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Monday, June 12th, 2006 | ISSN 1556-5696

eSkeptic: the email newsletter of the Skeptics Society

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conference participants gather outside during a break

post-conference report

From June 2–4, the Skeptics Society hosted the Environmental Wars conference which brought together scientists, writers, environmentalists, and thinkers from all points along the spectrum of the environmental debate.

Since the conference, there has been a lot of lively discussion happening in various independent blogs across the internet. In this week’s eSkeptic, as a follow-up to the conference, we link to a couple of them that have reported on and summarized the events of the weekend.

DeSmogBlog

The DeSmogBlog, dedicated to “clearing the PR pollution that clouds climate science”, sent a team to Caltech to do a live report of the conference. In addition to the blog posts, you can listen to several one-one-one interviews with Sarah Pullman, one of DeSmogBlog’s regular contributors.

VISIT the DeSmogBlog >

LISTEN to the interview with Michael Shermer >

LISTEN to the interview with Gregory Benford >

LISTEN to the interview with Chris Mooney >

The Commons Blog

The Commons, a collaboration of multiple authors, is a free-market environmentalist blog headed up by Iain Murray and Jonathan Adler (one of the conference speakers). Adler posts a series of summaries covering the each speaker at the conference.

VISIT the Commons Blog >

Pasadena Weekly report

Carl Kozlowski, of Pasaedna Weekly, reports on the conference.

READ the report >

photo album

all photos on this page by David Patton

Michael Shermer during his opening remarks

Tapio Schneider (left) speaks on a panel with Chris Mooney (right)

Peter Rees, creator of TV’s Mythbusters

Kari Byron of TV’s Mythbusters

Jonathon Alder speaks on federal environmental regulation

Roy Zimmerman entertains on opening night

Michael Crichton presents his criticism of skeptics

Brian Fagan (left) speaks on a panel with Gregory Benford (right)

Donald Prothero leads the geology tour through the San Gabriel Mountains


The Amaz!ng Adventure
“Escape from the Bermuda Triangle”

August 27 – September 2
The Bermuda Triangle

Join James “the Amazing” Randi, Michael Shermer, Banachek and Hal Bidlack for an exclusive cruise through the Bermuda Triangle! Get your tickets this week, before booking closes!

VISIT the cruise website >


Shermer/Nelson debate MP3 updated

You may have noticed that the MP3 file (that we posted last week) of the debate between Michael Shermer and Paul Nelson ended rather abruptly. The problem has now been fixed, and you can listen to the MP3 in its entirety.

LISTEN online to the debate (15MB mp3) >

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Tweets from Shermer

The Believing Brain
(now in paperback)

The Believing Brain (paperback cover)

Get the autographed paperback

In this, his magnum opus, Dr. Michael Shermer presents his comprehensive theory on how beliefs are born, formed, nourished, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished. Sam Harris calls The Believing Brain “a wonderfully lucid, accessible, and wide-ranging account of the boundary between justified and unjustified belief.” Leonard Mlodinow calls it “a tour de force integrating neuroscience and the social sciences.”

FREE PDF Download

Top 10 Myths About Evolution

Top 10 Myths About Evolution (and how we know it really happened)

This concise pamphlet provides answers to common objections to evolution, such as: If humans came from apes, why aren’t apes evolving into humans?; Only an intelligent designer could have made something as complex as an eye; The second law of thermo-dynamics proves that evolution is impossible; Evolution can’t account for morality; and more…

FREE PDF Download

Top 10 Things You Should Know About Alternative Medicine

Top 10 Things You Should Know About Alternative Medicine

Harriet Hall, MD (aka the SkepDoc), shares her wit and wisdom about alternative medicine including: chiropractic, the placebo effect, homeopathy, acupuncture, and the questionable benefits of organic food, detoxification, and ‘natural’ remedies.

FREE PDF Download

Learn to be a Psychic in 10 Easy Lessons

Learn to be a Psychic in 10
Easy Lessons

Psychic readings and fortunetelling are an ancient art — a combination of acting and psychological manipulation. While some psychics are known to cheat and acquire information ahead of time, these ten tips focus on what is known as “cold reading” — reading someone “cold” without any prior knowledge about them.

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