Champions of Illusion (Stephen Macknik) National Capital Area Skeptics (NCAS) 2026-09-29 | Champions of Illusion (Stephen Macknik)
In Search Of... Skepticism in Science Museums (Bruce Behrens, PhD) NCASVideo 2024-08-22 | Are science museums skeptical? Science museums are great at presenting scientific facts, but what about the scientific method, critical thinking, and scientific skepticism? In this draft of my presentation for the Sunday Morning Papers session of CSICon Las Vegas 2024, I examine science museum exhibits in search of skeptical content.After Dr. Behrens completes his short presentation, NCAS members will be invited by email to join the online Zoom meeting to ask questions and provide constructive feedback.Bruce Behrens studied High Energy Physics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, receiving his Ph.D. in 1995. Following postdoctoral research at Cornell University, Dr. Behrens became a research scientist at the Center for Naval Analyses, the US Navy's Federally Funded Research and Development Corporation, where he provides evidence-based advice to military leaders. In 2023, he founded the Behrens Science Museum to teach critical thinking and the scientific method through exhibits about pseudoscience and the paranormal.
The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories (Zelda Gilbert) NCASVideo 2024-05-06 | Dr. Gilbert will discuss how the tools of modern psychology can be used to explore the prevalence, motivations, and content of historical and contemporary conspiracy theories. This will include conspiracy theories concerning such things as Lincoln’s assassination, chemtrails, the destruction of the battleship Maine, election fraud, and space lasers from orbit. Concepts such as existential, epistemic and socio-psychological motivations will be defined and applied to various theories, providing the audience with the tools to do their own analyses. Finally, audience members will be invited to create and evaluate their own conspiracy theories.Zelda Gilbert is a retired professor of psychology with over 40 years experience in higher education. She currently lectures on political psychology, conspiracy theories, and other topics, mostly for the continuing education Silver Frogs program at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. She completed a doctorate in counseling psychology at the University of Kentucky and studied political psychology at UCLA. Views expressed in this talk are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Cancer Risk Assessment, Its Wretched History & Its Impact on Public Health (Dr. Edward J. Calabrese) NCASVideo 2024-04-14 | The historical foundations of cancer risk assessment were based on fundamental scientific errors that were never corrected, all within the framework of an extraordinary appeal to the authority of the radiation genetics community, led by Hermann J Muller. Even though these individuals were greatly talented and accomplished, they were driven by ideological and self-serving professional biases that would lead to both falsification of the research record and suppression of key scientific findings, all in an effort to establish the linear no-threshold (LNT) model for hereditary and cancer risk assessment, replacing the threshold dose response model. This troubling history has now been revealed in a long series of peer reviewed publications by the author and summarized in a 22-episode documentary by the Health Physics Society* (hps.org/hpspublications/historylnt/episodeguide.html). This troubling history remained hidden from the regulatory agencies around the globe since their inception. These groups simply and uncritically accepted a flawed and corrupt history, assuming that it was accurate and reliable. Yet, this path of historical ignorance led the US EPA, and other national regulatory agencies, to accept a dishonest foundation upon which to base and frame cancer risk assessment, terribly failing in their public service mission. This untenable situation has placed a continuing stranglehold on the actions of all regulatory agencies worldwide, improperly guiding its philosophies, policies and practices down to the present time.(*Note that the views expressed in these videos do not necessarily represent official positions of the Health Physics Society.)Edward J. Calabrese is a Professor of Toxicology at the University of Massachusetts, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, Amherst. Dr. Calabrese has researched extensively in the area of host factors affecting susceptibility to pollutants, and is the author of over 1,000 papers in scholarly journals, as well as more than 10 books. Dr. Calabrese was awarded the 2009 Marie Curie Prize from the World Council of Nuclear Workers for his body of work on hormesis. He was the recipient of the International CCN Society's Springer award for 2010. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from McMaster University in 2013. In 2014 he was awarded the Petr Beckmann Award from Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. Dr. Calabrese was awarded the G. William Morgan Lectureship Award and the Robert S. Landauer, Sr., Lectureship Award in 2022 from the Health Physics Society.Views expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Q & A with The UFO Movie Filmmaker Brian Dunning NCASVideo 2024-03-10 | NOTE: THE DATE FOR THIS EVENT WAS CHANGED TO MARCH 9.Join us on Saturday, March 9 at 1:30 PM ET for an online Q & A with Filmmaker Brian Dunning, discussing "The UFO Movie THEY Don't Want You to See."From the movie's website: "This film gives the real science behind the current UFO phenomenon and answers the questions so many are wondering. What is in our skies? What do we know, and how do we know it? And most importantly: Are we being visited?"https://theufo.movieScience writer Brian Dunning has been reporting on the history of belief in alien visitation for 17 years. His recent movies include the educational film "Principles of Curiosity" (2017) and the feature documentary "Science Friction" (2022) revealing the deceptive editing that sometimes happens to science experts on mainstream television programs. He is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
Uses and Potential Harms of Psychedelics in Medicine (Peter Grinspoon, M.D.) NCASVideo 2024-02-11 | What is the exciting new research about psychedelics as treatment for depression, addiction, pain, and obsessive-compulsive disorder? What are the barriers (cost, legality, access) and harms? Peter Grinspoon, M.D., is a primary care physician and a cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Am I a Competent Witness - Would you Believe me? (Steve Lundquist) NCASVideo 2024-01-28 | "Reliable Witnesses" are a favorite source for credulous reports of just about anything. Because these people have such impressive credentials, the thought of them being incorrect is just hard to wrap your mind around. But even someone who should know better is still subject to all the foibles of being human.Steve Lundquist is in the Aerospace Defense industry working as a leader in the Program Management Office. He is a retired Air Force pilot, and still flies today. He is actively involved in the skeptical community as an advocate for critical thinking and scientific skepticism. He has been active with the Granite State Skeptics, New York City Skeptics, and the Northeast Conference for Science and Skepticism. He practices everyday skepticism by infusing it into his work and other organizations such as Toastmasters.
The Times They Are(nt) a-Changin (Scott Snell) NCASVideo 2023-11-19 | Back and forth we go. Are you tired (literally tired) of switching your clocks one hour back every Fall and one hour forward every Spring? Why do we go to all the trouble? Do we have any good alternatives? What’s been tried before, or tried elsewhere?Polls show that the public is divided on what to do. But even the experts can’t agree among themselves. Meanwhile, the US Congress and some state legislatures have introduced legislation to alter standard time.You're encouraged to Google the topic to prepare for this event. We’re seeking a lively informed discussion, online and in person, focused on problem-solving.Scott Snell is a flight software engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, tending the onboard computer of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. He received his BS in physics from the University of Maryland. A charter member of NCAS, he has served as its president since 2018.
The Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project (Rob Palmer) NCASVideo 2023-05-15 | In 2021, "The Skeptic Zone" producer and CSI Fellow Richard Saunders completed his 12-year project dubbed the Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project (GAPPP) – an analysis of almost 4,000 published paranormal predictions made by over 200 people claiming paranormal powers in Australia. The scoring of the predictions was performed by an international team of volunteers of which Rob Palmer was a member. In this presentation, an expanded version of the talk given at CSICon 2022, Rob will share details and the results of this unique investigation into the precision (or lack thereof) of the published predictions of prominent, public, paranormal practitioners.Rob Palmer is a retired aerospace engineer. He has been a spacecraft designer, spacecraft tester, computer programmer, and software systems engineer. Rob became a skeptical activist in 2016 upon joining the Guerrilla Skeptics on Wikipedia team, and in 2018 became a columnist for "Skeptical Inquirer." To date he has had over 70 articles published by "Skeptical Inquirer" as well as in other publications, and the Wikipedia articles he’s written have garnered over 13 million pageviews.Rob writes about contemporary skeptical issues and has interviewed individuals as diverse as scientists Neil deGrasse Tyson, Richard Dawkins, and Robert Bartholomew, Penn Jillette, Ann Druyan (producer and writer for the modern Cosmos series), Seth Andrews (host of "The Thinking Atheist" podcast), and John de Lancie (Star Trek’s Q).Rob is registered with the Center for Inquiry’s Speakers Bureau and has given presentations for various skeptic and humanist groups and conventions, including: We Can Reason, Dragon Con, and three times at CSICon (the annual science and skepticism conference in Las Vegas). His topics have included: Critical Thinking, the Wikipedia editing project he volunteers for (GSoW), the harm in believing in psychics and mediums, and the Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project. He has been interviewed about these subjects on various podcasts and YouTube shows, including "The Skeptic Zone," "Big Picture Science", "Be Rationable," "The Phil Ferguson Show", "Banachek’s Brain,"" 502 Conversations," Recovering from Religion, Point of Inquiry, and "The Thinking Atheist."All of Rob’s skeptical work can be found at: https://linktr.ee/thewellknownskeptic.Views expressed in this talk are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
A Discussion of How to Talk to a Science Denier (Lee McIntyre, PhD) NCASVideo 2023-03-12 | For our March event, NCAS invites you to read the book "How to Talk to a Science Denier" BEFORE March 11, 2023. Then join us on Saturday, March 11 at 1:30 PM ET for an online Q & A with author Lee McIntyre.Think of it as the ultimate book club meeting...your friends and acquaintances show up to discuss a book, and the author shows up too!From the book's website:"Can we change the minds of science deniers? Encounters with flat earthers, anti-vaxxers, coronavirus truthers, and others.'Climate change is a hoax—and so is coronavirus.' 'Vaccines are bad for you.' These days, many of our fellow citizens reject scientific expertise and prefer ideology to facts. They are not merely uninformed—they are misinformed. They cite cherry-picked evidence, rely on fake experts, and believe conspiracy theories. How can we convince such people otherwise? How can we get them to change their minds and accept the facts when they don't believe in facts? In this book, Lee McIntyre shows that anyone can fight back against science deniers, and argues that it's important to do so. Science denial can kill.Drawing on his own experience—including a visit to a Flat Earth convention—as well as academic research, McIntyre outlines the common themes of science denialism, present in misinformation campaigns ranging from tobacco companies' denial in the 1950s that smoking causes lung cancer to today's anti-vaxxers. He describes attempts to use his persuasive powers as a philosopher to convert Flat Earthers; surprising discussions with coal miners; and conversations with a scientist friend about genetically modified organisms in food. McIntyre offers tools and techniques for communicating the truth and values of science, emphasizing that the most important way to reach science deniers is to talk to them calmly and respectfully—to put ourselves out there, and meet them face to face."https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262545051/how-to-talk-to-a-science-denier/
Inside the Science of Weather and Climate Forecasting (Tom Di Liberto) NCASVideo 2023-02-28 | Ever been stuck in a thunderstorm annoyed because your weather app says it was supposed to be sunny? Or saddled with three new unused shovels after reading a prediction for a snowier than normal winter? We've all been there, cursing the meteorologist. But what if I told you that 5-day weather forecasts can accurately predict the weather about 90% of the time. And that you're probably thinking about seasonal forecasts entirely the wrong way. What's going on? Come learn how meteorologists actually make their weather and climate forecasts, and what it really means when we say there's a 30% chance of rain.Tom Di Liberto is a climate scientist and award-winning science communicator working as a federal contractor with Groundswell at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office as the senior climate scientist for NOAA’s Climate.gov and social media editor for the NOAA Climate accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He has also served as emcee of the Department of State’s U.S. Center at the United Nations climate change conferences COP21, COP22, COP26 and COP27 where he helped lead the U.S. government’s public outreach space during the negotiations.Questions for Tom may be typed into the chat window during the presentation.Views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Science of the Paranormal (Bryan Bonner & Bob Lewis) NCASVideo 2022-12-04 | Join Bryan Bonner & Bob Lewis from Rocky Mountain Paranormal for a look into researching claims of the paranormal. Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society is a group that has served the general public nationwide. On a daily basis, their professional team is contacted by real people who are frightened by weird and sometimes terrifying occurrences that happen in their businesses and homes. It is their mission to help these people, and to educate the public. This is achieved through humor, creativity and compassion. For over two decades Rocky Mountain Paranormal has examined a wide range of reported paranormal phenomena, including ghosts, poltergeists, psychics, UFOs, conspiracy theories, urban legends, cryptids, and much more. Unlike others in the field, they have made sure not to run around cemeteries, screaming and scaring the group with over‐active imaginations. From the field to the lab, they test bizarre beliefs and practices, conduct experiments and on‐site investigations, and recreate unusual events. They have confronted hauntings, Ouija board activity, levitation, psychic readings, alien abductions, and telephones that try to talk to the dead. With extensive experience and training, using a collection of equipment and the most important tool--critical thinking--they utilize stage magic, mentalism, history, and science to seek the evidence to solve the mysteries and close the cases. Their work has earned the respect of believers and skeptics alike, and earned the fear of fraudsters and charlatans.views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
America the Fearful (Benjamin Radford) NCASVideo 2022-11-13 | National panics about crime, immigrants, police, and societal degradation have been pervasive in the United States of the 21st century. Many of these fears begin as mere phantom fears, but are systematically amplified by social media, news media, bad actors and even well-intentioned activists. There are numerous challenges facing the U.S., but Americans must sort through which fears are legitimate threats and which are amplified exaggerations. In his latest book, America the Fearful, Benjamin Radford examines the role of fear in national panics and addresses why many Americans believe the country is in horrible shape and will continue to deteriorate (despite contradictory evidence). Political polarization, racism, sexism, economic inequality, and other social issues are examined. Combining media literacy, folklore, investigative journalism, psychology, neuroscience, and critical thinking approaches, this book reveals the powerful role that fear plays in clouding perceptions about the U.S. It not only records the repercussions of this toxic phenomenon, but also offers evidence-based solutions.Benjamin Radford is longtime deputy editor of "Skeptical Inquirer" science magazine, and a Research Fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, a non-profit educational organization. Over the past twenty years he has investigated dozens of mysterious and unexplained phenomena. He is author of a dozen books and thousands of articles on media and science literacy and co-host of the "Squaring the Strange" podcast.Mr. Radford will be joining us remotely via Zoom.
Not Exactly Lying: Fake News and Fake Journalism in American History (Prof. Andie Tucher) NCASVideo 2022-10-13 | Fake news has marked American journalism since "Publick Occurrences" hit the streets of Boston in 1690, but an even greater danger is posed by the more recent phenomenon of fake journalism: the exploitation of the outward forms of professionalized journalism in order to lend credibility to falsehood, propaganda, disinformation, and advocacy. As the media have grown ever more massive and ever more deeply entwined in the political system, so has fake journalism, to the point where it has become an essential driver of the political polarization of public life. What happens to democracy when fake journalism looks more and more like truth, and fake truth like journalism?Professor Andie Tucher, the H. Gordon Garbedian Professor and the director of the Communications PhD Program at the Columbia Journalism School, writes widely on the evolution of conventions of truth-telling in journalism, photography, personal narrative, and other nonfiction forms. Her most recent book is "Not Exactly Lying: Fake News and Fake Journalism in American History" (2022). She previously worked in documentary production at ABC News and Public Affairs Television, and holds a Ph.D. in American Civilization from New York University. Views expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Everyday Extraordinary: Inspiring Critical Thinking Using Paranormal Claims (Barry Markovsky) NCASVideo 2022-09-11 | The presentation will include readings from a book in progress, followed by an open discussion.With this book I hope to reach a wider audience that normally wouldn’t pick up a skeptical approach. Each chapter opens with a first-person “Front Stage” account of a true extraordinary experience. Then it goes “Back Stage” to show how perfectly normal events can deceive us into inferring something supernatural. Chapter topics are familiar to most NCAS members—ghosts, astrology, dowsing, ESP, UFOs, etc. What I hope differentiates this book from other skeptical work is its approach: Telling the stories with heart and humor, and explaining what really happened instead of leaping to paranormal conclusions.For the discussion, in addition to any feedback you’d like to offer, I’d like to brainstorm with you about strategies for maximizing the impact of this kind of endeavor. Given it’s aimed at non-scientists, what’s the optimal vocabulary level and pedagogical style? How “sciency” should it get without the risk of losing too many readers? Is there even a market for it? These are questions I struggle with every day as I write, so your input will be much appreciated.Barry Markovsky's research areas include group processes, social psychology, social networks, methods of theory construction, experimental research, and computer simulations. His most recent work has addressed social status, identity, fairness perceptions, cooperation, and influence in small group contexts, and has developed online tools for building, evaluating, and disseminating sociological theories. He has taught courses in group processes, pseudoscience and paranormal beliefs, and theory construction. Prior to his position at the University of South Carolina, he was Sociology Program Director at the National Science Foundation and Assistant, Associate and Full Professor at the University of Iowa.Views expressed in this video are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
The Uses of Delusion: Presented by Stuart Vyse NCASVideo 2022-06-05 | Although reason and rationality are our friends in almost all contexts, in some cases people are better off putting reason aside. In a number of very important situations, we benefit by not seeing the world as it is, and by not behaving like logic-driven machines. Sometimes we know we aren’t making sense, and yet we are compelled to act against reason; in other cases, our delusions are so much a part of normal human experience that we are unaware of them. As intelligent as we are, much of what has helped humans succeed as a species is not our prodigious brain power but something much more basic.In behavioral scientist Stuart Vyse’s new book, "THE USES OF DELUSION: Why It’s Not Always Rational to be Rational" he looks at the aspects of human nature that are not altogether rational but, nonetheless, help us achieve our social and personal goals. Stuart Vyse, PhD, is a behavioral scientist, teacher, and writer. He taught at Providence College, the University of Rhode Island, and Connecticut College. Vyse’s book "Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition" won the 1999 William James Book Award of the American Psychological Association. He is a contributing editor of "Skeptical Inquirer" magazine, where he writes the “Behavior & Belief” column, and a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.Views expressed in this talk are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Grief Vampires, Wikipedia and More - Presented by Susan Gerbic NCASVideo 2022-05-01 | PLEASE NOTE: WE WILL BE USING THE LIBRARY'S WI-FI FOR THE STREAM, AND THERE MAY BE BANDWIDTH ISSUES.Susan Gerbic is the recipient of the 2022 Philip J. Klass Award for outstanding contributions in critical thinking and scientific understanding.In this talk, she will discuss "About Time," a nonprofit she founded in 2018, which recruits, mentors, and trains people to promote science and scientific skepticism through crowdsourced and educational activities worldwide. It features "Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia" (GSoW), a group of editors who create and improve Wikipedia articles to reflect scientific skepticism. This year, the total written pages surpassed 2,000 in 15 languages, with over 100 million views.She'll also present the latest news about her sting operations against psychic mediums, whom she calls "grief vampires" for cynically claiming to communicate with dead loved ones.In addition to receiving the Klass Award, Susan Gerbic is the recipient of the James Randi Educational Foundation's "James Randi Award for Skepticism in the Public Interest" in 2013, and the "JREF Award" in 2017.A fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, she is also co-founder of Monterey County Skeptics, a frequent contributor to Skeptical Inquirer, and a fellow for GWUP, the German-speaking skeptics' society.Views expressed in this talk are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
UFOs: Then, Now, and Next (Robert Sheaffer) NCASVideo 2022-04-03 | Robert Sheaffer, one of the leading skeptical investigators of UFOs, will discuss the history of the phenomenon (including an update about a famous case, now solved), recent news, and possible future directions. He'll recall his mentor, colleague, and friend, Philip J. Klass (1919-2005), generally considered the top skeptical UFO investigator of his time. Klass was a founding member of CSICOP (now called CSI, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry), was one of the original conveners of NCAS in 1987, and was an important long-time mentor to the organization. Also, what was it like to be a skeptic in the Washington, DC area in the 1970s? Sheaffer can speak from personal experience.Robert Sheaffer is a writer with a lifelong interest in astronomy and the question of life on other worlds. The author of UFO Sightings (1998), his latest book is Bad UFOs (2016), which is also the name of his blog that casts a skeptical eye on claims about UFOs. He was a founding member (with Philip J. Klass and James Oberg) of the UFO Subcommittee of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and was a longtime fellow of that organization. Mr. Sheaffer is also a founding director and past Chairman of the Bay Area Skeptics, a local skeptics' group in the San Francisco Bay area. He has appeared on many radio and TV programs, and his writings and reviews have appeared in such diverse publications as OMNI, Scientific American, Spaceflight, Astronomy, The Humanist, Free Inquiry, Reason, and others. His "Psychic Vibrations" column in Skeptical Inquirer kept readers informed of weird developments in the "science" of UFOs, psychic research, cryptozoology, etc from 1977 to 2017. Mr. Sheaffer lives near San Diego, California, having most recently worked as a data communications engineer in Silicon Valley.Views expressed in this presentation are those of the presenter and not necessarily those of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Save the Children: QAnon, the Blood Libel, and Witch-hunts (Eve Siebert) NCASVideo 2022-03-13 | Many QAnon proponents believe in a vast conspiracy by Democrats, celebrities, the Deep State, pizza parlors, and butterfly sanctuaries to kidnap, molest, traffic, mutilate, and murder children and to drain them of their sweet, sweet blood. Such accusations are not new, however. They have, for instance, affinities with the Satanic Panic accusations that roiled many countries in the 1980s and 90s.But the story is much older than the late twentieth century. It ultimately derives from two parallel and mutually reinforcing strands of defamatory claims aimed at religious minorities. One is the Blood Libel, the belief that Jews annually choose a Christian child to be murdered for any number of contradictory reasons. The first Blood Libel accusation was made in the middle of the twelfth century, and it has never really gone away.The other strand of accusations is older. It was initially used against Christians during the Roman Empire, but it was later recycled by the Church and deployed against the wrong kind of Christians, particularly heretical sects. Later the same accusations became central to the great witch-hunts of the late medieval and early modern periods. As with the Blood Libel, these accusations have remained with us in various forms, constantly resuscitated like a B-movie Dracula whenever some group needs to be dehumanized as an existential threat to Christianity, nationalism, or Christian nationalism.Eve Siebert has a Ph.D. in medieval English literature from Saint Louis University. She has contributed to the Skeptical Humanities blog, "Skeptic" magazine’s Insight blog, the Skepticality podcast, and the Virtual Skeptics webcast. She is an adjunct professor at Stockton University.View expressed in this live presentation are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Protecting the Public from Misinformation: Inoculating with a Weakened Form of Misinformation NCASVideo 2022-02-10 | Presented by John Cook, postdoctoral research fellow with the Climate Change Communication Research Hub at Monash University.The public are overwhelmed with misinformation and conspiracy theories, causing confusion about important issues such as climate change, vaccination, and COVID-19. How do we respond to the firehose of falsehoods? One way to effectively neutralize the influence of misinformation and pseudoscience is logic-based inoculation. This applies the idea of vaccination to knowledge—we can build immunity to misinformation by exposing people to a weakened form of misinformation. In other words, explain the misleading techniques used in misinformation. Dr. John Cook will outline his psychological and critical thinking research into inoculation and how he has used gamification and cartoons to overcome some of the psychological hurdles facing scientists and educators.John Cook is a postdoctoral research fellow with the Climate Change Communication Research Hub at Monash University. His research focus is on using critical thinking to build resilience against misinformation. In 2007, he founded Skeptical Science, a website that won the 2011 Australia Museum Eureka Prize for the Advancement of Climate Change Knowledge. In 2020, he published the book Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change applying critical thinking, inoculation research, and cartoons to engage and educate readers about climate misinformation. He recently released the Cranky Uncle game, combining critical thinking, cartoons, and gamification to build players’ resilience against misinformation. He currently works with organizations like Facebook and NASA to develop evidence-based responses to climate misinformation.Views expressed in this presentation are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Big-If True: Adventures in Oddity (Ben Radford) NCASVideo 2022-01-09 | The world is full of strange stories and marvelous mysteries, from crop circles to monsters, aliens to psychics.The claims are big—but are they true? Join "Skeptical Inquirer" investigator, folklorist, and Research Fellow Benjamin Radford as he discusses highlights from two decades of first-hand investigations using forensics, science, psychology, folklore, and more. His recent book "Big—If True" examines 70 mysteries including curses, Bigfoot, reincarnation, chupacabras, Icelandic elves, conspiracy theories, UFOs, miracles, the terrifying Texas Goat-Man, crop circles, subliminal advertising, sea serpents, wandering trees, medical mysteries, and hypnotist thieves—plus a 1990 Elvis sighting. Benjamin Radford, M.Ed., is an award-winning author, co-author, or contributor to more than twenty books on mysteries, science literacy, and critical thinking, including "Investigating Ghosts," "Scientific Paranormal Investigation," "Tracking the Chupacabra," and "Mysterious New Mexico." He is a former Discovery News columnist and has appeared widely in news media including CNN, BBC, "The New York Times," "Good Morning America," and most cable channels. He’s also a member of the American Folklore Society and co-host of the Squaring the Strange podcast.
Mass Extinction Events and What Causes Them (Thomas Holtz, Ph.D.) NCASVideo 2021-12-12 | Mass extinctions are catastrophic overhauls of the diversity of life on land and see. There are five well-attested such events in the history of life, and evidence we could be on the cusp of a sixth. We'll look at the record of past events, and what we know about how they happened and what might have caused them. These environmental crises might serve as warnings for our own future, and what a "sixth extinction" might mean from human society.Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. is Principal Lecturer in Vertebrate Paleontology at the Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College Park. His research focuses on the origin, evolution, adaptations, and behavior of carnivorous dinosaurs, and especially of tyrannosauroids (Tyrannosaurus rex and its kin). He received his Bachelors in Earth & Planetary Geology at Johns Hopkins in 1987 and his Ph.D. from the Department of Geology & Geophysics at Yale in 1992. He is also a Research Associate of the Department of Paleobiology of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History and serves on the Scientific Council of Maryland Academy of Science (which operates the Maryland Science Center (Baltimore, MD)). In addition to his dinosaur research, Holtz has been active in scientific outreach. He has been a consultant on museum exhibits around the world, and on numerous documentaries. He is the author of the award-winning popular audience books. He is the current editor of the “Life of the Past” series at Indiana University Press.Views expressed in this talk are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
It Came From The Science Fair (Adam Ruben) NCASVideo 2021-10-10 | Presented by Adam Ruben, PhDWriter, Comedian, and Molecular BiologistWhat are the most common mistakes kids make when preparing projects for science fairs? What can we learn from these events about the way science is taught and understood? And can we all please agree, once and for all, that science has learned all it needs to learn from measuring classmates' heart rates before and after playing video games? In this talk, scientist/comedian Adam Ruben will share some of the most bizarre, most inadvisable, least scientifically rigorous science projects he's judged and talk about their implications for the future of science education.Adam Ruben is a writer, comedian, and molecular biologist. Adam has performed stand-up comedy and told stories on stage for more than 20 years. He has appeared on the Food Network, the Travel Channel, the Weather Channel, Discovery International, Netflix, and NPR, and he currently hosts the shows "Outrageous Acts of Science' and "What On Earth?" on the Science Channel and is a writer for the Emmy-nominated PBS Kids show "Elinor Wonders Why." Adam is the author of two books, "Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School" (Random House, 2010) and "Pinball Wizards: Jackpots, Drains, and the Cult of the Silver Ball" (Chicago Review Press, 2017), and writes the monthly science humor column "Experimental Error" in the otherwise respectable journal Science.Views expressed in this talk are those of the speaker and do no necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Twenty Years of Weird Science at Goldsmiths: Some Reflections Presented by Chris French NCASVideo 2021-04-11 | Following his retirement in October of last year, Professor Chris French will reflect on the work of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit (APRU), founded in the year 2000. His talk will describe his own journey from being a believer in the paranormal to becoming a skeptic, as well as his reasons for founding the APRU. He will give some examples of its work in the areas of both anomalistic psychology and parapsychology, as well as considering the future prospects of both disciplines.Chris French is an Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London where, in 2000, he founded the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and a Patron of UK Humanists. He has published over 150 articles and chapters covering a wide range of topics. His main current area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. He frequently appears on radio and television casting a skeptical eye over paranormal claims. His most recent book is Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience.
Natural: A Conversation with Alan Levinovitz, Ph.D. NCASVideo 2021-03-14 | In live-streamed conversation with NCAS president Scott Snell, author Alan Levinovitz will discuss his book, "Natural: How Faith in Nature's Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science." Appeals to the wisdom of nature are among the most powerful arguments in the history of human thought. Yet Nature (with a capital N) and natural goodness are not objective or scientific. Natural demonstrates that these ideas are actually religious and highlights the many dangers of substituting simple myths for complicated realities. "Natural" illuminates the far-reaching harms of believing that natural means “good.”Q&A via live chat will follow the talk. Alan Levinovitz is associate professor of religious studies at James Madison University, where he teaches and researches a wide range of topics: classical Chinese philosophy, religion and science, and even toy design. After studying religion and philosophy at Stanford, he taught English in China for two years before returning to the University of Chicago and earning a PhD in Religion and Literature. Now he lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his wife, daughter, cat, hermit crabs, and an extensive collection of strange plants and unusual minerals.In addition to his academic work on everything from the meaning of capital letters to the meaning of nonsense, his writing on religion, philosophy, and science has been featured in "Aeon," "The Atlantic," "The Washington Post," "Slate," "Wired," "The Chronicle of Higher Education," "Vox," NPR and elsewhere. He is also the author of "The Gluten Lie and Other Myths About What You Eat."
Remembering Randi - presented by Banachek NCASVideo 2021-02-14 | This talk will be about Banachek's lifetime relationship in the skeptical movement with James Randi, how they met, Project Alpha,the Peter Popoff exposé, the Million Dollar Challenge and everything in between. The relationship was complex and eclectic. Stories that have never been told before will be revealed - the life of the greatest skeptic ever through the eyes of one of the Alpha kids who is now the President of the James Randi Educational Foundation.Q&A via live chat will follow the talk.Banachek was born in England, November the thirtieth, 1960. In 1976, Banachek moved to the United States. It was at the end of this same year he picked up a worn copy of James Randi’s book, The Truth About Uri Geller. This was the book that changed Banachek’s life. This book gave Banachek the tools to construct his own versions of metal bending and his life was never the same.In what became known as Project Alpha, Banachek went on to fool scientists at the prestigious Washington University in St Louis, MO. He convinced them that he could bend metal with his mind, only to explain later that despite the half a million-dollar grant from McDonnell Douglas, he was using trickery the entire time, giving Banachek the unique title as “The man who fooled the scientists.” Since that time, Banachek has gone on to expose not only other psychic claims but also hoaxes such as his well documented exposé of the evangelist Peter Popoff.Banachek has performed on over 50 major magic TV shows, from CNN Live to NBC's Today show, and had hundreds of smaller appearances on TV shows the world over. He has appeared in almost every major magazine and newspaper from the New York Times to the National Enquirer. From the college market he has received the coveted Entertainer of the Year award from the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities two years in a row and the Novelty Act Of The Year, beating out bands, comedians and other novelty artists. He has been awarded the Psychic Entertainers Association's Creativity in Mentalism award and is sought out as a consultant by most major magicians and mentalists in the USA and abroad, including David Copperfield, Penn & Teller, Criss Angel and David Blaine. Banachek has put more magic on television than any other magic consultant in the USA.
The Doctor Who Fooled the World (Brian Deer) NCASVideo 2021-01-10 | In this presentation, Brian Deer will discuss his book "The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception, and the War on Vaccines" which exposes the real people and the specific facts of what many are calling the most serious scientific fraud of recent times. Deer will describe the fraud he exposed: who was behind it, how it was done, and how it shapes the controversy over vaccine safety today.Q&A via live chat will follow the talk.Brian Deer is a British investigative reporter, best known for inquiries into the drug industry, medicine and social issues for The Sunday Times. The Doctor Who Fooled the World is his first book, followed this month by the science thriller Blind Trial. Deer has won multiple awards and nominations for his investigations for The Sunday Times and the UK's Channel 4 network, including two British Press Awards as the specialist reporter of the year, and an honorary D.Litt degree.Views expressed in this video do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Combating Fortunetelling Fraud (aka Psychic Fraud) NCASVideo 2020-12-13 | Presented by Bob NygaardFortunetelling fraud (aka Psychic Fraud) is a prevalent problem in the world. It is a certain species of fraud whereby self-proclaimed psychics emotionally abuse and financially exploit vulnerable people who are experiencing problems in their lives, bilking them out of billions of dollars each year under the guise of providing assistance.Private investigator Bob Nygaard will explain how he builds a criminal case against self-proclaimed psychics who commit fortunetelling fraud, in order to cause these con artists to be arrested, charged, and successfully prosecuted. Additionally, he will enumerate the impediments that often exist when trying to bring self-proclaimed psychics to justice and the strategies that he employs in his efforts to protect society and make victims whole.Bob Nygaard is a retired NYC cop ( NYC Transit Police District-3 ) ( Nassau County NY Police ), turned-private investigator, turned actor, who specializes in the identification, apprehension, and prosecution of non-traditional organized crime suspects. Nygaard specializes in debunking and causing con-artists, most notably self-proclaimed psychics, to be arrested and he has recovered millions of dollars for fraud victims around the world. Nygaard has appeared on ABC News' 20/20, Crime Watch Daily, The Dr. Oz Show, The Security Brief with Paul Viollis podcast, Nancy Grace, German TV show Achtung Abzocke, and numerous other news and radio broadcasts, as an expert in confidence crimes. A short documentary entitled NYGAARD has been filmed about his work. The documentary is a self-reflective account of Nygaard's work helping the victims of psychic fraud. Nygaard's first role as an actor in a SAG-AFTRA production came in the CBS true-crime TV series Pink Collar Crimes, in which he portrays himself.Q&A will follow the presentation using YouTube's live chat.Views expressed in the presentation are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
In a World…A Hollywood View of Planets (Caitlin Ahrens, Ph.D.) NCASVideo 2020-11-15 | In this presentation, Dr. Caitlin Ahrens will explore the changing views of planetary sciences through cinematic history, venturing across fascinating planetary landscapes, first on the silver screen, and then again in real planetary photographs. She will also discuss “dangerous” planets and their prospects for astrobiology.Dr. Ahrens is a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, studying lunar ices and impact craters. She also produces the “Scratching the Surface” weekly segment (and forthcoming podcast) about planetary science news for KUAF-FM, the NPR station in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Named one of the 2018 Ten Outstanding Young Americans by JCI USA, Dr. Ahrens volunteers as a “NASA Solar System Ambassador,” communicating the science and excitement of NASA's space exploration missions and discoveries with the people in their communities.Dr. Ahrens will answer questions posted in the live chat at the conclusion of her talk.All views expressed in this talk are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Synchronicity: The Epic Quest to Understand the Quantum Nature of Cause and Effect NCASVideo 2020-10-11 | Presented by Paul HalpernProfessor of physics at the University of the Sciences in PhiladelphiaIn this talk, Paul Halpern will discuss his new book, "Synchronicity: The Epic Quest to Understand the Quantum Nature of Cause and Effect." "Synchronicity" is a popular science book about the search for connections in nature, from the debates of the ancient Greeks to modern quantum teleportation experiments, centering on the dialogue between Nobel physicist Wolfgang Pauli and psychoanalyst Carl Jung in the mid-20th century. Together they explored a concept called "synchronicity," a weird phenomenon they thought could link events without causes.Paul Halpern is a professor of physics at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and the author of sixteen popular science books, including "The Quantum Labyrinth" and "Einstein’s Dice and Schrödinger’s Cat." He is the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship and a Fulbright scholarship, and is a fellow of the American Physical Society. He lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Questions asked in the live chat will be relayed to the speaker at the end of the talk for him to answer.Views expressed in this talk are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Investigating the Ghosts of New Mexico - Ben Radford NCASVideo 2020-09-13 | Join folklorist and researcher Benjamin Radford as he describes his first-hand investigations into some of New Mexico’s most famous and bizarre ghosts, from Albuquerque’s famous KiMo Theater to a Santa Fe courthouse spirit to the legend of La Llorona. How much of these stories is fact, and how much is fiction? Join us online and find out! After the talk, Benjamin will answer questions from the audience posted to our YouTube chat. Benjamin Radford is longtime deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine, and a Research Fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, a non-profit educational organization. Over the past twenty years he has investigated dozens of mysterious and unexplained phenomena including crop circles, ghosts, lake monsters, exorcisms, and psychics. He is author of a dozen books and thousands of articles on media and science literacy and co-host of the Squaring the Strange podcast.
Evaluating News Media Coverage of Health Risks NCASVideo 2020-04-18 | Presented by Anastasia Bodnar, Ph.D.We've all heard reports that red wine is protective against cancer while other studies find it to be carcinogenic. Similarly, some say herbicides such as glyphosate are safe to use (but not on your rose bush!) while others say it’s carcinogenic . Which is true? There are many opportunities for scientific information to become biased on the pathway from scientists to the public. In this talk, Dr. Bodnar will describe how to effectively talk about risk and how to identify reliable sources.Originally from Florida, Anastasia has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Maryland and a Doctorate in Genetics, with a minor in Sustainable Agriculture, from Iowa State University. Anastasia is the Policy Director of Biology Fortified, Inc, a non-profit organization that fosters conversation about issues in food and agriculture. She is also a founding member of SciMoms, and starred in the Science Moms documentary. She started her career in the US Army, working in public health and integrated pest management. As a Presidential Management Fellow, she worked at the National Institutes of Health, where she conducted special projects in science policy, science communication, and legislative affairs. She then worked in risk assessment and risk management at the US Department of Agriculture and served as a Senior Science Advisor at the Foreign Agricultural Service. Anastasia now works in risk assessment in the USDA Office of Pest Management Policy. While away from work, Anastasia enjoys spending time with her family, learning and writing about agriculture, reading science fiction, and exploring the DC area.
CFI’s Challenge to Pseudoscience and Alternative Medicine Through Consumer Protection Laws NCASVideo 2020-03-14 | How is so much pseudoscientific junk on store shelves? Why isn’t homeopathy illegal? Nick Little, Legal Director and General Counsel of Center for Inquiry (CFI), explains the path that CFI has taken to filing consumer protection lawsuits against retail giants CVS and Walmart for their marketing of homeopathic products. The talk will address the limits of the law in dealing with pseudoscience, and how litigation and lobbying together can help skeptics challenge both government policies and private company promotion of pseudoscience — from climate change denial to snake oil medical products.Nick Little is Vice President, General Counsel, and Legal Director of the Center for Inquiry. As CFI's attorney, he supervises the Center's litigation, both in the area of separation of church and state and the protection of the rights of non-believers, where he has brought multiple suits to require states to permit secular wedding celebrants, and in the area of skepticism, where he has filed CFI's groundbreaking consumer protection suit against CVS stores for their deceptive marketing of homeopathy. Educated at Oxford University, the University of Warwick, and Vanderbilt University Law School, Nick seeks to keep CFI involved in cutting edge litigation to further its mission of a secular society based on reason, science, and humanist values.Views expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do no necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Will DNA Testing Help My Family History Research? NCASVideo 2020-01-08 | Presented by John M. Butler, Ph.D.National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST Fellow & Special Assistant to the Director for Forensic ScienceGenetic ancestry testing is a growing market with over 26 million people examining their DNA in recent years. DNA testing will not solve all your family history questions but can provide helpful associations in some cases. Tests provided by FamilyTree DNA, Ancestry, and 23andMe will be discussed. Using a case study, we will examine the capabilities and limitations of advancing your family history research with DNA testing. We will also discuss the recent use of investigative genealogical testing by law enforcement to capture the Golden State Killer.John M. Butler has a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Virginia. He did his graduate work in the FBI Laboratory’s Forensic Science Research Unit at Quantico, Virginia, where he pioneered the techniques now used worldwide for forensic DNA testing. Dr. Butler has written over 175 scientific research articles and five textbooks on Forensic DNA Typing and has given hundreds of presentations on the subject across the U.S. and in 26 other countries. He and his wife are parents of six children, all of whom have been proven to be theirs through the power of DNA testing.View expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Burned with His Books: The Life and Times of Michael Servetus NCASVideo 2019-11-04 | Presented by Neil Inglis.Skeptics are drawn to stories of those who faced the threat of persecution to stand up against the forces of religious dogma. Michael Servetus lost that battle--and although the passage of time has brought vindication, he remains an unsung and elusive figure. A physician and researcher by day, theologian and polemicist by night, the Spanish-born Servetus wrote on a variety of medical and other topics and announced an anatomical discovery shortly before his death. Intrigued by printing technology, Servetus worked closely (albeit discreetly) with publishers to produce some of the finest books of his age. These texts represent a moving and beautiful milestone on our faltering journey into the modern era. Ironically, it was atop a pyre of his own books that Servetus was burned to death.Recent developments in Spanish-language scholarship have addressed some of the gaps in the historical record, such as Servetus' suicidal decision to visit Geneva and confront his mortal foe, Jean Calvin.Translator, author and long-term NCAS member Neil Langdon Inglis is editor of the "Tyndale Society Journal" (TSJ), a magazine honoring the life and work of the first published translator of the Bible in English, William Tyndale (1494-1536). Neil is also U.S. General Editor (and Parapsychology Editor) for interlitq.org, an on-line journal of opinion. Neil Inglis last gave a presentation on Michael Servetus (1511-1553) at the Bethesda Public Library in January 2005. Neil's most recent presentation for NCAS was on "Brian Inglis: Mortal Enemy of CSICOP" in the Fall of 2017. Neil is pictured with the Servet memorial in the Spanish Room at the IMSS Museum in Chicago in 2014.Views expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Investigating Mysteries: Out-of-the-Box Thinking that Solved Strange Cases NCASVideo 2019-07-19 | PLease note that this video contains strong language which may be unsuitable for children. Presented by Kenny Biddle at Balticon 53, on May 25, 2019. This presentation covers some of the basic methods Kenny Biddle has used to solve mysteries. Using investigations from his personal case file, Kenny will demonstrate how these techniques provided clues to unraveling mysteries from screaming ghosts wondering hotels to Elvis Presley appearing in the holiday classic Home Alone.Views expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Evaluating Fringe and Pseudoscience Ideas in Paleontology (Thomas Holtz) NCASVideo 2019-06-06 | Ideas on the fringes of paleontology — from the "aquatic ape" hypothesis of human origins and the ideas that dinosaurs were all aquatic, to Triassic hyper-intelligent "krakens," to the "discovery" of microscopic fully formed people in Paleozoic limestone — will be examined.Presented at Balticon 53, Baltimore, Maryland, May 27, 2019Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. is Principal Lecturer in Vertebrate Paleontology at the Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College Park. His research focuses on the origin, evolution, adaptations, and behavior of carnivorous dinosaurs, and especially of tyrannosauroids (Tyrannosaurus rex and its kin). He received his Bachelors at Johns Hopkins in 1987 and his Ph.D. from Yale in 1992. He is also a Research Associate of the Department of Paleobiology of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and serves on the Scientific Council of Maryland Academy of Science (which operates the Maryland Science Center (Baltimore, MD)). In addition to his dinosaur research, Holtz has been active in scientific outreach. He has been a consultant on museum exhibits documentaries. He is the author of the award-winning Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-To-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages (Random House).Views expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Arthur J. Cramp: Quackbuster (Bob Blaskiewicz) NCASVideo 2019-05-30 | Physician and immigrant Arthur J. Cramp joined the American Medical Association at a time when American medicine was professionalizing. Dr. Cramp’s work as a quackbuster helped define what was legitimate medicine by making plain what was not.Bob Blaskiewicz is Assistant Professor of Critical Thinking and First-Year Studies at Stockton University. He studies conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and other extraordinary claims. He's written for Skeptical Inquirer magazine and has an occasional column, The Conspiracy Guy, at the CSI blog.Presented at Balticon 53, Baltimore, Maryland, on May 26, 2019Views expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Diagnosing the Mona Lisa: Oversciencing the Arts (Eve Siebert) NCASVideo 2019-05-30 | Science has much to offer the arts. Scientific testing can help to authenticate a work of art, or it can uncover a forgery. Scientific techniques can help separate original work from overpainting and restoration or reveal changes the artist made during the creative process. However, scientists sometimes offer answers to the wrong questions when they wade into the arts.Eve Siebert has a Ph.D. in English literature from Saint Louis University. Her primary area of study is Old and Middle English literature, with secondary concentrations in Old Norse and Shakespeare. She teaches rhetoric and composition at Stockton University. She has written for Skeptical Inquirer, and the INSIGHT blog at skeptic.com and has contributed to the Skepticality podcast and Virtual Skeptics video webcast.Presented at Balticon 53, Baltimore, Maryland, on May 26, 2019Views expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do no necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Houdini and the Spiritualists (Ken Trombly) NCASVideo 2019-05-28 | Much of the life of Harry Houdini was intertwined with episodes and personalities involving spiritualism and its practitioners. In his early days, he sometimes blurred the line between conjuring and the spirit world. During his meteoric career, many of his conjuring feats were ascribed by some to be aided by unseen forces. But he was very much the face of skepticism in the USA regarding the spiritualism movement. His friendship with Arthur Conan Doyle came to an end over the latter’s belief in spiritualism. He testified before a congressional committee in support of a bill to prohibit fortune telling in Washington, DC. His work against fake mediums continued up until his death.In this talk, Ken shares his thoughts concerning Houdini’s relationship with spiritualism and its adherents, and will illustrate this fascinating story with original items from his collection of Houdini ephemera.Ken Trombly, a lifelong magic enthusiast, has given presentations about the life of Houdini for a variety of groups. In the 1980’s Ken began collecting original letters, photos and other ephemera dealing with Houdini’s amazing career. Pieces from Ken's collection have been displayed at the Jewish Museum in New York City, the Skirball Center in Los Angeles, and, most recently, as part of an exhibit on the life of Houdini at the Jewish Museum of Maryland, in Baltimore. Recently Ken was interviewed on a mini-series aired on the Science Channel entitled “Houdini’s Last Secrets.”A Boston native, Ken is a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, the Magic Circle of London and the Magic Collectors Association. When he is not hunting down original Houdini artifacts and magic posters, he is a full time trial lawyer - another role that requires a heightened sense of skepticism.Views expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do no necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Suggestible You - You Cant Believe Everything You Think (Erik Vance) NCASVideo 2019-04-14 | The human brain is a miracle of nature - one of the fastest computing machines on Earth, adept at finding patterns, recognizing faces, and making predictions of the future. It's also a dirty liar, a deceitful trickster and occasionally an unlicensed pharmacist. It all comes down to one of the most important concepts in psychology today - expectation.Join Erik Vance, author of the book "Suggestible You" as he explores the world of placebos, hypnosis, false memories, and neurology to reveal the groundbreaking science of our suggestible minds.Once you understand the role expectation plays in the brain, you can see why thousands of generations of humans have used superstition to heal their bodies. Faith healing, homeopathy, snake oil, shamans, late night commercials for overpriced miracle cures - all of them make sense when viewed through the lens of expectation and the brain.Erik Vance is an award-winning science journalist based in Baltimore. Before becoming a writer he was, at turns, a biologist, a rock climbing guide, an environmental consultant, and an environmental educator. He graduated in 2006 from the UC Santa Cruz science writing program and became a magazine freelancer soon after. His work focuses on the human element of science – the people who do it, those who benefit from it, and those who do not. He has written for "The New York Times"," Nature", "Scientific American," "Harper’s," "National Geographic", and a number of other local and national outlets. He lived in Mexico City for seven years and has worked extensively in Latin America and Asia, covering the environment and its effect on humans.Views expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Genomic Medicine: Today and Tomorrow NCASVideo 2019-03-19 | Genomic Medicine: Today and TomorrowPresented by Anastasia Wise, Ph.D.Genomic medicine, utilizing genomic information in clinical care, aims to improve clinical management, prevent complications, and promote health. With many names often used interchangeably, including genomic medicine, precision medicine, and personalized medicine, we’ll discuss what genomic medicine is and the clinical testing that is available today to improve diagnosis and therapy. We’ll explore common misconceptions as well as success stories regarding genomic medicine implementation, particularly disease diagnosis, and conclude with what may be possible in the future.Dr. Wise is a program director in the Division of Genomic Medicine at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). She received her Ph.D. in genetics and genomics from Duke University and joined NHGRI in 2010. At NHGRI she serves as project officer for programs advancing the application of genomics to medical science and clinical care with a focus on perinatal sequencing, undiagnosed and rare disease genomic medicine, and sex chromosome analysis and association methods. She is also a project scientist for the Newborn Sequencing in Genomic Medicine and Public Health (NSIGHT) program, which aims to explore the potential implications, challenges and opportunities associated with the possible use of genomic sequence information in the newborn period. Her other research interests include gene-environment interactions in complex disease, pharmaco/toxicogenomics, and ethical, legal, and social issues related to the use of genetic information.Views expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Capital Area Skeptics
MIND CONTROL and Other Things DARPA Has Never Done - Jared Adams NCASVideo 2019-02-20 | Presented by Jared B. AdamsChief of Communications and Public Affairs,U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)Since its founding during the Eisenhower presidency, DARPA has been the rightful recipient of scorn and praise for investing in and developing military technologies as varied as Agent Orange and the ARPAnet, a precursor to today’s internet. And while much of the agency’s key contributions to science and national security have been well documented in books such as "The Pentagon’s Brain," "The Imagineers of War," and "The Department of Mad Scientists," myths about DARPA’s work still abound on social media and in the mainstream press. In this talk, you will hear from Jared Adams, DARPA’s chief of communications, about some of the popular and humorous myths regarding the agency’s research, including how it controls the world’s weather, is building AI-equipped super soldiers, and is actively managing Facebook to read people’s thoughts. Also, Adams will discuss the importance of transparency in government public affairs and how, when dealing with contentious areas of scientific research, the best tack is often to be open, honest, and direct.Jared Adams joined the DARPA Public Affairs Office in 2014, first serving as the agency’s press secretary for three years before becoming the chief of communications in July 2017. Prior to DARPA, Adams served in senior public affairs positions in the Washington, D.C. area with Harris, SAIC, and Raytheon. In addition to his in-house communications experience, Adams has provided public relations counsel to several high-profile organizations, including Dell, Microsoft, Verizon, U. S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and U.S. Northern Command.Views expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
UFOs, the Air Force, and the Colorado Study (Ret. USAF Col. David Shea) NCASVideo 2018-09-15 | The US Air Force investigated UFO reports for more than two decades (1947-1969). By the time the final investigations project (called “Blue Book”) ended, over 12,000 reports had been investigated, and 701 remained unidentified.During the final years of Project Blue Book, the University of Colorado was contracted by the USAF to conduct a scientific study of UFOs “in more detail and depth than [had] been possible to date.” USAF Captain David J. Shea was the Pentagon press spokesman for Project Blue Book from 1967 to its termination in December 1969. Now a retired Colonel, he provides a first-hand account of the USAF's work with the University of Colorado and physicist Edward U. Condon, the director of the study.Note: the "Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects," also known as the "Condon Report," can be read at http://files.ncas.org/condon/index.htmlThe views expressed in this video do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.About the speaker: David J. Shea received a bachelor’s degree in communication arts from Fordham University. He was designated a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program there and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the regular Air Force. He earned his master’s degree in mass communications from the University of Denver and wrote his thesis on “The UFO Phenomenon: A Study in Public Relations,” based in part on his interview of Dr. Condon.Shea concluded his military career as the director of Defense Information, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, the Pentagon, in October 1988.He joined Hughes Aircraft Company in its Washington DC office, which merged with Raytheon Company in December 1997 where he was the director of media relations.Shea is a co-author of "Media Isn’t A Four Letter Word," a guidebook providing tips and techniques for executives on how to deal with the press. Originally published in 1994, the book is now in its fifth edition.
Fraud! Harry Houdini and the Spiritualist Movement (Marvin Pinkert) NCASVideo 2018-07-30 | Presented at Balticon May 26, 2018.
What Skeptics Need to Know About Postmodernism (Bob Blaskiewicz) (Revised) NCASVideo 2018-07-30 | Presented at Balticon May 27, 2018. Revised from earlier upload that cut off the intro and ending.
Confirmation Bias and Other Ways to Be Wrong (Andrew E. Love) NCASVideo 2018-07-29 | Presented at Balticon May 26, 2018
When Leif Met Bigfoot: The Myth of the Norse Discovery of Sasquatch (Eve Siebert) NCASVideo 2018-07-24 | Presented at Balticon, May 25, 2018.
What Skeptics Need to Know About Postmodernism (Bob Blaskiewicz) NCASVideo 2018-07-24 | To watch this video without the intro and ending cut off, go to youtu.be/JxvDoJapuhk. Presented at Balticon, May 27, 2018.
