Report From the Skeptics Society’s Science Symposium – James Randi

James Randi writes about his time at the Skeptics Society … Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending Michael Shermer’s Science Symposium and rubbing shoulders with a somewhat different crowd than what I’ll mix with at the upcoming TAM in Las Vegas. TAM-ers are very much skeptics, and though at the Shermer event I … Read more

Death Sentence for any who refuse to pray

Yes its yet another Islamic kook. With so many having their brains scrambled on a weekly basis by bizarre beliefs, it should be no surprise to find that one will pop up on a regular basis. This weeks crazy pronouncement … well, just see it for yourself, its another jaw dropper.

Here we have an audio of Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, a member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, in which he explains in this short fatwa that any Muslim who refuses to pray has become an infidel, and therefore must be killed. It was originally published in audio format on al-Fawzan’s website some time ago, but was recently published in a video on YouTube, and was later picked up by Arabic-language news sites, such as al-Arabiya.

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(BBC) Antimatter Tevatron mystery gains ground

US particle physicists are inching closer to determining why the Universe exists in its current form, made overwhelmingly of matter.

Physics suggests equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been made in the Big Bang.

In 2010, researchers at the Tevatron accelerator claimed preliminary results showing a small excess of matter over antimatter as particles decayed.

The team has submitted a paper showing those results are on a firmer footing.

Each of the fundamental particles known has an antimatter cousin, with identical properties but opposite electric charge.

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Bachmann

Christopher Hitchens pens his thoughts on Bachmann … here are a couple of extracts …

That was actually three dripping custard pies, rather than just the one, with which Rep. Michele Bachmann assailed her own face by bragging to Fox News about her small-town Iowa roots …

… boasted by the sturdy small town of her girlhood, she went on to claim that “John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa …It was his namesake John Wayne Gacy, serial rapist and killer of 33 teenage boys and young men, who spent time in Waterloo…

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Reddit skeptics have a great sense of humor

One of the cool aspects involved within on-line skeptic forums such as reddit /r/skeptic is the access you gain to a pool of folks who quite often demonstrate a great sense of humor (I’m getting to a point … stick with me).

On one occasion, not too long ago, I stated what could be best described as the bleeding obvious. The following well deserved comment soon came back

In other news, scientists present the first conclusive evidence of a bear defecating in the woods. Film at 11.

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(Book Review) – The Origin of Our Species

New Scientist has a great review of Chris Stringer’s latest book, “The Origin of Our Species” (no prize for spotting the hat-tip to a rather more famous publication by a certian Mr Darwin). … The book is the first popular treatment to take on board the recent sequencing of the Neanderthal genome and the discovery … Read more