International Skeptics United

Full version of Liz's interview with the amazing Cory Doctorow.

Jakob Thorin (his last name is not pronounced like you might think) comes on to talk about an odd duck who raged all over the JREF board about the impossibility of building a nuclear (fission and fusion) bomb. Just can't happen. Didn't work in 1945. Won't work today. It's just a money grab, folks.

This week, how plants keep track of time, how scientists are breeding cereal crops with ancient varieties to boost diversity and yields, how insects carry viruses between plants, and the chemical in smoke that triggers fire-dependent plants to germinate. Plus, printing new body parts, the workings of tornadoes and the bug behind potato blight...

This week on Skepticality, Derek spends some time talking to Dr. Michael Webber, an alternative energy expert and advocate, based out of Austin Texas. Webber describes some of the current issues he sees related to power generation and consumption. In a time when everyone seems interested in better ways to gather and produce energy for an increasingly power-hungry world, it is good to assess all potential energy solutions—weighing their pros and cons—in the search of the silver bullet that will keep the lights on in the future.

Graphology is the art of divining things about someone's personality and aptitudes by analyzing their handwriting. Is it scientifically valid?

Introduction Richard Saunders 0:04:25 Dr Rachie Reports with Dr Rachael Dunlop  This week Dr Rachie interviews Sonya Pemberton about her upcoming documentary "Jabbed – Love, Fear and Vaccines" (Genepool Productions, 2013) 0:30:00 Mind Body Spirit May 2013  A wander around this newage fair with Richard Saunders 0:35:15 A Week in Science with Dr Tania Meyer  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’. 0:39:45 Maynard's Spooky Action  Maynard chats to Timothy Short who is a specialist anaesthetist at Auckland City Hospital 0:47:30 Guildford's so-called House of Miracles  What is going on in the Sydney suburb of Guildford? Is someone from 'the other side' really trying to communicate by spattering oil on the walls of a house? Well... we don't think so. Reports from the last 6 years.

Episode 245 of The Reality Check is pretty freakin' great! Pat leads things off with an interview with Stefan Jeremiah about whether or not it is ok to eat quinoa. Elan then discusses the similarities and differences between the popular over the counter pain relievers. Darren closes things out with a look into what the stats are regarding misattributed paternity.

Interview with Heather Berlin; This Day in Skepticism: Nicholas II; News Items: Your Senses in Space, Talking Plants, Flowing Glass; Book Review: Ender's Game; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Water Heaters, Atacama Specimen; Science or Fiction

Ian Brown is Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Oxford Internet Institute. He is the editor of the Research Handbook on Governance of the Internet. Christopher T. Marsden is Professor of Law at the University of Sussex School of Law. He is the author of Net Neutrality: Towards a Co-Regulatory Solution, Internet Co-Regulation, and three other books. Ian and Chris [...]

Atheist atrocities, harbour porpoises, three running horses and a second pregnancy. Plus asexual rabbits, gobstoppers, Jesus and more Mersey monsters. On the road to nihilistic social Darwinism, it’s Skeptics with a K.

How are weather forecasts made? Are they accurate, and if not why not? And how do we know when extreme weather is on the way? Also, what about on other planets and moons? To find out, we talk to the teams who study weather and climate patterns, both on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system. Plus, scientists discover the world's oldest water, signs that selfishness kickstarted agriculture, and why butterflies with more melanin fly further...

Part II of our look into the bowels of Mormon fundament [...]

An urban legend says that a 1981 video arcade game called Polybius sickened players, or even drove them to suicide, while government agents collected the data.

Episode 244 of The Reality Check is very different than your father's skeptical podcast. The gang presents three cutting edge segments that you won't hear anywhere else*. Darren leads things off by delving into the real or imagined epidemic of penis theft. Adam then looks into whether or not the 6-inch-long skeleton called the Atacama Humanoid is actually human. Elan finishes things off by discussing if brown eggs are better than white eggs. It's a wild ride. *citation needed

Introduction Richard Saunders 0:17:20 Dr Rachie Reports with Dr Rachael Dunlop  This week Dr Rachie reports on what our state (New South Wales) politicians, on both sides, have to say about the Australian Vaccination Network. 0:13:35 A Week in Science 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’. 0:37:45 Maynard's Spooky Action  Maynard chats to John Flansburgh from They Might Be Giants