Month: April 2011

April 30, 2011

Announcing: Three Special Events

We’d like to tell you about three special upcoming events.
1. Dr Rachael Dunlop will be our featured Lunch guest on Sunday 26th June. Rachael  is a scientist researching into heart disease, and is a vice-president of  Australian Skeptics Inc (aka NSW Skeptics)
She is also part of the Mystery Investigators show for schools, co-organises the Sydney Skeptics meet-up group, contributes to The Sceptics’ Book of Pooh-Pooh blog and may be familiar to some of you as Dr Rachie from The Skeptic Zone.
The venue is La Notte Restaurant, 140 Lygon Street Carlton. It’s a 12:00 for 12:30 start.
Set menu (Choice of four mains and two deserts, tea and coffee) will cost you $35 per person
You can enquire about or book for this event by emailing vic@skeptics.com.au or phoning (03) 9378 4414 or 1800 666 996

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2.Nigerian Humanist  Leo Igwe will speak at a Dinner at La Notte Restaurant, 140 Lygon Street Carlton on Thursday evening 25th August.
For information about Leo Igwe, please see our recent post http://skeptics.cafe/2011/04/02/leo-igwe-tour/ and last year’s http://skeptics.cafe/2010/07/14/support-for-leo-igwe
La Notte’s famed smorgasbord will cost you $50 per person. The proceeds of the evening will pass to Leo.
You can enquire about or book for this event by emailing vic@skeptics.com.au or phoning (03) 9378 4414 or 1800 666 996

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3. Leo Igwe will speak again at a public meeting on Saturday 27th August. Our friends at the Humanist Society of Victoria are joining Vic Skeptics in staging this event. It’s at 2pm at Victorian Trades Hall New Council Chambers at 54 Victoria Street Carlton South. $10 at the door, ($5 concession)

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April 29, 2011

"Mixed Bag" May 2011 Answers

1. Canberra –Tuggeranong;   Sydney – Ultimo;  Melbourne – Dallas;  Brisbane – Indroopilly;  Adelaide – Hindmarsh; Perth – Burswood; Hobart – Sandy Bay;  Darwin – Palmerston.   
2. a. Lopsided  b. Demarcation  c. Simpleton  d. Underwrite  e. Vivacious  f. Wreathe
3. Athletics
4. bronze
5. The house numbers
6. St Paul (hence, St Paul’s Cathedral)
7. It froze over  
8. Dan Brown – Angels and Demons;  Bryce Courtenay – The Potato Factory;  Colleen McCulloch – Tim;  John Le Carré – Smiley’s People;  Michael Dobbs – To Play the King;  Douglas Addams – The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul;  John Grisham – The Pelican Brief;  Steven King – The Shining
9. French World War 1 fighter ace
10. Zeppo

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April 28, 2011

The Great Debate – Evolution vs Creationism

By PTH

One of the many amazing stories in the Bible is the story of The Great Flood.
Before The Great Flood Noah was commanded by his God to build an ark (a large boat) and to collect a pair of all the animals on Earth. The Great Flood wiped out all the other animals, including humans, and those on Noah’s Ark repopulated the Earth after the flood subsided.

Given our present knowledge of evolution, genetics, geology, physics and archeology, few people, even practising Christians, believe the story to be literally true. However there are some people who insist that all the Bible stories are literally true. As well as the story of Noah’s Ark they also believe that:
 The Earth and all living things on it were created in six 24-hour days.
 This occurred about 10,000 years ago.
 All present day animals are descended from those on Noah’s Ark.
 The theory of evolution is incorrect because it is not consistent with the Bible stories.
These are the fundamental beliefs of Creationism. But why are the religious beliefs of Creationists of concern to scientists? Does it matter if people’s religious beliefs are in disagreement with scientific knowledge?
View More The Great Debate – Evolution vs Creationism

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April 6, 2011

Trivia 2011 Practice – answers

1. Melbourne cup winners
2. Problem Exists Between Keyboard & Chair
3. McDonald and Heard Islands
4. Offshore from Los Angeles
5. 75
6. Lion, ram, thylacine
7. Hula Hoop and Frisbee
8. Menzies & Holt
9. Because bowling at nine pins was declared illegal
10. The sorceror in Fantasia. (DISNEY spelt backwards)

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April 6, 2011

Mixed Bag April 2011 answers

1. Beth; Joe can’t be telling the truth because then Beth would be lying, and Al’s statement (which is also a lie) would mean that Beth is telling the truth. These two facts contradict each other. Therefore Joe is lying, which means that Beth is telling the truth.
2. Lara went first, then Kara, then Sara, then Mara, and then Tara.
3. Ten
4. Mr Cooper is the doctor
5. 72 days
6. Quill, quoll, quell
7. From strongest to weakest: Laura, Lance, Lenny, Lulu
8. “Twelve plus one”  or “One plus twelve”
9. (a) 7 W of the A W = 7 Wonders of the Ancient World
    (b) 1,001 A N = 1,001 Arabian Nights
    (c) 12 S of the Z = 12 Signs of the Zodiac
10. He’s lying!
“To deny the opposite of the veracity” = to deny falsehood = to affirm the truth
“I guarantee that it is untenable” = it cannot be maintained

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April 3, 2011

Sydney SkeptiCamp 2011

 

Skepticamp-2010-flame-100Sydney SkeptiCamp will be held on 30 April 2011.

What is a SkeptiCamp, I hear you ask?

Here’s what it says on the official site:

SkeptiCamps represent a new way of thinking about conferencing within the growing skeptical community. Diverging from the traditional lecture events which have dominated skepticism for decades, these ‘open events’ tear down the barriers to organizing substantive (and fun) events by building on the wildly-successful Barcamp conference model from the tech community.

In short, it’s is an opportunity for skeptics to get together and have a chat. But unlike the traditional skeptical conference, there are no official speakers. The participants do the speaking.

Instead of listening to lectures, the focus is on interaction and discussion.

The concept has enjoyed increasing popularity over the last few years, particularly in the US. And now it’s coming to Australia.

View More Sydney SkeptiCamp 2011

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