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ICYMI: March 24 – March 30 on the Skepchick Network

Put down that morning paper. There’s nothing you need to know in there. (Other than people from Cyprus are called Cypriots. Who knew?) Just snuggle down and catch up on what you missed last week on the Skepchick Network.

Teen Skepchick

A Whole-Brain Activity Map, and the Obama Administration
The Obama Administration announced a plan to fund a huge effort to map the human brain. But it won’t solve all life’s mysteries.

Eating Disorders: Fat Phobia
Olivia argues that it’s not a fear of fat that is at the heart of eating disorders.

Teen Skepchick Interviews: Jamion, Janeth, and Eclasia
Kate interviews three young women involved in the Women’s Leadership Project.

Mad Art Lab

Butterfly in the Sky…Can We Keep It?
How an offhand comment on the lifespan of butterflies lead to raising caterpillars.

Kitchen Lab: YES! Soup for You!
BonnieBeth teaches you how to make one of her favorite soup.

Conquering Infections Disease Through Memes
We can combat anti-vax propaganda with the most Internet-y of all things: memes.

Escéptica

Aunt Flo’s Scent (en español)
Should women be concerned about menstrual odor as feminine hygiene products would have us believe?

The Sanctity of Marriage (en español)
What are the most ridiculous excuses against same-sex marriage you’ve heard?

Queereka

AI: Homos at SCOTUS
Have you been following the Prop 8 and DOMA cases? Share your thoughts!

Skepchick Norge

Skepticism and self-critique: SETI (på norsk)
Kristin C. talks about how skeptics, too, sometimes think irrationally about things we’d like to be true. Like extraterrestrial life.

School of Doubt

Pop Quiz: Who was Your Worst Teacher?
Tell us about your worst teacher. What made them so bad?

Pop Quiz: First, We’ll Cut Education…
Why is education funding always the first to go? What can we do about it?

Deconstructing “Happy Meat”
Teaching about nonhuman animal rights involves taking down the myth of “happy meat.”

Featured image credit: DeusXFlorida

Mindy

Mindy is an attorney and Managing Editor of Teen Skepchick. She hates the law and loves stars. You can follow her on Twitter and on Google+.

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One Comment

  1. “I remain hopeful that neuroscientists will make some significant progress, although they probably won’t find the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. Neuroscience, like genetics, can only explain so much. Understanding how genes contribute to behavior do not reveal a human “essence” “
    As I ponder over the visual images as a I recite the following verse “shall I compare thee to a summers day….” and we have achieved the ability to map out the electrical and biochemical activity of every neuron along with network and brain system properties of my central nervous sytem, does the subjective experience equal the objective data? Of course not. But the author needs to tread carefully as an honest skeptic on this matter and not fall into the woo trap with statements like “human essence”. The mind is ultimately the global neural activity of the brain. The whole brain activity map and subsequent studies on neural networks and brain studies will only give us a neural correlate of the mind and never replace subjective experience. That brain-mind gap will always exist and unless you accept the supernatural, there is no mystery here. There is no special “human essence”. There is no answer to Life, the Universe and Everything and there never will be. The universe is pointless. What is the meaning of life? It is what ever meaning each of us give it.

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