Last Thursday I was very kindly invited to Portsmouth to give my talk on the scientific method to the Portsmouth ‘Skeptics in the Pub’ group. I had a great time, and I think that the subject matter certainly got people talking. I’d like to thank everyone who was very welcoming, my ‘test subjects’ during the … [Read more…]
I’ve considered myself to be a skeptic for over a year now, and although I’m very new to the movement, one thing does strike me about it: there seems to be a lack of skeptical outreach, or if you will, ‘skeptical evangelism’. I would really love to see a concerted effort from within the skeptical … [Read more…]
The week of April 10th-16th sees the World Homeopathy Awareness Organization hold it’s World Homeopathy Awareness Week, so I thought I’d do my bit. People need to be aware that homeopathy doesn’t work, as various systematic reviews of it have shown. Not only that, it couldn’t possibly work, as homeopathic ‘remedies’ above 12C contain no … [Read more…]
Before I address the deliberately provocative title of this post, I’d like to let people know that the videos of the Conspiracy Debate at MMU are now available on We Are Change Manchester’s YouTube channel. They were filmed by WACM, and show the debate between Steve and Paul which I covered on an earlier blog … [Read more…]
This Saturday morning (April 2nd) sees a Holistic Health Fair come to the Levenshulme Inspire Centre in south Manchester. A variety of bunkum will be on show, including reiki, ear candling, and of course, homeopathy. Homeopathy needs no introduction from myself (I’ve already given my take on it here) but I’ve not mentioned reiki or … [Read more…]
Last night saw THE Conpiracy Debate (their title, not mine) at the Manchester Metropolitan University. Despite being billed as a general debate on conspiracy theories, it focused pretty much exclusively on the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001. The belligerents were the be-suited Steve from the 9/11 Truth group “We Are Change Manchester” (WAC) and … [Read more…]
Now, this should be very interesting. In Manchester tonight, GMSS, We Are Change Manchester, and New Internationalist Magazine are holding a debate on conspiracy theories. Judging from their Facebook event page, 9/11 and the moon landings are up for discussion, but hopefully much more will be covered. I’ve always been interested in conspiracy theories (not … [Read more…]
I’m a big fan of the “Wonders” series by Professor Brian Cox. I think that they are great, seminal works explaining various concepts in physics, but what with the exotic locations and use of expensive equipment, they must have cost a pretty penny to produce. Would it be possible to show examples of physical phenomena … [Read more…]