Communicating Science in the 21st century(Quest Science month special)
Brian Cox and Neil deGrasse Tyson’s compelling exploration of what science communication is, drawing on interesting similarities and contrasts between the UK and the US.
Category: A moon/candle in the dark night
Naturopathy and Herbal Medicines-from James Randi foundation(Quest Science month special)
Naturopathy is an ill-defined system based on vitalistic mythology; it combines commonsense health and nutrition measures and rational use of a few herbs with a huge variety of unscientific practices and anti-medical double-talk. What naturopaths do that is good is no different from what MDs do, and what...
Demarcation and Pseudoscience-(Quest science month special)
(From the book Thinking About Science, Massimo Pigliucci Skeptical Inquirer Volume 38.1 A collection of essays (Philosophy of Pseudoscience, University of Chicago Press) on what philosophers call “the demarcation problem,” the issue of what exactly separates sound science from bad science and pseudoscience. It’s the kind of somewhat arcane issue of...
Pseudo-scientific and Paranormal Claims-James Randi(Quest Science month special)
Lecture is from the McGill University’s Lorne Trottier Public Science Symposium on the confrontation and threat of pseudoscience in contemporary society. As one of the central figures in the area of “flim-flam,” James Randi has exposed fraud, deceit, cheats, fakes, liars, and charlatans with effervescent ease. Trained as...
‘The Next Time You’re Abducted, Steal Something Off The Spaceship'(Neil Tyson)(Quest science month special)
Sometimes controversial, Neil deGrasse Tyson, 58, is one of the scientists who lobbied to have Pluto stripped of its status as the ninth planet from the sun. Tyson also says there is no reason to doubt the existence of life other than ours elsewhere in the universe, possibly...
Media Guide to Skepticism-(Quest Science month special)
What is skepticism? Skepticism is an approach to evaluating claims that emphasizes evidence and applies tools of science. Skepticism is most often applied to extraordinary claims – those that refute the current consensus view. The Skeptical process considers evidence obtained by systematic observations and reason. The conclusion that...
The Miracle Problem-Sam Harris
Sam compares accounts of miracles in the Bible to 21st century miracles associated with gurus like Sathya Sai Baba
Science vs. Pseudoscience-Fact Sheet(Quest science month special)
The word “pseudo” means fake, and the surest way to spot a fake is to know as much as possible about the real thing, in this case science itself. When we speak of knowing science we do not mean simply knowing scientific facts (e.g., the distance from earth...
Naturopathy and Herbal Medicines-pseudoscience??(Quest science month special)
Naturopathy is an ill-defined system based on vitalistic mythology; it combines commonsense health and nutrition measures and rational use of a few herbs with a huge variety of unscientific practices and anti-medical double-talk. What naturopaths do that is good is no different from what MDs do, and what...
The Storytelling of Science ( Dawkins, Krauss, deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye .., )(Quest Science month special)
The Storytelling of Science features a panel of esteemed scientists, public intellectuals, and award-winning writers including well-known science educator Bill Nye, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, theoretical physicist Brian Greene, Science Friday’s Ira Flatow, popular science fiction writer Neal Stephenson, executive director of the World...
