sucking or chewing a sweet: which does least damage to teeth?

In this special edition of Little Atoms, Neil Denny hosts an interview with Robert Llewellyn and Simon Watt. The interview was recorded on Saturday 20th July 2013 at Winchester Science Festival in front of a live audience. Robert Llewellyn is an actor, comedian and writer, best known as the mechanoid Kryten in the cult sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf, and for his role […]

If you can demonstrate that you have a power unknown to science under controlled conditions, there are many groups willing to pay you for the proof.

Live from TAM 2013; Guest Rogue: John Rennie; This Day in Skepticism: Viking 1; Special Report: Grand Canyon; News Items: The End of the World, Sailing Stones, Scrotal Evolution, Moons of Pluto; Interview with James Randi and Jamy Ian Swiss; Science or Fiction; Questions: Cynicism, Monsanto

Introduction - Richard Saunders 0:03:30 A interview with members of the Skeptical Society of St. Louis. - At the Amazing Meeting we chat to Missy Rung-Blue, Dave Blue and Mike Bateman. 0:13:28 A Week in Science (extra update) with Dr Paul Willis - 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’. 0:17:35 A interview with Derek Colanduno -  At the Amazing Meeting we chat to Derek Colanduno from the popular Skepticality Podcast.  

Episode 254 is pretty wild. First of all, Adam and Pat both coincidentaly do segments about being barefoot. Adam looks into if there are any benefits to barefoot running and Pat discusses whether or not it is illegal to drive barefoot. In between these two gems, Darren hosts a game of Science Fact or Science Fiction, with the topic being things he learnt on his trip to Europe. Enjoy!

This is the fifth of an occasional series of Little Atoms interviews in which Neil Denny talks to the hosts of some of his favourite podcasts. The Guardian Science Weekly podcast is, unsurprisingly a weekly podcast from the Guardian about science, in which presenter Alok Jha and the Guardian’s science team bring us analysis and interviews from the […]

What do sufferers of schizophrenia experience, and why? Might the immune system be to blame? And could an avatar be the answer to treatment? This week we delve deep into the brain circuitry behind this psychiatric condition to uncover the causes, hear what drugs like ketamine can reveal about hallucinations and how a cartoon representation of the voices plaguing patients can block the symptoms. Plus, chemically induced pluripotent stem cells, a gene that leads carriers into snacking temptation and why babies can tolerate extended periods upside down inside their mothers...?

Old stories claim that a remote village of Eskimos disppeared in 1930, leaving everything behind. Some claim the people were all abducted by aliens.

Part 2 of our hard-hitting investigative report on the Witch Craze arrives with instructions on how to become a witch, what the great Sabbats like Walpurgisnacht entailed, actual transcripts from witch trials, as well as a few letters from actual witches. Matt comes prepared this week with in depth research on the Salem Witch Trials. […]

The Girl With A One Track Mind talks about her experiences of press intrusion and the portrayal of women in the media.

With ongoing discussions between neuroscientists and philosophers on the existence, or not, of free will, and with so many people in the so-called ‘enlightened’ West still believing that their fate is somehow linked to the movements of the stars and planets, what does modern physics have to say on the matter of determinism and chance? Indeed, is our future preordained? This lecture will be a whistle-stop tour of Einsteinian relativity, quantum indeterminacy and whether, according to our current understanding of the nature of time, the future is knowable.

Having used art in many areas of politics – from Processed World, the magazine for Angry Secretaries, to anti-nuclear vehicles such as the 1985 film When the Wind Blows, Melida Gebbie’s work has always had the message that if an artist is doing their job properly they are meant to be the social, political, and universal barometer of their times. Currently working with Alan Moore on Angel Passage, a tribute to William Blake Gebbie will focus on the art and life of William Blake, exploring his vision and aspirations.

Our tiny blue planet is the only place we know where life can exist – a precious oasis in the vast desert of space. But throughout Earth’s history everything from exploding stars to impacts with giant asteroids have all left their mark on our planet – with profound consequences for its cargo of plants and animals. Public Astronomer Dr Marek Kukula explores how the world around us has been shaped by events in space, and how life on Earth has adapted to survive them.

I did not come to this conference of my own free will because free will is an illusion. Plenty of evidence from neuroscience suggests that there is no persisting ‘me’ who could exert this mysterious power. Libet’s experiments on the timing of voluntary actions throw free will into doubt; the neuroscience of volition reveals the brain areas responsible for decision-making and self-control; and research by Wegner shows how the feeling of being responsible for an action depends on post-hoc attributions based on sequence, similarity and timing. So if our intuitions are not to be trusted, how should we live our lives? Many people reject the traditional idea of free will but still say they must live ‘as if’ they have free will. Otherwise, they claim, society would disintegrate and all hell break loose. I disagree and will discuss ways of living a moral and happy life without believing in free will.