NECSS (pronounced “nexus”) was born out of the desire to hold a major skeptical gathering on the East Coast of the United States, specifically in New York City.

Source: NECSS website

As its name suggests, NECSS seeks to explore the intersection of science, media, education, politics, and popular culture, and examine how we may best utilize that understanding to promote a more rational world.

NECSS is produced by the New England Skeptical Society and New York City Skeptics.

The 2009 line-up of speakers and panelists includes:

Date: Saturday September 12, 2009

Time: 10:00AM – 6:00PM

Location: Florence Gould Hall at the French Institute, 55 E. 59th St. New York, NY (between Madison and Park Avenues). See the website for ticketing and more information.

I will be heading to NECSS after Dragon*Con which is held on the Labor Day weekend (September 4 – September 7, 2009) in Atlanta, GA, USA. Here, I will be on four panels with the likes of James Randi, Steve Novella and of course Richard Saunders and Kylie Sturgess. Phew!

The NSW Committee with Dick Smith, L-R Eran Segev, Philip Peters, Peter Rodgers, John Sweatman, Dick Smith, Richard Saunders, Rachael Dunlop and Peter Bowditch

This month was our biggest month ever with around 100 people attending to see a talk by Dick Smith. Dick is one of the founding members of Australian Skeptics and is known in Australia for his electronics chain Dick Smith Electronics, his “Dick Smith” range of foods (including “Dick Heads matches”) plus his legendary aviation achievements including flying to both poles solo, in a helicopter. Whilst Dick retired from active sceptical service some time ago, he is always around to give us a helping hand.

Pub and Think Tank regulars, Jason Brown (@drunkenmadman), Happy Singer (@HappySinger) and Alan Conradi.

Dick Smith holds the floor

If you are in Sydney, come along on the first Thursday of each month, to the Crown Hotel in central Sydney for a great night of sceptical fun! You can see more photos here.

A very busy pub night, with our youngest sceptic to date!

Probably not.

At least, currently there is not enough compelling evidence to support either their existence or visits to earth from space men. But, this doesn’t stop people believing. In fact, something like four million Americans think they have been abducted by an alien craft and many have abduction insurance.

Last night in Australia on Channel 7, a story aired about the release of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) “X-files”. It seems a little strange to me that this report has only just aired – the files were released some months ago.

The report also showed a UFO hovering over a level railway crossing in Australia. This photograph was debunked as a fly speeding past the lens many years ago, by our own Steve Roberts. I wonder who did the research for this show…

In any case, our own favourite sceptic, Richard Saunders, (or TRS to his friends and my Mum) was invited onto the Channel 7′s morning show “Sunrise” to discuss the “doco” this morning. Take a look at the clip below. Go Richard!

Will they all spontaneously combust?

Will their creative energies combine to create a super massive black hole?

Will it come to pass that the age-old Melbourne/Sydney rivalry can never be resolved?

Or will the Sydney team finally discover that Jack Scanlan is in fact a retired professor of archeaology moonlighting as a 17 year old genius in an TIKTAALIK hoodie?

Dave the Happy Singer; unable to contain his excitement at the thought of visiting Melbourne in May

Find out soon, as some representatives from the Skeptic Zone plan to make the trek to Melbourne in May.

This includes Richard Saunders and myself, but also Kylie Sturgess all the way from Perth, plus our very good friend and regular special guest, Dave the Happy Singer.

We are planning to mosey down for some interviews, a talk or two, and a few beers with our very good friends, the YAS. Not forgetting of course, Joel Birch, Catherine Donaldson, and Matt from ilikeportello blogspot, plus whoever else we have met along the way!

We need some help however. Richard and I would like to give a double-header talk, but we need advice on a venue. Can you help? Leave a comment if you can.

Richard does a talk entitled “Scepticism 101” and mine is “Dr Rachie Reports; adventures of a scientist in an alternative medicine world“. (We anticipate we will probably be in town for a weekend in May).

Oh, and if you have a few extra dollars floating around just aching for a good cause, we would sincerely appreciate help with raising funds for our plane tickets. Even if you can chuck 20 bucks our way, it all helps a group of dedicated volunteers, doing our best to spread the word of science and reason. (There’s a paypal button on our website).

So hold on to your hats, tell your friends, and watch out Melbourne!

Psst! I can’t wait to meet @jacksmother

(Click on image for better resolution)

My friend Phillip Quinn has been very busy working on cartoons of the science show I do with Richard Saunders named, Mystery Investigators. We are so impressed with his work. And doesn’t he make me look right sexy and smart in this, the latest installment?

Cheers Phillip. You are BRILLIANT!

It gave Richard Saunders and me a good laugh, so I thought I’d share it with you. During some routine research compiling a list of psychic predictions for 2008 (essentially to see if they got anything right) I came across this little gem. A Google search led to me to a website known as the Australian Psychics Directory which contains several links to promos for Channel 7s reality TV show “The One“.

Links from the Australian Psychic Directory website

When I clicked on the first link, it took me to YouTube and to a channel known as “rachiesyd“. A channel belonging to well, me! The irony is, Richard, who was the sceptical judge on the show and for his troubles earned the reputation of “spook” and “meanie” had himself posted some of the videos when I was overseas earlier this year.

Richard "the meanie" Saunders applauds the psychics for their support of the sceptical community.

Further, the irony is not only contained in the link itself, but also that the psychics are inadvertently increasing the traffic to my YouTube channel. And an evil, sceptical, party-pooper channel at that!

But don’t let the psychics have all the fun, you too can hit up my YouTube channel here where you can see for yourself the video linked to their website and marvel at the 2,200 odd hits it has gotten as a result (ten times more than any others).

Thank you woo woo people, keep it coming!

The beautiful view of Sydney from Taronga Park Zoo

Recently I was invited to speak at a forum organised by the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales on the topic of “Science under Siege”. It turned out to be a fascinating day, with a dozen or so talks covering all manner of topics from the old nut of difficulty getting funding to poor reporting of science by the mass media, the extreme behaviour of some animal activists, and the lack of public understanding of science/the scientific method leading to a public perception of scientists as elitist, stuffy, stuck-up boffins. Held at the beautiful Taronga Zoo here in Sydney, it was great to present at this wonderful institution in such a lovely setting with sweeping views over Sydney Harbour and squirrel monkeys leaping around outside the conference centre windows. So let’s get straight into it..

Case study: HAIR ANALYSIS

Hair analysis is offered at “wellbeing” clinics and by mail order, and is commonly carried out by naturopaths. This procedure is based on the notion that “most health problems can be caused or aggravated by eating the wrong foods” and proponents claim the test can determine which foods you should avoid as a method for assisting in the treatment of your particular illness. A large collection of diseases (NB: red flag hoisted, see below) can be alleviated by modifying your diet as a result of hair analysis including;

“…eczema, psoriasis, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, headaches, sinuses, rashes, indigestion, pre-menstrual tension, chronic fatigue syndrome, candida (thrush), ADHD/ADD, flatulence and constipation, diarrhea, fatigue, mucous, arthritis, acne, tonsilitis, AIDS, cancer, restless leg syndrome, sleep disorders, etc”.

“The affordable way to find out what is making you sick”

For just AUD195 (affordable??), a sample of your hair is placed in a beaker which is then slotted into a machine, and with the assistance of a ND (Not a Doctor, or Naturopath Doctor), lights flash, dials flicker and out pops a randomly generated list of foods you are allergic too. This machine is so sensitive it can even detect allergies within food groups (e.g., you can’t eat peanuts, but walnuts are okay), and also identify allergies to specific brands of compounds (eg., washing powders). Consequently you are advised to follow their diet for a designated period of time, sometimes they recommend you take their supplements as well, and generally you are required to return for a follow up visit months later to determine whether you are “cured”.

So, just what is behind such advanced and sensitive technology? Glad you asked people, it’s quantum. At least, this is what I was told by the lady taking the cash. So, here’s the first example of the hijacking of scientific terminology by quacks, applying the concept of quantum technology to a procedure that is obviously just flashing lights and flickering dials. I wish I had been able to take a photo of this super special quantum machine, since apparently it has been developed over 20 years by a ND. To me it looked pretty old school and antiquated; not something I would expect for a “quantum machine” but then what would I know, I’m just a scientist..

So now we reach the, “make-shit-up” section of the case study;

Do they actually test your hair? Let’s find out…

In 2003, a sceptical colleague, who was sceptical of this process, decided to put it to the test (see left panel). He collected two samples of hair from the same person, sent them away as instructed and then compared the results. Okay, I know the suspense is killing you, the results speak for themselves…

Williams, C. The Skeptic, 2003; 23(2): 35.

Properly conducted scientific tests of identical samples should NOT yield results that are statistically different from each other, otherwise there is something wrong with your protocol. This is why when we conduct tests, we run multiple replicates on the same sample AND we also replicate the original sample. This allows for some biological variability, but importantly controls for the reliability of the experimental protocol.

As you can clearly see, the results were vastly different, despite the samples being from the same person. This does not instill me with much faith with respect to the stringency of their scientific method. Which is why I affectionately call their “quantum” machine a “randomly-generating-allergy-machine”.

But in fact, hair analysis is a legitimate scientific technique and is currently being used by a colleague as a method for measuring levels of a toxic amino acid which causes a motor neurone disease similar to Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease).

In a fascinating example of good scientific detective work, Dr Paul A Cox and co-workers observed a 50 – 100 times greater incidence of this disease amongst the indigenous people of Guam, the Chamorros. BMAA (Beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine) occurs naturally in the seeds of the cycad tree, but not in high enough concentrations to have neurotoxic effects. However, similar to the way mercury and other heavy metals “build-up” in the flesh of fish, BMAA concentrates via a process known as bio-magnification. Fruit bats also feed on cycad seeds and coconut bat soup is a delicacy amongst the Chamorro people. And accessibility to fruit bats was made easier after WWII when the Chamorro’s gained access to shotguns, thereby increasing their consumption, so much so that they put one species into extinction and another on the endangered species list. As a method for identifying patients at risk of contracting this PD/ALS-like disease, Dr Cox breaks the bonds between the amino acids of keratin, the major protein component of hair, and uses high end mass spectrometry and gas chromatography to measure levels of BMAA.

A cute fruit bat, not so cute anymore..

“No needles or blood test, safe and accurate”

Subsequently, BMAA has been found across the developed world too. A paper published in 2008 in Environmental Microbiology (Metcalf et al., 10(3); pg 702) created quite a stir when these researchers reported toxic levels in some drinking water reservoirs across Britain. The source of this contamination is cyanobacteria, also known as common blue/green algae blooms which appear sporadically in water reservoirs exposed to light and heat (cyanobacteria need sunlight).

The example presented here of the hijacking of science by alt. med., namely hair analysis, includes many of the classic red flags to alert you to a scam. The Australian Government has established a website to warn people about quacks and scams and some of the things they flag follow (BTW, these and others all apply to hair analysis);

• The treatment claims to be effective against a very wide range of ailments.
• There is no scientific evidence to back up the claim that the miracle cure actually works.
• Miracle cures usually include anonymous testimonials, for example ‘Luke, from Melbourne…’.

Check out their website for further information. It makes me wonder how the likes of these quacks get away with this nonsense. As someone remarked during my live podcast about this topic, why are these people not locked up? This is a legitimate question. The Australian government and it’s regulatory body the TGA have a lot to answer for if they are not protecting the public from quacks and scams like hair analysis.

Until next time, this has been Dr Rachie Reports

Dr Rachael A Dunlop has a PhD from the University of Sydney, Department of Medicine, in Cell Biology. She currently works full-time in medical research. Contact me at rachael(at)skepticzone.tv. Richard Saunders also contributed to this presentation.

Footnote: Hair analysis as I have described here is not the same as DNA analysis from hair the like of which you may see on television, ala CSI etc. This describes the extraction of DNA from hair as a method for identifying a criminal etc which requires the amplification of a very small amount of DNA via PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to gain a DNA match. Thanks Ma for bringing this to my attention, I will endeavour to address this in the coming episodes of Dr Rachie Reports.

Further reading: (1) Banack SA, Cox PA. Biomagnification of cycad neurotoxins in flying foxes: implications for ALS-PDC in Guam. Neurology (2003): Aug 12;61(3):387-9. (2) Cox PA, Sacks OW. Cycad neurotoxins, consumption of flying foxes, and ALS-PDC disease in Guam. Neurology (2002): Mar 26;58(6):956-9.

We spent a LOT of our own precious time in the audience watching the making of this dreadful show, purely in support of Richard. It was at times tedious, but overall a very good education in how psychics do their stuff. Over the five weeks of recording there was always a representative or two from the sceptical community, so collectively we didn’t miss an episode. This gave us precious insight into the editing process too. Typically, 6 – 8 hours of footage would be recorded a week and eventually whittled down to the 43 minutes you would see every Tuesday evening.

Hence, there was plenty of time to make mistakes, and LOTS of excuses for getting it wrong. Particularly with respect to the off site tests, when we did the sums, the results were ~92% fail! In fact, it was only in episode one, the lost boy in the bush where the psychics had any success. One may have just got the lucky, the other ran around for 15 minutes until the entire area was covered. Sheesh we can do that too! It would be interesting to repeat this test with seven lay people and see how we do.

I digress…Suffice to say, much of the footage ended up on the cutting room floor a lot of which was when the psychics didn’t get hits. Unfortunately this also applied to Richard’s comments so I guess we can’t cry foul there. In the early days of broadcast, I heard some criticism from sceptics accusing him of not being hard nosed enough, not mentioning the buzz term “cold reading “ etc. Well I’m here to tell you that he did do these things. He did get frustrated and call them out when necessary. Unfortunately this just doesn’t rate. The producer’s designed a show for entertainment and ratings. The populus is not interested in a bunch of psychics being wrong and looking silly. And it worked, the last episode (the just-awful-bad-taste Peter Falconio ep.) was the highest rating show in the country, attracting 1.5 million viewers.

And despite the fact that Richard’s approach was as the “humanist sceptic” i.e., nice not nasty, people still thought he was mean. Recently, whilst doing a Mystery Investigators show at the Australian Museum for Science in the City, one of the girls in the audience told Richard, prior to the show commencing and BEFORE she recognised him, that that guy from The One was a “meanie”. Later as the show progressed and he put up a photo of himself from the set, the poor kid cringed and put her head in her hands! Don’t worry all was forgiven when he signed her an autograph, bent a spoon or two and had his photo taken with her.

Just last week Richard and I went to Adelaide, South Australia to attend the National Sceptics Convention Australia where we stayed with my folks. My Mum’s hairdresser was a big fan of the show and was heard to say following the Falconio debacle, that the police simply must head up north, she was convinced they would find his remains (grrrr). When Mum subsequently mentioned that Richard was currently staying at her place, the hairdresser’s response was, “Doesn’t he spook you?”. Well, yes he does, but not for that reason…

Richard "The Spook" Saunders. Also known as a "meanie"

In any case, we witnessed an awful lot of guessing and classic cold reading techniques being thrown about, some more blatant than others. And the excuses were always the same. This is a collection from my memory, (so don’t quote me on this) but you get the idea and I note, these were used multiple times.

I was nervous performing on television

I interpreted the psychic messages wrong

On Ned Kelly’s bones, they were where I said they were, even though they were not

I’m not used to performing in this environment (hmmm, well a fair few of you do stage shows so that doesn’t cut the mustard with me)

I wasn’t listening to my spirit guides

My spirit guides were punishing me for being too confident (well then, fire them!)

I was reading the person next to you

You may not know about it now, but go home and ask your family, you will find a connection somewhere.

When I said it was definitely not silver, I meant that silver is considered to be Gold in some parts of the world (wha?!!)

This is not what I normally do

I did not go with my first choice, which was right

On the airport luggage challenge, the people were standing too close to one another

I never claimed to be always accurate

This always works for me at home

I had no time to practice

The times for the tests were too short

‘Nuff said

In response to a logical, rational explanation offered up by Richard, the witch on the panel, Stacey Demarco exclaimed, “That’s number 24 out of the sceptics little pooh-pooh book!” Well we were intrigued, we knew of no such book. And when our search came up blank, we thought bugger it, we’ll write it.

So here it is! A place for us to vent our spleens on anything that smites us really. We will begin by compiling some of the excuses from the other side when their cold reading, or telemetry or remote viewing or the art-of-making-shit-up goes wrong.

Because when it comes to science and reason, there are no excuses, just facts.

Watch the video that prompted this blog, our inspiration appears at 1 minute 30 seconds.

The One, episode 4.

To see the series in it’s entirety head to http://www.youtube.com/user/ParanormRUs