Episode #58: Curiosity Vaporises, Strikers are Bulletproof and Atheism Rises
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Curiosity does a duckface self-shot.
The 58th episode of Consilience is out! You can download the mp3 here (26mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here.
Starring
Teaching Angela to Appreciate History
- 565 – First recorded sighting of a monster in Loch Ness. A Christian saint named Columba was doing missionary work in the land of the Picts. Not only did he see the Loch Ness monster, but he used his powerful Jesus-sorcery to battle the thing!
Updates
- Curiosity has finished its stationary systems check. Stretched out its arm. Has set its laser to vapourise. Has investigated its immediate surroundings. Is ready to start moving tomorrow.
News
- Lonmin miners used muti to give themselves superpowers. Maybe.
- Parents hoping for miracles torturing?
- Atheism on the rise in SA? Unlikely.
- New fossil finds in Kenya suggest two separate early Homo species in the pleistocene, apart from Homo erectus.
Sci-fi/Fantasy Quote
“Just because you cannot fathom the nature of a thing does not make that thing magic!”
– Doctor Terrence 13, All-Star Western #11, written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
Announcements
- Johannesburg
- Open evening – astronomical history and sky viewing – SAASTA/Royal Society of SA. Saturday 25th August, 18:00 at the Johannesburg Observatory. Entrance is free. There’s a talk by Professor Francis Thackeray and some other cool stuff, including sky viewing, if weather permits. You’re invited to bring a picnic basket and enjoy the view at sunset before the proceedings start, as well as binoculars for the sky viewing.
- Public talk: Origin of Mass – Discovery of a Higgs-like boson – by the Wits SA-CERN team. Wits University. Monday 27 August, 18:00.
- Sceptics in the Pub. Wednesday 2th September 19:00. Green & Gold Pub.
- Royal Society SA Spring Science Showcase. SUNDAY 9th SEPTEMBER 2012 14:00-18:30. Delta Environmental Centre, Blairgowrie, Johannesburg. Entry fee – R120 per person (R70 students, postdocs, scholars).
- Talk Does Evolution really threaten Religion? – John Ostrowick. 11 Sept 2012 at 18:00. Origins Centre, Wits University.
- Cape Town
- Sceptics in the Pub – Friday 24th August. Beleza Pub.
- Open Night at SAAO – Black holes and other revelations. Dr. Vanessa McBride. Saturday 25th August 08:00 pm. Auditorium (SAAO, Cape Town)
- Sceptics in the Pub – Friday 31st August, 19:00. Touch of Madness
- Open Night at SAAO – Radio Astronomy Revolution – Dr. Nadeem Oozeer (SKA). Saturday 8th September, 08:00 pm. Auditorium (SAAO, Cape Town)
http://archive.org/details/ConsilienceEpisode58
http://archive.org/download/ConsilienceEpisode58/Consilience58.mp3
10 episodes