RobiNZ Personal Blog

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki’s inspiring conversation with Richard Fidler #TAMOZ

Although this was first broadcast in 2007 I just discovered it thanks to a recent replay. I love Dr Karl's podcasts on ABC Triple J & BBC 5 Live and saw his awesome presentation at TAMOZ 2010 (right).

This conversation is remarkable for his parents story, as much as his own. I’m glad it was repeated, it’s well worth your time:

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki - ABC Conversations with Richard Fidler

Dr Karl is famous for his boundless enthusiasm for all things science.

But the details of his own incredible life are less familiar - before he became a medical doctor, Dr Karl worked as a mechanic, a roadie (for people like Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry), a steel worker and a filmmaker.

In 1995 he took up the position of the Julius Sumner Miller Fellow at Sydney University, spreading the good word about science and its benefits.

Among his many accolades, one of his favourites is being named Australia's Father of the Year in 2003.

This film is a stunning lifesaving minute - Immunity #stopavn

@purplefae’s beautiful film tackles the anti-vac myths in a minute.

More at www.purplefae.com

Physicists Climate Change Hypocrites? I think not!

But viable Fusion Reactors would balance everything, forever and these are the people who will make it.

Physicist Calls Out Other Physicists for Being Climate Change Hypocrites

Physicists clock, on average, 23,000 air miles per year flying around the world to observatories, conferences and meetings, and generally use 130 KWh more energy per day than the average United States citizen….

Religious division, even after death?

I was walking my Mum’s dog in a nearby cemetery* and one aspect struck me. Maybe it is because I don’t have a religion? It seems strange that those who do are/were** catered for by segregated burial areas.

If your religion means you cant mix after death, what hope is there on Earth?

* Dog walking is allowed, with some limitations I’m happy to observe.

** Some of these are historical but the current rules still observe some cultural and religious division.

UPDATE 2011-08-30: I guess Atheists go into Public, Ash or Eco?

Stats Chat – What do those statistics mean?

Discusses the reality of of statistics used, and use, in the media

Stats Chat - www.statschat.org.nz

"Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write." – H.G. Wells

Hosted by The University of Auckland's Department of Statistics

Tim Minchin - Storm

If you haven’t already seen Tim Minchin's beat poem about a new age dinner guest, watch it. I prefer the unofficial text version as it’s simple presentation lets the message shine, and what a message.

Text & Tim

The Official Movie

Live

The Nocebo effect?

Found via SkepticBros.com, where you can get your Placebo Band, posted here so I can find it

Far above the clouds, faith or evidence?

During an idle moment, waiting for something, a noise drew my gaze toward the sky. It came through the solid cloud cover and I strained to identify the source. I had a good idea but wondered how you’d explain it to someone who didn’t, who knew nothing of our modern world?

Of these alternatives I doubt they would pick the correct one:

1. Angry Sky Gods?
2. Thunder, from lightening I couldn’t see?
3. Several hundred people (and hundreds of tonnes of metal, fuel, luggage) high above the cloud watching movies and, possibly, about to tuck into a late lunch while doing about 900 km/h as they head to the over side of the world.
4. The man with his bag of secrets far above the clouds

I can’t prove it wasn’t 1, it is perhaps the simplest answer and some might say with faith it is all you need. 2 makes noise in the sky but this was different, longer lasting and far less dramatic.

If you didn’t know about modern aviation then 3 would be absurd. However visit to an airport would provide enough evidence to suggest it was not only possible, but also the most likely.

4: Far Above the Clouds

It also reminded me of this:

And the man in the rain picked up his bag of secrets, and journeyed up the mountainside, far above the clouds, and nothing was ever heard from him again, except for the sound of Tubular Bells

It was an aircraft up where the sun or moon always shine. I never saw it but from the engine noise I suspect a 747-400 as was louder than I’d expect an A380 to be. The simplest solution is not always the correct one, faith is not the answer but evidence provides one.

SkepticBros & the Placebo Band #TAMOz

It was great to meet the Skepticbros, Tom and Nick, at the TAMOZ fringe Bloggers Breakfast (seen below being interviewed for Token Skeptic #42 Podcast by Kylie "Podblack Cat" Sturgess). Inspired, more accurately appalled, by dubious claims & massive profit margins made by plastic hologram bands they did something about it and made their own.

The Placebo Band

Placebo Bands are a stretchy silicon band with a hologram & embossed text. They don’t claim to rely on mystical qualities as any effect is entirely from the mind of the wearer (as described in this quote from the Placebo Band site):

“Placebo Band.

No more popping pills, painful needles or smelly ointments. Simply pop Placebo Band on your wrist and you’re good to go.

Placebo Band features two eye catching holograms that not only attract and impress others but also remind you that you’re wearing Placebo Band long after the sensation on the wrist has subsided.

Placebo Band uses two powerful, scientifically proven effects, the placebo effect (Placebo) and confirmation bias (Confirmation Bias), that, combined with a subtle alteration in your own activities, help to strengthen your own personal desired outcomes and even desired outcomes in others!”

They are $2 (about 1/20 – 1/40th the cost of similar products) and profits, yes at that price they make a small profit, are being donated to charity. Already Placebo Bands have helped the fight Polio with a donation to a Rotary End Polio campaign.

I have felt much better since wearing a Placebo Band, at least I think I have!

Get your Placebo Band at Skepticbros.com/store

More about SkepticBros.com - The Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide

Hear the SkepticBros interviewed on The Sceptics Guide to the Universe Podcast #284 and The Skeptic Zone #115

Below Dave the Happy Singer and Kylie Sturgess risk a massive placebo overdose from a bag of Placebo Bands

PS: It was seriously good to see this: Power Balance Wrist Bands busted in Australia

Denis Dutton, a great mind remembered

I only knew Denis Dutton via his media appearances, as an academic & skeptic, in New Zealand. I don’t recall when I started reading Arts & Letters Daily but it was it was several years before blogged about it in 2004 and I still visit it regularly. Two clips below highlight different aspects of the Denis I remember. Perhaps the most fitting memorial is that, like Arts & Letters Daily, he nourished many minds.

Denis Dutton, Founder of 'Arts & Letters Daily,' Dies - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Denis Dutton, founder and editor of Arts & Letters Daily and a professor of philosophy at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, has died. Born in California, Mr. Dutton received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He created Arts & Letters Daily in 1998…

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Denis Dutton
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog March to Keep Fear Alive