International Skeptics United

Timothy Snyder is Housum Professor of History at Yale University, and has written and edited a number of critically acclaimed and prize-winning books about twentieth-century European history: Bloodlands won the Hannah Arendt Prize, the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding, the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award in the Humanities and the literature award of the American […]

Flying saucers hold a special place in American folklore, and it's one that's more intimately interwoven than you knew.

We take on your science questions: Can animals feel guilty? Could drones detect landmines? What's the furthest a paper plane could fly, and why don't spiders get stuck on their webs? Plus, a look at this week's science news - a development for Europe's Extra Large telescope, and the health challenges faced at the Rugby World Cup.

0:00:00IntroductionHeidi Robertson 0:03:12Knowing AnimalsWe chat to Dr Siobhan O'Sullivan from the 'Knowing Animals' podcast who gives us her perspective on animal politics and so-called animal communicators. 0:23:30A Week in ScienceThe Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) is a national scientific not-for-profit organisation with a mission to bring science to people and people to science. 0:27:27The Raw Skeptic Report with Heidi RobertsonThis week Heidi gives us her analysis on the stage performance of someone claiming to have psychic powers? Hello... anyone there...?

Forgotten Superheroes of Science: Ruth Rogan Benerito; News Items: Predatory Pharmaceuticals, Ocean Populations Declining, Election Graphology, Conspiracy Thinking; Who's That Noisy; What's the Word: Efferent; Your Questions and E-mails: Proof of God; Science or Fiction

TRC brings you a hella diverse show this week!  First, Pat sidles up to the bar code to determine whether the 666 conspiracy theory holds any weight. Next, Adam takes a facts-based look at the recent controversy around 14 year old Ahmed Mohamed’s homemade clock. Finally, Darren points his skeptical lense at the political argument that small business tax cuts stimulate job growth.

Our episode this week begins with a correction. Back in episode 28 (Monkeys on Typewriters), Kyle made some bold claims about the probability that monkeys banging on typewriters might produce the entire works of Shakespeare by chance. The proof shown in the show notes turned out to be a bit dubious and Dave Spiegel joins us in this episode to set the record straight. In addition to that, out discussion explores a number of interesting topics in astronomy and astrophysics. This includes a paper Dave wrote with Ed Turner titled "Bayesian analysis of the astrobiological implications of life's early emergence on Earth" as well as exoplanet discovery.

Hello Listeners. I hope you can hear me, because if you can’t we’re in trouble! In this accidental special episode of Skeptics with a K, Marsh talks about what happened when he went to see Peter Popoff in London earlier this year.

The last of three episodes of Little Atoms in association with the 2015 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books, ahead of the award ceremony on Thursday 24th September. This week Neil Denny talks with Matthew Cobb, and there’s a repeat of our interview with Alex Bellos from May 2014. The show also includes a short […]

This episode features a live recording of Derek and James Randi on stage at Skeptrack 2015 this past Labor Day weekend at Dragon Con in Atlanta, GA. Derek and Randi discuss the origins of The Amazing Randi and his work exposing fakers and other harmful charlatans over the years.

Incredibly, the number of people who deny the Holocaust never seems to diminish. We discuss why this is, and what to do about it.

This week we find out what it takes to save a life, from doctors performing open chest surgery in the street to helping people recover in the longer term from severe brain injuries. Plus, news of a real invisibility cloak, how caffeine gives us a boost, and why scientists need you to quiz your dog.

0:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders   0:04:50 Fly me to the moon... or Pluto... or Mars! We chat to Dr Pamela Gay who gives us her perspective on the recent misson to Pluto. Also what's happening on Mars and what's all this about a blood moon?    0:29:00 A Week in Science The Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) is a national scientific not-for-profit organisation with a mission to bring science to people and people to science.   0:31:30 Irresponsible breast cancer alternative cure Ross Balch from the Brisbane Skeptics Society reads an open letter to the Sunshine Coast Daily after it published an uncritical report dealing with cancer. (With a voice over from Jo Alabaster.)   0:39:25 Maynard's Spooky Action..  Maynard chats to more people doing outreach at the recent Science Week Festival at the Australian Museum.

Dumbest Thing of the Week: Stone UFO; Forgotten Superheroes of Science: Hedy Lamar; News Items: Solar Hydrogen, Homo naledi, Terraforming Mars, Metallic Glass; What's the Word: Anosmia; Your Questions and E-mails: Fibromyalgia; Science or Fiction

An action packed show this week!  Susan Gerbic joins the crew to discuss Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia.   Next, Cristina tells us about an industry funded study on butter with surprising results. Lastly, Darren looks into facts and stats about deaths from heat and cold.  

There are several factors that are important to selecting an appropriate sample size and dealing with small samples. The most important questions are around representativeness - how well does your sample represent the total population and capture all it's variance? Linhda and Kyle talk through a few examples including elections, picking an Airbnb, produce selection, and home shopping as examples of cases in which the amount of observations one has are more or less important depending on how complex the underlying system one is observing is.

Our series on the Founding Fathers of the world concludes with this episode on John MF Adams, Thomas MF Jefferson, and James MF Madison, all intellectuals and all to varying degrees heterodox or even (in the case of Jefferson) an outright heretic. Also we cover a few skunk dicks, including Planned Parenthood which seems to […]