|
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 science, 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 ''Skeptical Inquirer, The Zetetic'' in which he expressed interest in beginning a skeptical organisation in Australia. Sydney electronics entrepreneur Dick Smith (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 Investig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the list of countries and dependencies by area, sixth-largest country in the world and the largest in Oceania. Australia is the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent. It is a megadiverse countries, megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and Climate of Australia, climates including deserts of Australia, deserts in the Outback, interior and forests of Australia, tropical rainforests along the Eastern states of Australia, coast. The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Period, last glacial period. By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke 250 distinct l ... [...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 fede ... [...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. As of 2024, the group is on permanent hiatus, and the website is archived. 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 Mullumb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Saunders (skeptic)
Richard Saunders is an Australian scientific skeptic and podcaster. In 2001, he was awarded a life membership by Australian Skeptics and has twice served as their president. 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. His father, R. H. Saunders, a reverend, was posted in Tribune, Saskatchewan, where he lived in 1968 and 1969. 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 of Australia and Commonwealth Bank and in 1999 was transferred to EDS, where he designed the interface for netBank online banking and worked for two years before joining GreenStone Pty Ltd as a web designer for three years. Acti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jill Hennessy (politician)
Jill Hennessy (born 17 March 1972) is an Australian former politician. She was 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 dow ... [...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 C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. 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. The two main areas of pharmacology are pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. Pharmacodynamics studies the effects of a drug on biological systems, and pharmacokinetics studies the effects of biological systems on a drug. In broad terms, pharmacod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Communication
Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities that connect science and society. Common goals of science communication include informing non-experts about scientific findings, raising the Public awareness of science, public awareness of and interest in science, influencing people's attitudes and behaviors, informing public policy, and Public engagement, engaging with diverse communities to address societal problems. The term "science communication" generally refers to settings in which audiences are not experts on the scientific topic being discussed (Science outreach, outreach), though some authors categorize expert-to-expert communication ("inreach" such as publication in scientific journals) as a type of science communication. Examples of outreach include science journalism and health communication. Since science has political, moral, and legal implications, science communication can help bridge gaps between different stakeholders in public policy, industry, an ... [...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 transfer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The Oscars are widely considered to be the most prestigious awards in the film industry. The major award categories, known as the Academy Awards of Merit, are presented during a live-televised Hollywood ceremony in February or March. It is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony. The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929. The second ceremony, in 1930, was the first one broadcast by radio. The 1953 ceremony was the first one televised. It is the oldest of the four major annual American entertainment awards. Its counterparts—the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music—are modeled after the Academy Aw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karen Stollznow
Karen Stollznow (born 12 August 1976) is an Australian-American author, linguist, public speaker, and podcaster. Her books include ''Bitch: The Journey of a Word'', ''Missed Conceptions: How We Make Sense of Infertility'', ''On the Offensive: Prejudice in Language Past and Present'', ''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''. Stollznow also writes short fiction, including the title ''Fisher's Ghost and Other Stories'', and she is a host on the podcast Monster Talk with Blake Smith. She has written for many popular publications, including ''The Conversation'' and ''Psychology Today''. Stollznow has also appeared as an expert on many TV shows, including the History Channel's History's Greatest Mysteries and Netflix's Files of the U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
