Saturday, December 08, 2012

Dec 8 - Walter F. Rowe, PhD - It Came From the Genetics Lab: DNA, the Monster That Ate Forensic Science


Saturday, Dec 8, 2012, 1:30 pm
National Science Foundation
Room 110
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA [map]

In the 1980s all was serene in the field of forensic science. Fingerprinting and dental records were the accepted methods of personal identification. Forensic serologists could identify a number of genetic markers in dried blood and body fluids. The identification sciences (questioned documents, firearm and tool mark identification, shoe and tire track identification) were readily accepted by courts. Few scientists envisioned that it would be possible to isolate human DNA from dried stains that were months or years old. However, within less than a quarter of a century forensic DNA profiling had become the gold standard against which all
other forensic disciplines are measured (and not always to their benefit).

This talk will examine the current state of forensic DNA profiling and ongoing research in this area. It will also explore the profound impact of DNA profiling on the criminal justice system, crime scene processing, the criminal investigative process and other branches of forensic science. The talk will also address some myths about DNA profiling and the personal information that it supposedly discloses.

FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members.
Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Shadow of a Doubt - December 2012


The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics

  • NCAS Public Lecture Series - It Came From the Genetics Lab: DNA, the Monster That Ate Forensic Science - Walter F. Rowe, PhD
  • Paul Kurtz (1925-2012)
  • January NCAS Lecture
  • Torn From Today's Headlines by Scott Snell - The End is Near...
  • ...and a Year-End Roundup
  • "World Won't End in 2012" Lifetime Membership!
  • Artpocalypse 2012

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Nov 10 - Marc Kaufman - Life Beyond Earth: The Search is On, and the Results are Tantalizing

Saturday, Nov 10, 2012, 1:30 pm
National Science Foundation
Room 110
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA [map]

Since the earliest days, humans have looked up to the skies and thought they saw life. It may have been in the form of gods and angels, djinns and flying saucers, but virtually all societies have projected life onto the heavens.

Those understandings were grounded in belief, but now science is taking the search for extraterrestrial life to a new level. The science of astrobiology is booming, and scientists from disciplines ranging from microbiology to chemistry, astronomy to cosmology are involved in what some have called the biggest scientific prize (and challenge) of the century.

Marc Kaufman, a science writer for The Washington Post, will explore the many ways that researchers are trying to understand what life beyond Earth might be like, where it might be found, how it might be found, and whether intelligent life is even possible (likely?).

Kaufman is currently researching his upcoming National Geographic book, covering the first year and a half of the travels of the Mars rover Curiosity. His most recent book, First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth, will be available for sale and signing after the lecture.


FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members.
Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Shadow of a Doubt - November 2012


The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics

  • NCAS Public Lecture Series - Life Beyond Earth: The Search is On, and the Results are Tantalizing - Marc Kaufman
  • Torn From Today's Headlines By Scott Snell - Who Will be the Next US President?  Look Not to the Crystal Ball or Tea Leaves, but to the Redskins Box Score
  • "World Won't End in 2012" Lifetime Membership!
  • Artpocalypse 2012
  • Drinking Skeptically, now in MD and  VA! - Wednesday, November 14

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Oct 13 - John B. Carlson - 2012 Apocalypse and the Maya Calendar

Saturday, Oct 13, 2012, 1:30pm
Bethesda Regional Library
7400 Arlington Rd Bethesda, MD [map]

What started the torrent of books, magazine articles, television documentaries, and web sites claiming that the world will end on December 21, 2012? (Peter Gersten of Arizona goes so far as to say that he's going to jump off of a cliff in Sedona that day, enter a portal to the Galactic center, and "[neutralize] the silicon-based memetic virus that has corrupted this simulation.") How did this "mash-up" of the Maya calendar and astronomical events (or non-events) come about?

Archaeoastronomer John B. Carlson, Ph.D. will discuss the "2012 Phenomenon," separate fact from fiction about the Maya calendar, and critically examine the apocalypse claims.

Dr. Carlson is Director of the Center for Archaeoastronomy and Senior Lecturer at University Honors College, University of Maryland, College Park. He is also editor of the journal Archaeoastronomy.

Volume XXIV of the journal is a special issue devoted to "The Maya Calendar and 2012 Phenomenon Studies." Information on obtaining individual copies of the issue will be available at the event.

FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members. Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

Free limited parking is available. The Bethesda Library is Metro accessible.

Sunday, October 07, 2012

Shadow of a Doubt - October 2012

The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
  • NCAS Public Lecture Series - 2012 Apocalypse and the Maya Calendar, John B. Carlson, Ph.D.
  • Annual Meeting of the Membership
  • James Randi at University of Maryland!
  • "World Won't End in 2012" Lifetime Membership!
  • November NCAS Lecture
  • CSICon 2012
  • Shadow Light
  • Drinking Skeptically - October 10
  • New Postal Address

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Sept 15 - Steve Gimbel - Einstein's Jewish Science? Looking at Physics, Politics, and Religion

Saturday, Sept 15, 2012, 1:30pm
Bethesda Regional Library
7400 Arlington Rd Bethesda, MD [map]

Presented by Steve Gimbel, Chair, Department of Philosophy, Gettysburg College

Between the world wars, Nazi sympathizers tried to denigrate the theory of relativity by calling it "Jewish science." The Nazis, of course, were wrong. The notion of "religious science" usually brings to mind creationism, but our two best theories of gravitation before Einstein, those of Rene Descartes and Isaac Newton, bore indelible marks of their founders' theology. How did science change in the time leading up to Einstein to remove theological influence from physics?

Dr. Steve Gimbel is author of Einstein's Jewish Science: Physics at the Intersection of Politics and Religion and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Edwin T. and Cynthia Shearer Johnson Chair for Distinguished Teaching in the Humanities at Gettysburg College.

FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members. Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

Free limited parking is available. The Bethesda Library is Metro accessible.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Shadow of a Doubt - September 2012

The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
  • NCAS Public Lecture Series: Einstein's Jewish Science?: Looking at Physics, Politics, and Religion - Steve Gimbel
  • SkeptiCamp DC 2012
  • October NCAS Lecture
  • "World Won't End in 2012" Lifetime Membership!
  • November NCAS Lecture
  • CSICon 2012
  • Torn From Today's Headlines by Scott Snell - Psychic Hunts UFOs and Dinosaur Tracks
  • Shadow Light
  • Drinking Skeptically
  • New Postal Address

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Wed Aug 7th, 7pm - Drinking Skeptically with NCAS in MD and VA


Drinking Skeptically in MD & Now also No. VA !
2d Wednesday Each Month - 7:00 p.m

Jackie’s Restaurant (map)
Join us in the Sidebar
8081 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD

The Front Page (map)
4201 Wilson BLVD
Arlington, VA 22203

Visit and Join the NCAS MeetUp.com

Sunday, June 10, 2012

NCAS 25th Anniversary!

NCAS Turns 25 this year!
Join us at our big shindig!

Sunday, June 10, 2012
1 to 5:30 PM
Fenton Room, Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza

Full details and registration can be found here.
Only 65 seats available, so don’t delay!

Friday, May 25, 2012

NCAS at Balticon

The Maryland Regional Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention, otherwise known as Balticon, will take place Memorial Day Weekend May 25-28, 2012 at the Marriott Hunt Valley Inn. In addition to lots of Sci-Fi and Fantasy related events, Balticon has an extensive science track. Among the speakers this year is Dr. William D. Phillips, Jt Quantum Institute, Laureate, Nobel Prize in Physics for 1997. Complete details can be found here.

And just as we did last year, NCAS will be presenting four speakers as part of Balticon’s Skeptical Thinking track.

This year’s speakers are:

Open Wide!...or Should You? Frauds, Fallacies, and Misinformation in the Dental World."
Friday, 4:00 PM
Presenter: Michael Cornett 
Why does dentistry still seem so medieval? What about all those claims on the products at the drugstore? Are all those procedures advertised worth the money? Will my teeth really fall out because I forgot to brush once when I was twelve? There’s lots of questions about dentistry that people have, and this talk will address some of them, ranging from claims made by over-the-counter products to practices of quack dentists to whether your teeth really impact your overall health.

The UFO Invasion of Washington DC 
Sunday, 9:00 AM
Presenter: Bruce Press
It is the Summer of 1952. We are still at war in Korea. Harry Truman is President. The Cold War is in full swing and the world's eyes turn to Helsinki, Finland for the Summer Olympic Games which delivers both athletic and political drama. Here at home, the Air Force is on a round-theclock "Shoot Down" alert for UFO's and papers are running headlines like "SAUCERS SWARM OVER CAPITAL". This could be the most intriguing alternative history story you ever read, but IT REALLY HAPPENED. Join Bruce Press of the National Capital Area Skeptics (NCAS) and Independent Investigations Group Washington, DC affiliate (IIG-DC) as we re-discover the history and hype of this amazing event.

Question False Truths in Astronomy 
Sunday, 6:00 PM
Presenter: Pamela Gay
Astronomer Pamela Gay discusses the some of the false information we might encounter in popular astronomy information.

Top 10 Scams, Cons and Pseudoscience of 2012 
Monday, 9:00 AM
Presenter: Marv Zelkowitz:
Power balance? Climate change? Vaccine fraud? Phishing? Millions of dollars owed to you from Nigeria? It’s a dangerous world out there. What should you be aware of and how can you protect yourself?

Registration is required to attend Balticon.  Register at http://balticon.org/registration.html

Saturday, May 12, 2012

May 12 - Jamila Bey - 2012 and the Faithless

Saturday, May 12, 2012, 1:30pm
Bethesda Regional Library
7400 Arlington Rd Bethesda, MD [map]

From doomsday predictions and reprimanded nuns to women's health and the faith of those in power, the year 2012 is shaping up to be one filled with myriad conflicts over religious faith. DC-based journalist Jamila Bey will discuss why skepticism and reason need not be subject to the whims of warring beliefs, and what impact all of the discussion and arguments may have upon the presidential election this fall.

Jamila Bey is a journalist based in Washington, DC, where she hosts the weekly radio show The Sex, Politics And Religion Hour: SPAR With Jamila which airs on AM 1390 in Washington and AM 1430 in New York City. She also writes for the Washington Post blog, She the People.

Jamila served a decade-long stint as a producer and editor at National Public Radio working for shows including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Tell Me More with Michel Martin, and Talk of the Nation. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The New Humanist of London, Jazz Times Magazine and WebMD as well as on The Today Show and radio stations around the country.

A sought-after speaker and writer, Jamila’s areas of expertise include health and family policy, and all issues concerning the First Amendment. She particularly enjoys reporting on issues concerning religion and the separation of church and state.

A stand-up comedienne, Jamila says she enjoys the stage because it’s a cheaper hobby than scrapbooking. Her first book about the role of religion in the lives of African-American women is to be completed in fall 2012.

FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members. Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

Parking is free at the Bethesda Library. However, there is a large arts festival taking place the same day a few blocks away. This may impact the availability of spaces in the library’s parking lot. The Bethesda Library is easily accessible from the Bethesda Metro stop. There is also parking in the garage located on Bethesda Avenue near the intersection with Arlington Road.

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Shadow of a Doubt - May 2012

The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
  • NCAS Public Lecture Series: 2012 and the Faithless - Jamila Bey
  • NCAS Presents the 2012 Philip J. Klass Award and Celebrates 25 Years
  • Revised Bylaws Adopted, New Board Members Elected, Officers Chosen
  • Torn From Today's Headlines By Scott Snell - Venus Gets a Bum Rap (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Its Shadow)
  • Shadow Light
  • Drinking Skeptically - May 9

Saturday, April 14, 2012

April 14 - Frederick L. Joutz - Forecasting vs. Fortune Telling

Saturday, April 14, 2012, 1:30pm
Bethesda Regional Library
7400 Arlington Rd
Bethesda, MD [map]

(Slides from Talk)

How is scientific forecasting different from reading tea leaves? How well do economic forecasts perform, and why should we feel more confident in them than in psychic predictions? Frederick L. Joutz will describe the scope of modern forecasting, and the tools and assumptions economists use in making forecasts in the Federal government. Dr. Joutz will discuss how well these forecasts perform and how much confidence we should place in them.

Dr. Joutz’s primary research is in economic modeling and forecasting. He contributes quarterly forecasts of nearly 25 U.S. macroeconomic variables to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Survey of Professional Forecasters (formerly the National Bureau of Economic Research / American Statistical Association Quarterly Outlook) and the Economic Survey International, ESI by the Center for Economic Studies and the Ifo Institute (CESifo Group). In addition, he has been an associate editor of Energy Economics and the International Journal of Forecasting. He has served as an economic consultant and technical expert to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and several federal government agencies, the International Monetary Fund, and private corporations. Dr. Joutz is also a Senior Fellow of the U.S. Energy Economics Association. He is a professor in the Department of Economics at The George Washington University.

This event is free and open to the public, so bring your friends!
The talk will be followed by refreshments and social time.

Sunday, April 01, 2012

Shadow of a Doubt - April 2012

The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics

  • NCAS Public Lecture Series: Frederick L. Joutz - Forecasting vs. Fortune Telling - April 14
  • NCAS 25th Anniversary - Save the Date! Sunday, June 10
  • NCAS Board Elections - Return ballots by April 30
  • Next Board Meeting Monday, April 16
  • Torn From Today's Headlines by Scott Snell - The GSA Scandal's "Mind Reader"
  • Torn From Today's Headlines - An Open Letter to Channel 7 and 9
  • Shadow Light
  • Drinking Skeptically - April 11th

Saturday, March 31, 2012

NCAS to participate in the Washington Academy of Science CapSci12

During the weekend of March 31-April 1, the Washington Academy of Science (WAS) is sponsoring the 5th Capital Science weekend in Arlington VA. Most affiliate organizations of the WAS are presenting talks in their specialty. As an affiliate of the WAS, NCAS is presenting 3 talks on Sunday, April 1 from 2-5pm:
- 2pm: Vaccines and autism - Prof. Marvin Zelkowitz, Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland
- 3pm: CSI Skeptic - Prof. Walter Rowe, Department of Forensic Sciences
- 4pm: Top Scams of the Year - Prof. Marvin Zelkowitz, Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland

Registration for NCAS members is $50 for the weekend; $100 for non-WAS affiliates. With 22 affiliate organizations presenting about 75 lectures, it should be a interesting, enjoyable and informative weekend. For further details and the full schedule of talks go to: http://www.washacadsci.org/capsci12/body.htm

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Wed March 14th, 7pm Drinking Skeptically with NCAS in MD and VA


Drinking Skeptically in MD & Now also No. VA !
2d Wednesday Each Month - 7:00 p.m

Jackie’s Restaurant (map)
Join us in the Sidebar
8081 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD

The Front Page (map)
4201 Wilson BLVD
Arlington, VA 22203

Visit and Join the NCAS MeetUp.com

Saturday, March 10, 2012

March 10 - Ann Merchant - The Science and Entertainment Exchange


Saturday, March 10, 2012, 1:30pm
National Science Foundation
Room 110
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA [map]

Ann Merchant (Deputy Executive Director for Communications for The National Academies) will discuss The Science & Entertainment Exchange (“The Exchange”), a program she oversees for the National Academy of Sciences that connects entertainment industry professionals with top scientists and engineers to create a synergy between accurate science and engaging story lines in both film and TV programming. From a quick fact check to a special briefing, The Exchange provides quick and easy access to experts from all the scientific disciplines. The goal of The Exchange is to use the vehicle of popular entertainment media to deliver sometimes subtle, but nevertheless powerful, messages about science.

FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members.
Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

Facebook event
Meetup event

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Shadow of a Doubt - March 2012

The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
  • March 10 - Ann Merchant -  The Science & Entertainment Exchange
  • Happy 25th Birthday, NCAS!
  • NCAS to Participate in The Washington Academy of Sciences' Capital Science 2012
  • Walter Rowe at Library of Congress on March 13
  • Lawrence Krauss at UMD on March 26
  • NCAS Board Elections
  • Torn From Today's Headlines by Scott Snell - For the Birds: Is a "Flockalypse" a Sign of the Apocalypse?
  • Shadow Light
  • Drinking Skeptically - March 14th

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Feb 11 - Brian Engler - Measuring Mythology

Saturday, February 11, 2012, 1:30pm
National Science Foundation
Room 110
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA [map]

(Slides from Talk)

Brian Engler will discuss the research underpinning his paper “Measuring Mythology: Startling Concepts in NCCAM Grants” co-authored by Eugenie V. Mielczarek and recently published in the January/February 2012 issue of Skeptical Inquirer magazine. Over the past decade and more, huge annual expenditures by the U.S. citizenry fed by an increasing interest in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) prompted this research into U.S. taxpayer funding of so-called alternative medicine. Extensive review of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants for CAM studies—that were principally funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) but also significantly augmented by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and many other NIH Centers and Institutes—and of ensuing clinical trials that displayed a paucity of reporting, steered the authors toward their conclusion:

"Ignorance of science, the lack of publications in peer reviewed medical or science journals and the failure to report clinical trials in scientific medical journals have demonstrated the failure, despite the expenditure of $2 billion taxpayer dollars over nearly 20 years, to confirm cures based not on scientific evidence but rather on cultural mythology."

Brian D. Engler is a retired US Navy Commander; his fields of study are operations research and business administration. Eugenie V. Mielczarek is emeritus professor of physics at George Mason University.

FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members.
Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

Facebook event
Meetup event

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Wed Feb 8th, 7 pm Drinking Skeptically with NCAS in MD & VA


Drinking Skeptically in MD & Now also No. VA !
2d Wednesday Each Month - 7:00 p.m

Jackie’s Restaurant (map)
Join us in the Sidebar
8081 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD

Chevy's Fresh Mex
4238 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA (Ballston Common Mall)
Just two blocks from the Ballston Metro station.

Visit and Join the NCAS MeetUp.com

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Shadow of a Doubt - February 2012

The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
  • Feb 11th - Brian Engler - Measuring Mythology
  • March Lecture:  Ann Merchant - The Science & Entertainment Exchange
  • January Lecture Redux -  Lawrence Krauss
  • Torn From Today's Headlines by Scott Snell - Nowhere to Hide: Looking for an Apollo Moon Landings Hoax–from Inside NASA (Addendum)
  • Shadow Light
  • Drinking Skeptically - Feb 8th

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Jan 14 - Lawrence Krauss - A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing

Saturday, January 14, 2012, 1:30pm
National Science Foundation
Room 110
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA [map]

Where did the universe come from? What was there before it? What will the future bring? And why is there something rather than nothing?

Lawrence Krauss’s provocative answers to these and other timeless questions in a wildly popular lecture now on YouTube have attracted almost a million viewers. The last of these questions in particular has been at the center of religious and philosophical debates about the existence of God, and it’s the supposed counterargument to anyone who questions the need for God. As Krauss argues, scientists have, however, historically focused on other, more pressing issues—such as figuring out how the universe actually functions, which can ultimately help us to improve the quality of our lives. In his new book, a cosmological story that rivets as it enlightens, pioneering theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss explains the groundbreaking new scientific advances that turn the most basic philosophical questions on their heads.

Lawrence M. Krauss, a renowned cosmologist and popularizer of modern science, is director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University.  Hailed by Scientific American as a rare public intellectual, he is the author of more than three hundred scientific publications and 8 books, including the bestselling The Physics of Star Trek, and the recipient of numerous international awards for his research and writing.  He is an internationally known theoretical physicist with wide research interests, including the interface between elementary particle physics and cosmology, where his studies include the early universe, the nature of dark matter, general relativity and neutrino astrophysics. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from MIT in 1982 and then joined the Harvard Society of Fellows. In 1985 he joined the faculty of Physics at Yale University, departing in 1993 to become Chairman of the Physics Department at Case Western Reserve University until 2005.  In 2008, he joined the faculty at Arizona State University. Krauss is also one of the few prominent scientists today to have actively crossed the chasm between science and popular culture, for example, performing solo with the Cleveland Orchestra, narrating Gustav Holst’s The Planets at the Blossom Music Center in the most highly attended concert at that venue, and receiving a Grammy nomination for his liner notes for a Telarc CD of music from Star Trek.


FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members.
Refreshments and socializing after the talk.



Sunday, January 01, 2012

Shadow of a Doubt - January 2012

The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
  • January 14 - Lawrence Krauss: A Universe from Nothing
  • February Lecture:  Measuring Mythology: Startling Concepts in NCCAM Grants
  • Prez Sez
  • Torn From Today's Headlines: Nowhere to Hide: Looking for an Apollo Moon Landings Hoax–from Inside NASA (Part 2)
  • From Readers
  • Shadow Light
  • Drinking Skeptically