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21.01.2022 Episode 24 is here so check it out :D With guests Ross Balch (@rossbalch) and Brooke Jensen (@TheAlphaBrooke). We discuss a number of recent science stories inc...luding a SpaceX Secret Payload, and Better Antibiotics with CRISPR. We do some Yahoo Science with questions about Glitter Hazards, Blackmarket Anitmatter, and Eating Bees. There's also an Ig Nobel Review as Ross reviews an Ig Nobel Prize winning paper about Itchy Arms. You can find the Non-Peer Reviewed Podcast on iTunes, PodBean, Stitcher, and most other podcast apps. But you can also find it here: SOUNDCLOUD: @nonpeerreviewed FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/NonPeerReviewed YOUTUBE: goo.gl/toX4re TWITTER: twitter.com/NonPeerReviewed RSS: feeds.feedburner.com/Non-peerReviewedPodcast

17.01.2022 Google university...

11.01.2022 Anti-vaxxers claim to have read the inserts. But do they comprehend them?

11.01.2022 it's like magic

09.01.2022 This is what happens UOW: University of Wollongong, Australia when you hand out PhDs for dangerous pseudoscience.

06.01.2022 So excited to be back in science programming! We'll be LIVE on Twtich at 8.30 PM AEDT discussing coronavirus science, other news and taking questions! Tune in!

04.01.2022 US Marshals recently seized five vial of 100 doses each of vaccinia live vaccine (used to vaccinate against smallpox) from a stem cell clinic that was peddling ...an unproven cancer treatment (one of the vials had been opened and was being used). The clinic was mixing stem cells made from fat cells with large doses of the vaccine and administering it to cancer patients. Beyond this being unproven, it is incredibly dangerous. Cancer patients often have weakened immune systems and vaccinia could cause serious complications including myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle that can lead to heart failure and/or cardiac arrest) and pericarditis (inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart that leads to weakness, fever and heart palpitations). Furthermore, due to the risk of complications from this vaccine and because wild smallpox has been erradicated, it is reserved for those in the military or those at risk of infection (healthcare workers at risk of exposure or researchers working with smallpox as an example; https://goo.gl/EoEFV5). The clinic should not have had this vaccine and an investigation is underway to determine how they obtained it. This is a perfect example of why myself, and others, fight against pseudoscience. Purveyors of pseudoscience target the desperate and pseudoscience can be fatal. Edited to add: What was done at this clinic is pseudoscience. The use of oncolytic viruses (viruses that preferentially kill cancer cells) has a growing body of evidence to support the potential to use these as novel cancer therapies and they hold great promise.

03.01.2022 Hey folks! If you missed the first live show of Science Club Network you can check out the vod on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i64d5Mviz3g

02.01.2022 By October 27th our government is asking you to vote on whether you think the law should be changed to allow same sex couples to marry. The Brisbane Skeptic Soc...iety committee fully supports the YES proposition. Brisbane Skeptic Society was founded on the principles of encouraging critical thinking for the betterment of the community. Under these principles there can be no conclusion other than that same sex marriage will be of enormous benefit to large portions of the community and, to the detriment of no one. There are people who would fervently argue that same sex marriage should not be allowed. Looking critically at these arguments however it become apparent that almost all of these arguments are not about marriage, a non sequitur. Some argue that SSM would harm children. Raising children does not require the institution of marriage, but furthermore, there is no evidence children raised in same sex couples are worse off physically or socially than those raised of opposite sex couples. Some in the no campaign have argued that legalising SSM would lead to bestiality, incest or people marrying inanimate objects. This is a form of the slippery slope argument. There is no reason logically that SSM marriage will lead to other forms of marriage being legalised. Importantly this argument excluded the central tenet of marriage. That informed consent is given between the two parties involved. Something that cannot happen with many of the above examples. There are people who would argue that legalising SSM marriage would impede religious freedom. This myth is rather easy to dispel as currently religious institutions have the right to refuse officiate the marriage of heterosexual couples, therefore there is no reason to think they would be forced to marry same sex couples if that fell outside of that specific religions principles. In fact, many religious people believe that marriage equality is supported by their faith and therefore their religious freedom is curtailed under current law. There are many more arguments that those in the no campaign have expressed that similarly fall into the category of non sequiturs that are not arguments about marriage itself and furthermore are not backed by evidence or logic. Some may feel that it is not the place of a Skeptic Society to get involved with politics and social issues. That a Skeptic Society should be dispassionate and stick only to evaluating the evidence of specific claims. Brisbane Skeptic Society strongly believes that from an evidence point of view the yes proposition is strongly supported not to mention from a moral and humanist point of view. More importantly than that, what is the point of skepticism if not to improve the world around us? Brisbane Skeptic Society supports a world that is always improving and without injustice through the advancement of science, critical thinking and most importantly compassion. It is for this reason that Brisbane Skeptic Society wholeheartedly supports the legalisation of same sex marriage.