Sept 25 - The Science of Divination: What they DON'T Teach at Hogwarts

presented by Michael Blanford, Director of Educational Programs, JREF

How do you tell the best place to dig a well?
Or locate utility pipes under the pavement?
Or even detect hidden explosives?

For hundreds of years, rural water witches and their urban counterparts have used pendulums and dowsing rods to seek knowledge, resources, and treasure. What are they doing and why does it sometimes seem to work?

This 3-hour workshop is a comprehensive hands-on program covering the history, current application, and construction of divination devices, presented from a skeptical perspective, and featuring the research of James Randi on the topic. The workshop will emphasize how paranormal beliefs like dowsing are not trivial and have real-world implications. Participants will make both pendulums and dowsing rods and will devise randomized, double-blinded trials to test their effectiveness. All tools, materials, and handouts are included in the registration fee.

Event Date: Sunday, September 25, 2011
Time: 1:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Location:
University of Maryland, College Park Campus
Stamp Student Union, Jiménez Room
(on the right of the intersection between Campus Dr. and Union Ln.)
Provided: All materials, tools, handouts, light refreshments
Fee: Free for JREF members, NCAS members, SOI members, and students (with i.d.) ▬ $10 for everyone else
Registration: http://tinyurl.com/dowsingworkshop

Early registration strongly encouraged
For more information, call the 24-hour NCAS
Skeptic Line recording at 301-587-3827
ncas@ncas.org

presented by
Society of Inquiry at UMD,
James Randi Educational Foundation,
National Capital Area Skeptics

Shadow of a Doubt - September 2011

The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics

• SkeptiCamp DC 2011
• ABC News - "Beyond Belief: Psychic Power"
• October NCAS Lecture: Humans to Mars: How and Why.
• New Board Member Elected, Officers Chosen
• Shadow Light
• Drinking Skeptically

Sept 10 - Why You Should Be Skeptical of the Media's Medical Reporting, Dr. John Cmar

Saturday, September 10, 1:30pm - 4:00pm
Bethesda Regional Library
7400 Arlington Rd
Bethesda, MD [map]

One of the greatest disservices that the current trend of sensationalist, opinion-based media "reporting" does is to misinform the public about medical matters. It's one thing to distinguish evidence-based medicine from science-based medicine, and another that the news media often doesn't seem to care about either. We'll discuss specific examples of how news reporting on medical science can get things both right and wrong, and possible ways the non-medically trained public can skeptically approach medical news stories to tease out the truth.

Bio: John Cmar, MD, has been long enthralled with horrible infections that could spell doom for humankind, as well as sanity and skepticism in the practice of medicine. He is currently an Instructor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and the Assistant Director of Infectious Diseases at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. In his role as Associate Program Director for the Johns Hopkins Internal Medicine residency program at Sinai, he teaches an annual course series in Evidence-Based Medicine, among many other duties. He also does Infectious Diseases outreach in Baltimore television and print media. John is a science fiction and fantasy fan, avid gamer, and podcast enthusiast. He currently blogs and podcasts on skeptical, medical, and geeky topics on The Secret Lair.

The Bethesda Regional Library has free parking on Saturdays. It is also located about 2 blocks from the Bethesda Metro.

Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

Facebook event notice.
Meetup event notice.

Lake Boat Night in Falls Church (No Arlington DS this month)

We have a special treat planned in place of our regular Arlington Drinking Skeptically Meetup in Aug. This night we will meet at Curtis Haymore's house for a cruise around Lake Barcroft. You may not have heard, but there is a lake near Bailey's Crossroads with 5 white sand beaches and lifeguards, and the water is swimmable too. The brave at heart should bring swimsuits, everyone else can just the enjoy the breezes and views. It is outside, but the bugs don't stray from shore, so it is a bug-free experience too. Curtis will provide fluid refreshments, and it would be nice of guests to bring some light food items to share. Nothing fancy -- this is very informal (and fun).

This is not on a metro stop, but we will try to work out transportation for all who are interested. Please let Curtis know if you are coming and if you need a ride or could offer a ride! Post a note here and he will be in touch directly.

IT WILL BE NECESSARY TO RSVP IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE DIRECTIONS TO CURTIS' HOUSE.

Link to facebook event notice.
Link to meetup.com event notice.

Guest Speaker: Professor Christopher French

Drinking Skeptically

Guest Speaker: Professor Christopher French

Wednesday, August 3rd, 7:00 p.m

Jackie’s Restaurant

8081 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD (map)

We are having our Silver Spring Drinking Skeptically one week early in August. Why? Because we're going to have a special guest speaker! Professor Christopher French will be presenting "Weird Science: An Introduction to Anomalistic Psychology". This promises to be an enjoyable evening of learning and socializing. We hope that some of our DC and Virginia skeptics will make the trek to Silver Spring for this event!

Here is a summary of the talk, as well as a bio for Professor French:

The Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit (APRU) was set up by Professor Chris French in 2000 in the Department of Psychology at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Anomalistic psychology may be defined as the study of extraordinary phenomena of behaviour and experience, including (but not restricted to) those that are often labeled "paranormal". Over the last decade, members of the APRU have investigated a wide range of weird and wonderful topics, including alien contact experiences, sleep paralysis, haunted houses, dowsing, and telepathy. Many paranormal claims have been scientifically tested under properly controlled conditions along the way. This overview will present some of the results of such investigations.

Professor Chris French is the Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, as well as being a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association and a member of the Scientific and Professional Advisory Board of the British False Memory Society. He has published over 100 articles and chapters covering a wide range of topics within psychology. His main current area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. He frequently appears on radio and television casting a sceptical eye over paranormal claims, as well as writing for the Guardian's online science pages. For more than a decade, he edited The Skeptic and his latest book, co-edited with Wendy Grossman, is Why Statues Weep: The Best of The Skeptic (London: The Philosophy Press).