February 17 - Champions of Illusion The Science Behind Mind-Boggling Images and Mystifying Brain Puzzles

Presented by Susana Martinez-Conde
and Stephen Macknik 

State University of New York 
Downstate Medical Center

Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik have studied the neuroscience of sensory and cognitive illusions in their laboratories for almost two decades, and promoted those illusions to general audiences as an exciting and spectacular tool to confront our wider misperceptions and sharpen our critical thinking skills in our so-called ‘post-truth’ era.

In Champions of Illusion, Profs. Martinez-Conde and Macknik present a smorgasbord of mystifying images, many selected from their Best Illusion of the Year Contest. If you have ever found yourself face-to-face with an utterly bewildering illusion, you know the powerful effect such images have on the mind. The question we often ask ourselves is, How is that possible? Martinez-Conde and Macknik, who study the intersection of neuroscience, illusions, and stage magic, explain just why we think we see the things we see.


The Best Illusion of the Year Contest draws entries from vision scientists, artists, magicians, and mathematicians. Champions of Illusion features the contest’s most bizarre effects and unbelievable mind tricks, along with classic illusions and illuminating descriptions of what is actually going on in your brain when you are deceived by visuals on the page. Champions of Illusion is an electrifying mix of science and magic that you will not soon forget.


Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik are award-winning neuroscientists and professors at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center. They are the authors of the international bestseller Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals About Our Everyday Deceptions, and have written for publications such as Scientific American, The New York Times, The Sunday Times (London), and How It Works. Their Scientific American contributions include three special editions of Scientific American: Mind dedicated to their work. Their research has been covered by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, NPR, PBS's NOVA, and more. They produce the Best Illusion of the Year Contest. They live in Brooklyn.

Saturday, February 17, 2018
1:30 pm

Argosy University
1550 Wilson Blvd.
Suite 712
Arlington, VA

Near Rosslyn Metro. Parking garage accessible from N. Pierce Street. There is controlled building access so please arrive on time.

FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

Shadow of a Doubt - January 2018

The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics

• January 20 lecture - Sharon A. Hill - Scientifical Americans: Paranormal Researchers and the Public Understanding of Science 
• February 17 lecture - Neuroscientists Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik will discuss their new book, Champions of Illusion
• Torn from Today's Headlines: UFOs
• AmazonSmile: Thanks to our members who are supporting NCAS!
• Shadow Light
• Member renewals

NCAS Public Lecture Series

Scientifical Americans:
Paranormal Researchers and the Public Understanding of Science

Sharon A. Hill
Author

Saturday, January 20, 1:30pm - 4:00pm
Chevy Chase Library
Downstairs Meeting Room
8005 Connecticut Ave
Chevy Chase, MD [map] [directions]
FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members
In the 21st century, reality television and the Internet have fed public interest in ghosts, UFOs, cryptozoology and other unusual phenomena. By 2010, roughly two thousand amateur research and investigation groups formed in the U.S. – ghost hunters, Bigfoot chasers, and UFO researchers, using an array of (supposedly) scientific equipment and methods with an aim of proving the existence of the paranormal. American culture’s honorific regard for science, coupled with the public’s unfamiliarity with scientific methods, created a niche for self-styled paranormal experts to achieve a measure of respect and authority without scientific training or credentials. These groups of amateurs serve as a surrogate for scientists in examining strange claims. And, they provide a unique lens by which we can examine the wider public understanding of science and research.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN2xTSbkGBM

Sharon A. Hill is an advocate for science appreciation, critical thinking, and evidence-based inquiry, specializing in pop culture discourse on ghosts, monsters, mysteries, anomalies, and oddities. She is the creator of DoubtfulNews.com, SpookyGeology.com, and the host of the podcast 15 Credibility Street. She has degrees in Geosciences and Education with a focus on science and the public. Her personal website is SharonAHill.com.

Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

http://www.ncas.org/2017/12/january-20-scientifical-americans.html

February NCAS Lecture

Neuroscientists Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik will discuss their new book, Champions of Illusion: The Science Behind Mind-Boggling Images and Mystifying Brain Puzzles.  Saturday, February 17 at 1:30 PM at Argosy University, 1550 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 712, Arlington, VA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3diwcnPdWk

January 20 - Scientifical Americans: Paranormal Researchers and the Public Understanding of Science

Presented by Sharon A. Hill, Author

In the 21st century, reality television and the Internet have fed public interest in ghosts, UFOs, cryptozoology and other unusual phenomena. By 2010, roughly two thousand amateur research and investigation groups formed in the U.S. – ghost hunters, Bigfoot chasers, and UFO researchers, using an array of (supposedly) scientific equipment and methods with an aim of proving the existence of the paranormal. American culture’s honorific regard for science, coupled with the public’s unfamiliarity with scientific methods, created a niche for self-styled paranormal experts to achieve a measure of respect and authority without scientific training or credentials. These groups of amateurs serve as a surrogate for scientists in examining strange claims. And, they provide a unique lens by which we can examine the wider public understanding of science and research. 

Sharon A. Hill is an advocate for science appreciation, critical thinking, and evidence-based inquiry, specializing in pop culture discourse on ghosts, monsters, mysteries, anomalies, and oddities. She is the creator of DoubtfulNews.com, SpookyGeology.com, and the host of the podcast 15 Credibility Street. She has degrees in Geosciences and Education with a focus on science and the public. Her personal website is SharonAHill.com.

Saturday, January 20, 2018
1:30 pm
Chevy Chase Library
8005 Connecticut Avenue
Chevy Chase, MD
FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

Shadow of a Doubt - December 2017

The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics

• December 9 lecture - P. Andrew Torrez - Skepticism and the Law Or, How to Earn Billions With Your Birth Certificate AND Make Bernie Sanders President Using this ONE WEIRD TRICK
• January 20 lecture - Sharon Hill
• Something more to celebrate
• AmazonSmile: Thanks to our members who are supporting NCAS!
• Shadow Light
• Member renewals

NCAS Public Lecture Series

Skepticism and the Law
Or, How to Earn Billions With Your Birth Certificate
AND Make Bernie Sanders President
Using this ONE WEIRD TRICK

 

P. Andrew Torrez
Law Offices of P. Andrew Torrez

Saturday, December 9, 1:30pm - 4:00pm
Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center
2nd Floor (West Room)
4805 Edgemoor Lane
Bethesda, MD [map] [directions]
FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

Skeptics are well-versed in applying the tools of critical thinking to a variety of claims we see in everyday life, from quack medicine to religion to agriculture. But for some reason, skeptics tend to have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to equally preposterous claims about the law. As the co-host of the popular Opening Arguments podcast, Andrew Torrez shares some of the most preposterous and unbelievable real-life questions that he's gotten from skeptics just like you about the law. Is there really a shadowy cabal of international bankers to whom your entire life has been pledged as collateral from birth? Did a watchdog group really file a petition before the Supreme Court to undo the 2016 Presidential Election? Do criminals frequently escape justice due to technicalities? This talk will equip you with the tools to help separate legal fact from legal fiction -- without having to earn a law degree of your own.

After nearly 20 years in big firms, P. Andrew Torrez founded his own law firm in 2015 to serve start-up and small businesses in Maryland and the District of Columbia. In 2016, he started the podcast Opening Arguments to explain legal concepts in the news to non-lawyers; today, the show is one of the most popular news & politics podcasts with nearly 2.5 million downloads to date.  Andrew Torrez is a 1997 graduate of Harvard Law School with honors, is a member of the Board of Governors of the Maryland chapter of the Federal Bar Association, has been named a Fellow of the American Bar Association, and has been repeatedly honored as one of Maryland's top lawyers by Benchmark since 2011.

Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

http://www.ncas.org/2017/11/december-9-skepticism-and-law-or-how-to.html


January NCAS Lecture

Our speaker, topic, and location will be announced at the December lecture.  Saturday, January 20 at 1:30 PM.


Something More to Celebrate

Among all the holiday celebrations this year, take time to lift a glass on December 21, marking the 5th anniversary of yet another end-of-times prediction gone wrong, the "Mayan apocalypse."  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon


AmazonSmile: Thanks to our members who are supporting NCAS!

When holiday shopping at smile.amazon.com, you'll find the same low prices, vast selection, and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that a portion of the purchase price (0.5%) goes to NCAS! It's simple and automatic, and it doesn't cost you anything!

AmazonSmile's disbursements to NCAS in the third quarter of 2017 came to $27.55, meaning that over $5500 of purchases were designated in support of NCAS.  (As an example of how NCAS can put that money to good use, it's more than enough to cover an hour of a Montgomery County lecture room rental.)

Thanks again to our members who have chosen to support NCAS!

For more information:
http://smile.amazon.com/about
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1870185


Shadow Light

Some members and contacts of NCAS receive a postal notification of this and every new monthly Shadow of a Doubt.  The Shadow Light postcard announces the monthly lecture and highlights of the electronic Shadow of a Doubt, which is available online at ncas.org/shadow.  NCAS thereby reduces Shadow production and postage costs.  To further reduce costs, members and contacts can opt out of postal notification altogether, while continuing to receive Shadow of a Doubt via e-mail.  To opt out, send us an e-mail at ncas@ncas.org.


Time to Renew?

 
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org.  Use the online membership form to renew.
http://ncas.org/shadow

December 9 - Skepticism and the Law: Or, How to Earn Billions With Your Birth Certificate AND Make Bernie Sanders President Using this ONE WEIRD TRICK

Presented by P. Andrew Torrez

Skeptics are well-versed in applying the tools of critical thinking to a variety of claims we see in everyday life, from quack medicine to religion to agriculture. But for some reason, skeptics tend to have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to equally preposterous claims about the law. As the co-host of the popular Opening Arguments podcast, Andrew Torrez shares some of the most preposterous and unbelievable real-life questions that he's gotten from skeptics just like you about the law. Is there really a shadowy cabal of international bankers to whom your entire life has been pledged as collateral from birth? Did a watchdog group really file a petition before the Supreme Court to undo the 2016 Presidential Election? Do criminals frequently escape justice due to technicalities? This talk will equip you with the tools to help separate legal fact from legal fiction -- without having to earn a law degree of your own.

After nearly 20 years in big firms, P. Andrew Torrez founded his own law firm in 2015 to serve start-up and small businesses in Maryland and the District of Columbia. In 2016, he started the podcast Opening Arguments to explain legal concepts in the news to non-lawyers; today, the show is one of the most popular news & politics podcasts with nearly 2.5 million downloads to date.Andrew Torrez is a 1997 graduate of Harvard Law School with honors, is a member of the Board of Governors of the Maryland chapter of the Federal Bar Association, has been named a Fellow of the American Bar Association, and has been repeatedly honored as one of Maryland's top lawyers by Benchmark since 2011.


Saturday, December 9, 2017
1:30 pm

B-CC Regional Services Center
4805 Edgemoor Lane
2nd Floor (West Room)
Bethesda, MD
Directions: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/bcc/directions.html