International Skeptics United

Will we find life in a lake trapped under 3 kilometres of ice? How can living above an abandoned mine cut your heating bills? What is the future for diet foods? This week, we bring you the best from the British Science Festival in Aberdeen. We also discuss the Higgs and antimatter, how plastics are affecting our health and how to recreate the colours of fossilised insects...

Live from DragonCon 2012; Interview with Billy West; This Day in Skepticism: First Trek; News Items: Blue Moon Lunacy, Bigfoot News, Negative Replication of Psi, Baldness Cure, Little Mass from Higgs, UFO Over Illuminati Castle; Science or Fiction; Your Questions and E-mails: SGU FAQ, Homeopath Pharmacist, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

0:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders 0:05:50 Testing Shuzi Sports wristband claims ‘nonsensical techno-babble’ says consumer rights group - Read by Michael Marshall, vice-president of the Merseyside Skeptics Society.\ 0:09:25 Maynard's Spooky Action.. at TAM 2012 An interview with Eran Segev from Australian Skeptics. 0:30:25 From Scotland with love. Richard Saunders and Maynard chat to Ben and Steve Makin from Edinburgh Skeptics about their talk, "Where's the Harm" - traditional, complementary and New Age treatments and practices.

Nano-vibrations, short-wave radio, level-crossings and clumped blood. Plus shoes, smokers, sinus arrhythmia and the Godfather. Running over unicorns, it’s Skeptics with a K. Oh, and QED is back! http://qedcon.org/.

Continuing our hard-hitting inquiry into the nature of Truth with Kirk Hastings as our guide, we cover the following chapters: “Sixteen Additional Problems with Darwinian Evolution,” “What Does Microbiology Indicate?”, “Is the Concept of Intelligent Design Scientific?”, and “Superstition, Philosophy, and Religion.” Do Kirk’s arguments fare any better than they did in the last episode? [...]

About sixty prehistoric stone forts in Scotland have vitrified walls, where the stone was melted into glass. Some say this was impossible with the technology of the day.

Chris Hassall joins the show one last time (before moving to England) to discuss reproductive pills and mate preference.   Adam connects the dots on whether or not we are all related and Darren asks whether you know how long ago dinosaurs went extinct.  

How is data sent safely online, and how can we keep prying eyes away? This week we investigate the basis of cybersecurity, ask if chip and pin is safe and talk to a team of hackers who attempt to penetrate websites legitimately. We also reveal the dangers of wifi as we find out what your mobile phone is revealing about you. Plus the genetic basis of movement, a new form of flexible battery and, in our Question of the Week, how one telephone line can have multiple uses!

The following is a recording of the Central London Humanist Group meeting from August 22nd 2012, in which celebrated human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell gave a talk on how we can make human rights law enforceable worldwide.

Full interview with Dr Paul Knopfler from Episode 151.

0:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders 0:03:30 Maynard's Spooky Action.. at TAM 2012 An interview with Dr Pamela Gay. Dr Pamela Gay is an astronomer, writer, and podcaster focused on using new media to engage people in science and technology. Her most well known project may be Astronomy Cast, a podcast she co-hosts with Fraser Cain (Producer of Universe Today). 0:26:30 Maynard's Spooky Action.. at TAM 2012 An interview with Dr Harriet Hall. Dr Harriet A. Hall, MD, is a retired family physician and former Air Force flight surgeon. She writes about medicine, so-called complementary and alternative medicine, science, quackery, and critical thinking. 0:45:40 The Young Scientists of Australia Richard Saunders travels to Sydney University to chat to Jun Tong and Charlotte Fletcher from The Young Scientists of Australia organisation.

This Day in Skepticism: Passenger Pigeon; News Items: Neil Armstrong Dies, Naked Darth Vader, Homeopathic Candy, Hearing Voices; Who's That Noisy; Special Report: Conspiracy Conference; Science or Fiction

Does love avoid you so much it seems like a conspiracy? Imagine being an atheist among Christians. Conspiracy Skeptic talks to Colorado Skeptic Rich Ludwig about finding a relationship in Christian America.

Surprise! Kirk Hastings’ recent email drew me out of (semi-)retirement. After recovering from those withering electronic insults, I sat down with expert Hovindologist Matt W to review Hastings’ magnum opus, “What Is Truth?” We examined his many and varied claims about truthology, and how they relate to science and most especially “Darwinism.” In this episode [...]

How nerve cells make decisions, how genes control behaviour, using light to interrogate neuronal circuits, anxiety attacks, deep brain stimulation to bust addiction, how the immune system can cause psychosis, the genetics of behavioural problems and hallucinogenic flashbacks: fact, or a mind playing tricks on you? This week we launch Naked Neuroscience, a new monthly podcast to open your mind...