July 26, 2013

Another Big Psychic Show Rolls into Town

By Mal Vickers,

with assistance from Martin Hadley

Never has any psychic ever passed a rigorous scientific test of their claimed ability. While most skeptics are well aware of this, you’d think the media and society in general knew nothing of it.bingo cancelledwhite

Imagine what kind of world it would be if, from tomorrow, psychics really did have the abilities they claim to possess. The prizes from the next lottery would go to a series of psychics, presumably in order of merit. Fairly soon, non-psychics would stop buying tickets and the lotteries would fold. There wouldn’t be much point in casinos, bingo or horse races either.

The world we inhabit isn’t like that.  We have lotteries and casinos that make a fortune, despite the presence of many psychics who travel the world flaunting their talents.

This month, (July 2013) Australia will be hosting a visit from prominent, UK based, self-proclaimed psychic Sally Morgan. Sally is scheduled to do View More Another Big Psychic Show Rolls into Town

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July 23, 2013

August 2013 Logic and Maths Problems – Solutions

1. 54 cents

2. Derek

3. 8 pencils, 60 jars

4. a = 3,    b = 5,     c = 1,     d = 7,     e = 6,     f = 2

5. 134 metres

6. The number 5

7. There are four possible answers: 22, 23, 24 or 25 blocks

8. Each word can be turned into a country by changing one letter; so your three answers should be CHILD (Chile)  LAPS (Laos)  and TIGER (Niger)

9. a. 2nd    b. Tasmania   c. Bill    d. romance

10. 40

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July 23, 2013

August 2013 “Mixed Bag” Questions – Answers

1. (a) Monopoly; (b) Pictionary; (c) Cluedo; (d) Trivial Pursuit; (e) Snakes and Ladders

2. East

3. Portugal

4. Mathematics: A vinculum is the horizontal line used to separate the numerator and denominator in a fraction

5. Verdun was a World War I battle. The others took place during World War II

6. Chromosomes

7. 1975

8. Mickey Mouse

9. Earl Grey

10. Charlie Chaplin

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July 19, 2013

Vitamins: A Panacea for all Ills?

louis roller close-up-smallAssociate Professor Louis Roller PhD

Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences,
Monash University

“We are so constituted that we believe the most incredible things:
and once they are engraved upon the memory, woe betide him who would endeavour to erase them” — Goethe, 1774

Vitamins have caught the popular imagination. A recent study established that some 52 per cent of the Australian population takes some form of complementary medicine. It found that 37 per cent of these people were taking vitamins. Overall, 19.2 percent of the total Australian population – about 4.4 million people – are taking vitamins. Many people take over-the-counter vitamins without professional advice and a few practitioners prescribe megavitamin therapy. View More Vitamins: A Panacea for all Ills?

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June 28, 2013

JULY 2013 “Mixed Bag” Questions – Answers

1. Rembrandt van Rijn, Salvador Dali, Claude Renoir, Pablo Picasso, Michelangelo Buanorotti.

2. Frank McCort, Angela’s Ashes; Bryce Courtenay, The Power of One; Colleen McCulloch, The Thorn Birds; Salmon Rushdie, The Satanic Verses; Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code.

3. 251

4. Jack Brabham

5. Pinocchio

6. A. Love Me Tender

7. 9

8. Hamish MacBeth

9. Kellogs Sugar Frosties became Kellogs Frosties

10. Budgie

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June 19, 2013

Local Groups Update: The Peninsula Skeptics

We recently announced that Peninsula Skeptics had resumed business after a break. Indeed, the group has bounced back so quickly that it’s worth sharing its impressive event calendar with you.

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Tuesday July 9: Presenter: Ian Storey; Topic: Calculating the AU. The data gathered in the 1761 and 1769 observations of the Transit of Venus was used to calculate the Astronomical Unit. Ian Storey will explain how that was done.

Tuesday August 13: Presenter: Tim Harding; Topic: Protection of Port Phillip Bay dolphins. Tim Harding is a former Director of Flora and Fauna in the Department of Primary Industries, with a background in biological sciences. Scientific research has recently shown that the dolphins in Port Phillip Bay are a separate species, rather than a sub-population of coastal bottlenose dolphins found elsewhere. This means that Port Phillip Bay is their only habitat, making them even more vulnerable to extinction. View More Local Groups Update: The Peninsula Skeptics

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