Category Archives: News
2012 Skeptics convention – Melbourne Nov 30-Dec 2
For your diary: the Australian Skeptics Convention for 2012 will be held on November 30 to December 2 at the University of Melbourne. The November 30 component will be an evening meet-and-greet cocktail event. The convention proper will be on December 1 – 2 at the Spot Theatre in the Economics and Commerce Building. There will be a dinner on the … Read on »
Peter Doherty full-length convention video
Nobel Prize winner Prof Paul Doherty recorded an exclusive presentation for the recently-held 2011 Australian Skeptics convention. While that presentation was considered one of the highlights of the event, because of time constraints the version shown was necessarily edited for length. For the benefit all, the full length version (with very minor edits for interruptions) is now available. We … Read on »
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 »
Muddied waters: setting the record straight about MMR vaccinations and autism
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There’s a temporal link between autism being diagnosed and children getting several vaccinations. Photo credit: nealeanddalissa/Flickr The lack of scientific literacy in the media causes much harm to public understanding of the role and importance of vaccines. The latest instance revives the same old fears using the same formula that so many such stories use. I’ve been writing about … Read on »
Michael Shermer in Sydney — one night only
[ Tuesday, September 20, 2011; 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. ] Michael Shermer, one of the worlds most influential skeptics (founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and perennial monthly columnist for Scientific American) will be in Sydney for one night only, at Hotel Coronation, 5 – 7 Park Street, Sydney (venue of Skeptics in the Pub). Michael will be available to sign copies of his latest book, “The Believing Brain: … Read on »
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