One of the fun things that happened at Dragon*Con this year - the physics show for kids! This is with huge thanks to Matt Lowry and Dr Pamela Gay (of Astronomy Cast fame) - amazing scientists, educators and downright awesome people for putting on this all-ages show during the Labor Day long weekend.I didn't know this was being recorded. Which is why you can see me, with my long hair out, wearing my skull-print headband - going OOOH! at 31.20 min!As Matt writes: This is the footage from the ph … [Read more...]
I Get Electrocuted – FOR SCIENCE! All-Ages Physics Show At Dragon*Con
October 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment
International Cephalopod Awareness Days – Digital Cuttlefish And Noadi’s Art #cephalopod
October 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment
UPDATE - sobering news from 'Cuttlefish Country' in the comments - appears the desalination plant has been approved in SA. Keep in touch with their site for updates.It's International Cephalopod Awareness Days! I encourage you to do something to celebrate these days, which happen to be:October 8 – Octopus Day, for all the eight-armed species October 9 – Nautilus Night, a time for all the lesser-known extant cephalopods October 10 – Squid Day/Cuttlefish Day, or Squittleday, covering the t … [Read more...]
Monday Morning Muse – Great Skeptical Books For Kids
October 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Monday Morning Muse - Because Cute Can Be Creative Too.Apparently the best Halloween costume of all time? Pup even has his own Facebook page.Many of you would have read the blogpost on the recent talk at the Texas Freethought Convention in Houston by Christopher Hitchens, where he was asked a question by a young member of the audience:Though he was asked a variety of questions from the audience, none appeared to elicit more interest than the one asked by eight-year-old Mason Crumpacker, … [Read more...]
Token Skeptic – These Are The Ways The World Will End – Dragon*Con 2011
October 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment
From a global pandemic to the Hadron super-collider... have some fun as our panel rips into the latest world-enders and answers your questions about why we are probably safe (for now).Yes, that is Dr Phil 'Bad Astronomer' Plait, demonstrating meteor impact with a mintie that I gave him. Episode Eight-One of the Token Skeptic podcast, which (Libsyn willing...) will be out later today is with many, many, MANY thanks to the Skeptrack - Derek Colanduno of Skepticality.com and Mark Ditzler at Abr … [Read more...]
Sunday Morning Survey – ‘Impose Atheism Or Let Children Make Their Own Choice?’
October 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Sunday Morning Survey – Because Anything That Gets My Brain Moving Again After Conducting A Podcast Interview At 12am After Doing A Shift At A Science Museum Is Technically A Good Thing.This, of course, stems from a debate that started up on the fabulous AFA forum-board about the TV show Dexter and this clip from the first episode of the new series.Mind, the brief debate actually revolved around 'Is it wrong to want to shag a serial killer?' after watching this clip, but I'd like to keep th … [Read more...]
Respectful Insolence on Steve Jobs And Alt Med
October 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Steve Jobs, neuroendocrine tumors, and alternative medicine. Orac, a clinical oncologist posts his views regarding claims that Steve Jobs shortened his life by initially delaying cancer treatment for nine months in order to pursue an alternative diet-based approach: Jobs was unfortunate in that he appears to have had an unusually aggressive form of the disease that probably would have killed him no matter what. That's not to say that we shouldn't take into account his delay in treatment and … [Read more...]
The Scope Of Skepticism Teaser – Interview With ‘Miracle Detective’ Dr Indre Viskontas
October 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment
I'm heading into the final proofs and formatting of an anthology I've been working on for a while, featuring transcripts from the Token Skeptic podcast. This segment is from Episode Sixty-Nine, On Miracle Detectives – Interview With Dr Indre Viskontas; head there to listen to the entire interview.The reason why I'm transcribing select interviews for my book is two-fold: firstly, I've always enjoyed reading as well as listening to interviews in general. The book 'Lunch of Blood' by Antonella Gam … [Read more...]
#40DaysOfTreats – Showing Pro-Choice Support In The UK – With Cake!
October 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
A counter protest for 40 days doesn’t seem right - why draw attention to them? Instead, lets do something for the people who are probably most affected and could use the boost.Let’s give the nice people at BPAS 40 days of treats - Okay, we’ve got to do something about this - 40daysoftreats.tumblr.com. You know something that may not often come to mind with anti-abortion protesters and prayer groups? They can legally 'block' the way to providers... and make it very, very uncomfortable for those … [Read more...]
Fighting Kittens Love DonorsChoice.Org Donations! (Yes, I Will Bribe With Cute Video)
October 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Digital Cuttlefish just reminded me that there's the wonderful Donors Choice boxes, over there to the right. Oh look! Here's a link again in the blogpost! And here's my donation box! I've already started on the leaderboard, but can certainly use more! Thanks! :)What's it for again? DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. Here's how it works: public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests on D … [Read more...]
Curiouser And Curiouser On NZ Skeptics’ Convention – Now Out!
October 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Now online! The NZ Skeptics' Convention article for Curiouser and Curiouser that I mentioned a day or so ago - now on the CSICOP website. They also have a CSICOP convention coming up soon. :) If any readers have been to Christchurch’s Twisted Hop pub on Poplar Street in order to attend a skeptical event or tour, I have some sad news. The pub sits, seemingly undamaged, right next to collapsed buildings. Rumbles of machinery and sounds of toppling cement echo throughout the Zone and beyond, with d … [Read more...]
Happy Birthday Tim Minchin!
October 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment
It isn't only Ada Lovelace's day today! Of course, we all know of Tim Minchin because of Storm. But I'll always remember him for the first time I saw him on stage, here in Perth.And if you're not familiar with his work: … [Read more...]
Kylie Sturgess is a Philosophy teacher, media and psychology student, blogger at Patheos and podcaster at 
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