Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, January 20, 2012
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: Could speaking out on climate change get you into deep trouble with the Harper government? And what would you do if that happened? Blacklisted environmental artist and author Franke James will tell us her true-life story of being “Banned on the Hill.” Her 20-city climate change art show in Europe was shut down due to behind-the-scenes government interference. Hear how Franke is fighting back using creativity, political savvy, and social media — and why she thinks that scientists who are being muzzled need to speak up.
Tim Harper wrote in the Toronto Star: “Franke James…has shown no shortage of political acumen in her bid to fight back against a Conservative government she says has bullied her. She has used access to information requests, help from political allies, and publicity in the media to highlight her belief that the Conservatives withdrew funding for a European tour of her art and then badmouthed her privately to shut it down because they didn’t like her view of the country’s inaction on climate change.”
About Franke James:
Artist, author, and speaker Franke James is an entertaining and persuasive advocate for the environment. She merges science, art, political savvy, and storytelling to inspire people to take action and ‘do the hardest thing first’ for the planet. Her lively presentations demonstrate her ‘rare skill of presenting important abstract concepts with immediacy and relevance through her art.’ Franke is the author of Bothered By My Green Conscience, and the game-book Dear Office-Politics. Franke has delivered keynote presentations to scientists and science educators in Canada and the U.S.A. www.frankejames.com.
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Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, November 18, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: Joel Cahn and Lelia Watamaniuk will be presenting “Our job starts when your life ends: The role of forensic anthropologists in medico-legal investigations.” Joel and Lelia will be detailing the various ways in which forensic anthropologists provide their unique knowledge and training to assist with death investigations. From the scene to the lab to the courtroom, you will be given an inside look at one of the fastest-growing fields in forensic science.
Joel Cahn is a PhD student in Anthropology at the University of Toronto and a former course instructor for the Forensic Science Program at the University of Toronto at Mississauga. Lelia Watamaniuk is a PhD student in Anthropology and current research assistant in the Anatomy department at McMaster University. Both Joel and Lelia have Masters degrees in anthropology from the University of Toronto and forensic case work experience with the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service, the Ontario Provincial Police and various municipal police departments.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, October 21, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: October 21st is not only our ASR Skeptics in the Pub night, but the predicted date of the rapture according to Harold Camping. We will have some fun with this. Say goodbye to your loved ones…just in case!
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, September 16, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: Guest speaker Jonathan Kay will be discussing his book Among the Truthers: A Journey Through America’s Growing Conspiricist Underground. Kay is a Managing Editor of Canada’s National Post newspaper, a columnist on the newspaper’s op-ed page, and a regular blogger on the Post’s website. In addition, he is a contributor to Commentary magazine, the New York Post and Reader’s Digest. His freelance articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Harper’s, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The National Interest, The New York Times, Newsweek.com, The Literary Review of Canada, The Los Angeles Times and The New Republic. In 2002, he was awarded Canada’s National Newspaper Award for Critical Writing. In 2004, he was awarded a National Newspaper Award for Editorial Writing. His first book, The Volunteer, co-authored with Michael Ross, became a top-10 best-seller in 2007. He is currently a visiting fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He can be followed on Twitter @jonkay.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, August 19, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: We had great response to the previous two movie nights, so this month we will be showing a movie again: Temple Grandin.
Temple Grandin is a doctor of animal science, a professor at Colorado State University, and the best-selling author of books Thinking in Pictures, Animals in Translation, The Way I See It, and Animals Make Us Human, among others. Diagnosed with autism in 1950 at the age of three, Dr. Grandin also works tirelessly in autism advocacy. In Time’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world for 2010, Dr. Grandin is listed in the category “Heroes.”
With the help and support of her dedicated mother and aunt, Grandin made her way through school, earning her bachelor’s degree in Psychology, and her Master’s and Doctorate in animal science. When she was just in high school, she invented the “squeeze machine.” After noting how such a machine calmed cattle, she found that it calmed her as well, and it is now used at clinics the world over.
Dr. Grandin says that she is a visual thinker (hence her book Thinking in Pictures) and attributes her success in animal science to the similarities in which animals and people with autism see the world (Animals in Translation). She has put these skills to use in the livestock industry designing humane animal-handling equipment and performing analyses. She has also written books to help humans better understand animals (Animals in Translation, Animals Make Us Human).
On Friday night the Association for Science and Reason will be screening the HBO film Temple Grandin (2010) starring Claire Danes, Catherine O’Hara, Julia Ormond, and David Strathairn. The movie is universally acclaimed and has won nearly every award available, including Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild awards. The film is 1 hour and 45 minutes long. It will begin at 8pm and run with no intermission.
Here is a BBC documentary about Temple Grandin, which I highly recommend watching for an overview of this remarkable woman. If you don’t have the time to watch the entire documantary, at least watch part of it – it will give you a true appreciation of the phenomenal job Clair Danes does in the film.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, July 15, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: Team Skepardy is back! Slap your signalling device with all the fervor you can muster and compete with the rest of the pub for the “smarty pants” title.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, June 17, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: Scott Gavura presents “A skeptical walk through the pharmacy.” What are all those products on the pharmacy shelves, and do they work as advertised? Navigating the aisles in a pharmacy can be a bewildering experience. In this presentation, Scott will outline the evidence supporting different over-the-counter health products and give advice to help you make smarter health decisions. Scott wants to improve the way we use medications. A pharmacist, his passion is helping both consumers and health professionals make better health decisions. Scott is a contributor to the Science-Based Medicine blog and the Science-Based Pharmacy blog. He is a registered pharmacist in Ontario.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, May 13, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 2nd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: Please note that this month’s SiP is one week early in order to avoid the Victoria Day weekend. Also, because of the change in date, we will be on the second floor. Dave Noel presents “The Science of the Paranormal” for this special Friday the 13th Skeptics in the Pub. In this age of science and reason, belief in the paranormal seems to be gaining ground. Is this mass hysteria or is there actually something to discover about ourselves or the very fabric of nature itself?
WARNING: Attempts may be made to curse you with bad luck.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, April 15, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: “The Accommodationist Wars,” presented by Professor Laurence Moran, Biochemistry Department, University of Toronto, and of the blog Sandwalk. Professor Moran will talk about the conflict between two types of atheists: those who think science and religion are not compatible, and those who think religion and science are not necessarily in conflict. The accommodationists believe it’s important to ally with moderate religious leaders to combat the intrusion of religious beliefs into our schools and political systems. An important part of this strategy is recognizing that science and religion can be compatible. The other side agrees that such alliances can be fruitful but that should not prevent atheists from speaking out against even moderate forms of religious belief. The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) in the USA is a prominent accommodationist organization and so are the science organizations such as the National Academies and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). All of these organizations take a position on the compatibility of (some) religions. Many scientists think that these organizations should not be defending religion.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, March18, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: We are trying hard to secure a very special guest speaker, but it may not come to fruition. If it does not, we will hold a screening of Julia Sweeney’s Letting Go of God. This is a moving, hilarious, informative performed monologue about Julia’s journey from devout Catholic to atheist. It’s a long one, but well worth it. We’ll begin the first half at around 7:30pm, followed by a short 10-minute break, and then show the second half. The screening will conclude at about 9:50pm. (If we do manage to land our guest speaker, we will let you know here, on Facebook and Twitter, and via e-mail if you’re on our mailing list.)
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, February 18, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: A talk by our own esteemed David Bailey on sexual dimorphism and sexual discrimination.
Toronto’s Homeopathic ‘Overdose’
Date: Saturday, February 5, 2011
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Location: Yonge-Dundas Square, southwest corner
Notes: As part of the 10:23 campaign, the Association for Science and Reason will join with CFI and other skeptical organizations to stage a live, public homeopathic ‘overdose.’ Similar events will be taking place throughout the world on the same day. Please join us as a spectator, overdoser, or volunteer. You have our assurance that the ‘remedies’ we use will be 100% ineffective and not dosed with any real medicine — we’re only using products that have been used in ‘overdoses’ recently. If it gets too cold outside, we will move to a nearby pub after the initial dosing. Anyone wishing to participate or volunteer, please meet at the Tim Horton’s near Dundas Square at 10:30am (on Victoria St., just a tiny bit north of Dundas). Also, please purchase your own homeopathic ‘remedy’ — be sure it is a Boiron product, 30C or higher. These can be purchased at various drug stores and health shops. Please plan to join us and bring friends. A crowd draws a crowd and we’re trying to reach as many people as possible, and have the media pay attention.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, January 21, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: The extremely exciting, long-awaited, much-anticipated debut of TEAM SKEPARDY! No need to come with your own team (or all that much knowledge, really). Prizes! Fun! Wireless team signalling devices! We can’t wait for this.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
SPECIAL DATE: Thursday, December 16, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: Due to a double-booking for a holiday party, we are unable to hold SiP on our regular third Friday, so please join us on the night before, on Thursday. We are going to keep “programming” to a minimum on this night and just have a nice, relaxing pub night where everyone can talk and catch up. Perhaps some of us can regale you with tales from the Whole Life Expo we attended.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
SPECIAL DATE: Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: An exclusive Canadian talk by Dr. Kevin Dutton, whose new book Split Second Persuasion: The Ancient Art and New Science of Changing Minds explores what cutting-edge science can teach us about the techniques of persuasion. Split-second persuasion is a talent that can range from the powers of psychopaths and con men to the political genius of Winston Churchill, from magicians to advertisers. This book is already a hit in the UK under the title Flipnosis, and Discovery Channel Canada is already talking to Dr. Dutton about developing a workshop series based on his theory. Dr. Dutton is a research fellow at the Faraday Institute, St. Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge, and at the University of Western Australia in Perth. He is an expert on the science of social influence and an excellent speaker with colourful examples of his research. Please join us on this special SiP date: Tuesday, November 23rd.
SkeptiCamp Toronto
Date: Saturday, October 23rd, 2010
Time: 12:00pm to 5:00pm
Location: 216 Beverley Street, Toronto (venue kindly sponsored by CFI Ontario)
Notes: This is not an ASR event, but we are happily promoting it. Join in a Canada-wide day of skepticism as Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Vancouver hold SkeptiCamps. SkeptiCamp Toronto is an informal, community-organized conference for everyone from casual to experienced skeptics to meet, talk, and get to know each other. Some planned presentations are on conspiracy theories, natural health product regulation, how to make sense of medical literature, and libel laws. It’s FREE, but space is limited. http://bit.ly/TOskepticamp
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, October 15th, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: We are going to try something a little different this month – a game in which everyone in the pub participates! Don’t worry about bringing your ‘game face’ for some stiff competition; in fact, you only need to participate as much as you wish and you could still earn the admiration of your fellow skeptics. Nothing physical, but perhaps hysterical. No series of questions and answers, but it may raise a lot of questions and provide few answers. Want to find out what’s going on? Head on down and join in!
Date: Friday, September 17th, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: Tonight we celebrate the one-year anniversary of ASR’s Skeptics in the Pub (almost exactly to the day!). There will be cake, a stroll down memory lane, games (including the one that began it all — Skepardy!), and lots and lots of prizes. Please come out to celebrate with us.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
On the third Friday of every month Association for Science and Reason holds its Skeptics in the Pub event. We have guest speakers, play our ‘patented’ Skepardy game, and show movies. Show up at 7pm for dinner and/or drinks (moderately priced; most dinner menu items are between $9 and $15) and conversation. At about 8pm we get started with our speaker/game/film.
Date: Friday, August 20th, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: Peter Mosier presents his talk, “Legal Thuggery: Watch Tower vs. Skeptical Inquiry.” Thought only Scientology used lawsuits to silence critics? ASR’s own Peter Mosier was raised in a large Jehovah’s Witness family. Like many people raised religiously, he eventually left religion behind after a great deal of investigation, thought, and rational skeptical inquiry. As a result of this process, Peter published the raw data from his investigation on the web so others could benefit from his work and reach their own conclusions. Peter’s website caused his former “Spiritual Brothers” to bring suit against him in Ontario court, claiming he had caused them “irreparable harm” and demanding compensation for alleged copyright infringement, trade mark infringement, as well as $100,000 punitive damages. With the strange beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses as a backdrop, Peter will take you through the twists and turns of his legal battle. Q&A will follow.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, July 16th, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: Join us for a free screening of the documentary Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus. This movie investigates who is winning the PR war between intelligent design proponents and evolution proponents. The title comes from the famous bird whose failure to change with an evolving environment ultimately led to its extinction. The film casts the scientific community as the not-yet-extinct dodos for (so far) failing to win the PR war. Filmmaker Randy Olson has made an extremely fun, funny, and interesting film (and even interviews famous ID warrior Michael Behe!) Dinner, drinks, and chatting at 7pm; the film will begin at 8pm and runs 84 minutes. This film is being screened with permission. For more information: www.flockofdodos.com.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, June 18th, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: On June 18, 1178, five monks from Canterbury reported seeing “two horns of light” on the shaded part of the Moon. In 1976 geologist Jack B. Hartung proposed that they had witnessed the formation of the crater Giordano Bruno. On this 832nd anniversary of the monks’ sighting, ASR presents guest speaker Charles O’Dale, who has made a study of impact craters in Canada. (FYI, he flies his own Cessna 177 and will be flying into Toronto from Ottawa for this talk!) Charles is a retired electronic technologist who specialized in semiconductor failure analysis. He has combined his engineering skills with his hobbies of astronomy, geology, and flying to document his explorations of impact structures on this planet. Charles is a member of the Ottawa Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada where he served as Chairperson, President and is currently Ottawa’s Past President. This presentation will feature information on various meteor craters that Charles has visited, sampled, and photographed.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: Presenting “Reason vs. Prohibition,” our guest speaker will be Craig Jones, Executive Director of The John Howard Society of Canada, a Kingston-based charitable NGO that advocates to the federal government for “effective, just and humane responses to the causes and consequences of crime.” Craig Jones is frequently consulted on criminal justice and correctional policy and is often quoted in national media on issues concerning effective crime control and optimal correctional policy. Before coming to the Society, he worked for the Faculty of Health Sciences at Queen’s University as a qualitative researcher on health policy (The Centre for Health Services and Policy Research) and managed a practice-based research network of 90 primary care doctors across eastern Ontario at the Centre for Studies in Primary Care. He has published on a range of topics including illicit drug policy and control, mental health service and delivery, regulation of self-regulating professions, and primary care research. Craig holds a doctorate in political economy from Queen’s Department of Political Studies.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, April 16th, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: We’ll play Skepardy again this month, but we’ve got a great guest speaker lined up for May. Join us for fun, frivolity, and prizes!
At April’s Skeptics in the Pub event, ASR provided a cake to celebrate Simon Singh’s not-a-loss legal entanglement with the British Chiropractic Association (they withdrew their lawsuit after Singh won his appeal). The cake was monstrous. Really, really big. It was rich and sweet and yummy. We all ate big pieces—some more than one—because the cake was really, really big. Here are some photos of us raising glasses and thumbs to Singh:
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, March 19, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: We’re taking a month off from our popular guest speakers to bring back the beloved Skepardy. Join us for fun, frivolity, and prizes!
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, February 19, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: A slightly post-Darwin Day celebration with a special guest speaker Professor Spencer C.H. Barrett. Professor Barrett received his B.Sc. from the University of Reading (UK) and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He is currently University Professor and Canada Research Chair in Evolutionary Genetics in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. He works on the reproductive biology and genetics of plants, particularly invasive species, and is an avid natural historian and plant explorer. He was elected to the Royal Societies of Canada in 1998, the Royal Society of London (U.K.) in 2004, and in 2009 he was made a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Prof. Barrett is currently President of the Canadian Society of Ecology and Evolution. More information on his publications and lab group can be found at http://labs.eeb.utoronto.ca/barrett/. Having just returned from a month in Chile visiting some of Darwin’s haunts, Prof. Barrett will speak about poorly appreciated facts about Darwin with his talk, “Darwin and flowers: the beginnings of the adaptationist program.”
The Great Time Debate
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) Auditorium, Rm. G162. 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto.
Notes: ASR is co-sponsoring this event with Centre For Inquiry Canada. Cosmologist Dick Bond, physicist Lee Smolin, and philosopher James Robert Brown will discuss/debate the nature of time, while science journalist Dan Falk (author of In Search of Time ) moderates. Topics to be touched upon: How did the universe begin? Why does time have a direction? Could the flow of time be an illusion? Is time travel possible?
The event is free for CFI members and one guest. Tickets are $7 for non-members online or by calling 416-971-5676. Members are invited to a reception following the event at CFI, 216 Beverley St. For more information and to purchase tickets click here.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, January 22, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: We don’t know how we’re going to top Professor Richard Wiseman, but I’m sure our guest speaker Steve Thoms will give it his best shot! Steve is the Editor-in-Chief of Skeptic North and Oot and Aboot with Some Canadian Skeptic. A renaissance man, Steve is an amateur astronomer, an award-winning astro-photographeris, and a professional music teacher; and he studied recorded music production, political economy, and global politics. Steve has appeared as a guest on Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe.
ASR presents Richard Wiseman
Date: Monday, January 4, 2010
Time: 12:00pm until 1:30pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: ASR is privileged to present an exclusive talk by Professor Richard Wiseman while he is in Toronto promoting his new book 59 Seconds.
British psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman started his working life as a professional magician, has a doctorate in psychology from the University of Edinburgh, and currently holds Britain’s only Professorship in the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. He has written over 60 academic articles and several books, including The Luck Factor, Quirkology, and most recently 59 Seconds. A passionate advocate for science, Professor Wiseman has established an international reputation for his research into unusual areas of psychology, including deception, luck, and the paranormal. (Over 1 million people have taken part in his mass participation experiments.)
Professor Wiseman frequently appears in the media; his research has been featured on over 150 television programmes, including Horizon (BBC), Body Shock (Channel 4), 20/20 (ABC), and Dateline (NBC). He is regularly heard on BBC Radio 4, and articles about his work have appeared in The Times, The Daily Telegraph, and The Guardian. A recent poll revealed that Professor Wiseman is the psychologist most frequently quoted in the British media. He has been invited to speak at The Royal Society, Microsoft, Caltech, and The Royal Institution, and his YouTube channel has received over 8 million views.
Professor Wiseman was the recipient of The CSICOP Public Education In Science Award in 2000 and the Joseph Lister Award For Social Science in 2002. In 2004 he was awarded a NESTA DreamTime Fellowship for his innovative work in science communication, and in 2005 served as President of the General Section of The British Association for the Advancement of Science.
59 Seconds exposes modern-day mind myths promoted by the self-help industry and describes hundreds of techniques that help people achieve in minutes, not months. Most people would like to be more creative, more persuasive, and more attractive. For years, gurus and ‘life coaches’ have urged people to improve their lives by changing the way they think and behave, but scientific research has revealed that many of their techniques, from group brainstorming to visualization, are ineffective. Fortunately Richard Wiseman is on hand to provide fast-acting, myth-busting scientific answers to a huge range of everyday problems. From job-hunting to relationships, and from parenting to self-esteem, personal and professional success may be less than a minute away.
http://59seconds.wordpress.com/
www.quirkology.com/USA/index.shtml
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, December 18, 2009
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes:
In honour of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference this month, we are happy to have Professor Danny Harvey of the University of Toronto speaking about climate change. Professor Harvey is an expert on climate modelling, climatic change, and energy and environment. He has written the books A Handbook on Low-Energy Buildings and District Energy Systems and Global Warming: The Hard Science, as well as various research papers. His latest book is Energy and the New Reality, Volume 1 (Energy Efficiency) and Volume 2 will be out in the spring of 2010. For more information: http://faculty.geog.utoronto.ca/Harvey/Harvey/publications.htm#pub.
ACTION: Natural Health Products Symposium @ University of Toronto
Date: Sunday, November 29, 2009
Time: 8:00am (or whenever you can make it)
Location:
Meet at the northwest corner of University and College @ 8am, or show up any time at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, 144 College St.
Notes:
The Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto is holding a Natural Health Products Symposium. Two of the sponsors are companies that produce homeopathic preparations, so pseudoscience is likely to be in the air. Association for Science and Reason would like your help to let them know that we oppose their quackery. Please join us to hand out brochures and carry signs—put your skepticism into action! For more information on the symposium, click the following link: http://www.pharmacygateway.ca/microsite/nhp/index.html.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, November 20, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: This month there will be no Skepardy, but for good reason—we’ve got two great presentations for you: Umer Noor, who has a PhD in particle physics, will give a brief talk on (and demonstration of!) the Large Hadron Collider, which will have just become operational again. Also, November is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, so David Bailey will also give a brief talk on evolution myths and misinformation. Please join us for food, drinks, conversation, and merriment. Bring friends.
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, October 16, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: Toronto’s, first Skeptics in the Pub (SiP) in September was a huge success! Members and friends, old and new, packed the venue nearly to capacity and everyone enjoyed our ‘patented’ Skepardy game. Thank you so much for joining us, and please come to the next SiP on October 16th—if only to see our new and improved Skepardy!
Toronto Skeptics in the Pub
Date: Friday, September 18, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fox & Fiddle, 27 Wellesley St., 3rd floor (across from Wellesley station).
Notes: Join us at Toronto’s first Skeptics in the Pub (SiP) for food, drinks, and conversation.