Category: Skeptical Article

TV: Sensing Murder (News.com.au 25/9/2004)

Police have rejected its claims to have unearthed new clues in the murder, including sightings of a light-coloured sedan and a photofit image of a man believed to have information about the attack.

Asked whether the show’s findings were useful to investigators, Victoria Police spokeswoman Sergeant Creina O’Grady said: “No. The Homicide Squad deals in factual evidence not psychic.“

(Excerpt from http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10877229%255E2862,00.html )

“Sensing Murder” is based on a Swedish Tv show which also failed to deliver any results: http://www.randi.org/jr/112103.html (search on ‘Sensing Murder‘)

See also Sensing Murder.

“Dinosaurs from China”

In part sponsored by the Australian Skeptics this impressive exhibition of dinosaurs and their progressive evolution into birds runs from 19 November 2004 to 17 April 2005 in the Melbourne Museum. “After visiting the Chinese Dinosaurs exhibition people will fully appreciate that dinosaurs are not extinct… they’re alive and well, and singing in your back yard.” (Prof Archer, past Director of the Australian Museum)

 From China comes an exhibition of massive proportions.
 One of the largest collections of dinosaur skeletons ever
 to tour Australia is about to take over Melbourne Museum
 including giant skeletons, rare fossils and new discoveries
 such as amazing feathered dinosaurs as well as a fantastic
 programme of children's activities.
 Adult $16; Child $6; Concession $8; Family $36
 (also includes entry to Melbourne Museum and a free ticket
 redeemable until 10 July 2005)

This is a singularly appropriate sponsorship for the Skeptics, as one of our principal concerns has always been to counter the influence of religious fundamentalists on our education system and particularly on the teaching of science. These ‘Young Earth Creationists‘, in endeavouring to keep their followers in ignorance of the evidence that really exists to underpin scientific theories of the evolution of species (and much else) have put up perennial strawman arguments along the lines of “There is no example of one species changing into another species” and equally fatuous questions such as, “Of what use is half a wing?“

Such propositions have never been scientifically valid ones, but they have had a superficial plausibility for the unsophisticated followers of this anti-scientific cult. The dinosaur specimens sponsored by the Skeptics in this exhibition, showing different transitional species on the road from reptile to bird, will serve to graphically expose such creationist rhetoric for the specious nonsense it always has been. (See Creationism Articles)

• (Photo1: Model of Sinosauropteryx prima made by Alan Groves working with palaeontologists Drs Walter Boles and Sue Hand.)
• (Photo2: Model of Sinornithosaurus smillenii made by Alan Groves working with palaeontologists Drs Walter Boles and Sue Hand.)

For more details about the Melbourne Museum see http://www.museum.vic.gov.au

For more information

• Australian Museum Chinese Dinosaurs Site
  • http://www.amonline.net.au/chinese_dinosaurs/
• Melbourne Museum’s “Coming Soon“
  • http://melbourne.museum.vic.gov.au/exhibitions/exh_touring_soon.asp?ID=561503
• Background story (with photos) – Association of Australasian Palaeontologists
  • http://www.es.mq.edu.au/mucep/aap/nomennudum/issues/28/chinosaurs.htm
• The Science Show (RN) (2002)
  • http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ss/stories/s720938.htm

The Victorian Skeptics are very proud to be a major sponsor for the 2004 STAV Science Talent Search. (Prep-12) We look forward to meeting many of the winners at the upcoming awards day and intend to display photographs from the event as well as a list of sponsored winners on this site.

Unfortunately the anticipated Melbourne visit by “The Bad Astronomer” Phil Plait in November will not be taking place. He will however be speaking in Sydney at the Australian Skeptics Convention. For more information see http://www.users.on.net/~ct/skeptic/nsw/convention.htm

This year’s Australian Skeptics National Convention is titled “Beyond a Joke” and is being held in Sydney. It will run from 12th-14th November.

“This year’s convention will be a mix of Scepticism and belly laughs with top line comedians adding their own insights into the world of the paranormal.“

Please visit the URL below for more information http://www.users.on.net/~ct/skeptic/nsw/convention.htm

Skeptics Conference

Warning over illegal chain letters

“The Age“: More than 1000 Victorians have been sent warning notices this week after consumer affairs inspectors intercepted nearly 13,000 illegal chain letters.

More than 80,000 of the letters have been seized around the country. The letter details the plight of an indebted man who participates in a “perfectly legal business opportunity” and reaps $1.1 million. Recipients are asked to send $10 to a name on the top of a list and forward the letter to 200 people. It promises that $70,000 in $10 notes will flood their letterbox. Consumer Affairs Minister John Lenders said the letters were a form of pyramid selling and individuals who particupated in such schemes faced fines of more than $24,000 if prosecuted. http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/cbav/fairsite.nsf/pages/of_hottopics_davidrhodes?OpenDocument

Mysteries of the mounting yard explained

Gambling world-wide is a huge, multi-billion dollar industry. In Victoria alone, almost $4.4 billion was lost in the 2001-2002 financial year. This included $1 billion at Crown Casino, $385 million on lotteries and $527 million on racing and sports betting. What hope is there for the punter when so much is lost?
Punters have eternal hope. They know that horse racing is one of the few gambling opportunities where they can gain an edge. Inside stable knowledge of the ability of horses can often lead to stunning plunges and betting coups. And many punters think it is possible to gain an advantage by careful observation of the behaviour and condition of horses as they parade in the mounting yard before a race. They often refer to an elite group known as �astute judges�. These are the old men, hanging on the mounting yard rail, who by simply eyeing a horse before a race can assess its winning chance.
In 1989 Geoffrey Hutson first attempted to become an astute judge, by picking out winners based on their looks in the mounting yard. He failed dismally. But he made a remarkable discovery – that he could pick losers. With this knowledge he returned to the racetrack and observed in minute detail the pre-race behaviour of over 10,000 horses. He has written a book about it called Watching Racehorses.

Geoffrey Hutson

Geoffrey Hutson was born and bred in Melbourne. He spent over 20 years at the University of Melbourne as a Research Fellow in Animal Behaviour, studying the behaviour of a wide range of domestic animals, including sheep, cattle, pigs and horses. He has written numerous articles for scientific journals, newspapers and magazines, including Applied Animal Behaviour Science, New Scientist, The Age, The Sunday Age, and Turf Monthly magazine. He left the university in 1998 to pursue a career as a full-time punter. He now bets on the stockmarket for serious money and on racehorses for serious fun.

Channel 7’s one-off gameshow special “Deal or No Deal: Test of the Psychics” aired last night. Regretfully the psychics were no more successful than the usual contestants.

Australian Adam Clark was 21 in 1997 when he announced that he’d invented a revolutionary new “streaming” technology for the internet. Now 7 years later, he’s earnt $16 million from investors who have helped his company raise $28 million on the stockmarket. He’s even sponsored races in the Melbourne Cup.

But now investors are getting nervous – if “Adam’s Platform” really works, then why does the inventor refuse to give independent demonstrations? When it was first announced, technology gurus were sceptical and said it couldn’t logically work. Might they have been right?

• Media World admits technology fears (8th Sep 2004)
  • http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/08/1094530644916.html
• ASIC to question Adam Clark after independent test fails (10th Sep 2004)
  • http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/09/1094530770206.html
• Capital ideas (14th Sep 2004)
  • http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/13/1094927495966.html