High level nuclear waste disposal - is safety guaranteed?
Speaker: Nick Ware
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Place: The Studio, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Several countries are considering expanding their nuclear power capacity but the current vitrification method for storing radioactive wastes is far from satisfactory. The speaker was involved as a microanalyst in the early development of the Australian synroc method for waste disposal and remembers the antagonism of the lobby opposing uranium mining when their main argument was countered. Many in the atomic energy establishment, concerned to maintain the status quo, were not happy either.
This talk marks the 30th anniversary of the launching of synroc and will give insights into its genesis and examine the prognosis for nuclear power.
Who are the Jews?
Speaker: Dr Pete Griffith
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Place: The Studio, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Ian "Pete" Griffith is an atheistic theist. He, like his Balliol contemporary Richard Dawkins, is a biologist and a skeptic. Pete will discuss reasons why Sigmund Freud suspected that the origins of the Hebrews relates to the history of Akhet-Aten which was for a brief period (from around 1350 BC) the Capital of Egypt. Early in Tutankhamun's reign (1332 - 1322 BC) the city was abandoned on the instruction of his uncle "Divine Father" Ay. Pete will summarise the theories of French-Jewish egyptologists Messod and Roger Sabbah on the evolution of the three great monotheistic religions and the origins of the Jews. These theories (and the Old Testament "account" thereof) are something which Dawkins has ignored in his recent book The God Delusion.
What would an economist know about schools?
Speaker: Dr Andrew Leigh
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Economists are not always welcomed into education policy debates with open arms. In this talk, Dr Leigh will discuss the main strengths and weaknesses of the economics method as it applies to education. When does focusing on incentives, choices, prices, and test scores help inform the debate, and when can it lead policymakers astray?
Dr Andrew Leigh, PhD (Harvard), MPA (Harvard), BA, LLB (University of Sydney), is Fellow, Economics Program, at the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, specialising in public finance, labour economics, and political economy. He is the co-author, with Duncan Macgregor, David Madden, and Peter Tynan of Imagining Australia: Ideas for Our Future (2004). He maintains a well-regarded blog covering economics, politics, and current events at http://andrewleigh.com/.
None Dare Call It Conspiracy - Alternative Explanations of Australian History
Speaker: Dr Glenn Mitchell, University of Wollongong
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Dr Mitchell will be largely concentrating on the Whitlam dismissal and Harold Holt's disappearance as well as the plethora of Web sites which attempt to argue for the conspiracy angle. And the talk will critically engage with Mel Gibson's character in Conspiracy Theory who said "A good conspiracy is an unprovable one. If you can prove it, somebody has screwed up."
Dr Glenn Mitchell is a Senior Lecturer in and the Convenor of the History Program at the University of Wollongong. He has received two OCTAL awards (Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning), is the current Teaching and Learning Scholar for the Faculty of Arts, is a passionate supporter of the Liverpool football team, and is working very hard on his lessons to become a jazz drummer. His research interests are environmental and medical history.
Karl Popper and Critical Rationalism
Speaker: Dr Jeremy Shearmur, Australian National University
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Karl Popper (1902 - 1994) is generally regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century (e.g. Realism and the Aim of Science, 1983). He was also a social and political philosopher of considerable stature (e.g. The Open Society and its Enemies, 1945), a self-professed 'critical-rationalist', a dedicated opponent of all forms of scepticism, conventionalism, and relativism in science and in human affairs generally, and an implacable critic of totalitarianism in all of its forms. What is not so well-known is that his work offers a distinctive approach to philosophy, which contrasts with both the current style in `analytical' philosophy, and also with so-called `continental' philosophy.
Jeremy Shearmur, who was taught by Popper, worked as his assistant for eight years, and has just published (with Piers Turner) a collection of his previously unpublished and uncollected essays, After The Open Society (Routledge; London, 2008). Jeremy will offer a lively but also critical guide to Popper's work and will argue for its significance.
Jeremy Shearmur is Reader in Philosophy in the School of Humanities, Faculty of Arts, ANU. He has previously taught at the Universities of Edinburgh and Manchester, was Director of Studies at the Centre for Policy Studies in London, and was a Research Associate Professor at the Institute for Humane Studies, George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia, USA.
For information about Dr Shearmur, visit his Web site.
Sorting out conspiracy theory
Speaker:
Dr Robert Cribb, FAHA
Pacific & Asian History, RSPAS
Australian National University
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Conspiracies undoubtedly exist, but there are many more conspiracy theories than conspiracies (probably). How do we know when it is worth being suspicious? In this lecture, Robert Cribb outlines a number of characteristics of conspiracies which help us to identify them, as well as setting out the common trajectories that they follow.
Robert Cribb is an historian of modern Indonesia whose research interests cover national identity, mass violence, historical geography, and orangutans. He holds a research post at the Australian National University, but teaches a course "Lies, Conspiracy and Propaganda" to jaded undergraduates.
Boffins vs wolverines: science and the media
Speaker: Julian Cribb
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
The media is the means by which 90 per cent of people in an advanced society get 100 per cent of their science. It influences all our major decisions about technology and future courses of action. Yet so often the media appears to get the science wrong. Julian Cribb has worked on both sides of the tracks, with 30 years as journalist and editor and over a decade as science communicator. He takes a sceptical look at both science and the media.
Julian Cribb is Adjunct Professor of Science Communication at the University of Technology Sydney. He was science editor for The Australian and Director of National Awareness for CSIRO. He now helps science organisations to explain themselves.
What if climate change is not just due to increased burning of fossil fuels?
Speaker: Walter Jehne
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Current climate models and public debate on climate change and global warming assume that the rising level of atmospheric CO2 has caused global warming through an enhanced greenhouse effect. But what if rising CO2 and global warming are just two linked symptoms of the true causal factor - a factor which is destabilising the Earth's heat balance systems but which has eluded our attention so far?
While the scientific evidence is clear that CO2 emissions contribute only a small part to our global warming problem, Walter Jehne contends that the problem is far more serious, urgent, and consequential than we are being told. Fortunately, Walter believes that if we examine the issue critically we still have options for addressing it provided we are prepared to face reality and take action in time.
He will show how and why establishment science has painted itself into a CO2 emissions reductions dead-end which it is now difficult for many to admit.
Walter Jehne is a soil microbiologist-ecologist, previously with CSIRO, who since retirement contributes to the Sustainability Science Team on the analysis and design of more effective future bio-systems.
The Evolution of Creationism - a Fundamentalist Assault on Science
Speaker: Dr Alex Ritchie
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
As the Australian Museum’s Palaeontologist from 1968 - 1995, Dr Alex Ritchie found himself in the front line in the late 1970s when an Australian-based evangelical group, the ‘Creation Science Foundation’, launched a concerted attack on science in Australian schools, and especially on Earth history and evolution. Alex and his colleagues (Ian Plimer, Mike Archer, Colin Groves, etc.) led a counter-attack, trying to keep creationists out of state schools in Australia.
Since 1980 the creationist movement has provided a fascinating example of natural selection and evolution in action as the literalist Young Earth Creationists (YECs) hit legal and constitutional brick walls, mainly in the US. In response, in Australia, the CSF reincarnated, first as ‘Answers In Genesis’ and, more recently, as ‘Christian Ministries International’. In the 1990s, after witnessing the failure of Biblical-based creationism to scale the legal barriers, a mutant splinter group, the ‘Intelligent Design’ mob (the IDeists), decided to try another approach, with considerable initial success.
Alex Ritchie will illustrate the fascinating story of the evolution of creationism from his personal experiences: exposing the ‘geology’ of the CSF’s ‘geological’ spokesmen, Drs Andrew Snelling and his successor Dr Tasman Walker; what happened when qualified geologists (Ian Plimer, Alex Ritchie) publicly questioned ‘Dr’ Alan Roberts’ claims to have found Noah’s Ark (and the subsequent trial); and the insidious methods used by YECs and their successors, the IDeists, to infiltrate schools, universities, and museums.
Dr Alex Ritchie, who now lives in Canberra, is a Senior Research Fellow of the Australian Museum, Sydney and Palaeontologist (and founder) of Canowindra’s Age of Fishes Museum. In 1996 he was awarded the Australian Museum’s ABC Eureka Prize for Promotion of Science, partly for his fight against creationism.
Click here for Dr Ritchie's links and references to relevant material.
Annual General Meeting
Time: 19:30
Place: Federation Room, Havelock House, 85 Northbourne Ave, Turner
Two perspectives on Australia's history wars
Greg Melleuish and Lorenzo Veracini
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Assoc. Prof. Greg Melleuish
University of Wollongong
Unlike the History Wars in a country like India, the Australian version has not led to violence or death threats and at times it is surprising how little seems at stake with regard to substantial matters. The real issue is why disagreements over matters of historical fact and interpretation generate such a degree of heat. There are a number of reasons, including the public nature of the debate, the personalities involved, and long-standing differences regarding matters of historical interpretation amongst Australian historians. But the central issue, I believe, is that History has become a sort of surrogate religion and so disputes amongst its practitioners become more than just intellectual in nature.
Dr Lorenzo Veracini
Postdoctoral Fellow
School of Social Sciences
The Australian National University
The 'History Wars' are about what happened in the past and about what should happen in the present. If the 'battlefields' of these wars are the admissibility of particular reconstructions of the past, the object of this conflict is ultimate control over the definition of the boundaries of public discourse. Different rhetorical claims can be used as 'weapons' in this 'war of position': a reference to the specific expertise and training of professional historians, or a pre-emptive insinuation that historical research as practised and validated by the historical profession is politically biased, for example. As other conflicts being conducted these days, this is a structurally asymmetrical war, and it is a lack of symmetry that makes the 'History Wars' inherently different from previous cultural wars.
THE POPULATION DEBATE
"Australia should stabilise its population as soon as possible"
(Canberra Skeptics in association with the Australian Science Festival)
In favour: Jenny Goldie, Barney Foran
Against: Prof. Peter McDonald, Prof. Stephen Bartos
Moderator: Dr Jeremy Shearmur
Time: 19:30
Place: The Shine Dome, Gordon St, Acton
Crime Scene Investigation - fact or fiction?
Dr James Robertson
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
What is the real world of the forensic scientist like? Does the CSI image do it justice? Can we live up to the expectations of how forensic science is portrayed by the media? Is there really such a species as "forensic science"? These and all of the other questions you may have wanted to ask about forensic science will be answered as our resident sleuth, Dr James Robertson, walks us through the real world of forensic science.
Dr Robertson has been in charge of the Australian Federal Police's forensic group since 1989 when he moved from Adelaide, where he was senior forensic scientist. James originally came to Australia in 1985 from Scotland having been a lecturer in forensic science at the University of Strathclyde. He is currently National Manager Forensic and Technical with the AFP. James retains his interest in matters academic and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra and at the University of Technology, Sydney, and has published many scientific papers and edited several books. He is on the editorial boards of several international forensic journals and is the Editor of the Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences. He is on the Council of the Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences, on the Executive of the Senior Manager of Australian and New Zealand Forensic Laboratories (SMANZFL), and sits on many government and academic advisory committees. He was awarded the Australian Public Service Medal in 2005 for services to law enforcement and forensic science.
Fluoridation - dogma and dissent
Nick Ware
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
The efficacy of fluoridation in reducing dental caries has been in continuous debate for the past 50 years. Both proponents and opponents have been guilty of hyperbole and manipulation of the evidence to favour their positions. This talk will briefly review the history of fluoridation and suggest how the physical sciences might help resolve the issue.
The speaker is a "floating voter" in the matter of fluoridation. He is a retired university research officer with 40 years experience in microanalysis and mineralogy. He has performed over 3000 microanalyses of apatite, the mineral which forms tooth enamel.
"What would make Australia a rational society; or, why we need a House of Lords"
Dr Jeremy Shearmur
Time: 18:00
Place: The Studio, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
This might seem a very odd topic. First, what does Dr Shearmur mean by rational? Second, in what sense might one talk about a society as being rational, as opposed, say, to its individual members? All this will be explained, after which Dr Shearmur will answer his question!
Rationality
One clear sense of rationality is the sense exemplified by a calculator;
i.e. we are interested in whether or not figures are added up correctly.
Or, in a more sophisticated sense, whether someone or something is reasoning
validly.
By this, I mean that they either make use of forms of inference that are
formally valid, in the sense of never leading us from true premises to false
conclusions, or, in slightly wider senses, that they reason correctly on the
basis of the meanings of words, or perform other operations that are exemplars
of sound reasoning.
For information about Dr Shearmur, visit his Web site.
Brilliant Stupidity - Why the Moon Hoax makes no sense
Peter Barrett
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
There are people who believe that NASA faked the Moon landings - that Neil Armstrong said his famous lines on a sound stage in Area 51, or Sudbury in Canada, or somewhere in Australia - and many people find Moon Hoax arguments superficially convincing.
But the logic which is used to support Moon Hoax arguments very quickly becomes self-contradictory. In fact, it requires NASA to be simultaneously brilliant and stupid. And although Moon Hoax supporters muster what appears to be strong technical evidence in support of their arguments, these arguments are surprisingly easy to demolish.
In this talk, I'll examine a range of Moon Hoax arguments, explain why they make no sense, and discuss why the Moon Hoax matters. (Don't worry, no technical knowledge is required!)
* Click here for links to a YouTube recording of the talk.
The economics of breastfeeding and the market for mother's milk
Dr Julie Smith, ANU
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
As an economist and public policy researcher, my work has centred on estimating the economic value of breastfeeding, including the time, health, and commodity costs. I have used conventional economic methods of valuation to extend and build on previous analyses which have used the cost of formula as a proxy price, using instead more market-based prices in line with national accounting practices. Using a feminist economics framework, I have explored the ramifications of the UN's Standard National Accounting system for inclusion of breast milk and breastfeeding as part of GNP, and in 'satellite accounts' of unpaid work.
I have also developed a market analysis of breastfeeding, showing how breast milk and breastfeeding competes, unequally, in a commercial product market - to gain consumer preferences - and in a paid labour market - for mother's time. I have also estimated the attributable hospital costs of artificial feeding in infants and young children in the Australian Capital Territory, using hospital admissions data and inpatient DRG costs for this city with a population of around 300,000.
Acknowledging that breastfeeding has time costs to mothers which are often ignored or underestimated in both developed and developing countries, but has economic and cost savings advantages to infant health and the wider community, I suggest breastfeeding promotion and advocacy would benefit from encompassing an economic analyis of breastfeeding (as a 'public good' subject to problems of 'market failure' to allocate adequate resources to it) if health policy goals/interventions to protect and support breastfeeding are to be effective and convincing to economic policymakers. My time use survey of new mothers shows that time costs of breastfeeding are substantial, and matter to women, who have relatively less leisure, and whose unpaid caring work is largely invisible to economic policy analysts and decision-makers. The 'time investments' women make in breastfeeding are large and costly to them in terms of lost earnings and leisure, but have 'externalities' benefits/savings for others - the infant in later life, those bearing current and future health costs, and employers/governments through a higher quality/IQ 'human capital stock' and labour force.
We need to realign the economic incentives to protect and support breastfeeding, if breastfeeding promotion is to work against competing forces of the market.
An update on Homo floresiensis, a.k.a. the "Hobbit"
Professor Colin Groves
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Every time a radically new fossil human species has been discovered, there has been a chorus of disbelief, not only from creationists (which is to be expected), but even from professionals, as if they did not wish their prior conceptions to be disturbed. Even so, when the discovery of Homo floresiensis, "the Hobbit from the Isle of Flowers", was announced in 2004, no one was quite ready for the onslaught: it could be a modern microcephalic, a cretin, a pygmy, an unspecified pathology - anything but a new species! In this talk, Professor Groves will tell us what this Hobbit really is, and fit it into the framework of human evolution.
"The future isn't what it used to be"
Colin Steele
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Colin Steele will overview prophecies and predictions from the last two hundred years and examine the accuracy of those forecasts in areas such as technology, politics, economics, and societal change. History is littered with false prophecies and ill-fated predictions but this has not prevented the rise of futurologists and think-tanks on the one hand and fortune tellers, seers, and psychics on the other. A concluding segment will cover predictions for the 21st century from some of today's science fiction writers, a group that has been more successful than most in the past in predicting the future.
Canberra - was it worth it?
Professor Don Aitkin
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Like Washington and Ottawa, Canberra is an artificial city created because federations feel the need to start with a new capital, rather than to relabel an old one. Unlocking the reasons behind this need, and looking at what has happened to Australia's capital over its first hundred years, and how it has affected the rest of the country, are the central elements of this talk, whose speaker has lived more than half his life here, though in four separate instalments.
Annual General Meeting
Time: 18:30
Place: Federation Room, Havelock House, 85 Northbourne Ave, Turner
Weather forecasting - fact or fiction
Clem Davis
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Clem Davis worked for over 33 years as an operational forecaster with the Bureau of Meteorology and was Officer in Charge of the Canberra Office from 1996 until he "retired" in June 2005. He is now a Visiting Fellow at the ANU where he is undertaking research into the climate trends of the local region around the ACT. This talk deals with the importance of weather forecasting and tackles the questions: Is there any science to back up weather lore? Why is it so difficult to make accurate predictions all the time? How has present-day forecasting developed and how accurate is it?
The Hydrogen Economy - if so, when?
Professor Harry Watson
Professor Rod Boswell
Dr Tom Biegler
Moderator: Nick Ware
Time: 18:00
Place: Nicholls Theatre, National Convention Centre, Canberra City
The end of cheap oil is nigh. Will the vaunted hydrogen economy take over or are we doomed to reduced mobility and frugal lifestyles? Skeptics and proponents debate the issues.
INFLUENZA - poultry, pigs, people, politics plus the impending pandemic
Dr Ian "Pete" Griffith
Time: 18:00
Place: Haydon-Allen Theatre ("The Tank"), Australian National University, Acton
The speaker's PhD work at the JCSMR on the structural proteins of influenza virus led to a position in the late '60s at CSL working in the WHO Reference Laboratory on improving the killed influenza vaccine. After stints at Cambridge and Oxford he joined the Victorian College of Pharmacy as lecturer in Pharmaceutical Microbiology. There he was not involved in the development of Relenza (by Biota), as his skepticism on the value of antineuraminidase drugs was well known. He moved to Canberra in 1999 and was secretary to DHAC's Pandemic Influenza Committee for a time before retiring in late 2001. Pete will outline the history of pandemic influenza and the biology of virus/host interactions. His views on the use of antiviral drugs and conventional (killed) vaccine and other control measures in pandemic situations are controversial.
Myths about diet and dietary supplements
Caroline Salisbury
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Youth Delinquents - Can Project Saul give them hope?
Steve Thorn
Time: 18:30
Place: Banquet room, Zen Yai Restaurant, 30 Northbourne Avenue
Steve Thorn works with the Australian Federal Police and has been actively involved with "Project Saul". This project attempts to assist juvenile offenders by showing them some alternative lifestyles by exposing them to the elements and to the bush, and teaching them to become more self-reliant and work productively as part of a team. Some of Steve's views are regarded as novel by the current establishment so should make for an interesting discussion ranging from minor issues (such as graffiti) to vexing and increasingly important problems so well demonstrated in the Cronulla riots in early 2006 and the continuing spate of suicide bombings overseas.
An illustrated pdf copy of the announcement for Mr Thorn's talk is available for downloading.
A Journey on the Road to En-Dor
Nick Ware
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
The speaker is a descendant of E. H. Jones who, with C. W. Hill, escaped from Yozgad prisoner of war camp in Turkey in 1918. The means of escape was through the ouija board. The camp commandant was so convinced of the psychic powers of Jones and Hill that he allowed their Spook to dictate camp policy as well as unwittingly help them to freedom. Describing these events, and published in 1919, The Road to En-dor became a seminal work in debunking spiritualism at the height of its popularity.
After Nick's talk several attendees gathered for dinner at the Flavours of India restaurant, upstairs in the Garema Centre, 70 Bunda St, Civic.
The eye sheds light on Darwinian evolution
Geoff Henry
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Darwin said it would be 'absurd in the highest degree' to believe an organ as intricate as the eye could have evolved by natural selection. Unless, of course, 'numerous gradations' in the perfection of eye design could be found in the animal kingdom.
This address undertook a search for these gradations.
After Dr Henry's talk several attendees gathered for dinner at the Flavours of India restaurant, upstairs in the Garema Centre, 70 Bunda St, Civic.
An illustrated pdf copy of the announcement for Dr Henry's talk is available for downloading.
The Latest Information in Space Exploration
Glen Nagle
Time: 19:30
Place: Tidbinbilla Tracking Station
Glen spoke on a number of topics, including Pluto and its moons, and Australia's role in the imminent invasion of the Solar System by a whole range of new spacecraft. More information about these space missions is available at http://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/.
Before the talk, several attendees gathered at the Moonrock Cafe from 18:15 for dinner.
Thinking Skeptically about War
Dr Peter Stanley
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Special Meeting and Annual General Meeting
Time: 18:00
Place: Canberra Bridge Club, 60 Duff Place, Deakin
The art of deception: conmen - past, present, and future
Tricky Nick the magician
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
The Da Vinci Code as Junk History
Dr Benjamin Kelly
Time: 18:00
Place: Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code makes various sensational claims about the historical figure of Jesus and the earliest stages of Christianity. If these claims are true, they dramatically change our understanding of the origins of Christianity. In this talk, Dr. Kelly will argue that these claims are at best fanciful and at worst demonstrably false. He will go on to argue that the more difficult (and interesting) question for the skeptic is why such examples of "junk history" periodically make such an impact on mass culture in the modern world. He will examine some of the reasons why far-fetched theories about the ancient past are particularly common and liable to cause sensations.
Dr. Kelly is a graduate of the University of Oxford, where he took his doctorate in Ancient History. He has taught at Somerville, Jesus, and Trinity Colleges at the University of Oxford. He presently lectures in the Faculty of Arts at the ANU, where has taught courses including The Historical Jesus and Religions and Society in the Roman Empire.
Nuclear Energy for Australia?
Time: 18:00 to 20:00
Place: Bradman Theatre, National Convention Centre, Civic
Against the backdrop of global warming, the contentious concept of nuclear energy is experiencing something of a renaissance as a potentially clean alternative to fossil fuel generated electricity. Key speakers debate the case: Dr Colin Keay, retired Assoc Prof of Physics, Newcastle University and Prof Aidan Byrne, Head of Dept of Physics, ANU discuss nuclear fission and reactor design while Prof Michael Denborough (Emeritus Prof, JCSMR, ANU and Nuclear Disarmament Party founder) presents the case against nuclear energy. Moderated by Dr Pete Griffith, President of Canberra Skeptics Inc.
Herbal Remedies - History, Heresy and Hereafter
Peter Bowditch
Time: 18:00
Place: The Studio, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
A museum dedicated to the history of Australia might seem like a strange place to discuss herbal and natural medicines, but the Australia we know today only exists because of a natural medicine. The entire 207 years of the development of modern Australia is contingent upon one natural treatment for one disease.
The use of natural medicines probably predates even the evolution of modern man (cats can only digest meat, which is why they eat grass to clean their insides out when they are sick). This talk will look at some of the myths about herbal medicine - that a long history of use proves efficacy, that natural is always better -and also how it integrates with, competes with and even conflicts with the reality of medical science.
Don't Believe What you Read - Blame the Journalists
Ray Williams
Time: 18:00
Place: Canberra Bridge Club, 60 Duff Place, Deakin
Are Australian journalists biased or do they simply abuse their power? Everyone has examples of inaccuracies or lack of balance by the media, and who really decides what the public should be told? Are our media people too powerful and is the ABC really left wing? Ray Williams has been blamed for just about all the world's problems in his 61 years in the media as a journalist and commentator. He mightn't have the answers you want but he will have some answers when he talks to us.
Lies, damned lies - and statistical traps
Borek Puza
Time: 18:00
Place: Canberra Bridge Club, 60 Duff Place, Deakin
Statistics can mislead - apparently obvious interpretations of numbers can be very wrong and may aptly be called 'statistical traps'. The twists in the stories about homoeopathy, smoking, cancer, intercessory prayer, left-handedness and the effectiveness of air bags will drive home why it is always good to be skeptical of 'statistical facts'.
Mystery Investigators
Time: 16:30
Place: Canberra Bridge Club, 60 Duff Place, Deakin
The understanding of scientific principles is important for everyone, not just those who are going to continue in a career in science. With that in mind, the Mystery Investigators have developed a show to help science teachers demonstrate the application of science and critical thinking in everyday life.
The Hobbit from the Isle of Flowers
Professor Colin Groves
Time: 17:45
Place: The Studio, National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula
To help celebrate Darwin Day the Canberra Skeptics present Professor Colin Groves from the Australian National University who will discuss Homo floresiensis, or the "Hobbit", which caused a sensation when its discovery was announced late in 2004. So tiny, so unexpected, so late in time yet so primitive - and right on Australia's doorstep. Since then it has been accused of being anything from an australopithecine to a bird-headed dwarf. What was it, really, and how does it fit into the human family tree?