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Author Topic:   Science Programs on Radio, TV and Internet
Percy
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Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 40 of 115 (400555)
05-14-2007 9:15 PM


Intelligent Design Debate: Dembski vs. Scott
I haven't watched this yet, but I hear it's a gem. Bill Dembski, intelligent design advocate and author, and Edward Sisson, a lawyer who advised ID witnesses in the Kansas evolution hearings, debate Eugenie Scott, Director of the National Center for Science Education, and James Trefil, professor of physics and author. The debate took place at Boston University on November 2, 2005. This is the BU webpage:
And this is a link to the webcast itself:
--Percy

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Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 43 of 115 (401422)
05-19-2007 9:00 PM


Kent Hovind does the Gish Gallop
If you thought Duane Gish used to gallop through his fallacies, wait'll you see Hovind in this debate video. Even if you've seen him many times before, this time he sets a world record! Watching him rip through fallacy after error after deception after absolutely rip-roaringly hilarious and boneheadedly ignorant statements is positively breathtaking to behold. And he does it all in just 12 minutes. Watch the first 15 minutes of this video, you won't regret it:
Sadly, audience response would appear to indicate that Hovind was persuasive.
AbE: I'm about an hour into this video, and a bit more information has gradually been revealed. The debate took place at Emery University, and the audience seems roughly balanced between creationists and evolutionists. Hovind took on three different evolutionists to avoid the excuse that "that is not my field." Two of the three evolutionists are uniformly horrible and seem bewildered by the situation they find themselves in. The third evolutionist (far left) is animated, informed, articulate, but still overwhelmed. It looks like a rout in Hovind's favor so far.
If I had no science background and this debate were my first exposure to the creation/evolution debate, then I think Hovind's arguments would be very persuasive, but his glibness and fast-talking used-car salesman style would I'm sure give me pause.
AbE: A question from the audience asked, "Is the Big Bang a reasonable scientific theory? Please Explain." Here is the answer, from the evolutionist on the right, just to illustrate that the evolutionists can't even string two articulate words together in the face of Hovind's voluminous blasts of glib ignorance:
Uh, yes, I will answer the issue for the team. Uh, yes, the Big Bang theory is viable, but it's one of two theories about the existence of the, uh, the, uh, the universe, one of which was a constant energy, uh, universe that said that, uh, basically that it simply exists and energy is somehow generated within itself inside. There is no scientific evidence to show that that particular theory of the universe, uh, has ever, uh, been proven or shown any evidence to show.
The Big Bang theory, uh, does have a sea, uh, a piece of evidence that Wilson and Concio (he means Wilson and Penzias) of Bell Labs got a, uh, Nobel Prize for discovering the fact that there was uh, elec..., uh, radiation throughout the entire universe in all particular directions believed to be the, the, uh, the remnants of the big explosion of the energy in the birth of, uh, the universe. And their antennas, uh, basically they could point, no matter how they pointed the antennas in any direction, uh, they discovered, uh, that the intensity of radiation in that particular, uh, direction was the same, which show..., which essentially was proof, uh, a proof of a piece of data that showed that there may have been something, uh, that may have made the, uh, Big Bang theory. So that, uh, we have that.
The scientific evidence right now is that, um, the Big Bang theory is, um, the best knowledge that we have. It is believed there are some very strange things about it. Uh, it starts, essentially, with there was a void. Now the void is...it wasn't a hole or a box with nothing in it. It basically didn't even have space. It was nothing. And somehow, um, a black hole the size of an atom became unstable and exploded. And it filled, essentially, into an area the size of an atom, 106 more mass than we currently have in the existing universe. I find having something that packed together, in how close we are here, and if we believe in the conservation of mass principles and things of this nature, uh, all things have to be conserved. And the conserved...the conservation has to exist either in the beginning, in the middle and at the end. And as such we are here and know today the information and the knowledge had to have existed at the beginning of creation of the, uh, of the universe.
He's not dumb, ladies and gentlemen! He was struck dumb!
--Percy
Edited by Percy, : Add a couple paragraphs of comment.
Edited by Percy, : More comments.

  
Percy
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Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 44 of 115 (401983)
05-23-2007 8:16 AM


Way of the Master vs Rational Response
ABC's Nightline sponsored a debate between Way of the Master founders Kirk Cameron (of the Growing Pains TV show) and Ray Comfort (New Zealand evangelical minister) and members of the Rational Response Squad Brian Sapient (is that his real last name?) and Kelly (no last name given).
Links to the websites:
The debate itself is at YouTube divided into small segments. Kirk and Ray claimed they could prove the existence of God scientifically. I've only watched through most of the first presentation by Ray Comfort, but though he begins clearly and unequivocally stating that he will demonstrate the existence of God scientifically, his evidence so far is the argument from design, the ten commandments, the inevitability of being called to account for your sins at the end of your life, and the promise of everlasting life in heaven. I guess Ray doesn't know what science is. Here's episode 1:
There's also an episode 2:
--Percy
PS - In case it went unnoticed by some, let me note that my previous message in this thread now contains a couple of detailed appends.
AbE: Kelly rocks! She makes her rebuttal in Ep 1 pt 4.
AbE: At the beginning of Ep 1 pt 6 Ray Comfort responds, after being asked to address a different question, to Kelly's earlier comment that in Ray's world, Hitler goes to heaven while the millions of Jews of the holocaust go to hell. Ray reply? The gospel is open to Jew and gentile. In other words, sure, they went to hell, but they could have saved themselves had they made the right choice when they were alive. What a message of hate: If you don't believe as I believe, you're going to hell! At least some Christians are honest enough to come straight out and say it.
AbE: For an absolutely embarrassingly boneheaded presentation of one of the worst misconception of evolution, watch the first couple minutes of Ep 2 pt 2.
Edited by Percy, : Add comment.
Edited by Percy, : No reason given.
Edited by Percy, : Add comment.

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Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 46 of 115 (402966)
05-30-2007 11:27 PM


Flock of Dodos
Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus is airing several times this week on Showtime. Watch it, learn it, live it!
--Percy

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 47 of 115 (409396)
07-09-2007 9:55 AM


Carl Sagan Speech
When we think of the great minds of science, the list usually includes Galileo, Newton, Einstein and Feynman, but never Sagan. Famous for his PBS Cosmos series, Sagan is rarely given public credit for his contributions to science that ranged across many disciplines, from astronomy and cosmology to space exploration and global warming to making science accessible to the layperson. Sagan contributions were less in the "deep thinker" category than the other great thinkers I listed above, he was a broad picture guy, and that is what made his contributions so important.
In this 9/15/2006 podcast from the Point of Inquiry website, Sagan gives the keynote address at the Center for Inquiry conference of 1994. He speaks of the nature of science and gives eminently clear explanations for why science is the best method for investigating and learning about the universe. Great stuff. Before this is an interview with Ann Druyan, Sagan's widow and a great intellect in her own right.
The name of this podcast episode is "Ann Druyan - Science, Wonder and Spirituality". The Ann Druyan interview begins at 9:30, and the Sagan talk begins at 44:30.
To listen to this podcast you can visit the Point of Inquiry website and select which method you'd like to use to access their podcasts, like iTunes or MP3. Or you can click on the Listen Now link in the right hand navigation column, scroll about halfway down in the podcast list window that comes up, select the Ann Druyan podcast and begin listening.
If you've heard Druyan interviewed before then I'd skip it, but if you haven't then it is well worth anyone's time. She's as articulate and insightful as Carl.
Carl Sagan died over 10 years ago and so we rarely hear his voice anymore. This is a rare opportunity to hear Sagan at his best, communicating his love of science.
--Percy

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 49 of 115 (412232)
07-24-2007 8:45 AM


Evolution 101 Podcast
Dr. Zachary "Zach" Moore, a pathologist/microbiologist now at the University of Texas, has been hosting a podcast called Evolution 101 since early last year. It attempts to explain evolution in lay terms, and on the whole he does an admiral job. He provides some great ideas for how to communicate the principles of evolution to those unfamiliar with science. The website is:
You can subscribe to the podcast feed from his website, but it didn't have an iTunes link, and I found it easier to simply look it up in iTunes and click "subscribe".
--Percy

Replies to this message:
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Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 53 of 115 (415305)
08-09-2007 11:10 AM


Why Textbooks are so Bad
Podcast #52 from The Skeptics' Guides To The Universe includes an interview with Bill Bennetta of The Textbook League. He lays out in clear detail and with examples why textbooks are bad and will only get worse:
The interview begins at 22:30.
You can click directly on the link and wait for it to download in a browser window, or you right-click on the link and select "Save Target As..." in Internet Explorer, or the equivalent in the other browsers.
An aside: when I last commented on The Skeptics' Guides To The Universe I called it rather dry. That's because in its early days it was just 3 or 4 guys (one of them brilliant, the host, Stephen Novella, an academic at Yale) sitting around discussing very interesting science and pseudo-science topics. Since then they've added Rebecca Watson of Skepchicks, and now this weekly podcast shines. Don't miss it. You can subscribe to it from their site, or download individual podcasts from their archive page, or, and I found this easiest, look it up from iTunes and click "subscribe".
--Percy

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Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 55 of 115 (416522)
08-16-2007 9:59 AM


Jerry Coyne on republican presidental candidates and evolution
This was originally posted by Moose over at Message 297:
Moose writes:
Jerry Coyne was recently on WFMU-FM, commenting on the republican presidential candidate debate where candidates were asked if they believed in evolution.
MP3 version (not permanent):
http://www.wfmu.org/listen.m3u?show=24213&archive=37136
RealPlayer version (permanent):
http://www.wfmu.org/listen.ram?show=24213&archive=37135
Added by edit: There is a short music intro, then Jerry Coyne is the first guest in the show.
--Percy
PS - What Moose refers to as a "short music intro" is 4:23 in length, which isn't McArthur Park or American Pie, but isn't exactly short, either.

Replies to this message:
 Message 56 by Tony650, posted 08-21-2007 8:06 AM Percy has replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 57 of 115 (421139)
09-11-2007 7:47 AM
Reply to: Message 56 by Tony650
08-21-2007 8:06 AM


Re: Perry DeAngelis has died
I was on vacation and missed this, just noticed it now. I just finished listening to The Skeptics Guide #69 not a half hour ago (it's from about a year ago, I'm still catching up, I'm not going to miss a single one) .
This is so sad, so unfair.
--Percy

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 Message 56 by Tony650, posted 08-21-2007 8:06 AM Tony650 has not replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 58 of 115 (421141)
09-11-2007 7:58 AM


SETI on The Skeptics Guide #69
Seth Shostak of SETI was interviewed on The Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast #69:
Seth explains something very simple that I had never understood about SETI before, which is what SETI is actually looking for. They're not looking for content, they're looking for narrow band radio emissions, a few Hertz wide at most. The narrowest natural radio emissions we know of are a couple hundred Hertz wide. Such a narrow band broadcast would represent the carrier signal, not the information. In order to detect any information that might be carried by the signal we'd have to build a bigger, more sensitive antennae array.
The interview begins at 34:10.
Seth has his own podcast, I haven't listened to it yet, but I'm going to give it a try. Here's the webpage for the show:
--Percy

Replies to this message:
 Message 59 by Clark, posted 09-11-2007 8:16 AM Percy has replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 60 of 115 (421149)
09-11-2007 10:02 AM
Reply to: Message 59 by Clark
09-11-2007 8:16 AM


Re: SETI on The Skeptics Guide #69
You've gathered a treasure trove of videos.
Too much of the information we link to from our messages is lost with the passage of time because of changing links due to website reorganizations. For the most part this can't be helped, but in the case of videos, audios and podcasts I think we should create an archive here.
Initially it would just be a webpage of links, so I wonder if anyone is interested in setting up this webpage for the site.
Also, the dBoard 3.0 development effort is going swimingly right now, and I'm optimistic of being able to begin development of automated capture and presentation of archival material like this that is submitted by members, though I wouldn't get to it till next year. Perhaps someone would like to volunteer for this effort. HTML, Javascript, Perl and MySQL familiarity is extremely helpful, but not required if you're already software conversant and willing to learn.
--Percy

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 Message 59 by Clark, posted 09-11-2007 8:16 AM Clark has not replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 63 of 115 (422777)
09-18-2007 10:18 AM


Sparks Fly: B. Alan Wallace Interviewed on The Skeptics Guide
Wikipedia introduces it's article on B. Alan Wallace like this:
Wikipedia writes:
B. Alan Wallace is an author, translator, teacher, researcher, interpreter and Vajrayana practitioner interested in the intersections of consciousness studies and scientific disciplines such as Contemplative Neuroscience. Stated simply, Wallace endeavours to chart relationships and commonalities between Eastern and Western thought and traditions.
In episode 73 of The Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast, Steven J. Novella goes head to head with Wallace in an intellectual battle where the sparks fly and, while they keep it civil, no holds are barred. This is a meeting of the minds at the highest level. The interview begins at 19:05:
Which formerly very active member does Wallace remind people of?
--Percy

Replies to this message:
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Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 66 of 115 (425626)
10-03-2007 8:54 AM


The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures Podcasts
I've listened to two of these so far, they are absolutely outstanding. Find them at iTunes, or at the website:
The first is about asteroid number 134340 (a dwarf planet once known as Pluto) and the New Horizons space mission that will reach it in July of 2015, the second about dark energy and the accelerating universe, there are seven in the series so far. These are highly entertaining (these guys know how to give a talk!), highly informative and highly recommended, definite "must hears".
--Percy

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 Message 70 by Kitsune, posted 10-17-2007 4:06 AM Percy has not replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 85 of 115 (445437)
01-02-2008 12:34 PM


Steven Novella Lecture on Scientific Skepticism
Steven Novella is an academic at Yale, president of the New England Skeptics Society, and host of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast. He recently gave a lecture on the nature of scientific skepticism to the New York City Skeptics, and it's now available:
This is an audio, a video version of the lecture will be available soon.
There's some kind of Trojan at the NYC Skeptics site, so don't visit unless you have virus-scan software.
--Percy

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 95 of 115 (460121)
03-12-2008 8:40 PM
Reply to: Message 94 by Chiroptera
03-12-2008 5:14 PM


Re: Steven Waldman - Founding Faith - On NPR's "Fresh Air"
Chiroptera writes:
I'm about to make a purchase on Amazon -- I was going to include Dawkin's The God Delusion, but maybe I'll go with this one instead.
I know I tend to be in the minority about The God Delusion, but that book was groaningly bad. I received it for Christmas a year ago, read the first three chapters, then gave it away to the company book swap. Dawkins is intent on giving Atheism an even worse image than it already has, and he's just the guy who can do it. Daniel Dennet isn't far behind. Brights? Brights??? (Hey, I've got a great idea! Scientology had a great idea with clears, why don't we follow their example!) These guys have the publicity equivalent of a death wish.
Sorry for the rant. Definitely buy Founding Faith.
--Percy

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