Author Archives: Mark

From the Edinburgh Fringe: part 1

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Forthcoming shows from Skeptics on the Fringe:
Wednesday August 11th:
Dr. Charles Paxton, The Kraken, The Banshee Labyrinth, 6:00PM, 18:00

Thursday August 12th:
Matt Parker, Clutching at Random Straws, The Banshee Labyrinth, 18:00

Friday August 13th:
Professor Richard Wiseman, The Luck Factor, The Banshee Labyrinth, 18:00

Saturday August 14th:
Chris French, Anomalistic Psychology, The Banshee Labyrinth, 18:00

The full listing is available from http://skepticsonthefringe.co.uk

The following reviews of some of the other Fringe shows are courtesy of Ash Pryce, one of the organisers of Skeptics on the Fringe.

Giggidy Giggidy Gigerenzer
There are many who would question whether basing a fringe comedy show on statistics and mathematics would work. Particularly one that focuses on death. Maths is generally a subject many recoiled from at school and still perhaps find boring or incomprehensible. Death is generally a subject most tend to find a little less than funny. This makes Your Days Are Numbered (Matt Parker and Timandra Harkness 11.25 Assembley@George Street) an even more remarkable show in that it makes the statistics of deaths fun.

Find out why canoeing is like taking ecstasy, how more dangerous than aliens a bee is and learn about the differences between absolute and relative risk while rolling in the aisles.

A must see for all geeks and non-geeks!

3D picture show
Mould and Arrowsmiths’ Fringe show is funny. It’s hard to review it without over exuberantly blurting out things that are probably integral to the show! Suffice to say – if you rotate this review it will look like it is spinning.

Mould and Arrowsmith invite you into a comic landscape peppered with geeky references, clever wordplay and cunningly constructed tomfoolery. You would be well advised to join them at the Pleasance Baby Grand at 4:30pm

Keen and Khan: Starstruck 21.45 Voodoo rooms (10th and 11th)
But two nights remain of this show where Helen Keen and Dr Sophia Khan tell us ten things we didn’t know about NASA. You at highly advised not to miss it! Helen Keen is excellent as co-host but it is Dr Khan who stole the show. I’m not sure what more I can say about this but you really must try and see it.

    Win tickets to Questival.

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    Questival is a weekend camping trip organised by The National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies and Leeds Atheist Society, inspired by Camp Quest UK, and is sponsored by the British Humanist Association.

    Unlike Camp Quest, which is aimed at children, Questival is for fully grown atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers and all those who embrace a naturalistic rather than supernatural world view. The event, whilst aimed mainly at students, is open to adults of all ages. The weekend features comedienne Iszi Lawrence and Skepchick Rebecca Watson. The theme will be… having fun!

    Questival runs from 5pm on Friday 13/08/2010 until 4pm on Sunday 15/08/2010. The event will be held at Dalesbridge Camp Site, Austwick, Near Settle, North Yorkshire, LA2 8AZ. The site has a good 2G signal for all mobile networks and has free WIFI available.

    In addition to walks around the Dales, discussions about critical thinking and logical fallacies, scientific method and pseudo-science, philosophy and ethics, Iszi Lawrence and Rebecca Watson will be attending to speak at the event.

    Tickets can be purchased from the British Humanist Association, however it would be advisable to purchase quickly as tickets are selling quickly and only a small number remain.

    How to win two tickets

    The Skeptic has two tickets (worth £60 total) donated by the organisers, to give away as part of a competition. To win the tickets, email competitions@skeptic.org.uk with your answer to the following:

    What activity, event or product would you like sceptical groups to hold or develop within the UK?

    The tickets will be given to the individual who submits the idea judged to be the best, by staff from The Skeptic and by any other nominated judge(s). Responses should be concise and feasible. The competition will close at midnight (GMT) on Saturday 07/08/2010. By submitting ideas, you agree they may be used or developed at a future point.

      CFI logo competition.

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      CFI UK needs a new logo (for boring admin reason – Charity Commission application). Winner gets life membership (free entry to Conway Hall events) plus the glory.

      The rules are:
      - Your design should be created in vector format, but emailed for judging as a 400×400 pixel JPG or PNG file no bigger than 300Kb in size.
      - It must include the letters CFI UK.
      - It should reflect the ethos of the Center for Inquiry.
      - It should look good in both colour and greyscale, and be suitable for use in the website masthead, letterheads, t-shirts, publicity posters and banners.
      - The design must be your own original work, and not contain elements which are subject to third party copyright.
       
      Something with a candle (Enlightenment, Prometheus, etc.) echoing the standard CFI logo would obviously be suitable, but anything considered as long as it looks cool.
       
      Submit entries to Stephen Law at think [at] royalinstitutephilosophy.org
      Deadline June 15th.

        Simon Singh on Evan Harris.

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        Simon Singh circulated the following message via his mailing list, regarding Dr Evan Harris, one of the newest members of our Editorial Advisory Board and MP for Oxford West and Abingdon.
         

        Hello Everyone,

        Apologies for the mass mailing, but you are receiving this email because you are either a scientist or a skeptic or someone connected with Oxford, or maybe all three. I am writing because you might be able to help British science by helping Evan Harris MP to retain his seat in parliament.

        Along with Richard Dawkins, AC Grayling, Colin Blakemore, Lisa Appignanesi and many others, I am supporting the campaign to keep Dr Evan Harris in Parliament as a voice for science, secularism and free expression.

        Evan has been the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West & Abingdon since May 1997 and he is the Lib Dem spokesman for science. But our support for him is not party political; and it goes beyond the interests of his constituency. Indeed, you can see further below a long list of the vital issues that Evan has championed.

        Ordinarily, Evan should be safe at the election, but boundary changes and an aggressive campaign to unseat him mean that we might be about to lose science's best friend in Parliament.

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