Consilience – Episode #66: Learning to Grow Weed, Holy Water Stampeed and Nigeria Ruins It for the Rest of Us

Pictured: your living room.

The 66th episode of Consilience is here! You can download the mp3 here (30mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here. Starring

• Owen Swart
• Patrick Till
• Chris Sham
• Suzanne Patterson

Teaching Angela to Appreciate History

• 1945: Operation Paperclip steps into high gear.

Guest Segments

• Patrick’s News Headlines
  • Climate change caused early humans to flourish.
  • Adverts target rhino horn consumers.
  • Local leader blames negligence in South Africa circumcision deaths.
  • Dubai police in new crackdown on ivory smuggling.
  • Lesotho, South Africa collaborate to develop $1.3bn hydro project.
  • Language and the two schools of thought.
• Soo’s “I learned on the Internet…”
  • growweedeasy.com

News

1. False rape claims usually aren’t
2. First case of polio reported in Somalia since 2007
3. Lethal stampede for magic water in Ghana

Announcements

1. Joburg
   1. Sceptics in the Park – Joburg. Sunday 26th May, 13:00. Johannesburg Botanical Gardens, Emmerentia.
   2. Rumble in the Pub – Joburg. Thursday 30th May, 18:30. Venue TBA.
   3. Sceptics in the Pub – Joburg. Wednesday 5th June, 19:00. Pizaevino, The Wedge, Morningside.
   4. Sceptics in the Pub – East Rand. Tuesday 11th June, 19:00. Grandslam Sports Diner, Edenvale.

Link of the week

Soo: Nemogould

Chris: Daniel Dennett’s seven tools for thinking

Patrick: News360

Owen: Kissing Hank’s Ass

https://archive.org/download/Consilience66/Consilience66.mp3

Consilience – Episode #65: Malagasy Locusts, Cellphone Losers and Dirty Hippie Stoners

‘Let my people go.”

The 65th episode of Consilience is here! You can download the mp3 here (19mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here.

Starring

• Owen Swart
• Patrick Till
• Chris Sham

Teaching Angela to Appreciate History

• 1796 – Edward Jenner administers the first successful smallpox vaccine.

News

1. Locust plague in Madagascar
2. Dementia striking more people, earlier
3. San Francisco morons lose cellphone case.
4. A new trick for spotting exo-planets works

Sci-fi/Fantasy Quote

“Speculation is not evidence.”
– Lt.Cdr Tuvok, Star Trek: Voyager, S6e09 “The Voyager Conspiracy”

Announcements

1. Joburg
   1. Sceptics in the Pub – West Rand. Wednesday 15th May, 18:00. Green & Gold pub, Roodepoort.
   2. Rumble in the Pub – Midrand. Thursday 16th May, 18:30. Dros, New Rd.
   3. Sceptics in the Pub – Joburg. Wednesday 5th June, 19:00. Pizaevino, The Wedge, Morningside.
2. Durban
   1. Sceptics in the Pub. Thursday 16th of May, 18:00. Pizetta.

Link of the week

Chris: The Planetary Society

Patrick: Google Drive

Owen: StarTalk Radio

http://archive.org/download/Consilience65/Consilience65.mp3

Consilience – Episode #64: Citation Needed, “False” Prophets and Fake Crap

Crazy eyes and a fancy hat

The 64th episode of Consilience is here! You can download the mp3 here (26mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here.

Starring

• Owen Swart
• Patrick Till
• Chris Sham

Teaching Angela to Appreciate History

• 1839 – Dageurreotype photography announced.

Guest special segments

1. Patrick: News headlines from Around the world in 5 minutes
   1. Alexandra Hospital neglect: Jeremy Hunt ‘disgusted’
   2. New strain of winter vomiting bug norovirus: Sydney 2012
   3. National Cathedral to have same-sex marriages.
   4. Grandfather saves family by sheltering in the sea to escape lethal Tasmania wildfire
   5. Zombie planet Formanhaut b “shocks” scientists.
   6. Milder temperatures reduce wildfire danger across southern Australia as scores of blazes burn.
   7. UN rings alarm over conditions of domestic workers
2. Chris: Citation Needed
   1. Today’s link: Wide Binary Stars Wreak Havoc in Planetary Systems
   2. Next time’s link: ‘Tricorder’ Closer to Reality

News

1. Gambia to slaughter AIDS patients
2. Labrador-sized dinosaurs walked Earth “243 million years ago”
3. Study shows lion population plummeting as habitat disappears
4. Zimbabwean prophet uses power of Jesus to rape woman.
5. Fake Crap

 

Sci-fi/Fantasy Quote

“I’ve been around long enough to know how ignorant I am. I don’t assume the universe obeys my preconceptions. Huh! But I know a frelling fact when it hits me in the face!”~Rygel, Farscape.

Announcements

 

1. Pretoria
   1. Sceptics in the Pub. Saturday 26th January, 12:30. Venue TBD.

Link of the week

Chris: Albert Bartlett’s population growth lecture.

Patrick: Encyclopedia of Life.

Owen: Gauteng Skeptics Google+ Community

http://archive.org/details/Consilience64

http://archive.org/download/Consilience64/Consilience64.mp3

Consilience – Episode #63: Toenails for Rhinos, Grass-eating Hominins and Monogamy Hormones

Pictured: rhino horn

The 63rd episode of Consilience is out! You can download the mp3 here (20mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here.

Starring

• Owen Swart
• Patrick Till

Teaching Angela to Appreciate History

1. 1765 – Birth of Robert Fulton Jr, American inventor.

Updates.

1. Leo Igwe appointed JREF fellow.

Discussion

1. Top Ten Higgs Boson Facts

News

1. SA film-maker launches campaign to substitute rhino horn with human toenail clippings.
2. Our ancestors took to eating grass earlier than previously thought.
3. Exposure to oxytocin causes partnered men to back away from other hot chicks.

Sci-fi/Fantasy Quote

“The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” Chapter 1, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980) – by Douglas Adams

Announcements

1. Durban
   1. Sceptics in the Pub – Thursday 15th November, 18:00. Pizetta
2. Pretoria
   1. Sceptics in the Pub – Saturday 17th November, 12:30. Venue to be decided.
3. Johannesburg
   1. Sceptics in the Park – Sunday 18th November, 13:00. Johannesburg Botanical Garden, Emmerentia
   2. Rumble in the Pub – Thursday 22nd November, 18:30. Venue to be advised.
4. West Rand
   1. Sceptics in the Pub – Wednesday 21st November, 19:00. Green & Gold Pub, Roodepoort

Want to tell us about an event we should announce on the show? Post it in the comments or on either of these social media sites:

• Google Group
• Facebook Group

Link of the Week

Patrick: The Religion of Peace – Attacks

Owen: 10 Reasons Why Oxytocin is the Most Amazing Molecule in the World

 

http://archive.org/details/Consilience63

http://archive.org/download/Consilience63/Consilience63.mp3

Consilience – Episode #62: Census Results, Population Explosions and a REAL Tractor Beam!

The Doctor will see you now.

The 62nd episode of Consilience is out! You can download the mp3 here (27mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here.

Starring

• Owen Swart
• Patrick Till
• Deon Barnard

Teaching Angela to Appreciate History

1. 1926 – The death of Harry Houdini.

Discussion

1. 2011 South African Census Results
   1. Whites earn 6 times more than blacks
   2. Less than a third of South Africans have finished high school.
   3. 1.3 million households without piped water.
   4. More TVs than fridges in SA households.

News

1. A working Star Trek tractor beam! Kinda!
2. “Einstein was not an atheist” – Some Idiot
   1. Referenced quotes.
3. Black Mamba venom is good for you.
4. DNA analysis finds previously unknown human population explosion.

Sci-fi/Fantasy Quote

“We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works.” – Douglas Adams.

Announcements

1. Johannesburg
   1. Sceptics in the Pub – Wednesday 7th November, 19:00. Brazen Head Pub, Sandton
   2. Rumble in the Pub – Thursday 8th November, Details TBA.
   3. Sceptics in the Park – Sunday 18th November, 13:00. Johannesburg Botanical Garden, Emmerentia
2. East Rand
   1. Sceptics in the Pub – Tuesday 13th November, 19:00. Grandslam Sports Diner, Edenvale.
3. West Rand
   1. Sceptics in the Pub – Wednesday 21st November, 19:00. Green & Gold Pub, Roodepoort

Want to tell us about an event we should announce on the show? Post it in the comments or on either of these social media sies:

• Google Group
• Facebook Group

Link of the Week

Patrick: Sceptical Science – the climate change resource.Deon: Global Rich List

Owen: Rbutr

http://archive.org/details/Consilience62

http://archive.org/download/Consilience62/Consilience62.mp3

Episode #61: Nobel Prizes, Meta-Analyses and a REAL Warp Drive This Time

Click the image to enlarge

The 61st episode of Consilience is out! You can download the mp3 here (27mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here.

Starring

• Owen Swart
• Patrick Till
• Deon Barnard
• Chris Sham

Teaching Angela to Appreciate History

1. 1851 – Discovery of Ariel and Umbriel, two moons of Uranus by William Lassel.
   1. Lassel made his fortune with beer-brewing, giving him the freedom to build his own observatories (plural) at Liverpool and Malta, and construct his own telescopes (plural, large and heavily mechanised for their day).
   2. Possibly also of interest: Latest telescope study of Uranus has revealed interesting and as-yet unexplained new features in its atmosphere.

Updates

1.  Rational blog post about the Satanism murders nonsense.

News

1. Nobel prizes
   1. Physics: Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland “for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems”
   2. Chemistry: Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka “for studies of G-protein-coupled receptors”
   3. Physiology or medicine: Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka “for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent”
2. American politicians are dumb.
3. NASA really is working on a warp drive this time, and this one works on Dilithium Crystals.
4. (Andre Engelbrecht) Braais cause cancer
5. Proof that our bodies can predict the future with data input that doesn’t exist yet!
   1. (Spoiler: It’s a meta-analysis)
   2. Opening ad hominem: The lead author, Mossbridge, is an unapologetic spiritualist.
   3. statistical means, but that’s no substitute for real data derived from properly varied sources.
   4. The “researcher degrees of freedom” that Steve Novella has talked about a lot over the last year or so.
6. Paul Kurtz died.

Sci-fi/Fantasy Quote

“Damnit, Bones, you’re a doctor. You know that pain and guilt can’t be taken away with the wave of a magic wand.” – Capt. James T. Kirk, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Announcements

1. Johannesburg
   1. Rumble in the Pub – Thursday 25th October, 18:30. Primi Piatti, Rosebank
   2. Sceptics in the Pub – Wednesday 7th November, 19:00. Brazen Head Pub, Sandton
   3. Sceptics in the Park – Sunday 18th November, 13:00. Johannesburg Botanical Garden, Emmerentia
2. East Rand
   1. Sceptics in the Pub – Tuesday 13th November, 19:00. Grandslam Sports Diner, Edenvale.
3. West Rand
   1. Sceptics in the Pub – Wednesday 21st November, 19:00. Green & Gold Pub, Roodepoort

Link of the Week

Patrick: Richard Dawkins interview – Playboy

Deon: Belief-o-matic

Chris: William Rankin, The Man Who Rode The Thunder or better still, the book

Owen: If Only… – Tony Ballentyne

http://archive.org/details/Consilience60_927

http://archive.org/download/Consilience60_927/Consilience61.mp3

Episode #60: West African Witchery, New Monkeys and Warp Speed

Sad monkey is possibly delicious.

The 60th episode of Consilience is out! You can download the mp3 here (27mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here.

Starring

• Owen Swart
• Michael Meadon
• Angela Meadon

Teaching Angela to Appreciate History

1. 1961: First contact with an alien race.
   
   • Betty and Barney Hill, an American couple, claimed that they were abducted by aliens and experimented upon. Over the years, the Hills’ own stories have grown increasingly fabulous, as well as inspiring a cultural revolution in reports of alien abductions and similar encounters.
   • None of their claims have ever been substantiated, and sceptics, including Brian Dunning of the Skeptioid podcast, have managed to poke so many holes in the story there isn’t even anything left to hold the holes together.

News

1. Ghanaian witches are exiled to concentration camps.
2. Nigerian man used witchcraft to recruit children for his sex slavery trade.
3. New African monkey.
4. NASA Building Real-life Warp Drive.
   1. Vulcan Suurok Class Cruiser.
5. Jesus was married.

Sci-fi/Fantasy Quote

“The only moral way to change someone’s mind – make them see the truth, as you put it – is to present evidence.” – Unnamed Alteran Dude, Stargate: The Ark of Truth

Announcements

1. Durban
   1. Sceptics in the Pub: Thursday, 20th September, 18:00. Pizetta
2. Pretoria
   1. Sceptics in the Pub: Saturday 22nd September, 12:30. Venue TBA
3. Cape Town
   1. Sceptics in the Pub: Friday 28th September, 19:00. Beleza
4. Johannesburg
   1. Sceptics in the Pub: Wednesday, 3 October, 19:00. Grandslam, Edenvale

Link of the Week

Michael – Josef Schmid, Flight Surgeon

Angela – Geological Time Scale for Creationists

Owen – How to Avoid the Natural Reactions that Prevent Good Decision Making 

http://archive.org/details/Consilience60

http://archive.org/download/Consilience60/Consilience60.mp3

Episode #59: Neil Armstrong Gone, Rat Malaria Cured and Vietnamese Hangovers

Neil Armstrong. First human on the moon.

The 59th episode of Consilience is out! You can download the mp3 here (33mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here.

Starring

• Owen Swart
• Michael Meadon
• Danny Kopping

Teaching Angela to Appreciate History

1. 1965 – Gemini V splashed down. It went into space and came back. It was awesome.

Updates

1. Marikana massacre was caused by a rabbit

News

1. Neil Armstrong is gone.
2. Has UCT found a cure for malaria? UCT presser. Blag. Better article. Here? Here?
3. Rhinos being poached for Vietnamese hangovers.

Sci-fi/Fantasy Quote

“Just because you cannot fathom the nature of a thing does not make that thing magic!”
– Doctor Terrence 13, All-Star Western #11,  written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray

Announcements

1. Johannesburg
   1. Open evening – astronomical history and sky viewing – SAASTA/Royal Society of SA. Saturday 25th August, 18:00 at the Johannesburg Observatory. Entrance is free. There’s a talk by Professor Francis Thackeray and some other cool stuff, including sky viewing, if weather permits. You’re invited to bring a picnic basket and enjoy the view at sunset before the proceedings start, as well as binoculars for the sky viewing.
   2. Public talk: Origin of Mass – Discovery of a Higgs-like boson – by the Wits SA-CERN team. Wits University. Monday 27 August, 18:00.
   3. Sceptics in the Pub. Wednesday 2th September 19:00. Green & Gold Pub.
   4. Royal Society SA Spring Science Showcase. SUNDAY 9th SEPTEMBER 2012 14:00-18:30. Delta Environmental Centre, Blairgowrie, Johannesburg. Entry fee – R120 per person (R70 students, postdocs, scholars).
   5. Talk Does Evolution really threaten Religion? – John Ostrowick. 11 Sept 2012 at 18:00. Origins Centre, Wits University.
2. Cape Town
   1. Sceptics in the Pub – Friday 24th August. Beleza Pub.
   2. Open Night at SAAO – Black holes and other revelations. Dr. Vanessa McBride. Saturday 25th August 08:00 pm. Auditorium (SAAO, Cape Town)
   3. Sceptics in the Pub – Friday 31st August, 19:00. Touch of Madness
   4. Open Night at SAAO – Radio Astronomy Revolution – Dr. Nadeem Oozeer (SKA). Saturday 8th September, 08:00 pm. Auditorium (SAAO, Cape Town)

Link of the Week

Michael – Robo-journalism 

Danny – Google Me

Angela Owen – Powerwatch – Huge database of studies of EMF re: dangers etc.

http://archive.org/details/Consilience59

http://archive.org/download/Consilience59/Consilience59.mp3

Episode #58: Curiosity Vaporises, Strikers are Bulletproof and Atheism Rises

Curiosity does a duckface self-shot.

The 58th episode of Consilience is out! You can download the mp3 here (26mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here.

Starring

• Owen Swart
• Michael Meadon
• Angela Meadon

Teaching Angela to Appreciate History

1. 565 – First recorded sighting of a monster in Loch Ness. A Christian saint named Columba was doing missionary work in the land of the Picts. Not only did he see the Loch Ness monster, but he used his powerful Jesus-sorcery to battle the thing!

Updates

1. Curiosity has finished its stationary systems check. Stretched out its arm. Has set its laser to vapourise. Has investigated its immediate surroundings. Is ready to start moving tomorrow.

News

1. Lonmin miners used muti to give themselves superpowers. Maybe.
2. Parents hoping for miracles torturing?
3. Atheism on the rise in SA? Unlikely.
4. New fossil finds in Kenya suggest two separate early Homo species in the pleistocene, apart from Homo erectus.

Sci-fi/Fantasy Quote

“Just because you cannot fathom the nature of a thing does not make that thing magic!”
– Doctor Terrence 13, All-Star Western #11,  written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray

Announcements

1. Johannesburg
   1. Open evening – astronomical history and sky viewing – SAASTA/Royal Society of SA. Saturday 25th August, 18:00 at the Johannesburg Observatory. Entrance is free. There’s a talk by Professor Francis Thackeray and some other cool stuff, including sky viewing, if weather permits. You’re invited to bring a picnic basket and enjoy the view at sunset before the proceedings start, as well as binoculars for the sky viewing.
   2. Public talk: Origin of Mass – Discovery of a Higgs-like boson – by the Wits SA-CERN team. Wits University. Monday 27 August, 18:00.
   3. Sceptics in the Pub. Wednesday 2th September 19:00. Green & Gold Pub.
   4. Royal Society SA Spring Science Showcase. SUNDAY 9th SEPTEMBER 2012 14:00-18:30. Delta Environmental Centre, Blairgowrie, Johannesburg. Entry fee – R120 per person (R70 students, postdocs, scholars).
   5. Talk Does Evolution really threaten Religion? – John Ostrowick. 11 Sept 2012 at 18:00. Origins Centre, Wits University.
2. Cape Town
   1. Sceptics in the Pub – Friday 24th August. Beleza Pub.
   2. Open Night at SAAO – Black holes and other revelations. Dr. Vanessa McBride. Saturday 25th August 08:00 pm. Auditorium (SAAO, Cape Town)
   3. Sceptics in the Pub – Friday 31st August, 19:00. Touch of Madness
   4. Open Night at SAAO – Radio Astronomy Revolution – Dr. Nadeem Oozeer (SKA). Saturday 8th September, 08:00 pm. Auditorium (SAAO, Cape Town)

Link of the Week

Michael – Conservapedia

Angela – Snake Oil Infographic

Owen – Doctor Terrence 13

http://archive.org/details/ConsilienceEpisode58

http://archive.org/download/ConsilienceEpisode58/Consilience58.mp3

Episode #57: Martian Robots, Cellphone Idiots and Dinosaur Double-whammy

It’s totes a commbadge.

The 57th episode of Consilience is out! You can download the mp3 here (30mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here.

Starring

• Owen Swart
• Michael Meadon
• Angela Meadon
• Chris Sham

Teaching Angela to Appreciate History

1. 1576 – The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe‘s Uraniborg observatory is laid on Hven. Johannes Kepler and all that stuff. Hven, an island in the Øresund between Zealand and Scania. King Frederick II of Denmark gave it to him.

Updates

1. Parliament has rejected the DoBE’s catch-up plan, which isn’t even as good as it was described in ep.52; study guides are out.
2. 5,000 more brand new textbooks found dumped in Limpopo, while Motshekga is trying to use “lack of resources” as part of her constitutional argument.

News

1. Curiosity!!!!!11111111111111111111elebenty!!
   1. Doing checks and boring stuff ATM
   2. What’s new.
   3. Specs.
2. How single-celled life specialised into multi-celled life via division of labour
3. Government idiots want to put warning labels on cellphones
4. More evidence building up that the Chicxulub impact wasn’t the sole cause of the KT Extinction

 

Sci-fi/Fantasy Quote

“Nothing beats the power of nature for putting our self-importance in check.”
— Dr. Hood
Eleventh Hour (US), season 1, episode 15, “Electro”

Announcements

1. Johannesburg
   1. SFSA Star Trek Minicon – Saturday 18th August, 10:00 till 19:00. Wits Medical School
   2. Sceptics in the Park – Sunday 19th August, 13:00. Rose Garden, Johannesburg Botanical Gardens, Emmarentia
2. Pretoria
   1. Sceptics in the Pub – Saturday 18th August, 12:30. Venue to be advised.

Link of the Week

Chris – Kerbal Space Program

Michael – Atul Gawande piece in New Yorker.

Angela – Follow Curiosity’s Descent to Mars

Owen – 7 Ridiculous Things People Believe About the “God Particle”

http://archive.org/details/ConsilienceEpisode57

http://archive.org/download/ConsilienceEpisode57/Consilience57.mp3