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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] |
New Zealand Skeptics
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 Songs * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1999 *"new", by Loona from '' Yves'', 2017 *"The New", by Interpol from ''Turn On the Bright Lights'', 2002 Acronyms * Net economic welfare, a proposed macroeconomic indicator * Net explosive weight, also known as net explosive quantity * Network of enlightened Women, a conservative university women's organization * Next Entertainment World, a South Korean film distribution company Identification codes * Nepal Bhasa language ISO 639 language code * New Century Financial Corporation (NYSE stock abbreviation) * Northeast Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion in the northeastern United States Transport * New Orleans Lakefront Ai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
All Saints (TV Series)
''All Saints'' is an Australian medical drama television series that first screened on the Seven Network on 24 February 1998. Set in the fictional All Saints Western General Hospital, it focused on the staff of Ward 17 until its closure in 2004, which is when the focus changed and began following the staff of the Emergency Department. It was produced by John Holmes alongside Jo Porter, MaryAnne Carroll and Di Drew. The final episode aired on 27 October 2009, completing its record-breaking 12-year run. Plot ''All Saints'' follows the lives of the staff at All Saints Western General Hospital. Until its closure in 2004, the show primarily focused on the staff in Ward 17. Known as the "garbage ward" as it took all the overflow from the other wards, Ward 17 was run by compassionate nun, Sister Terri Sullivan (Georgie Parker). Her staff included her nurses Connor Costello (Jeremy Cumpston), Von Ryan (Judith McGrath), Bronwyn Craig (Libby Tanner), Jared Levine (Ben Tari) and Stephani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spoon Bending
Spoon bending is the deformation of objects, especially metal cutlery, purportedly by paranormal means. It is a common theme for magic tricks, which use a variety of methods to produce the effect. Performers commonly use misdirection to draw their audience's attention away while the spoon is manually bent. Another method uses a metal spoon that has been prepared by repeatedly bending the spoon back and forth, weakening the material. Applying light pressure will then cause it to bend or break. Spoon bending attracted considerable media attention in the 1970s when a number of individuals claimed to have the ability to cause such effects by psychic means. The most famous was Uri Geller, who performed on television bending metal spoons, keys, and other objects. Geller's performances were revealed to be tricks due to the work of magician and investigator James Randi and others. Despite hundreds of experiments by parapsychologists to determine whether spoon bending is a genuine psy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Divining
Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, claimed radiations (radiesthesia),As translated from one preface of the Kassel experiments, "roughly 10,000 active dowsers in Germany ''alone'' can generate a conservatively-estimated annual revenue of more than 100 million DM (US$50 million)"''GWUP-Psi-Tests 2004: Keine Million Dollar für PSI-Fähigkeiten'' (in German) an. gravesites, malign "earth vibrations" and many other objects and materials without the use of a scientific apparatus. It is also known as divining (especially in water divining), doodlebugging (particularly in the United States, in searching for petroleum or treasure) or (when searching for water) water finding, or water witching (in the United States). A Y-shaped twig or rod, or two L-shaped ones—individually called a dowsing rod, divining rod (Latin: ''virgula divina'' or ''baculus divinatorius''), vining rod, or witching rod—are somet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Randi
James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. Rodrigues 2010p. 271/ref> He was the co-founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi began his career as a magician under the stage name The Amazing Randi and later chose to devote most of his time to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims, which he collectively called "woo-woo". Randi retired from practicing magic at age 60, and from his foundation at 87. Although often referred to as a "debunker", Randi said he disliked the term's connotations and preferred to describe himself as an "investigator". He wrote about paranormal phenomena, skepticism, and the history of magic. He was a frequent guest on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', famously expo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Saunders NZ Skeptics Conference 2016
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong in rule'. Nicknames include "Richie", "Dick", "Dickon", " Dickie", "Rich", "Rick", "Rico", "Ricky", and more. Richard is a common English, German and French male name. It's also used in many more languages, particularly Germanic, such as Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Dutch, as well as other languages including Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Finnish. Richard is cognate with variants of the name in other European languages, such as the Swedish "Rickard", the Catalan "Ricard" and the Italian "Riccardo", among others (see comprehensive variant list below). People named Richard Multiple people with the same name * Richard Andersen (other) * Richard Anderson (other) * Richard Cartwright (other) * R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeptic (U
Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the person doubts that these claims are accurate. In such cases, skeptics normally recommend not disbelief but suspension of belief, i.e. maintaining a neutral attitude that neither affirms nor denies the claim. This attitude is often motivated by the impression that the available evidence is insufficient to support the claim. Formally, skepticism is a topic of interest in philosophy, particularly epistemology. More informally, skepticism as an expression of questioning or doubt can be applied to any topic, such as politics, religion, or pseudoscience. It is often applied within restricted domains, such as morality ( moral skepticism), atheism (skepticism about the existence of God), or the supernatural. Some theorists distinguish "good" or mode ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Randi Educational Foundation
James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is an American grant-making institution founded in 1996 by magician and skeptic James Randi. As a nonprofit organization, the mission of JREF includes educating the public and the media on the dangers of accepting unproven claims, and to support research into paranormal claims in controlled scientific experimental conditions. The organization announced its change to a grant-making foundation in September 2015. The organization previously administered the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, a prize of one million U.S. dollars to anyone who could demonstrate a supernatural or paranormal ability under agreed-upon scientific testing criteria. JREF also maintains a legal defense fund to assist persons who are attacked as a result of investigating or criticizing those making paranormal claims. The organization has been funded through member contributions, grants, and conferences, though it ceased accepting memberships after 2015. For seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pigasus Award
The Pigasus Award is the name of an annual tongue-in-cheek award that was presented by noted skeptic James Randi. The award seeks to expose parapsychological, paranormal or psychic frauds that Randi had noted over the previous year. Randi usually made his announcements of the awards from the previous year on April 1 (April Fools' Day). History The award was originally called the Uri trophy, after Uri Geller, and was first announced in the appendix of Randi's book ''Flim-Flam!''. The 1982 edition lists the award's "recipients" in 1979, 1980 and 1981. In ''Flim-Flam!'', Randi states: The bent spoon trophy is a reference to Geller's claimed spoon-bending abilities. The logo of a winged pig was designed for Randi's website by German artist Jutta Degener in 1996. The name "Pigasus" was chosen by Randi from suggestions e-mailed to him. The term is a portmanteau pun combining the word ''pig'' with the mythological ''Pegasus'', a reference to the expression "when pigs fly". Ran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Afternoon Show (Australian TV Series)
''The Afternoon Show'' is an Australian children's afternoon magazine television series that aired on the ABC from 16 February 1987 to 17 December 1993. It was the wrapper show for the afternoon children's programming block between 5:00 pm. to 6:00 p.m. Presented by James Valentine (1987–1990), Basia Bonkowski (1990), Stephanie Osfield (1991) and Michael Tunn (1991–1993), the show aired a selection of cartoons such as ''The Mysterious Cities of Gold'', ''Inspector Gadget'', ''Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea'', ''Count Duckula'', '' Danger Mouse'', '' Widget'', '' Alvin and the Chipmunks'', ''Roger Ramjet'', '' The Ratties'', ''Captain Planet and the Planeteers'', ''Bananaman'', '' The Trap Door'', ''The Adventures of Tintin'' and ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'' as well as a variety of different comedy, drama, adventure, action and game shows including such International programmes as ''Grange Hill'' (plus a behind-the-scenes special of the series), '' Doctor Who'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wombat (TV Series)
''Wombat'' was an Australian children's television show which screened on the Seven Network from 1979 to 1990. It was produced at BTQ7 in Brisbane and aired across Australia on weekday afternoons, and later Saturday and Sunday mornings. Synopsis The show had a number of hosts or presenters who were accompanied by their co-host Agro, a puppet portrayed/voiced by comedian Jamie Dunn, who had previously become known on the program ''Boris' Breakfast Club''. The show consisted of small educational editorials presented in a variety of segments. The segments featured a number of regular reporters including Eric Summons, Cecelia Martine, Craig Campbell, Fiona MacDonald, Fran Morrison, Bob La Castra, identical twins Gayle & Gillian Blakeney, Rob Elliott, Tony Gordon, Jill Ray, Sam Harvey and Gary Hardgrave. The program also included children as regular reporters including Scott Sutherland, Pippa? Some of these reporters performed double duty as host of the show, notably Bob La Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olomouc
Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on the Morava (river), Morava River, the city is the ecclesiastical metropolis and was a historical capital city of Moravia, before having been sacked by the Swedish Empire, Swedish army during the Thirty Years' War. Today, it is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and Statutory city (Czech Republic), the sixth largest city in the Czech Republic. The historic city centre is well preserved and is protected by law as Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monument reservation. The Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc, Holy Trinity Column was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 for its quintessential Baroque style and symbolic value. Administrative division Olomouc is made up of 26 administrative parts: * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
