For a few years now I have been showing a clip from Brainiac when discussing the reaction of alkali metals with water. I can remember as a boy watching the following clip and being delighted when a piece of caesium was dropped into the water (that bowl is called a pneumatic trough by the way). I …
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Category:Scepticism
Global Warning…
[This was first published on 5th October 2009] Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean north of mainland Europe, about midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The glacier in the picture below is called the Austfonna ice cap. The striking photo was taken by Michael Nolan during his annual voyage to observe the glacier and its surrounding …
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That Is, Like, SO Unfair…
I have noticed an occasional confusion over the phrase ‘fair test’ and I am even ashamed to say that I have allowed it to appear in one of my booklets in an incorrect context. It is an important phrase so I would like to offer a brief explanation. In an experiment, it is important only …
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Equivocation…
A fallacy of ambiguity. 1. Having science lessons with HCTR is better than nothing. 2. Nothing is better than World Peace. 3. Therefore having science lessons with HCTR is better than World Peace! Equivocation is an error (or more commonly a trick) of reasoning in which the same word is used to mean two different things within the …
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Logical Fallacies…
As a follow-up to a General Lesson I had with 8D, here is a little stuff about Logical Fallacies. This post will attempt to explain the concept (as I understand it) and later ones will focus on different specific types of fallacy. Hopefully, I will be able to include some good real-world examples with video …
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A Secret Location…
I am quite interested in people who have a significantly different world-view from me. Christopher Valentine is very much such a person. Watch as much of the following as you can bear. . He does seem to believe what he is saying – he certainly takes the trouble to write books about it so I am …
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Faerie…
A little bit more about ‘selective breeding’ with reference to flower production in the video below. Please sit through it to the end as it contains a twist! Some pretty sound Mendelian genetics and a simple explanation of how breeders produce the strains of plants and animals we commonly see. Then the host fires in …
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A Quick Puzzle…
…from the New York Times. You must click on the link at the end of this post, attempt the test and then come back here to leave a comment. I don’t mean ‘must’ in the sense of… You simply must try the mackerel with pickles and mullet roe at El Celler de Can Roca. Yeah, of course …
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The Poetry Of Reality…
Someone left a comment that they liked the MelodySheep Game Of Thrones song. He is the guy who did all the Symphony of Science videos/songs. I have edited the posts so hopefully you can now see and play those videos too. . . This reflects my take on science pretty accurately; for me it the …
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Life, The Universe & Everything…
This is a repost of an old article from October 2011 with a few tweaks. The video below is from the BBC TV series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. It is based upon the novel by Douglas Adams, which in turn was based upon the radio series of the same name. I started to …
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