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