With only nineteen days of donations left to go, Evolution in Action has a goal to investigate how diseases evolve, using bioluminescent bacteria in mouse poo to track its progress. It may sound quirky, but the science behind the story has world-wide ramifications when it comes to investigating antibiotic resistance and stopping new diseases emerging.

Evolution in Action is just one of the many projects that Dr Siouxsie Wiles is involved with – sharing her twin passions of bioluminescence (think glow worms and fireflies!) and infectious diseases to engage the public and promote scientific progress.

Dr Siouxsie Wiles studied medical microbiology at the University of Edinburgh, UK and did a Ph.D. in microbiology at CEH Oxford (formally the Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology) and Napier University, Edinburgh. She then spent her postdoctoral years at Imperial College London, developing bioluminescent derivatives of various infectious organisms.

Dr Wiles’ work on Citrobacter rodentium culminated in winning the inaugural 3Rs prize from the UK National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) in 2006. She works at Auckland University, where she heads the Bioluminescent Superbugs Group in the School of Medical Sciences and can be found writing about miscellaneous science and skeptical stories at Infectious Thoughts on Sciblogs, the biggest blog network of scientists in New Zealand and ranting about pseudoscience on the Completely Unnecessary Skeptical Podcast.

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to get your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com.

Theme songs are “P&P” by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and “Leap Second” by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com. Please considering supporting the show via visiting Tokenskeptic.org.

My presentation is on Friday, May 18th: WHY CAN’T A TEACHER BE MORE LIKE A SCIENTIST? – PSEUDOSCIENCE IN EDUCATION:

As a part of the accountability movement, schools are increasingly expected to provide interventions that provide measurable improvements in learning outcomes and are based on sound scientific research. In addition, families are easily lured by “miracle cures” for conditions like Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD, Asperger’s and other learning difficulties.

However, despite the best intentions of educational providers, commercial programs which claim to improve pedagogical practices or promote efficient learning in an almost miraculous manner can be misleading at best and costly pseudoscience at worst. Educators and stakeholders in the education of children should be encouraged to become informed consumers of research and to avoid supporting and/or implementing programming for which there is neither a credible theoretical nor a sound research basis.

Most of us believe that we are an independent, coherent self–an individual inside our head who thinks, watches, wonders, dreams, and makes plans for the future. This sense of our self may seem incredibly real but a wealth of recent scientific evidence reveals that it is not what it seems – it is all an illusion. In The Self Illusion, Professor Bruce M Hood reveals how the self emerges during childhood and how the architecture of the developing brain enables us to become social animals dependent on each other.

Professor Bruce M Hood is the Director of the Bristol Cognitive Development Centre in the Experimental Psychology Department at the University of Bristol. He has been a research fellow at Cambridge University and University College London, a visiting scientist at MIT and a faculty professor at Harvard. He is the author of a number of books, including SuperSense, a popular science book on the origins of supernatural beliefs that has been published in twelve countries (as previously featured on the Token Skeptic #11, with a transcript at the CSICOP Curiouser and Curiouser site).

Professor Hood continues to conduct research in diverse fields of human psychology specialising in the cognitive development of children. You can see his fantastic series of 2011 Christmas lectures at The Royal Institution site and follow his blog – he’ll be appearing at the Las Vegas Amazing Meeting later this year!

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to get your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com.

Theme songs are “P&P” by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and “Leap Second” by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com. Please considering supporting the show via visiting Tokenskeptic.org.

Alexa and Alexander of Hoaxilla deal with modern and urban legends, media, culture and science from the skeptical perspective, without taking themselves too seriously. Past episodes include investigations into Titanic, Bigfoot, The Philadelphia Experiment, Mothman, chemtrails, vampires, subliminal messages and much more. Hoaxilla appears every Sunday at their official site at http://www.hoaxilla.com. They’ll be at the World Skeptics Conference in Berlin, this month!

In addition (if you use Google Translate on their site) you’ll find the coolest advertisement for a party yet:

During the Sixth World Skeptics Conference in Berlin in the period from 17 to 20 May 2012 is celebrating its 2nd HOAXILLA Birthday ! So let’s at 19th May from 20:00 clock to meet with you in Berlin and celebrate!

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to get your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Songs used with kind permission in this episode: “Walking In Snow With Russians” by Ice Core Scientist.

Theme songs are “P&P” by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and “Leap Second” by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com. Please considering supporting the show via visiting Tokenskeptic.org.

Chinese herbal medicines contain ingredients derived from endangered animals, toxic plants and livestock, a genetic audit has discovered. Few of these ingredients were listed on the packaging.

“There’s absolutely no honesty in the labelling of these products. What they declare is completely at odds with what’s in there,” says Dr Mike Bunce, a geneticist at Murdoch University near Perth, Australia, who led the study.

For this episode, I talk to Dr Bunce of the Ancient DNA Research Laboratory about the study, what is involved with genetic auditing and what it might mean for the health and welfare of not only humans, but endangered animals. His work revolve around using ancient DNA to study evolutionary processes and using ancient DNA profiles to investigate past biodiversity. The research his lab focuses on involves using ancient DNA as a tool to profile past biodiversity and extinction events.

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to get your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com.

Theme songs are “P&P” by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and “Leap Second” by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com. Please considering supporting the show via visiting Tokenskeptic.org.

In the USA - Perry Romanowski is a member of the Beauty Brains Podcast and the Chemists Corner Website, where he reviews cosmetic products and solves consumer problems. He most recently worked in the hair care innovation group at Alberto Culver, and has written and edited numerous articles and books, taught continuing education classes for industry scientists, and developed successful websites. His latest book is Beginning Cosmetic Chemistry – 3rd Edition published by Allured.

In UK – The Skeptical Beauty Blog is written by an anonymous beauty product addict in the UK, a scientist who loves data and has experience of working for the biggest cosmetics products producer in the world and knows all the insider secrets. That’s why we can’t show you her face on a podcast (or even tell you her name)!

In Australia - Christopher Zinn joined CHOICE in 2007 as media spokesman, after an international career in journalism. In 2010 he became director of campaigns and communications. His achievements at CHOICE include the Shonkys, which showcase the worst and the CHOICE awards, which showcase the best.

References for my investigations into lead levels in lipstick: http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductandIngredientSafety/ProductInformation/ucm137224.htm#expanalyses and
http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/15/whats-in-your-lipstick-fda-finds-lead-in-400-shades.

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to get your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Songs used with kind permission in this episode: “Pale Blue Dot” and “Walking In Snow With Russians” by Ice Core Scientist. Thank you to Choice for the use of the Shonky Award audio.

Theme songs are “P&P” by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and “Leap Second” by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com. Please considering supporting the show via visiting Tokenskeptic.org.

His book is called Faitheist: How An Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious (out in November) and he speaks on it regularly both by invitation and as a member of the Secular Student Alliance Speakers Bureau. He will be touring Australia in April, including appearing at the Road Less Traveled fringe event of the Global Atheist Convention, with PZ Myers, Leslie Cannold and Meridith Doig.

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to get your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Songs used in this episode: “Laundry“ by makardos.

Theme songs are “P&P” by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and “Leap Second” by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com. Please considering supporting the show via visiting Tokenskeptic.org.

April Fool Episode! Many thanks to all the listeners.

The Digital Cuttlefish is an atheist and a skeptic, and is madly, passionately in love with science. Their official site is at FreeThought blogs, at http://freethoughtblogs.com/cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish are shy and elusive creatures; when necessary, they hide in their own ink. This particular cuttlefish has  chosen as its habitat the comment threads of science, religion, and news sites, where it feeds on the opinions of those who are emboldened by the cloak of internet anonymity.

Many thanks to my long-term listeners and new subscribers – this one is for you. Thanks for sticking with the show, for your donations, your feedback and for making it enjoyable to create an episode like this one every year.

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to get your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Theme songs are “P&P” by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and “Leap Second” by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com. Please considering supporting the show via visiting Tokenskeptic.org. Extra big thanks to Sharon Hill.

Today’s episode features content from last month’s Australian Science Communicators’ National Conference held from 27-29th February in Sydney – a lecture by Michael McRae and an interview with Craig Cormick.

Michael McRae is the author of Tribal Science: Brains, Beliefs and Bad Ideas, which has been released in Australia by the University of Queensland Press; the forthcoming U.S. edition is from Prometheus Books. He has worked in science, education, as an artist and is currently employed as a writer-editor at Australia’s CSIRO. He is also the writer behind the critical thinking videos for TechNyou, which can be found in six parts on YouTube and are part of a series on The Logic of Critical Thinking. His presentation at the conference that features in this episode is called “A Vital Divide: The Future Of Alternative Medicine in a Scientific Society”.

Dr Craig Cormick is a former science journalist and editor, and is widely published on research into the causes of public concerns into new technologies. He has travelled to all seven continents as a science communicator, including presenting at APEC and OECD workshops. Dr Cormick has published several books and authored the reports What You Really Need To Know About What The Public Really Thinks About GM Foods (2005) and Cloning Goes To The Movies (2006). He also recently conducted an interview on Risk Science Unplugged: Why do smart people believe dumb things with Dr Di Bowman about the social values that govern much public perception of risk, and how they affect the decisions people make.

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to get your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Theme songs are “P&P” by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and “Leap Second” by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com. Please considering supporting the show via visiting Tokenskeptic.org.

Tanya was elected President of Atheist Alliance International in June 2011. She was one of the principal co-ordinators of the 2010 Global Atheist Convention The Rise of Atheism in Melbourne and has been a member of the Atheist Foundation of Australia’s Public Relations team since 2009. She’ll be presenting at the Global Atheist Convention in 2012 – a limited number of tickets are still available for the event, running from the 13-15th April in Melbourne.

By profession Tanya is an investment banker specialising in mergers and acquisitions, and she has worked at a number of global investment banks in Australia and Europe.

The official site of the Atheist Alliance International can be found at: http://www.atheistalliance.org.
The Global Atheist Convention site is found at: http://www.atheistconvention.org.au.

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to get your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Theme songs are “P&P” by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and “Leap Second” by Milton Mermikides, of  www.miltonmermikides.com. Please considering supporting the show via visiting Tokenskeptic.