International Skeptics United

This episode continues our series of special content which Derek recoreded while attending The Amazing Meeting 13. Just after she gave her talk on stage, Derek sat down with Natalia Reagan, anthropologist, writer, actress, and comedienne. Using her specialized knowledge in primatology, she was one of the judges on the television show, "10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty". Find out a bit more about how Natalia decided to leverage her advanced science degree and experience into a form of skeptical outreach which has been seen by millions.

PageRank is the algorithm most famous for being one of the original innovations that made Google stand out as a search engine. It was defined in the classic paper The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine by Sergey Brin and Larry Page. While this algorithm clearly impacted web searching, it has also been useful in a variety of other applications. This episode presents a high level description of this algorithm and how it might apply when trying to establish who writes the most influencial academic papers.

Alok Jha is a journalist and broadcaster based in London. He is science correspondent for ITN and, before that, was science correspondent at the Guardian. He has presented science programmes for BBC2 and BBC Radio 4. Alok received a science-writing award from the American Institute of Physics in 2014, was named European Science Writer of […]

The wonders of our natural world offer plenty of opportunities for learning and plenty of mysteries to ponder. Today we're going to answer some questions sent in by listeners pertaining to Skeptoid episodes having to do with our natural world.

Hormones are the driving force behind reproduction and are what make us keen to go make babies. We follow some of these hormones to hear how they have an influence from birth to death, and also the unexpected consequences they have on society, including causing the stock market to crash. Plus what Philae has revealed about the comet it landed on, how the bugs in your guts might be making you moody, and the key to keeping hamsters happy...

0:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders   0:06:00 Michael Marshall from Good Thinking Palm readers have operated in seaside towns across the UK for many years.  In the absence of any proof that palmists have any ability to accurately advise on the future, the Good Thinking Society wanted to find out whether the trust given by so many was well-placed, so they visited a palm reader in Blackpool.   0:23:15 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.   0:27:00 If I could talk to the animals... In 2009 the Nonsense Podcast set out to investigate an animal psychic. We find our crew having dinner after the evet.. With Jason Hamiester, Dr Rachie, Bastard Sheep and Richard Saunders.

Shulem Deen is a former Hasidic Jew. Since leaving that world, he’s founded the website Unpious which is a voice for other ultra-Orthodox Jews who may be rethinking their faith. His new memoir is called "All Who Go Do Not Return." We spoke with Shulem about the hypocrisy of Hasidic Jews regarding modern technology, how that community reacted to an episode of This American Life focusing on them, and how America Online became his gateway to the outside world.

TRC keeps bringin’ da facts! Darren starts us off by dipping into a segment about popular hydration myths. Cristina digs into what happens when you donate your body to Science. Finally, Adam reflects on whether or not it’s easy to detect a two-way mirror.

Interview with Kevin Folta; Forgotten Superheroes of Science: Gerty Corti; News Items: EM Drive Revisited, Hope for Malaria Vaccine, Cannabis Oil, Washington DC Sinking; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fiction

Featuring glasses, fortune tellers, dogs, more dogs, and lasers. Plus canal boats, gambling, giant plugs, and the Jimmy Hill Jesus.

In this episode, Benjamin Uminsky enlightens us about some of the ways the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk leverages data science and analysis to help be more effective and efficient with the services and expectations they provide citizens. Our topics range from forecasting to predicting the likelihood that people will volunteer to be poll workers. Benjamin recently spoke at Big Data Day LA. Videos have not yet been posted, but you can see the slides from his talk Data Mining Forecasting and BI at the RRCC if this episode has left you hungry to learn more. During the show, Benjamin encouraged any Los Angeles residents who have some time to serve their community consider becoming a pollworker.

Helen Scales is a marine biologist, a freelance researcher and broadcaster; she appears regularly on BBC Radio 4, Sky News and the BBC World Service, and has presented documentaries on topics such as whether people will ever live underwater, the science of making and surfing waves and the intricacies of sharks’ minds. Her doctorate involved […]

From why scientists so often use the word "so" to the feasibility of charging a human by USB, how much Silly Putty it would it take to cover the entire Earth, and whether we could genetic engineer super-abilities into humans, we answer your burning science questions...

In 1987, a song was released that sparked the creation of a legend: the Michigan Dogman, Michigan's own mysterious monster. Here's the real story behind the canine cryptid.

Bart Campolo is a former evangelical Christian leader (and son of famed pastor Tony Campolo) who currently serves as the Humanist Chaplain at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles. We spoke about progressive Christianity, what it was like coming to terms with his Humanism, and death. Lots about death. In all seriousness, it's one of the most interesting and inspiring conversations about death I've ever had. That segment begins around the 27:00 mark. Do yourself a favor and listen to it.