Vic Skeptics Cafés monthly public meetings will now be on-line, for the foreseeable future.
Join us every third Monday of each month.
Next: Citizen Science with Brendan O’Brien
Monday 15th June 8:15 pm chat, 8:30 pm (1030 UTC) presentation
Details on the EVENTS page
We are having our first virtual Skeptics Cafe TONIGHT (Monday 20th April) at 7.30.
From Vic Skeptics President
Hi everyone,
Tonight Clem Stanyon will be giving us a great talk about his work in the biotech industry and the GMO crops that he is involved in producing.
We will be trialling this event on zoom.us. You don’t need to create an account, you should be able to follow the link below.
Cheers,
Chris
Patents and Portents: In Insider View on the Production of GMOs
Born to English migrants from the war generation, English teachers both, I have lived and worked in 5 cities in 3 countries on 3 continents: Perth and Melbourne here in Australia, Detroit and Seattle in the US, and Lyon in France, in which work I have been consistently employed to create DNA constructs for making genetically modified organisms. I currently work in the Victorian government agricultural sector, for the first time making GMOs that are not for research purposes only, but for commercial purposes, working mainly on constructs for canola and wheat.
Clem’s talk starts at 7:30pm sharp.
We encourage questions to be posted on the Q&A chat.
Follow the zoom link:
https://unimelb.zoom.us/j/95223630701
Or join by phone:
Dial (Australia): +61 3 7018 2005 or +61 2 8015 6011
Help us celebrate Charles Darwin’s 211th birthday at the annual Barbecue, from 5 pm at the Studley Park Boathouses picnic area. BYO everything.
Celebrate February 12 (Charles Darwin’s Birthday) in your classroom!
Charles Darwin Crossword Years 9 to 12
Charles Darwin Wordsearch Years 5 to 8
Charles Darwin Cryptogram Years 7 to 10
charles_darwin_by_grichmond [Colouring in}
It’s the Unconventional Trivia Night.
Why unconventional? We’re glad you asked. It’s on Thursday 5th December. Skepticon doesn’t start until Friday 6th; and you don’t have to be going to Skepticon to come. It WILL cost you fifteen of your hard-earned dollars, however. You don’t have to be a nerd either, although that would certainly be no disadvantage.
It’s our Fifteenth Annual Vic Skeptics Trivia Night, and this year we’re hoping to get it right.
At this stage we’d usually say something about lots of fun, great prizes, bring a team or come by yourself etc, etc, but we’ve said all that fourteen times already, and some things just never change.
Thursday 5th December, 7:15 pm (or join us earlier for a meal), at The Clyde Hotel cnr Elgin & Cardigan Streets Carlton. (For those attending Skepticon, that’s near Carrillo Gantner Theatre, one stop away on the same tram line.)
(click to enlarge)
Hear from and read about some of our presenters. CLICK on the main headings.
JAY NOVELLA video
https://www.facebook.com/theskepticscafe/videos/766998480384608/
STEVE NOVELLA video
https://www.facebook.com/theskepticscafe/videos/1083614942029593/
BOB Novella VIDEO
https://www.facebook.com/theskepticscafe/videos/367659424114328/
Susan will be talking about the Guerilla Skeptics Wikipedia Project as well as “Grief Vampires“.
SUSAN GERBIC video
https://www.facebook.com/AustralianSkepticsInc/videos/2347595002149221/
Jo is an Australian presenter that will be appearing at Skepticon2019. She is the host of Zealot, a podcast about cults, and author of a book by the same name.
JO THORNELY video
https://www.facebook.com/AustralianSkepticsInc/videos/472968326888337/
Bookings and information:
The Skepticon2019 speaker lineup now includes:
The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
Susan Gerbic
Jo Thornely
Professor Fiona Fidler: The Replication Crisis in the Social Sciences
Dr Sue Ieraci: Medical Anti-Science Bingo
Ross Balch: Of Microbes and Monsters
Dr Brad McKay: Home Remedies That Work?
Tina Hanigan: Should Darwin have been surprised at the spread of Skeptism in Europe following his publication ‘On the Origin of Species’?
Brendan O’Brien: The Explosion of Citizen Science
Matt Nurse: Motivated numeracy – why smart people reject the facts they don’t like
and “Australia’s Honest Con Man” Nicholas J Johnson: Bullshit For Skeptics
SKEPTICON 2019’s dedicated website for information and booking is at https://skepticon.org.au
Important SKEPTICON 2019 dates:
5th December: Skeptics Trivia Night at The Clyde Hotel. Hosted by Tony Pitman and Ken Greatorex, this is a fund-raiser, at $15 per head. It’s not strictly a Skepticon event, and not just for Skepticon visitors. However, with our regular locals and regional, interstate and overseas visitors participating, this fifteenth annual Vic Skeptics Trivia night should be fun. Meal from 6:00 pm, eyes down at 7:15.
6th December: Conference commencement and “meet and greet” at The Dan O’Connell Hotel.
7th December: Two Day conference commences at Carrillo Gantner Theatre, University of Melbourne Swanston Street
7th December: Conference Dinner (sold out!)
8th December: Final day of conference
By Ken Greatorex
Vic Skeptics recently moved Skeptics Café to the new venue of The Dan O’Connell Hotel (a.k.a. “The Dan”) in Carlton. We’ve been fortunate in the past with long tenures at good venues.
I arrived chez Dan with a few misgivings:
Could I park within a comfortable distance of the venue?
Would the venue suit us?
Would enough people turn up?
Would the topic be sufficiently relevant and interesting for such a “landmark” Skeptics event? View More With Leo at The Dan
THE DARWIN DAY SUITE of CLASSROOM EXERCISES
Celebrate February 12 (Charles Darwin’s Birthday) in your classroom!
Charles Darwin Crossword Years 9 to 12
Charles Darwin Wordsearch Years 5 to 8
Charles Darwin Cryptogram Years 7 to 10
charles_darwin_by_grichmond [Colouring in}
by Dr Ken Harvey, with an introduction by Ken Greatorex
To set the scene for those not familiar with the glacial machinations of Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration: Until recently in Australia we had a complaint process whereby if you wanted to complain about the advertising of a particular listed medicine, you submitted. to the Complaints Resolution Panel. It was woefully under resourced, but it did its job, carried out inquiries then reported established breaches in conduct to the TGA. The TGA acted – sometimes.
Then things changed. Against the urging of such groups as The Australian Skeptics, Friends of Science in Medicine, Choice and other consumer advocates, the TGA became the body which dealt directly with such complaints.
As one who attended and absorbed the excellent review from Professor Harvey and three of his students, the result of this change has been:
(left to right: Mal Vickers, Kithmini Cooray, Mary Malek, Ken Harvey)
The audience did not agree that the ongoing advertising of ‘Bright Brains’, illustrated by Kithmini, had achieved compliance with the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code 2015. In short, they disagreed with the TGA outcome statement about this complaint. View More Complementary Medicines, Advertising Reform and the TGA
After gaining his medical degree in 2008, Vyom Sharma completed specialist training and currently works in Melbourne as a General Practitioner. However alongside his clinical work, he has carved out a career in show business.
As a magician and mentalist, he has performed live stage shows at the Sydney Opera House, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and was a grand finalist on Australia’s Got Talent.
His knowledge of medicine, combined with his experiences with the psychology of deception have afforded him a rare insight into the human experience of truth and persuasion. He explores the neuroscience of deception and beliefs as a regular Guest Lecturer at Monash University’s school of biological sciences.
He has debunked pseudoscientific therapies in the media, including Fairfax newspapers, Triple R radio and medical trade magazines.
Vyom Sharma will be our featured speaker at next Skeptics Café (Monday August 20)
He will also appear at Australian Skeptics Annual Convention in Sydney over the weekend of October 13 & 14