Category: Announcements

February 17, 2013

Happenings Feb 2013

by

Mal Vickers

Pharmai love data

I love data and so does ‘Sense About Science’, the UK based pro-science trust. Sense About Science has launched the All Trials Campaign. The campaign aims to have pharmaceutical companies release the data from all the clinical trials they conduct.

Without the release of all data, pharmaceutical companies are free to indulge in selective publishing. That is, they may only publish the clinical trials that show the most favourable results for the products they would like us to consume.

The campaign coincides with the release of Dr Ben Goldacre’s new book ‘Bad Pharma’.

Countering Antivax Anecdotes with Provax Anecdotes

The New Zealand parents of a child that contracted tetanus change their mind about the benefits of vaccination.

“Mrs Williams said they made what they thought was an informed decision not to vaccinate any of their children because of concerns over adverse reactions, but had since changed their minds.”

Mrs Williams is quoted as saying:

“It was hideous. He was spasming every three minutes. He was biting his tongue and bleeding. His arms were spasming and he was arching his back and his whole face and jaw was completely locked.”

A family in the UK came to exactly the same conclusion – that vaccination isn’t so bad, the benefits of avoiding the disease far outweigh the small risks. They were struck View More Happenings Feb 2013

No Comments
January 22, 2013

Darwin Day 2013

darwin1Charles Darwin’s birthday, February 12 is the subject of an annual celebration by freethinkers around the world.

As usual, we invite you to celebrate with us in two ways.

(1) If you’re a teacher, or know a teacher, we have our suite of Darwin Day Classroom Exercises. You can download them from http://www.skeptics.com.au/resources/educational/ These exercises cater to a wide range of student ages.

(2) There’s the usual Darwin Day Barbecue for Melbourne people. HOWEVER, this year the venue has changed.

Go to our EVENTS page for details.

No Comments
January 1, 2013

Psychic Challenge 2012 – The Results

Greetings all.

Well, the year has come to an end. We survived the Mayan Apocalypse and time has marched on into the 14th Mayan B’ak’tun and the 2013th year of our Common Era.

That means it’s time to look back, reflect and review just how well the Psychic Predictions for the year turned out.

12 months ago we put out the call for a psychic to provide predictions for the year ahead. We then pit that psychic’s predictions against those from three skeptics, to see who would prove the most prescient.

And the results are now in!

For a full commentary and all the scores, check out the Psychic Challenge 2012 page.

No Comments
December 11, 2012

Post Convention Media

Click – Full Size

A stunning image taken by Guy Wolfe Page Taylor at the Gala Dinner of the 2012 National Convention. Guy posted this on FaceBook, he’s kindly allowed us to reproduce it here. Go on, click on the image for the full-screen version.

It’s great to see/hear all the positive media attention after a convention. The podcasts, coverage in the mainstream print media and on mainstream radio are encouraging. Then there’s the photos on this blog, Flickr and on FaceBook – it’s still a buzz.

For those readers who may not have seen/heard everything, here are some links to the View More Post Convention Media

No Comments
December 9, 2012

Auskepcon 2012, Photos, Friday and Saturday

[slideshow]

Slideshow of the convention from Friday through to Saturday’s Gala Dinner.

To see these and more images of the convention, in higher resolution, please follow these links.

Mark’s images are collected here.

Mal’s photos:

Prior to the convention slideshow.

The fund raising dinner slideshow.

Friday and Saturday slideshow.

Sunday slideshow.

Photo credits: Mal Vickers and Mark Hassed

 

No Comments
December 8, 2012

Auskepcon 2012, Photos from the Fund Raising Dinner

[slideshow]

The Fund Raising Dinner was a great success. It was held at a place of great significance in Melbourne’s history, the Royal Society of Victoria building. The evening included a tour of the building, the library and lecture theatre being highlights. Guests also got the chance to chat with DJ Grothe, Brian Thompson and Rebecca Watson.

Huge thanks to those willing to come along, be part of this special event and offset the cost of brining James Randi to Australia. James Randi was very generous with his time, in addition to the close-up magic tricks, he agreed to sit for some iconic photographs taken in the library.

Thanks also to the organisers, in particular Matt Kippen.

No Comments