- Skeptics in black – Steve reports on the reception a group of skeptics got at the Whole Life Expo in Toronto.
- Radiation rings hint the universe was recycled – The Big Bang may have been just the latest in a series of explosive births.
- Psychotherapy procedures and the dodo effect – On the latest treatment, cyber therapy, and how its proclaimed usefulness may be due to the Dodo effect, that “all talking cures share certain common factors—such as a caring therapist who establishes a bond with the patient—that make them equally helpful.” From Steve D.
- New £2 coin celebrates 400 years of the King James Bible – From jes3ica.
There’s a thread at JREF where smarter people than me pick apart Penrose’s notion of having found evidence for a cyclical universe:
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?p=6600269
And I find the 2011 coin esthetically pleasing even if I can’t see how it’s an event worthy of a commemorative coin.
Regardless of the religious connotations of that coin, the former numismatist in me definitely wants to buy one. It is a nice work. That said I also value the role the bible played in early literacy rates.
@Bjornar: So Futurama was wrong??? But I coulda sworn this universe was about 10 feet lower than the previous one.
@Bjornar: There have been a few commemorative coins that may interest the scientifically minded of us:
100th anniversary of first transatlantic radio transmission: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:British_two_pound_coin_2001_Marconi.JPG
50th anniversary of discovery of DNA structure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:British_two_pound_coin_2003_DNA50.JPG
200th anniversary of first railway locomotive: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:British_two_pound_coin_2004_Steam_Locomotive.JPG
And my favourite, one for the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:British_two_pound_coin_2009_Charles_Darwin.png
I so get a kick out of Steve’s expo story. The PA announcements are totally surreal and hilarious.
I do hope ‘Skeptics In Black’ permanently makes it into the skeptical vernacular for whenever these sorts of encounters happen in the future. It’s adorable.
Didn’t we recently hear the exact same thing about acupuncture or homeopathy or both? Where the the talking bit of each was followed randomly by either “real” acupuncture or sham acupuncture (either inserting the needles in random places or not inserting them at all, just poking with a blunt probe), or was it “real” homeopathic pills or fake sugar pills, and the studies found no difference?
Oh yeah, SGU discussed this on their November 15th podcast.
The Skeptics In Black is an enjoyable read and a good story. However I expect for the conference organizers their issue with the skeptics was the potential disruption of their income, and not their feeling challenged about the veracity of the treatments they support. People get quite angry when you pose a threat to their money and way of life, as well as their belief system.