December 29, 2010

"Mixed Bag" January 2011 Answers

1. (a) Martin  (b) George  (c) Lennox  (d) Michael  (e) Cameron
2. Eleven times
3.  (a) 200 Dollars for passing “Go” in Monopoly
     (b) 101 Dalmatians in the Disney Movie
4. Sleeplessness
5.  100
6. (a) Monopoly   (b) Pictionary  (c) Cluedo  (d) Trivial Pursuit  (e) Snakes and Ladders
7. Michelangelo Buanorotti; Salvador Dali; Pablo Picasso; Claude Renoir; Rembrandt van Rijn
8. Frank McCort, Angela’s Ashes; Bryce Courtenay, The Power of One; Colleen McCulloch, The Thorn Birds;  Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses; Frank Hardy, Power Without Glory; Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code
9. Sagittarius, Gemini, Scorpio
10. They are father, son and grandson

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December 23, 2010

The ACCC Moves on Power Balance

After the TGA Complaints Panel ruled on Power Balance bracelets last month, the promoters of Power Balance were asked to put up this disclaimer on their web sites.  To no one’s surprise, they didn’t.
Now stepping in to take on Power Balance is a regulatory body with a little more grunt, the ACCC. Unlike the TGA, the ACCC can force business to act responsibly if they won’t do it voluntarily.
Power Balance Australia has given the ACCC a number of undertakings that include:

– not make any further claims to the effect that the products will improve the user’s balance, strength and flexibility.
– not, in conjunction with the products, make claims that “Power Balance is Performance Technology” or use the phrase “Performance Technology”.
– not make claims that Power Balance products are “designed to work with the body’s natural energy field”.

The company has 14 days to comply View More The ACCC Moves on Power Balance

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December 20, 2010

George Hrab at the Clyde

I should really have put this post up weeks ago but, sorry I’ve been busy, with work, blah blah…. I’m sure you don’t want to hear about it.  Anyway this post is a not-very-good attempt to re-live a great night, a bit of a pat on the back for the organizer, Catherine D and to show some nice photos.
And what a week TAM Australia Fringe was in Melbourne, with events on successive nights.   Beginning on Tuesday the 30th of November, George Hrab put on a great performance at the Clyde Hotel.
Self confessed “suit guy”, podcaster, composer and musician George Hrab was pleasantly surprised to find that he had so many fans in Melbourne. A crowd that numbered around 150, knew the words and joined in with enthusiasm.   What a fun night, lyrics that resonate with skeptics and rational thinkers, music and laughter – good stuff.
I recall talking to Terry Kelly after the event. He said:

That was great. I can’t believe it was a free event – I would have paid good money to see that!

(hint, Terry, don’t tell Catherine).
George played Far, I really didn’t View More George Hrab at the Clyde

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December 16, 2010

A Skeptic in Church

As you’ve probably gathered, Skeptics normally don’t go to church.

President, Terry Kelly

So it was unusual for Vic Skeptics president Terry Kelly to be invited to speak at one.
No, not just any church: the Unitarian Church in Melbourne is different.  Their motto is:

Seek the Truth and Serve Humanity

It’s a good motto. It assumes that the truth isn’t already written down in an ancient book or is impossible to find.
As far as I know, none of our members are regular attendees at the Unitarian Church; we and they are clearly distinct organizations.  I’ll leave it to the reader to investigate the Unitarian Church further.  However it was interesting that Terry was given a free rein to speak about the skeptics, current issues and who we are.  Here then, is the skeptical equivalent of a “fire and brimstone” from the pulpit.
(The sound has been edited only to remove long pauses and “ums” and “arrs”.  The sound file can be found on this file sharing site.)terry-kelly-uc-talk.mp3

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December 10, 2010

A Skeptic's Guide to Life in the Universe

This article first appeared as a Vic Skeptics discussion pamphlet.
The full range of our discussion pamphlets can be downloaded here: http://www.skeptics.com.au/resources/educational/
or by clicking on the “Useful Info” link at the top of this page.

 by Peter Barrett, (Canberra Skeptics)

It’s one of the great questions: is there life elsewhere in the universe, apart from the Earth? Skeptics would say, “Almost certainly, but at the moment we don’t know how likely it might be.”
Life thrives on Earth, particularly in the tropical and temperate latitudes. Life exists even in the harsh desert and polar regions. But most importantly, life has been found to exist in places previously thought inhospitable, such as inside rocks in the dry valleys of Antarctica or around geothermal vents, where the water is boiling hot. The fact that life can survive in such unlikely places dramatically increases the range of potential habitats for life elsewhere. So are there places where life could exist elsewhere in our own Solar System?
View More A Skeptic's Guide to Life in the Universe

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December 5, 2010

Victorian Skeptics at STAVCON 2010

The Victorian Skeptics made their way to the annual science teachers’ conference STAVCON 2010 on Monday and Tuesday 29th – 30th November held at La Trobe University. We displayed our wide range of resources and entertained passers-by with all things skeptical as we competed with book vendors, museums and other educational providers for the teachers’ attention. It was pleasing to see some familiar skeptical faces that we have seen in previous years. ‘Stuff for Teachers’ the CD, was again highly popular as was the recently released Skeptics Victoria fridge magnet calendar.
We also presented two talks titled ‘Science Education – maintaining a perspective in an ever changing world’ at which placebo wrist bands, mobile phone radiation shields and water dowsing were generally debunked.
Many thanks to the Skeptic volunteers: Charles, Don, Ken, Paul, Roy and Terry.
The photograph below shows, President Terry Kelly explaining that he found  not only one wristband didn’t work, but neither does three.
Don

View More Victorian Skeptics at STAVCON 2010

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December 5, 2010

Victorian Skeptics at STAVCON 2010

The Victorian Skeptics made their way to the annual science teachers’ conference STAVCON 2010 on Monday and Tuesday 29th – 30th November held at La Trobe University. We displayed our wide range of resources and entertained passers-by with all things skeptical as we competed with book vendors, museums and other educational providers for the teachers’ attention. It was pleasing to see some familiar skeptical faces that we have seen in previous years. ‘Stuff for Teachers’ the CD, was again highly popular as was the recently released Skeptics Victoria fridge magnet calendar.
We also presented two talks titled ‘Science Education – maintaining a perspective in an ever changing world’ at which placebo wrist bands, mobile phone radiation shields and water dowsing were generally debunked.
Many thanks to the Skeptic volunteers: Charles, Don, Ken, Paul, Roy and Terry.
The photograph below shows, President Terry Kelly explaining that he found  not only one wristband didn’t work, but neither does three.
Don

View More Victorian Skeptics at STAVCON 2010

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December 1, 2010

TAM Australia wrap up

The post conference high is beginning to wear off and life starts to get back to a normal routine again.
For those Victorian Skeptics lucky enough to go to The Amazing Meeting the experience was quite amazing – and as a skeptic; it’s not easy to say that.
(If you’d just like to see a nice slide show of photos from TAM Oz and you don’t much care to read a summary – skip to here)
Expectations were high: so many big name skeptics where on the bill. Would it work?  Such a lot happened it’s difficult to summarize.  I’ll just mention some highlights in no particular order.

My favorite session was one that had to be put together quickly to fill in for a speaker who couldn’t make it – the twitter quiz.  Rebecca Watson quickly researched some questions. A panel of experts, mainly from the SGU, were pitted against the audience in a race to give the correct answer first.  The panel had the advantage of being able to answer directly into the microphones whilst the audience had to post the answer to twitter using the #TAMQuiz hashtag.  Audience answers were displayed real-time on the big screens.  What ensued was glorious, hilarious mayhem that left the audience with sore stomach muscles from laughing.  For instance, in answer View More TAM Australia wrap up

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