The Wakefield Saga … In Pictures!

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “vaccines cause autism”. It’s the catch-cry of the anti-vaccination movement and a nagging doubt in the minds of worried parents.
And it’s completely and utterly false.
It is, however, believed by many to be true. And for this we can blame one Andrew Wakefield.
Wakefield was the man primarily responsible for linking vaccines with autism in the public consciousness.
And even though his studies have been shown to be ridiculously flawed, his intentions questionable, his conclusions false and his work discredited, the myth lives on.
Blogger Darryl Cunningham has put together an excellent graphical summary of the whole sorry saga. Check it out.
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Trivia Night, May 2010

On Monday night the Victorian Skeptics ran their annual Trivia Night.
Many thanks to Ken for all the work he did … collating questions, getting prizes, putting the audio of the horse race together, lugging all the equipment, etc, etc…
[slideshow]
As usual, the questions were of a skeptical / scientific bent. They ranged from dowsing the location of “Mystic Park” on a map of Victoria, to identifying anti-vax crusader Meryl Dorey from a fuzzy photo.
One of the highlights of the evening was the running of the Alternative Handicap, which is well worth a listen.

Or download

In the end, the award for Most Trivial Team went to….
View More Trivia Night, May 2010