***If you want instant updates, I suggest reading the #TAM8 Twitter feed*** Thanks to @UAJamie for the great pictures! You can read previous sessions here, here, and here. … Massimo Pigliucci is the first speaker this morning. He’s introduced as a man who has three PhDs… (Take *that*, all of you working on your first.) He’s talking about the limits of skepticism. What happens when people who know a lot about science are not only wrong, but spectacularly wrong? Then,… Read more
The Damsels of Dorkington — the group behind the I Kissed a Nerd video — are doing a 12-hour webcam-o-thon today from noon till midnight (CST). They’re hoping to raise money for some of their publicity material (shirts, buttons, artwork, etc). Even if you can’t donate, they’re an entertaining group of people and they’d love your company. So stop by BlogTV and say hello to them. I suggest you ask them all math problems. Or random trivia. Make them work… Read more
Christian Chrissy Satterfield advocated vandalizing billboards you disagree with, so Atheist Cartoons shows us that thought taken to the next level… Oh, yeah. I like where this is going… Read more
You can read previous sessions here and here. … This is Jen from Blag Hag again – Hemant is off doing interview-y things, so I’m still liveblogging away! The next speaker is Pamela Gay, skeptic and astronomer. There are more clergy in the United States than Scientists — 1 in 3,280 for clergy, 1 in 3,750 for scientists. But even though we’re similar in numbers, people don’t always get to interact with scientists, so a lot learn from stereotypes like… Read more
***If you want instant updates, I suggest reading the #TAM8 Twitter feed*** Thanks to @UAJamie for the great pictures! … What’s one major difference between Skeptic conferences and Atheist conferences? Lunch. Skeptics’ lunch = not very vegetarian friendly. Atheists’ lunch = a vegan would be proud. That said, bread + pie = yummy, and I’m good to go for a few hours. … First up this afternoon is Simon Singh, who recently won his appeal against the British Chiropractic Association…. Read more
***If you want instant updates, I suggest reading the #TAM8 Twitter feed*** Thanks to @UAJamie for the great pictures! You can read other sessions here, here, here, here, and here. … James Randi isn’t on stage right now because he’s doing an interview for Playboy. (I assume this will go along with his centerfold.) With over 1300 registrants, this is the largest TAM of all time. Many hands across the conference room shot up to say this was their first… Read more
I’m at The Amazing Meeting 8 in Las Vegas and the people at the James Randi Educational Foundation were kind enough to give me the Internets so I can liveblog some of the talks. On the docket for today: Simon Singh, Pamela Gay, Sean Faircloth, and many more. While we’re waiting for the first speaker, there were some exciting people at the reception yesterday! Richard Dawkins: I found Adam Savage (from Mythbusters) in the corner of the room (along with… Read more
by Jesse Galef – Carl Sagan is right up there with Richard Feynman in my list of heroes. When Sagan talks about the universe and our place in it, I can’t help but feel a profound sense of awe – first at the cosmos, and then at his ability to impact me that way. I imagine others have the same experience. Yesterday, PZ posted a beautiful video put together by youtube user callumCGLP of the audio from Sagan’s Pale Blue… Read more
by Jesse Galef – Big news occurred last night. No, sports fans, I’m talking about major step toward marriage equality, not LeBron James going to the Miami Heat. In two cases yesterday, a U.S. judge in Boston ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act – the federal law against same-sex marriage – is unconstitutional. In the case brought by Attorney General Martha Coakley, Judge Tauro found that the 1996 law, known as the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, compels… Read more
When you consider how much weight the Bible carries with atheists, this is really what it boils down to when we hear Christians talk about why women can’t hold certain positions within the church: Sure, some churches have female pastors, but not many that I’ve seen. (I’d love to know the exact percentage if someone could find it.) I wonder what rationale these churches use, because other churches are clearly ignoring or denying it. I think if you ask most… Read more
