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Australian Skeptics
Australian Skeptics is a loose confederation of like-minded organisations across Australia that began in 1980. Australian Skeptics investigate paranormal and pseudoscientific claims using scientific methodologies. This page covers all Australian skeptical groups which are of this mindset. The name "Australian Skeptics" can be confused with one of the more prominent groups, "Australian Skeptics Inc", which is based in Sydney and is one of the central organising groups within Australian Skeptics. Origins In 1979, Mark Plummer (later president of Australian Skeptics) sent a letter to the American skeptical magazine '' The Zetetic'' in which he expressed interest in beginning a skeptical organisation in Australia. Sydney electronics entrepreneur Dick Smith responded to the letter, and offered to sponsor a visit to Australia by James Randi, the principal investigator for the American-based Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), now known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a Megadiverse countries, megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with Deserts of Australia, deserts in the centre, tropical Forests of Australia, rainforests in the north-east, and List of mountains in Australia, mountain ranges in the south-east. The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia approximately Early human migrations#Nearby Oceania, 65,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Period, last i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barry Williams (skeptic)
Barry Justyn Williams (10 November 1938 – 20 January 2018) was a skeptic and writer, who was the president of the Australian Skeptics from 1986 until 1997. In 1997 he became the first paid Australian skeptic when he took on the role of Executive Officer of the Australian Skeptics. He was involved in many investigations of paranormal claims and the editor of '' The Skeptic'' magazine for 18 years. Williams was often called on by Australian media outlets for comments relating to paranormal claims. Life and career Williams joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and served in various places, including Butterworth and Williamtown. After leaving the RAAF, Williams worked for the US Department of Commerce in Sydney in sales and as an exhibition manager. Williams served as Vice President of the North Sydney federal electorate conference for the Liberal Party. In 1979 he was part of an investigation of Dr. Paul Solomon, a candidate who had been pre-selected for the feder ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Harvey (professor)
Kenneth John Harvey AM is an Australian public health doctor, currently Honorary Adjunct Associate Professor at the Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare in Bond University. Described by ''The Age'' as an "anti-quackery crusader", Harvey is an advocate of evidence-based medicine and a critic of pharmaceutical marketing and unproven diet products. He is the president of Friends of Science in Medicine. In 2017, Harvey was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his "significant service to community health and the pharmaceutical industry”. Career Harvey graduated in medicine from the University of Melbourne. He developed an interest in the factors that influence the prescribing of antibiotics, especially where it involved unethical promotion. He worked at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and then as an adjunct associate professor in the School of Public Health at La Trobe University. Harvey took part in drawing up ethical criteria for the promotion of medicinal drugs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Rivers Vaccination Supporters
The Northern Rivers Vaccination Supporters (NRVS) is a vaccination advocacy group formed in 2013 by people who were concerned about low vaccination rates in the Northern Rivers region of the Australian state of New South Wales. Rachel Heap, one of the group's core administrators, has said the organization's primary goal is to spread the word that people shouldn't be afraid of vaccines, but instead, "you should be amazed at how extraordinary they are as a public health measure". In 2014, the group was presented the Thornett Award for the Promotion of Reason by the Australian Skeptics. In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed the NRVS website as a reliable source of information about vaccines and vaccine safety. Background The Northern Rivers region of the Australian state of New South Wales has some of the lowest vaccination rates in Australia. As of 2013, the Northern Rivers town of Mullumbimby had the lowest rate of childhood vaccinations in Australia, with under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Saunders (skeptic)
Richard Saunders is an Australian skeptic, podcaster and professional origamist. He received recognition by the Australian Skeptics with a Life Membership in 2001, and has twice served as their president. He founded Sydney Skeptics in the Pub. He has presented on skepticism, represented the Australian Skeptics on television and radio shows, and is the co-host of ''The Skeptic Zone'' podcast. Early life Saunders was born in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia, and lived in Tribune, Saskatchewan in 1968 and 1969, as his father R. H. Saunders, who was a reverend, was posted there. Returning to Australia, Saunders attended a variety of primary schools in Mullumbimby, Lithgow, and graduated from Woy Woy High School in 1984. Professional career Web design After graduating from high school, Saunders joined educational publisher Ashton Scholastic and sold educational software for Apple II and Commodore 64 home computers. He also worked as a web designer for The Advance Bank o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jill Hennessy (politician)
Jill Hennessy (born 17 March 1972) is a former Australian politician. She has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly between February 2010 and November 2022, representing the seat of Altona. She was Minister for Health in the Andrews Ministry from December 2014 to November 2018, and was Attorney-General from November 2018 to December 2020, the second female Attorney-General in Victoria's history. Early life Hennessy was educated at Avila College, Mount Waverley, and then Monash University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws. She also holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Melbourne. Prior to entering the Legislative Assembly of Victoria, Hennessy practised as a solicitor specialising in personal injury and employment law, and was a senior advisor to former Victorian premier Steve Bracks. In 2016, she was awarded the Thornett Award for Promotion of Reason by the Australian Skeptics for "courageously facing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chemophobia
Chemophobia (or chemphobia or chemonoia) is an aversion to or prejudice against chemicals or chemistry. The phenomenon has been ascribed both to a reasonable concern over the potential adverse effects of synthetic chemicals, and to an irrational fear of these substances because of misconceptions about their potential for harm, particularly the possibility of certain exposures to some synthetic chemicals elevating an individual's risk of cancer. Consumer products with labels such as "natural" and "chemical-free" (the latter being impossible if taken literally, since all consumer products consist of chemical substances) appeal to chemophobic sentiments by offering consumers what appears to be a safer alternative (see appeal to nature). Definition and uses There are differing opinions on the proper usage of the word ''chemophobia''. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) defines chemophobia as an "irrational fear of chemicals". According to the American Coun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemical or physiological effect on the cell, tissue, organ, or organism (sometimes the word ''pharmacon'' is used as a term to encompass these endogenous and exogenous bioactive species). More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function. If substances have medicinal properties, they are considered pharmaceuticals. The field encompasses drug composition and properties,functions,sources,synthesis and drug design, molecular and cellular mechanisms, organ/systems mechanisms, signal transduction/cellular communication, molecular diagnostics, interactions, chemical biology, therapy, and medical applications and antipathogenic capabilities. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Communication
Science communication is the practice of informing, educating, raising awareness of science-related topics, and increasing the sense of wonder about scientific discoveries and arguments. Science communicators and audiences are ambiguously defined and the expertise and level of science knowledge varies with each group. Two types of science communication are outward-facing or science outreach (typically conducted by professional scientists to non-expert audiences) and inward-facing or science "inreach" (expert to expert communication from similar or different scientific backgrounds). Examples of outreach include science journalism and science museums. Examples of inreach include scholarly communication and publication in scientific journals. But science communication is influenced by systemic inequalities that impact both inreach and outreach. Science communicators can use entertainment and persuasion including humour, storytelling and metaphors. Scientists can be trained in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australasian Science
''Australasian Science'' was a bimonthly science magazine published in Australia and was the longest-running scientific publication in the country, from 1938 to 2019. It contained a mixture of news items, feature articles, and expert commentary. History ''Australasian Science'' was Australia's longest-running scientific publication. It was first published in 1938 as ''The Australian Journal of Science'' by the Australian National Research Council, which was the forerunner of the Australian Academy of Science. In 1954 the journal was transferred to ANZAAS – the ''Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science'', and published as ''Search''. Throughout this time the journal published the research of eminent Australian scientists, including Sir Douglas Mawson and Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, whose groundbreaking clonal selection theory was published in the journal in 1957. The journal evolved considerably over the following decades, with ownership transferr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment industry worldwide. Given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the awards are an international recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements, as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette as a trophy, officially called the "Academy Award of Merit", although more commonly referred to by its nickname, the "Oscar". The statuette, depicting a knight rendered in the Art Deco style, was originally sculpted by Los Angeles artist George Stanley from a design sketch by art director Cedric Gibbons. The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929 at a private dinner hosted by Douglas Fairbanks in The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The Academy Awards cerem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karen Stollznow
Karen Stollznow (born 12 August 1976) is an Australian-American writer, linguist, and skeptic. Her books include ''The Language of Discrimination'', ''God Bless America: Strange and Unusual Religious Beliefs and Practices in the United States'', ''Haunting America'', ''Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic'', ''Hits and Mrs'', and ''Would You Believe It?: Mysterious Tales From People You'd Least Expect''. She also writes short stories, and is a host on the podcast Monster Talk. Career A student of linguistics and history at the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales, she received First Class Honors in Linguistics, and went on to a PhD in the area of Lexical Semantics. She graduated with her doctorate in 2007. In 2004 she relocated to California to become a Visiting Student Researcher with the Department of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2005 she became a Researcher for the Script Encoding Initiative, a joint project between the UC Be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
