November 2012 Crossword Solution
James Gerrand – Another Skeptic Pioneer dies
James (Gerry) Gerrand, co-founder of the Australian Skeptics, died on October 12, aged 93.
Gerrand played a fundamental role in the setting-up and on-going activities of Australia Skeptics. The initial meetings to establish the Skeptics were held in 1980 at his home in Hawthorn, Melbourne, with lawyer Mark Plummer, who became the group’s founding president. (Plummer died last year.)
Gerrand had previously spent six years working for the United Nations agency ICAO in Montreal. Gerrand and Plummer had known each other as colleagues in the early 1970s when Plummer was the industrial officer for the Professional Officers Association (the union representing scientists, engineers and other professionals in the Commonwealth Public Service) and Gerrand was honorary editor-in-chief of the same group’s monthly journal. In his day job, Gerrand was the superintending airways engineer for the Victorian & Tasmanian Region in the Department of Civil Aviation.
Read the rest of this article here
Detailed Program – Australian Skeptics National Convention 2012
The detailed program for the upcoming National Convention has been released.
Updated, 12 Nov View More Detailed Program – Australian Skeptics National Convention 2012
Puzzles For October
We go again with Picture Puzzles and Mixed Bag Questions (at the top of the PUZZLES page).
The Crossword , this month on the theme of Alt Med Woo can be attempted using either “Straight” or Cryptic clues, (or both, if you’re desperate) It can be found HERE.
A new set of Maths and Logic Problems can be found HERE.
October 2012 Picture Puzzles – Answers
1. Sadder But Wiser
2. Condescending
3. More often than not (more of ten than nought)
4. Third rock from the sun
5. Hijacking
6. Eating disorders
7. Blind Ambition (both i’s missing)
“Mixed Bag” October 2012 Answers
1. Argentina – Isabel Peron; Australia – Julia Gillard; Bangladesh – Khaleda Zia; Brazil – Dilma Rousseff; Burma – Anh Sang Soo Chi; Canada – Kim Campbell; Dominica – Eugenia Charles; Germany – Angela Merkel; India – Indira Ghandi; Indonesia – Megawati Sukarnoputri; Israel – Golda Meier; New Zealand – both Helen Clarke & Jenny Shipley; Norway – Gro Bruntland; Pakistan – Benazir Bhutto; Poland – Hanna Suchocka; Portugal – Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo; The Philippines – Corazon Aquino; The United Kingdom – Margaret Thatcher; Turkey – Tansu Çiller; Yugoslavia – Milka Planinc
2. a. Banished; b. Adore ; c. sneers
3. Leg spinner
4. Montgomery
5. a. a church service. It’s a closing prayer
6. Hernando’s Hide-away
7. Measles, mumps and Rubella Inoculation
8. The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie
9. A. Big Village
10. False. Your warranty can be voided if you use your mobile phone even in light rain.
RMIT Open Day 2012 -Traditional Chinese Medicine
By Mal Vickers
I went along to Open Day at RMIT Bundoora. Oh boy, where do I start?
As a skeptic, I’m interested in the courses offered that seem further along the woo scale than most. To be fair, I should point out that RMIT is a big university, the overwhelming majority of courses on offer are high quality, science or humanities based. However, this is a skeptical blog, RMIT’s Chiropractic and Chinese Medicine disciplines are of interest to me.
In 2011 I took a close look at Chiropractic, I asked some questions about the practice and wrote two blog posts (here and here). A year later my questions about Chiropractic, still remain unanswered.
This year, I thought I’d take a closer look at Chinese Medicine.
RMIT offers a range of courses in both Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture, up to and including a degree in Chinese Medicine.
Before I get into the details, here’s a little disclaimer.
Discussing Chinese Medicine can be tricky, due to cultural sensitivities, so let me state what I’m trying to do up front. I question the ‘medicine’ part of the description ‘Chinese Medicine’. Saying something is a ‘medicine’ implies that it’s effective for, at least, some health conditions. The associated cultural grouping is irrelevant. I could be investigating ‘Collingwood Supporter’s Medicine’ or ‘Morris Dancer’s Medicine’ – it’s the ‘medicine’ part that interests me. I also wish to question View More RMIT Open Day 2012 -Traditional Chinese Medicine
Logic & Maths Puzzles December 2012 – solutions
1. False
2. 111
3. Answer (b) or 9 1/4 minutes past 10 is closest. (Actual answer is 9 minutes, 13.846154 seconds past 10)
4. Seven pigs, eight peacocks
5. 20 BC
6. 6
7. 6
8. 125
9. 15
10. A rise, B rise, C fall, D fall
November 2012 Maths & Logic Puzzles – Solutions
1. 10 years ago
2. 24
3. 696
4. 51
5. 2014
6. Kit & Cal, 13 km
7. Beth $1200, Alan $2400, Colin $3600, Denise $800
8. Ann is 4, Betty is 8, Chris is 12
9. CII
10. Rita 12, Sue 8
Logic & Maths Puzzles October 2012 – Solutions
1. a. 120 km; b. 100 km; c. 2 hours
2. Treble 14, double 19, single 3
3. Suzie: Since Suzie always lies and Samantha always tells the truth, neither lady would ever say that her own name is Suzie. Therefore the woman on the left must be lying about what the other lady said. The lady on the left is therefore Suzie.
4. Zeke is the pitcher; Zelmo is the first baseman; Zac is the catcher
5. From strongest to weakest: Laura, Lance, Lenny, Lulu
6. He’s Lying
7. White
8. Twice as fast
9. True
10. Charlie