The Skeptic Zone #428 - 1.Jan.2017

0:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders

0:04:44 New Zealand Skeptics 2016 Conference This week we chat to Mark Honeychurch, a Wellington based skeptic and consumer advocate. He is also the Chair of the NZ Skeptics. http://skeptics.nz

0:16:30 Brew Ha Ha: Science in less time than it takes to order a coffee https://www.australiascience.tv/tags/brew-ha-ha With Ben Lewis The Australian Federal Court has ordered internet companies to block five bittorrent websites in a big crackdown against internet piracy. But what will be the consequences of this extreme legislation? Further reading via ABC: http://ab.co/2hzW4a0 Here are our top 3 biggest science surprises of 2016! Tesla driverless cars in an overnight upgrade, the unexpected Samsung Galaxy Note 7 disaster, and streets becoming overwhelmed by those immersed in the augmented reality of Pokemon Go.

0:20:41 The Cass Files - With Dr Cassandra Perryman Cannabis, hashish, hemp, sinsemilla; informalpot, dope, grass, weed, Mary Jane, bud, hash, bhang, kef, ganja, locoweed; reefer, doob, spliff, toke, roach... get the idea? Cassanddra gives us her view on the drug of choice of many throughout the world.

0:29:10 NSW government to investigate AVsN fund-raising The Australian newspaper reports that NSW Fair Trading authorities will investigate the Australian Vaccination-sceptics Network (AVSN) for “potential breaches of the Charitable Fundraising Act and the Associations Incorporation Act”. http://www.skeptics.com.au/2016/12/28/nsw-government-to-investigate-avsn-fund-raising

0:36:40 Grain of Salt.... with Eran Segev More in the series of interviews from QED. This week Eran talks with Noah and Eli from the Scathing Atheist Podcast. https://scathingatheist.com

******************************************* Wishing all Skeptic Zone fans a happy 2017