Month: November 2017

November 30, 2017

Puzzles for December 2017

This month’s Picture Puzzles go to the top of the Puzzles Page as usual;
However the Skeptical Crossword, the Logic & Maths Puzzles and the “Mixed Bag” Questions are all supplied as .pdf files., here and on the Puzzles Page.

As we’re heading into the holiday season, there is a set of bonus puzzles; (mainly word puzzles)

December 2017 Skeptical Crossword (Frauds, Scams and Hoaxes)
88 Dec 2017 Crossword Frauds, Scams & Hoaxes
December 2017 Logic & Maths Puzzles # 65
Logic and Maths Puzzles 65 December 2017
December 2017 “Mixed Bag” Questions (Trivia / General Knowledge)
12 December 2017 Mixed bag questions
December 2017 BONUS PUZZLES
Vic Skeptics Website December 2017 Bonus Puzzles

And don’t forget, our Puzzles Archives go back to 2010
https://skeptics.cafe/puzzles/puzzles-archives/

ENJOY!

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November 20, 2017

The 2017 Science Talent Search

Followers of this site will be well aware that Australian Skeptics are proud long-term sponsors of the Science Teachers Association of Victoria’s annual Science Talent Search.

Here are the statistics for 2017:

2017 was the 66th year of the STS.

3,369 Victorian students entered; the largest level of participation for several years.

704 Cash bursaries were awarded.

There were 42 sponsors, ranging from multinational companies to private individuals.

The Australian Skeptics were a major sponsor: 90 students received bursaries funded by the Australian Skeptics.

Science Talent Search: Bursary Winners sponsored by The Australian Skeptics

We congratulate Janice Teng and her team of volunteers for a great event. If you are interested in STS and would like to know more, go to  http://www.sciencevictoria.com.au/sts/

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November 8, 2017

The Whack – a – Mole Project and the TGA.

by Ken Greatorex

 

Whack-a-Mole?

Whack-a-Mole was a popular 1970s arcade game which consisted of repeatedly hitting cartoon moles on the head with a cartoon hammer. Moles nevertheless kept cropping up with undiminished energy more or less at random; so the term Whack-a-mole came to signify “a repetitious and futile task.”

Problems with Regulation of Therapeutic Goods

The situation regarding the regulation of therapeutic goods in Australia is unsatisfactory. The complaints process is frustrating, exhausting and often ineffectual. Complaints to the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA) must be made against one product or service at a time. Because such complaints are almost invariably made by volunteers, and there is no financial incentive to complain, only a relatively tiny number of questionable products ever get put under the microscope.

An astonishing 87 % of such complaints have historically been upheld. Yet the offending companies rarely receive more than “a slap on the wrists”.

View More The Whack – a – Mole Project and the TGA.

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