Maria

Maria D'Souza grew up in different countries around the world, including Hong Kong, Trinidad, and Kenya and it shows. She currently lives in the Bay Area and has an unhealthy affection for science fiction, Neil Gaiman and all things Muppet.
  • Anti-Science

    Guest Post: Ancient Aliens

    We grow our skeptics pretty hardy here in Atlanta. For example, I’ve been watching Bob Blaskiewicz on Twitter recently, talking about watching Ancient Aliens and discussing how painfully awful it is. Exposure to that much crap is dangerous work! So, as a concerned friend, I did the only logical thing: had him watch some more and write about it in…

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  • Activism

    Truth as Blasphemy

    As mentioned in the quickies a few weeks ago, Sanal Edamaruku, president of the Indian Rationalist Association, revealed that a “weeping” cross was not actually a miracle at all, but in fact caused by a leaky drain. When he refused to retract his findings, the local Catholic Church filed a case against him for blasphemy and he now has arrest…

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  • Skepticism

    Going on vacation… WITH SCIENCE!

    I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for a vacation. It's been a rough few months and it would be nice to just get away for a little while. I've been researching vacation spots and came upon Phil Plait's new venture, Science Getaways, which sounds amazing. I talked to Phil to ask a few questions and find out…

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  • Activism

    Guest Post: Crowdsourcing Skeptical Outreach on Wikipedia

    We recently mentioned (in Skepchick Quickies 4.5) the Smithsonian Archives' Wikipedian in Residence Sarah Stierch who is encouraging more women to edit Wikipedia. Stierch led an effort in March to improve the site's coverage of women scientists. Tim Farley has been encouraging similar efforts by skeptics to edit articles covering skepticism and related topics for several years now. It is…

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  • Quickies

    Skepchick Quickies, 3.16

    The Bad Science Effect – from Angela D First Neutrino Message Sent Through Rock; Could One Travel Back In Time? The fantastic Phil Ferguson is donating for each individual protesting Planned Parenthood. NASA Girls Mentoring Intiative – From Jen Jesus watches the Bachelor (from Elyse) and arm-wrestles Satan on cars. Dude! And boy do I love covering Cute Animal Fridays!…

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  • Skepticism

    New Nuclear Power: A Glowing Review

    Last week, the United States approved the construction of two new nuclear reactors in Georgia. The reactors will be the first new plants built in the U.S. in over three decades. I’m lucky enough to know an expert in the field, so I called Jennifer Henning, who works as a design engineer for an engineering consulting firm in the nuclear…

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  • Activism

    Measuring Success: Proving that Activism Works

    When you are trying to change the world, how do you know when you’ve succeeded? Last week, when Skepchick went dark, did it do any good? Last year, I put together a workshop on skeptical activism with the fantastic Desiree Schell. I thought it might be useful to share some of the components of this workshop in a few blog…

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  • Quickies

    Quickies 1.11

    ‘Morning! I’m covering for Jen this morning as she is busy (moreso than usual) saving the world! Memories of naked Alexander Skarsgard – “…we were wondering if the show would have Eric running down Sookie’s road, completely naked, just like we remembered from the book.” (from Christine) Nobel laureate, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, takes aim at pseudoscience in India – “Dr Ramakrishnan said…

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