Timothy Snyder is Housum Professor of History at Yale University, and has written and edited a number of critically acclaimed and prize-winning books about twentieth-century European history: Bloodlands won the Hannah Arendt Prize, the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding, the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award in the Humanities and the literature award of the American […]
Flying saucers hold a special place in American folklore, and it's one that's more intimately interwoven than you knew.
We take on your science questions: Can animals feel guilty? Could drones detect landmines? What's the furthest a paper plane could fly, and why don't spiders get stuck on their webs? Plus, a look at this week's science news - a development for Europe's Extra Large telescope, and the health challenges faced at the Rugby World Cup.
0:00:00 Introduction Heidi Robertson 0:03:12 Knowing Animals We chat to Dr Siobhan O'Sullivan from the 'Knowing Animals' podcast who gives us her perspective on animal politics and so-called animal communicators. 0:23:30 A Week in Science The Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) is a national scientific not-for-profit organisation with a mission to bring science to people and people to science. 0:27:27 The Raw Skeptic Report with Heidi Robertson This week Heidi gives us her analysis on the sta...
Forgotten Superheroes of Science: Ruth Rogan Benerito; News Items: Predatory Pharmaceuticals, Ocean Populations Declining, Election Graphology, Conspiracy Thinking; Who's That Noisy; What's the Word: Efferent; Your Questions and E-mails: Proof of God; Science or Fiction
TRC brings you a hella diverse show this week! First, Pat sidles up to the bar code to determine whether the 666 conspiracy theory holds any weight. Next, Adam takes a facts-based look at the recent controversy around 14 year old Ahmed Mohamed’s homemade clock. Finally, Darren points his skeptical lense at the political argument that small business tax cuts stimulate job growth.
Our episode this week begins with a correction. Back in episode 28 (Monkeys on Typewriters), Kyle made some bold claims about the probability that monkeys banging on typewriters might produce the entire works of Shakespeare by chance. The proof shown in the show notes turned out to be a bit dubious and Dave Spiegel joins us in this episode to set the record straight. In addition to that, out discussion explores a number of interesting topics in astronomy and astrophysics. This includes a paper D...
Hello Listeners. I hope you can hear me, because if you can’t we’re in trouble! In this accidental special episode of Skeptics with a K, Marsh talks about what happened when he went to see Peter Popoff in London earlier this year.
The last of three episodes of Little Atoms in association with the 2015 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books, ahead of the award ceremony on Thursday 24th September. This week Neil Denny talks with Matthew Cobb, and there’s a repeat of our interview with Alex Bellos from May 2014. The show also includes a short […]
This episode features a live recording of Derek and James Randi on stage at Skeptrack 2015 this past Labor Day weekend at Dragon Con in Atlanta, GA. Derek and Randi discuss the origins of The Amazing Randi and his work exposing fakers and other harmful charlatans over the years.
Incredibly, the number of people who deny the Holocaust never seems to diminish. We discuss why this is, and what to do about it.
This week we find out what it takes to save a life, from doctors performing open chest surgery in the street to helping people recover in the longer term from severe brain injuries. Plus, news of a real invisibility cloak, how caffeine gives us a boost, and why scientists need you to quiz your dog.
0:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders 0:04:50 Fly me to the moon... or Pluto... or Mars! We chat to Dr Pamela Gay who gives us her perspective on the recent misson to Pluto. Also what's happening on Mars and what's all this about a blood moon? 0:29:00 A Week in Science The Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) is a national scientific not-for-profit organisation with a mission to bring science to people and people to science. 0:31:30 Irresponsible breast cancer alternative cure Ross Balch from ...
Dumbest Thing of the Week: Stone UFO; Forgotten Superheroes of Science: Hedy Lamar; News Items: Solar Hydrogen, Homo naledi, Terraforming Mars, Metallic Glass; What's the Word: Anosmia; Your Questions and E-mails: Fibromyalgia; Science or Fiction
An action packed show this week! Susan Gerbic joins the crew to discuss Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia. Next, Cristina tells us about an industry funded study on butter with surprising results. Lastly, Darren looks into facts and stats about deaths from heat and cold....
There are several factors that are important to selecting an appropriate sample size and dealing with small samples. The most important questions are around representativeness - how well does your sample represent the total population and capture all it's variance? Linhda and Kyle talk through a few examples including elections, picking an Airbnb, produce selection, and home shopping as examples of cases in which the amount of observations one has are more or less important depending on how comp...
Our series on the Founding Fathers of the world concludes with this episode on John MF Adams, Thomas MF Jefferson, and James MF Madison, all intellectuals and all to varying degrees heterodox or even (in the case of Jefferson) an outright heretic. Also we cover a few skunk dicks, including Planned Parenthood which seems to […]
The second of three episodes of Little Atoms in association with the 2015 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books. This week Neil Denny talks with David Adam, and there’s a repeat of our interview with Gaia Vince from August 2014. This show also marks the 10th anniversary of Little Atoms. We first broadcast on […]
History doesn't always record the accomplishments of women in science as thoroughly as it does for men. This episode helps straighten the record.
Climate change - and concerns about rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere - are often in the headlines. However, looking back in the history of the earth, it's clear that this isn't the first time carbon dioxide levels have risen. So why should we worry now? We delve into the past to explore the effects climate change can have on the oceans and how that, in turn, can impact the climate. Plus, in the news, a new species of early human ancestor, the scientist who's jumping the Hubble q...
0:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders 0:04:10 Dragon*Con report We chat to Angie Mattke who reports on the Skeptrack at the recent Dragon*Con in Atlanta. 0:18:35 A Week in Science The Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) is a national scientific not-for-profit organisation with a mission to bring science to people and people to science. 0:21:40 Tell me this, you Skeptic! An overview of some of the questions and comments put to skeptics at the Paranormal and Spiritual Expo. 0:31:35 The Atheist ...
Three interesting segments this week. First, Cristina addresses a listener email ‘aboot’ cultural stereotypes and subjective judgments based on people’s accents. Next, the gang is once again joined by Dina Tsirlin who looks into some shocking facts about electroconvulsive therapy. Lastly, Adam takes aim at recent headlines suggesting that a cat ‘took’ a bullet for a kid....
Forgotten Superheroes of Science:Fritz Haber; News Items: Night Skies, Thinking Style and Paranormal Belief, Psychic Detectives; Special Report: Time Travel; What's the Word; Science or Fiction
There's an old adage which says you cannot fit a model which has more parameters than you have data. While this is often the case, it's not a universal truth. Today's guest Jake VanderPlas explains this topic in detail and provides some excellent examples of when it holds and doesn't. Some excellent visuals articulating the points can be found on Jake's blog Pythonic Perambulations, specifically on his post The Model Complexity Myth. We also touch on Jake's work as an astronomer, his noteworthy ...
Slippers, collagen, football, and boiled eggs. Plus mincing proteins, bleeding deer, and what happened in Amsterdam. Standing on the Devil, it’s Skeptics with a K.
The first of three episodes of Little Atoms in association with the 2015 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books. This week Neil Denny talks with shortlisted authors Jim Al-Khalili & Johnjoe Mcfadden, and Jon Butterworth. Professor Jim Al-Khalili, OBE is an academic, author and broadcaster. He is a leading theoretical physicist based at the […]
These important scientists are virtually unknown, even though their accomplishments are among the greatest in science. Let's see if we can fix that.
