- May NCAS lecture- The Great Psychic Prediction Project with Rob Palmer
- April Shadow?
- April SkepTour Recap
- NCAS board elections
- Bay Ara Skeptics Lecture
- Torn from Today's Headlines
- Shadow Light
- Time to Renew?
National Capital Area Skeptics
Promoting Critical Thinking and Scientific Understanding
20/20 Since 1987Shadow of a Doubt - May 2023
Shadow of a Doubt - May 2023
May 2023
The
Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project
In 2021, "The Skeptic Zone" producer and CSI Fellow Richard Saunders completed his 12-year project dubbed the "Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project" (GAPPP) – an analysis of 3811 published paranormal predictions made by 207 people claiming paranormal powers in Australia during 2000 to 2020.
The scoring of the predictions was performed by an international team of volunteers, including Rob Palmer. In this presentation, an expanded version of the talk he gave at CSICon 2022, Rob will share details and the results of this unique investigation into the precision (or lack thereof) of the published predictions of prominent, public, paranormal practitioners.
Rob Palmer is a retired aerospace engineer. He has been a spacecraft designer, spacecraft tester, computer programmer, and software systems engineer. Rob became a skeptical activist in 2016 upon joining the "Guerrilla Skeptics on Wikipedia" team, and in 2018 became a columnist for Skeptical Inquirer. To date he has had over 70 articles published by Skeptical Inquirer as well as in other publications, and the Wikipedia articles he's written have garnered over 13 million pageviews.
NCAS
Public Lecture Series
The
Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project
Rob Palmer
Skeptical Inquirer Columnist ("The Well-Known
Skeptic")
Central Library
Barbara M. Donnellan Auditorium
1015 North Quincy Street
Arlington, VA [map] [directions]
(Virginia Square-GMU Metro station)
Barbara M. Donnellan Auditorium
1015 North Quincy Street
Arlington, VA [map] [directions]
(Virginia Square-GMU Metro station)
FREE admission –
Everyone welcome, members and non-members
In 2021, "The Skeptic Zone" producer and CSI Fellow Richard Saunders completed his 12-year project dubbed the "Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project" (GAPPP) – an analysis of 3811 published paranormal predictions made by 207 people claiming paranormal powers in Australia during 2000 to 2020.
The scoring of the predictions was performed by an international team of volunteers, including Rob Palmer. In this presentation, an expanded version of the talk he gave at CSICon 2022, Rob will share details and the results of this unique investigation into the precision (or lack thereof) of the published predictions of prominent, public, paranormal practitioners.
Rob Palmer is a retired aerospace engineer. He has been a spacecraft designer, spacecraft tester, computer programmer, and software systems engineer. Rob became a skeptical activist in 2016 upon joining the "Guerrilla Skeptics on Wikipedia" team, and in 2018 became a columnist for Skeptical Inquirer. To date he has had over 70 articles published by Skeptical Inquirer as well as in other publications, and the Wikipedia articles he's written have garnered over 13 million pageviews.
Mr. Palmer will be
joining us remotely via Zoom.
Refreshments will be available.
Refreshments will be available.
April Shadow?
Was there an April 2023 Shadow of a Doubt? No,
there was only an email to our members announcing the
April 1 NCAS SkepTour. Speaking of which...
The latest NCAS SkepTour
brought a group of 14 into the Museum of Illusions Washington,
where skeptical eyes and minds were tricked to the brink of
believing unbelievable sights on (appropriately enough) April
Fool's Day.
There were plenty of gasps and
laughs at the various ways human perception can fall prey to
human ingenuity (and mischief).
Those of you who couldn't join us that morning, by all means
make time to visit the museum when you can! (And trust our good
judgment to eat *after* the visit, not before!)
NCAS president Scott Snell was served in "Head on a Platter" at Museum of Illusions Washington.
NCAS president Scott Snell was served in "Head on a Platter" at Museum of Illusions Washington.
NCAS Board Elections:
Electronic Voting
The 2023 NCAS election is underway. In mid-April, your e-mail inbox should've received a single-cast secret ballot from "elections@ncas.org via SurveyMonkey <member@surveymonkeyuser.com>". (NCAS will receive information indicating who voted, but nothing to indicate who cast each ballot.) Please vote by May 15, 2023.
Note that voters will not be at risk for spamming as a result of participating...SurveyMonkey has a zero-tolerance spam policy:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/legal/acceptable-uses-policy/
The 2023 NCAS election is underway. In mid-April, your e-mail inbox should've received a single-cast secret ballot from "elections@ncas.org via SurveyMonkey <member@surveymonkeyuser.com>". (NCAS will receive information indicating who voted, but nothing to indicate who cast each ballot.) Please vote by May 15, 2023.
Note that voters will not be at risk for spamming as a result of participating...SurveyMonkey has a zero-tolerance spam policy:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/legal/acceptable-uses-policy/
Be sure to check your spam folder
if you didn't receive the election email. A reminder was sent on
May 1 to anyone who didn't cast a ballot yet.
Bay Area Skeptics Lecture
The [San Francisco] Bay Area Skeptics, now in their 41st year(!), will host their next online event on Thursday, May 11 at 10:30 PM ET. Alex Filippenko, Professor of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, will present "Extraterrestrials?" This will be livestreamed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qjQsJR7svY
The [San Francisco] Bay Area Skeptics, now in their 41st year(!), will host their next online event on Thursday, May 11 at 10:30 PM ET. Alex Filippenko, Professor of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, will present "Extraterrestrials?" This will be livestreamed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qjQsJR7svY
Torn From Today's Headlines
By Scott Snell
Lessons from the Covid War: An Investigative Report
By Scott Snell
Lessons from the Covid War: An Investigative Report
Released on April 25,
2023, written by a team of 34 experts calling themselves
the "Covid Crisis Group," Lessons
from the Covid War: An Investigative Report is
intended to be the best possible substitute for a report
from a National Covid Commission that may never be formed.
News media
organizations are covering the report (see, for example,
this Washington Post editorial
and review)
and some of the authors are discussing the book at public
and/or online events:
Wednesday, May 3, 7 PM:
Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington,
DC. https://www.politics-prose.com/philip-zelikow
Thursday, May 4, 6 PM:
George Mason University, Van Metre Hall Auditorium,
3341 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA. https://ibi.gmu.edu/event/book-launch-lessons-from-the-covid-war-an-investigative-report/
Most thorough were the panels discussions at the
National Academy of Sciences Building on April 24: https://vimeo.com/819923414
Some members and contacts
of NCAS receive a postal notification of this and every new
monthly Shadow of a Doubt. The Shadow Light
postcard announces the monthly lecture and highlights of the
electronic Shadow of a Doubt, which is available
online at ncas.org/p/shadow.html. NCAS
thereby reduces Shadow production and postage costs.
To further reduce costs, members and contacts can opt out of
postal notification altogether, while continuing to receive Shadow
of a Doubt via e-mail. To opt out, send us an e-mail at
ncas@ncas.org.
Time to Renew?
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org. Use the online membership form to renew.
https://www.ncas.org/p/shadow.html
Time to Renew?
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org. Use the online membership form to renew.
https://www.ncas.org/p/shadow.html
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