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Science Week grants open
The National Science Week 2012 grant round is now open. The round is open until Monday November 28, 2011 at 5pm. Through the Australian Government’s Inspiring Australia initiative, $500,000 is available for grants. Individual one year project grants are available for amounts between $2000 and $25,000, and, for the first time, grants of $75,000 are also available … Read on »
Skeptics dinner — Lawrence Leung
Guest speaker at the dinner following the 2011 Skeptics convention in Sydney on November 19 is noted Skeptic, comedian and ABC TV paranormal investigator, Lawrence Leung. Lawrence will be amusing guests with the ins and outs of his recent TV series, Unbelievable, where he investigated — and exposed — a range of phenomena ranging from ghosts to psychics, UFOs … Read on »
2011 Convention program released
Australian Skeptics National Convention 2011 Australian Museum, 19 November 2011 Program 9:30 – 9:40 Opening 9:40 – 10:25 Plastic surgery — shonks, odd devices and dodgy marketing Dr Cholm Williams, plastic surgeon – http://www.plasty.net 10:25 — 11:10 Topic tbc Dr Rachael Dunlop, researcher and science communicator – Skeptics Book of Pooh-Pooh — http://scepticsbook.com/ 11:10 — 11:30 Break 11:30 — 12:15 Conservation, complexity and evidence-based approaches to saving species David Salt, science author and editor 12:15 — 13:00 The dumbing down of science journalism Peter Hadfield, science journalist and broadcaster – http://www.youtube.com/user/potholer54 13:00 –13:45 Lunch 13:45 — 14:00 Australian Skeptics Awards 14:00– 15:30 Panel – Regulating medical … Read on »
Cults conference November 2
A conference on “Cults in Australia” will be held at Parliament House in Canberra on November 2, 2011. Featured speakers at the conference will include Senator Nick Xenophon and Prof Patrick McGorry, Australian of the Year 2010 and founding board member of the National Youth Mental Health Foundation. Overseas experts and cult survivors will also be among … Read on »
Ken Harvey — all expenses paid
Australian Skeptics are pleased to announce that some hundreds of members of the skeptical community have banded together to successfully cover all of the legal expenses of Dr Ken Harvey, campaigner against pseudoscientific medical claims. Dr Harvey had been hit with a defamation SLAPP suit by SensaSlim Australia Pty Ltd, the makers of a discredited weight … Read on »
TGA effectiveness questioned
A number of recent decisions by the Therapeutic Goods Association, the body tasked with establishing and maintaining a “national system of controls relating to the quality, safety, efficacy and timely availability of therapeutic goods”, have been criticised as being ineffective or neglectful of the needs of consumers. The ongoing saga of the supposed ‘weight loss’ product SensaSlim … Read on »
Doherty, ACCC, TGA, Harvey — Skeptics’ mini-convention
The annual Australian Skeptics’ convention will be back in Sydney this November at the Australian Museum. This will be a mini-convention for one day only. And ticket prices will be low to match — $65, with a discounted $45 for students. But despite the short time and low prices, we’re still calling in an impressive line-up of speakers: Nobel laureate Prof Peter Doherty … Read on »
News flash: Ken Harvey wins defamation case … but another looms
On the morning of August 15 at the NSW Supreme Court, the $800,000 defamation case against Dr Ken Harvey, brought by ‘weight-loss’ company SensaSlim, was dismissed and costs were awarded. However, Harvey said he would be surprised if those costs were ever paid. To date, Harvey’s legal bills amount to approximately $35,000, which is higher than our … Read on »
Ken Harvey and Sensaslim – the bills come in
Australian Skeptics is calling for your support for Ken Harvey. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted proceedings against Sensaslim Australia, including past scammer Peter Foster. The ACCC says the company failed to disclose Foster’s participation, a serious issue considering that he has been involved in a number of controversies in the last decades, including the … Read on »
NSW South Coast Skeptics in the Pub
[ Sunday, July 31, 2011; 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. ] NSW South Coast residents now have a place to meet other Skeptics in the conviviality of a Skeptics in the Pub get-together. Batemans Bay residents and prominent Skeptics Heidi White and Mark Lumb are holding the shire’s first SitP meeting at the Mariners Hotel in Orient St, Batemans Bay, at 1.00pm on July 31. The joint winner … Read on »
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