http://www.skepdic.com/acupunc.html
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/167/17/1892?maxtoshow=...
http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=362

Dr. Stephen Novella says:

Taken as a whole, the pattern of the acupuncture literature follows one with which scientists are very familiar: the more tightly controlled the study the smaller the effect, and the best controlled trials are negative. This pattern is highly predictive of a null-effect - that there is no actual effect from acupuncture.

Come meet and greet skeptics new and old alike! This is our first meeting of the year and we hope that it will be a good one. We're going to be in Java Wallies at 7pm, so grab some skep-tea and have a skep-good time!

The SFGate is running a story about a Judge's ruling that the University of California can reject requests for science course credit if their courses in a religious school didn't actually teach science. Seems like common sense to me: if you don't learn science, why should you be given credit for it?

"It appears the UC is attempting to secularize private religious schools," attorney Jennifer Monk of Advocates for Faith and Freedom said Tuesday.

Bill Nye will be at RIT during Brick City Homecoming in the Gordon Field House.

Here is an informative video about diagnosing computer problems. I'm forwarding this to RIT's ITS.

Looks like our hosting with humanists.net is about to go down. We're looking at other options like SG hosting, but we don't know yet. Sean is going to try to backup the data we currently have, so we'll try to make the transition as smooth as possible.
Skeptically yours--

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080717211651.htm
"Nature/Nurture Gene Link Sheds New Light on Autism"

This headline is an example of how sloppy reporting can result in a misleading report. The title and the article equate the word nurture with environmental influence. The terms are related, but non-identical. Nurture should only refer to that subset of environmental factors which are the direct result of human human interaction. In this case environmental influence is not necessarily
human in origin.

 BCCD (Bee Colony Collapse Disorder) is a relatively recent phenomenon with unknown causes, the
effect being the widespread disappearance of bee populations. Since
2006, BCCD has affected colonies throughout North America and beyond,
threatening roughly 1/3 of human food sources which rely on
pollination by bees. This problem gain's its importance by the number
of people it potentially affects, and the estimated resources that
would be required to combat the problem. By taking steps to combat
the problem now, we can avoid potentially disastrous future
consequences.

http://ask-a-skeptic.mevio.com/

In this episode:
Philosopher Peter Singer
$500 speaker cables
Doritoes in Space!

Philosopher Peter Singer will come to do a lecture at RIT.

He has some pretty interesting ideas. Check out his wikipedia page.

That's right! An all new episode of the best podcast the RIT Skeptics have every produced: Ask a Skeptic. We're trying to do them every week over the summer, so stay tuned for more skeptical fun!

Note: if you are a member of the Skeptics, past, present, or future, please feel free to send me jmb2397(a)rit.edu your skype name to be included in future podcasts.

Ask a Skeptic Episode 4: Rickshaws of Love
http://m.podshow.com/media/16220/episodes/115185/ask-a-skeptic-115185-06...

Skeptics meeting monday, rm 06-3220.

No agenda. Just old-school people talking and questioning the world around them.

PS
Check out this week's reporter. Sean got a letter to the editor in, I got a public apology from the dean of KGCOE, and our very own Ben (winner of our 2008 Best Hair award) is the subject of the "that guy" column.

Skeptics meeting

*Okay really this time, showing the the chiropractic video.
*What to do with the Josh video.
*Lori Lipman Brown wrapup
**400-800 Word essay due for SSA grant
**Repay people for Lori expenses
*Ideas for next year
*Skeptics awards: Meaningless awards for questionable contributions.

Building 06, room 3220