This week:
- Airport security’s porno twist,
- Nuclear Salmon invade the West Coast,
- Drone’s stop Polio eradication
- New improved Olympics now with Rocket Launchers, and
- What’s Ethan’s problem with the War of 1812
Download the episode here!
Topics:
Airport security’s porno twist,
We discuss some interesting stories in the news about the “enhanced” security pat-downs that ‘exposed’ the worlds largest penis and had the US courts pronounce nudity ‘free speech’
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Nuclear Salmon invade the West Coast
The recent front page of the Georgia Straight warns Canadians about the imminent and probably deadly threat to our lives from the nuclear fallow from the Fukushima reactor accident arriving in the form of radioactive fish. Don takes a critical eye to this story and exposed its bias and unscientific slant.
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Drone’s stop Polio eradication
The world has almost eradicated Polio in the world however repercussions from the assassination of Bin Laden and the US use of drone assassinations has stopped to program in Northern Pakistan. Listen and find out why.
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New improved Olympics now with Rocket Launchers
With the London 2012 Olympics just around the corner, we examine the escalation of security including the placement of several rocket launchers on the roofs of apartment building in down-town London. We take a skeptical look at the effectiveness of these weapons and the possible motivation for their use.
Find out more:
- How much Olympic security is too much?
- Security for the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Judge approves rooftop Olympic missiles for London apartment building
What’s Ethan’s problem with the War of 1812
Ethan examines some of the historical and cultural inaccuracies and false impressions the current War of 1812 celebrations are portraying and why its important to get the history right.
Skeptical Highlights:
International Autonomous Robot Racing Competition 2012
The International Autonomous Robot Racing Challenge (IARRC) is a competition in which small-scale vehicles (about the size of an RC car) use artificial intelligence to race against each other without human control.
IARRC aim to provide students with a hands-on opportunity to apply what they are learning in school. Ultimately, this competition promotes research in autonomous automotive technology as we believe such technology will improve the safety and quality of transportation.
The first competition was held in April 2005 at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. It has been growing since then, and other participating universities have taken turns hosting. This year, IARRC 2012 will be held in the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
IARRC
Robot Racing Competition and Exhibition
Google Labs
Google has set up an exhibitionist in the Science Museum in London. In true Google style it was not intent to have a ‘traditional’ display so they have combined the exhibition with Google Chrome to launch Google Web Lab. Where virtual visitors from around the world will be able to interact with the displays and perform 5 different experiments from the comfort of home. The exhibit includes: Universal Orchestra, Data Tracer, Sketchbots, Teleporter, and Lab Tag Explorer.
Humanists in the Pride Parade
Join the BCHA for its third year marching in the Vancouver Pride Parade. For the past three years the BC Humanists have invited all local humanists, atheists, agnostics, skeptics, and other freethinkers to march in the Vancouver Pride Parade. This year we hope to have a bigger and more fabulous entry than ever!
DETAILS – Marchers should plan to arrive by 12:30 PM. Our staging area is designated EN4 and will be on the North side of Robson Street between Burrard and Thurlow. You can only enter the staging area from Burrard Street. Please plan on walking/biking/transiting downtown as there is very limited parking and many road closures..
Paul Ingrahm Save Yourself lecture for BC Humanists
At The BC Humanist’s Sunday, August 26th meeting, They will be hosting Vancouver science journalist Paul Ingraham for a special lecture.
In 2010, Paul Ingraham quit his career as a Registered Massage Therapist, exasperated by the prevalence of anti-scientific attitudes and methods in that profession, and disheartened by a fight with a licensing agency for the right to write about it — similar in spirit to Simon Singh’s famous legal battle with the British Chiropractic Association. Mr. Ingraham will tell the story of his legal struggle and becoming one of the few apostates of complementary and alternative medicine.
Mr. Ingraham is now a science journalist and publishing entrepreneur, and creator of SaveYourself.ca, a popular website about common injury and pain problems, which is notably successful at commercializing science advocacy and rational health care information. He has written hundreds and articles and eight books on these themes so far, and is also an editor for ScienceBasedMedicine.org, a blog about scientific issues in medicine.
All are welcome to attend our weekly Sunday meetings at Oakridge Seniors Centre, which start at 10am. After about half an hour of coffee, tea, and socializing, we discuss topics of interest to our members.
