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X-WR-CALNAME:Maidstone Skeptics in the Pub
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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Maidstone Skeptics in the Pub
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20160215T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20160215T213000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T204326Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T204326Z
UID:136-1455564600-1455571800@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:Lies\, Damn Lies\, and Statistics
DESCRIPTION:Science and medicine have transformed our lives immeasurably\, and never in history have they been more central to our lives and well-being. Yet despite this\, there is often a glaring disconnect between the findings of actual science and media reporting of such topics\, and consequently there is often a needless chasm between public perception and the evidence on many contentious topics. This can lead to needlessly adversarial and counter-productive discourse of everything from vaccination to climate-change. In this talk\, physicist and science journalist Dr. David Robert Grimes discusses the frequent problems in reporting science from misunderstandings to bad statistics to false balance\, and discusses the factors that influence this and how such problems can be remedied. \nDr. David Robert Grimes (@drg1985) is a physicist and writes regular opinion and analysis pieces on scientific issues for the Irish Times and the Guardian science\, and is a regular panellist on science issues on radio and television. He is joint-recipient of the 2014 Maddox Prize for Standing up for Science. \n£3 to cover costs with any extra going to charity
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/lies-damn-lies-and-statistics/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20151027T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20151027T213000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T204135Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T204135Z
UID:137-1445974200-1445981400@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:The Unseen Universe
DESCRIPTION:With ever more ambitious telescopes and probes giving us pictures of far-off comets\, planets and even other galaxies\, it is easy to think that the mysteries of our Universe are solved. But look closer and we find that those galaxies are spinning much faster than they should be and our brightest stars are flying away from us at ever faster speeds. To present day we understand a mere 4% of what makes up our Universe – the photons\, protons\, electrons\, Higgs bosons etc… Dr Chapman will be talking about the other 96% – the stuff that makes our Universe do very strange things but that we know almost nothing about.£5 donation to cover cost with the extra going to charity
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/the-unseen-universe/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20150903T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20150903T213000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T203943Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T203943Z
UID:138-1441308600-1441315800@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:How to Make $100 Million Using a Fake Bomb Detector
DESCRIPTION:He’s jailed for 10 years now but how did a British conman sell bogus bomb detectors to Iraq for $85 million? A lack of scepticism cost the lives of an estimated 2\,000 people in Baghdad. Meirion Jones tells\, with the help of video clips and secret recordings\, how Jim McCormick and his chums worked the scam around the world and how whistleblowers and a Newsnight team exposed the scandal. This is about multi-million-dollar bribes in Baghdad\, and UK PLC turning a blind eye to boost exports\, but this is also about the lethal consequences of not basing policy on evidence. Meirion will demonstrate two real bogus bomb detectors as sold by the hoaxers for up to $40\,000 each and show you how to make one that works every bit as well for less than a pound. \nMeirion Jones is a BBC producer who is in the unusual position of winning the 2013 Scoop of the Year award for a programme which was never broadcast – his exposure of Jimmy Savile as a paedophile. He also won the Daniel Pearl International Award for Investigative Journalism in 2010 for his reports on toxic waste dumping by Trafigura in Africa. He has exposed everything from the fixing of the 2000 US election\, to how Britain helped Israel get the atom bomb\, from corrupt politicians to the affair of Mark Stone and the undercover cops\, as well as homeopaths and healers. \n£5 on the night with proceeds going to charity.
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/how-to-make-100-million-using-a-fake-bomb-detector/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20150616T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20150616T213000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T203808Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T203808Z
UID:139-1434483000-1434490200@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:Brain Washing is Wrong- Scientology and North Korea
DESCRIPTION:Scientology is a new religion\, founded in the 1950s by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Its teachings are based on Hubbard’s writings\, and the church claims to have millions of followers worldwide. Notable followers include Tom Cruise and John Travolta. \nScientology has gained recognition as a legitimate religion in many countries\, and yet many people believe it to be both a cult and a business\, often using harassment and bullying tactics to silence its critics. In 2007\, the Paranoma programme aired an episode called ‘Scientology and Me’ in which John Sweeney investigated the organisation. After a number of intense interactions with Scientologists\, John was involved in a dramatic confrontation with a church spokesperson\, a clip that has since been viewed on YouTube over 1.5 million times. \nJohn Sweeney is an award winning investigative reporter for the BBC and author of the books ‘Church of Fear: Inside Scientology’ and ‘North Korea Undercover’.
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/brain-washing-is-wrong-scientology-and-north-korea/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20150519T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20150519T213000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T203521Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T203521Z
UID:140-1432063800-1432071000@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:The Struggle For Evidence Based Policy
DESCRIPTION:Professor David Nutt came under the media spotlight when during his chairmanship of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) he refused to fudge the issue of perceived drug harm. He broadcasts widely both on radio and television including BBC science and public affairs programmes on therapeutic as well as illicit drugs\, their harms and their classification. He will be talking about the issue of persuading politicians and other decision makers to define policy based on evidence. \nIn 2010 The Times Eureka science magazine included him in the 100 most important figures in British Science\, and the only psychiatrist. He is currently the Edmond J Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology and director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit in the Division of Brain Sciences\, Imperial College London. \nHe broadcasts widely to the general public both on radio and television. He was the subject for The Life Scientific on BBC radio 4 and has appeared in several BBC Horizon programmes and the Channel 4 documentary Ecstasy-live. Additionally he is much in demand for public affairs programmes on therapeutic as well as illicit drugs\, their harms and their classification. His also lecturers widely to the public as well as to the scientific and medical communities. \n£5 on the door to cover cost with all the extra going to Professor Nutt’s organisation\, Sense About Science
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/the-struggle-for-evidence-based-policy/
LOCATION:Cafe Nucleus\, Gabriel's Hill\, Maidstone\, Kent\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20150302T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20150302T213000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T203139Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T203139Z
UID:141-1425324600-1425331800@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:What Happens When The Oil Runs Out
DESCRIPTION:Across the world\, 30 billion barrels of crude oil are produced each year\, not only for fuel but to make products ranging from plastics to pharmaceuticals. Nearly all our food also depends on oil. \nHowever\, world oil production is set to decline within 5 years. If we continue as we are\, Western civilisation will collapse. Our salvation requires a re-adaptation of how we live\, from the global to the local to a world of small communities far less dependent on transportation. Technology will not save us\, unless we cut our energy use and particularly our demand for oil. Fracking is being hailed as the solution. Is this the case? \nProfessor Chris Rhodes is Director of Fresh-lands Environmental Actions and is based in Reading. He has written numerous scientific articles and recently published his first novel\, University Shambles\, a black comedy on the disintegration of the British university system.
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/what-happens-when-the-oil-runs-out/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20141208T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20141208T213000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T202909Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T202909Z
UID:142-1418067000-1418074200@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:How Life Reflects Numbers And Numbers Reflect Life
DESCRIPTION:Alex Bellos will talk about his book Alex Through the Looking Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers and Numbers Reflect Life\, his follow-up to the bestselling Alex’s Adventures in Numberland. In the course of the talk he will discuss his survey to discover the world’s favourite number\, psychological responses to mathematics and how very simple rules can generate very complex behaviour. And other fun maths stuff. \nAlex Bellos is the bestselling author of Alex’s Adventures in Numberland\, which was shortlisted for the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize. He is the Guardian’s maths-blogger\, and has worked for the paper in London and Rio de Janeiro as its unusually numerate foreign correspondent. He is currently a curator-in-residence at the Science Museum. His new book\, Alex Through The Looking Glass\, is out now and will be on sale on the night.
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/how-life-reflects-numbers-and-numbers-reflect-life/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20141112T200000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20141112T220000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T202734Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T202734Z
UID:143-1415822400-1415829600@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:Artificial Intellegence
DESCRIPTION:Artificial Intelligence has been a staple of popular culture for generations from promises of a Leisure Age when robots would do all of our work while we lived in luxury to scare stories where robots turn against their masters. \nDr Tucker looks at some of the key figures in AI in the last century through to the state-of-the-art learning machines that are all around us today and asks whether we will ever really have intelligent machines that are comparable to humans. \nDr Allan Tucker is senior lecturer in computer science at Brunel University. His research focuses on designing algorithms that can learn models from data to predict the future and assist experts in making decisions. His biomedical work includes long term projects with Moorfields Eye Hospital exploring models of eye disease and he collaborates with Leiden University Medical Centre on models of gene regulation. \n(credit to Tunbridge Wells SitP whose site I stole this off 🙂
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/artificial-intellegence/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20141022T200000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20141022T220000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T202642Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T202642Z
UID:144-1414008000-1414015200@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:The Hero Maker
DESCRIPTION:For years\, journalist Will Storr has been writing about people with strange beliefs: demon hunters\, UFO spotters\, homeopaths and a couple who swore they’ve met the Yeti in some woods outside Ipswich. One afternoon\, he was sitting at a Creationist lecture in the far north of Australia when he asked himself a question that he couldn’t even begin to answer. Why don’t facts work? The people that he had met\, in his ten years of reporting\, were often not stupid. Many were demonstrably intelligent. So why didn’t superior information fail to replace the inferior. Why did logic fail? \nThe answer was to lead him on a journey which is recounted in his new book: The Heretics: Adventures with the Enemies of Science (Picador\, 2013). Along with a spectacular cast of characters – including climate skeptic Lord Christopher Monckton and controversial historian David Irving – and some of the planet’s most celebrated experts in brains and thinking\, Storr finds his answer in what he calls ‘The Hero Maker’ : the collection of neural illusions by which we understand the world to be a narrative struggle which are at the centre of. We populate this narrative with heroes and with villains\, and we flatter ourselves that we are the most important character in it. We are not agents of reason\, but storytellers. \nWill Storr is an award winning journalist and a novelist. For more information\, please see: www.willstorr.com
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/the-hero-maker/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20140922T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20140922T210000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T202355Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T202355Z
UID:145-1411412400-1411419600@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:Moving From Ideology to Evidence- Science Denial on GM Food\, Nuclear Power and Climate Change
DESCRIPTION:Mark Lynas is the author of several books on the environment\, including High Tide\, Six Degrees\, and The God Species. His most recent publication\, in July 2013\, was the Kindle Single ebook Nuclear 2.0: Why a green future needs nuclear power. He is a frequent speaker around the world on climate change\, biotechnology and nuclear power\, and was climate change advisor to the President of the Maldives between 2009 and 2011. In October 2013 he was appointed a Visiting Fellow at Cornell University’s\, Office of International Programs at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He is also a member of the advisory board of the science advocacy group Sense About Science\, and is vice-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies\, which produces an annual top 10 list of the technologies with most potential to change the way we all live.
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/moving-from-ideology-to-evidence-science-denial-on-gm-food-nuclear-power-and-climate-change/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20140916T200000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20140916T220000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T202051Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T202051Z
UID:146-1410897600-1410904800@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:Smashing Physics- News from the energy frontier
DESCRIPTION:The discovery of the Higgs boson made headlines around the world. Two scientists\, Peter Higgs and François Englert\, whose theories predicted its existence\, shared a Nobel Prize. The discovery was the culmination of the largest experiment ever run\, the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. But what really is a Higgs boson and what does it do? How was it found? And what will the LHC do next? Jon Butterworth\, a leading member of the ATLAS experiment\, will talk about all this and more. \nJon Butterworth is also Head of the Department of Physics & Astronomy at UCL\, and writes for the Guardian at http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/smashing-physics-news-from-the-energy-frontier/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20140805T200000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20140805T220000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T201804Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T201804Z
UID:147-1407268800-1407276000@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:Autism Treatments: The good\, the bad and the ugly
DESCRIPTION:Tannice gives a specialist talk on “Autism treatments: the good\, the bad and the ugly” which discusses the toxic treatments that many Autistic children are exposed to on a daily basis. Focusing on Hyperbaric Oxygen Tanks\, Lupron (US only) and Chelation\, Tannice exposes her audience to a murky world of misunderstandings and misrepresentations as to the causes and “fixes” alternative medicine proposes. \nCareful to weigh up the costs and benefits of several alternative medicines in the context of frightened parents who lack adequate support\, Tannice’s talk has been described as “informative\, eye-opening and anger-inducing” as well as “packed full of information to entertain\, inform and shock”. \nTannice also takes her audience through the results of her survey examining attitudes towards people on the spectrum with some incisive and some misguided responses to what “cures” or causes autism. Spoiler: nothing and we don’t know. Addressing the controversial disability rights issue of whether a “cure” for Autism is a useful idea or not is also part of Tannice’s remit\, with a short discussion of the prevailing attitudes\, her own view and points of view on how Autism is both a help and a hindrance. \nVaccinations and the false link between MMR and Autism is another subject that simply couldn’t escape examination and despite a reluctance to give credence to the theory with the oxygen of attention\, Tannice applies significant ire to anti-vaccination stances\, carefully deconstructing and skewering the arguments.
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/autism-treatments-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20140716T200000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20140716T220000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T201443Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T201443Z
UID:148-1405540800-1405548000@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:Kent Philosophy Club
DESCRIPTION:Unfortunately Mark had to pull out\, so instead we’re going to be holding an informal meet up on Philosophy. Paul\, who started the group\, has a degree in philosophy and psychology\, and started the group to give to meet others in Kent interested in philosophy rather than give talks.\nIt will be free to anyone who wants to come a long and chat. No experience in philosophy is necessary\, just an interest and a desire to learn.\nThe topic this time will be Skepticsm 🙂
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/kent-philosophy-club/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20140602T203000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20140602T223000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T201033Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190209T134952Z
UID:149-1401741000-1401748200@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:Leftie Cock Womble
DESCRIPTION:Kate Smurthwaite is a stand-up comedian and political activist.\nKate is often a guest on news and debate shows and is well known for her forthright opinions and campaigning work. Appearances include BBC 1’s The Big Questions\, BBC Breakfast\, BBC News 24\, Channel 4 News\, Channel 5 News\, ITV News\, ITV This Morning\, Sky News\, BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine Show\, BBC 5live\, BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour\, BBC Radio 4 The Moral Maze. In 2012 Radio 4’s Four Thought series included a 15-minute program written and performed entirely by Kate about sexist humour and sexism in comedy.\nShe also writes for publications from Cosmopolitan to both the Guardian and the Independent and is the Vice Chair and Media Spokesperson for campaign group Abortion Rights UK.\nKate is a writer for the BBC Three political comedy show The Revolution Will Be Televised.
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/leftie-cock-wobble/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20140423T200000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20140423T220000
DTSTAMP:20260613T132150
CREATED:20190208T200850Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190208T200850Z
UID:150-1398283200-1398290400@maidstoneskeptics.co.uk
SUMMARY:An Atheists guide to the Alpha Course
DESCRIPTION:The Alpha Course runs in 162 countries and has been attended\, according to their website\, by 20 Million people. Over 9 weeks\, students are guided through Christian theology ostensibly to Explore the meaning of Life. \nSimon Clare\, an unabashed atheist\, signed up to his local course in Brighton\, wondering if his faithlessness would be challenged. Spoiler: He wasn’t converted but he was surprised at how the course affected his attitude to faith – not to mention what goes on during the later stages of the course. \nThe new Archbishop Of Canterbury\, Justin Welby\, is an old friend of the Alpha Course’s organisers and his election suggests that Alpha has graduated from fringe group to a central part of Christianity’s struggle to survive. \nAs well as giving an overview of the course from biblical history to singing in tongues\, Simon will discuss what atheists\, humanists and skeptics might learn from it.
URL:http://maidstoneskeptics.co.uk/event/an-atheists-guide-to-the-alpha-course/
LOCATION:The Style and Winch\, 72 Union Street\, Maidstone\, Kent\, ME14 1ED\, United Kingdom
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