Bad Science in the Developing World

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In this talk Martin will give us a more global view of homeopathy, crackpots abroad and Bad Science in the developing world. He will cover Homeopaths in Haiti and Africa, AIDS denialism, how alt med props up the Cuban healthcare system, anti-vaccination movements in Africa and Asia, dodgy bomb-detectors, and a plethora of other stories about quacks amok in the third world.

Martin Robbins is a science writer and freelance journalist, who edits the science log layscience.net. Website: mjrobbins.net

Ofquack Uncovered

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Maggy Wallace (CNHC Executive Chair) and Maggie Dunn (CNHC CEO) look forward to engaging in lively debate with those who share their interst in public protection.

Maggy Wallace, Executive Chair
Maggy has a substantial background in professional education, the health service and professional regulation in the UK and internationally. Her various roles of relevance to this work include: WHO Expert on professional regulation; Director of Standards at the UK Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting; lay Chair of the Council of Organisations Registering Homeopaths; Community Health Council member; and Non Executive Director (and Chair) of an NHS Foundation Trust. She has a passion for effective professional regulation in the public interest and is delighted to be part of this exciting initiative.

Maggie Dunn, Chief Executive and Registrar
Maggie was a nurse before becoming a trade union official. As Senior National Officer, she became a national negotiator in the NHS and she also established UNISON's Fitness to Practise unit, where she was the lead advocate. Maggie was lay Chair of the General Council for Massage Therapy until June 2008. She is a Chair of trustees for a national British charity and is also on the board of another international charity. She also works as a mediator. Maggie is a strong people person who strives to achieve fairness and transparency in everything she does; she is enjoying the challenges of the CNHC.

Research Fraud for Dummies: MMR & Autism

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Following a Sunday Times investigation by Brian Deer, Britain's premier medical journal was forced to retract fraudulent research which caused a global health crisis by linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine with autism.

Getting the background behind this health hoax will be fascinating. Don't miss it.

Skeptical Activism & The Quacklash

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Simon is an active campaigner against nonsense. Using the ASA, Trading Standards, other regulatory bodies and even gaining help from MPs, his campaigns have helped shut down dodgy allergy test services, prevented traditional chinese medicine salesmen from claiming to cure cancer and exposed psychic scams.

His largest involvement in a campaign, coined the "Quacklash" by Jack of Kent involved almost 600 separate letters being sent to trading standards to report claims to treat childhood diseases with a back rub. 60 of the letters gained 500 signatories. Further complaints were issued with the General Chiropractic Council.

Simon will be explaining the techniques he's used to fight woo, what works and what doesn't and tell stories about some of the crazy nonsense he's encountered along the way.

Simon runs Leicester Skeptics in the Pub, blogs at http://adventuresinnonsense.blogspot.com and writes a skeptical column in the Leicester Mercury. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Simon_Perry.

The Men Who Stare At Goats

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Jon Ronson is a writer and documentary film maker.  His books, Them: Advenures with Extremeists and The Men Who Stare At Goats are international best sellers.  The Men Who Stare At Goats is now a major motion picture starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges.  Jon is also the author of two collections, Out of The Ordinary: True Tales of Everyday Craziness and What I Do: More True Tales of Everyday Craziness.

Jon authored the popular Human Zoo and Out of the Ordinary columns for  The Guardian, where he still contributes features.  He currently writes and presents twice Sony nominated BBC Radio 4 series, Jon Ronson On...

For Channel 4, Jon has made a number of films including the acclaimed five part series of theSecret Rulers of the World and the multi award-winning Tottenham Ayatollah.

Here is the movie trailer for The Men who Stare at Goats.

Funny you should say that...

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An evening with writer and stand-up comedian Iszi Lawrence. Iszi is a skeptic, Methodist atheist and seasoned performer, having appeared on stages across the country and at the Fringe since she was 18, in critically acclaimed shows Skitzaphrantic, Spinning Jenny, Unproper, and the Perrier Award winning The Passion Of The Hodgson.

Critics describe Iszi as an 'upbeat' comedian 'with nicely improvised material' which sits well within her intelligent, witty and fun loving set. She weaves wordplay into a surreal and infectiously joyous world that audiences love to explore.

Iszi is also co-host of the Sundays Supplement podcast and comperes Oxford Skeptics in the Pub.

Science in the Media

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After completing a PhD in particle physics, Simon Singh joined the BBC and worked as a director and producer on programmes such as Tomorrow’s World and Horizon. He has also presented programmes on Radio 4, BBC4 and Channel 4. He is best known as the author of Fermat’s Last Theorem, The Code Book and Big Bang.

Simon will speak on science reporting in the media.

The Persistence of Delusion

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The late eighteenth century was a very creative time for inventing new forms of quackery and many became quite wealthy on the back on their invention. Of these creations, it is perhaps only homeopathy that has survived virtually unchanged into the 21st century. The majority of alternative medicines available today have been invented and developed within living memory, despite claims of their origins in antiquity.

What makes an alternative medicine successful? Why should homeopathy survive when the very popular tractors of Perkins have long since been forgotten? Could you have predicted this in 1800? Today, we have a new industry of quack devices protecting us from mobile phones. Should you invest in such enterprises?

In this talk, Andy will look at the factors that make pseudo-medicines thrive and why consumers and practitioners latch onto them. Importantly, we shall explore the implications of these views for regulation and protecting the public from delusional or fraudulent claims.

Andy Lewis developed the web site quackometer.net that explores the pseudo-medical claims of alternative medicine web sites and their impact on society. Despite his detractors claims, he does not own a yacht in the South of France paid for by Big Pharma. He has yet to secure a single penny from such sources for his work.

The Atheist Bus Campaign & The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas

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Ariane Sherine is a television comedy writer, journalist and the creator of the Atheist Bus Campaign. She writes regularly for The Guardian’s Comment & Debate section, and has also contributed to The Independent, The Sunday Times, New Statesman and the NME, as well as writing for television shows including My Family (BBC1) and Countdown (Channel 4).

Ariane won a Special Award from the National Secular Society for the Atheist Bus Campaign, and was also a nominee for Secularist of the Year 2009. She was asked to give the first humanist equivalent of Thought For The Day on Radio 4 in January 2009.

The Psychology of Alien Contact and Abduction

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Thousands of people around the world claim to have directly experienced contact with extraterrestrials and in many cases to have been abducted by aliens and taken on board spaceships and subjected to medical examination. How are we to explain such claims? With a few notable exceptions, those making such claims do not appear to be deliberately lying. Neither do they appear to be suffering from serious psychopathology. However, there are good reasons for doubting that such accounts are accurate reflections of events taking place in objective reality. A number of psychological factors have been implicated in attempts to explain such claims including sleep paralysis, personality factors such as fantasy proneness and possibly unusual activity in the temporal lobes of the brain. It seems likely that alien contact and abduction claims are examples of false memories.

Chris French is a Professor of Psychology and Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths College, University of London (www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/apru). Anomalistic psychology may be defined as the study of extraordinary phenomena of behaviour and experience, including (but not restricted to) those which are often labelled “paranormal”. It is directed towards understanding bizarre experiences that many people have without assuming a priori that there is anything paranormal involved. He has edited the (UK) Skeptic magazine since 2001. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the British False Memory Society and the Advisory Board of the Center for Inquiry, London. He has published over 100 articles and chapters covering a wide range of topics within psychology. His main current area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. In addition to academic activities, such as conference presentations and invited talks, he frequently appears on radio and television casting a sceptical eye over paranormal claims.

Bad News - What's Wrong with the Media.

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A veteran reporter blows the whistle on his own profession, exposing the scale and origin of falsehood, distortion and propaganda in the news.

Nick Davies has been named Journalist of the Year, Reporter of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year for his investigations into crime, drugs, poverty and other social issues. Hundreds of journalists have attended his masterclass in the techniques of investigative reporting. He writes regularly for The Guardian and also makes TV documentaries; he was formerly an on-screen reporter for World In Action. His four books include White Lies (about a racist miscarriage of justice in Texas) and Dark Heart (about poverty in Britain). He was the first winner of the Martha Gellhorn award for investigative reporting for his work on failing schools and recently won the award for European Journalism for his work on drugs policy. Flat Earth News, his investigation into the origins of falsehood, distortion and propaganda in the global media, was published in February 2008.

"45 Minutes From Attack!": WMD and other state-sponsored conspiracy theories

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In Don't Get Fooled Again, Richard Wilson argues that conspiracy theories aren't the exclusive preserve of dodgy men with blogs. Dodgy politicians often embrace them too – from South Africa's catastrophic dalliance with “AIDS denial”, to the UK government's theory that Saddam Hussein was secretly harbouring Weapons of Mass Destruction, and unfounded US claims about a covert alliance between Iraq and Al Qaeda.

Given the disasters – human and financial - that can result when politicians lose their grip on reality, conspiracy theories are arguably at their most dangerous when they take hold in government.

Richard Wilson studied philosophy at UCL. Don't Get Fooled Again is his second book. More information can be found at www.richardwilsonauthor.com

Is it Creative to Believe in the Paranormal?

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Madness and creativity are often considered together. This claim seems supported by personal reports and insight into the mental health of famous artists. Studies will be presented that link language processing in the two hemispheres to associative word processing, paranormal belief and creativity. The audience is invited to consider the idea that these links could explain the wide prevalence of paranormal beliefs in the general population.

Christine Mohr did her PhD on the “neuropsychology of magical belief” at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and has continued working in this field ever since. In 2004, she joined the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Bristol as a lecturer where she teaches Neuropsychiatry. With respect to paranormal belief, she mainly investigates and publishes on the neuropsychological correlates of these beliefs, and aims to understand why some individuals with such “bizarre” beliefs are considered by most as absolutely healthy (but spiritual), while in others it is considered pathological (psychotic). This is particularly relevant, because the dimensional, or rather quasi-dimensional view of psychosis would indicate that the healthy expression might have evolutionary advantages.

Investigating the Impossible: A Skeptical Approach

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For over 20 years, psychologist Richard Wiseman has delved deep into the mysterious world of the paranormal, carrying out high profile, and often controversial, investigations into the impossible. In this talk, Wiseman describes some of his more colourful adventures, presenting a scientific look at a range of seemingly paranormal phenomenon, including fire-walking, ghostly encounters, and ESP. Discover whether such phenomena really exist, what the future holds for parapsychology, and why we are all attracted by the lure of strange stuff. Free packet of peanuts for the best question.

Psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman started his working life as a professional magician and currently holds Britain's only Professorship in the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. He frequently appears on the media, and has written over 60 academic articles and several books, including The Luck Factor and Quirkology.

Richard Wiseman's web site is at www.richardwiseman.com

Confessions of an ex-Creationist

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Matt Parker grew up in a conservative Christian family and attended a church where the Bible was taken as the literal word of God, even in the matters regarding the creation of the Universe. A series of events at school and university have since turned him into the jaded sceptic he is today but it has left him with a unique insight into Creationism culture.

Matt will be candidly discussing what Creationists believe, why some normal people are convinced by them and how he feels about all of this - specifically in the context of being a Maths and Science teacher.

Matt Parker is best described as a Stand-up Mathematician who does everything in his power to make more people excited about Mathematics. When he’s not doing his Maths routine around the country, Matt finds time to be a ‘normal’ teacher in a London secondary school, educating young people in the way of Maths and Physics and his favourite number is currently 496.

Science and Uncommon Sense

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Many ideas in science do not, and in some cases cannot make sense. The phrase 'counter-intuitive' has been coined to describe such concepts. Whilst some ideas no longer appear counter-intuitive with the emergence of new knowledge, others, such as quantum theory, fail to make any rational sense irrespective of years of progress aimed at understanding them. This presentation will aim to describe the counter-intuitive in thought, feeling and action with some interactive challenges and demonstrations. The implications for making rational sense of other aspects of life will be left for discussion.

Kevin Byron received his Ph.D in Physics from the University of Hull and spent many years in telecomms research. In 2001 he was awarded a NESTA fellowship for studies in creativity in science education. He is currently based at the University of Leicester, where he is involved in research skills training with postgraduates in the sciences.

Empirical Evidence Against the God Hypothesis

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Stephen Law is Provost of CFI London, senior lecturer in Philosophy at Heythrop College University of London, and author of philosophy books including The War For Children’s Minds (about faith schools), The Philosophy Files (for children 12+) and The Philosophy Gym (which includes dialogues such as “The Strange Case of The Rational Dentist” and “What’s Wrong With Gay Sex?”).

Stephen will look at what appears to be powerful empirical evidence against the existence of the Judeo-Christian God, and at how the faithful respond to that evidence.

Are "Recovered" Memories Authentic?

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Can people repress traumas like child sexual abuse and then recover their traumatic memories years or decades later? Sigmund Freud proposed this coping mechanism and modern therapists have argued that it is common. This talk will consider whether these "recovered" memories might instead be false memories. Cara Laney is a lecturer of forensic psychology at the University of Leicester. Her main area of research is human memory and the myriad ways it can go wrong. She has published more than a dozen articles on memory related topics.

Unfair Trade?

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Fair Trade claims to help poor farmers in developing countries. It implies that higher Fair Trade prices help producers, but most of the extra goes to retailers, distributors and marketers. A tiny fraction goes to producers. Fair Trade favours chosen producers in co-operatives, rather than poorer family farmers. The way to help producers in poor countries is not to play favourites, but to end tariffs and subsidies, and to buy as much as possible from poorer countries. Free Trade, not Fair Trade, is needed. Dr Madsen Pirie is President of the Adam Smith Institute, and was one of three Scots graduates working in the US who founded the Institute in 1977. Prior to that, Dr Pirie worked for the House of Representatives in Washington DC, and was Distinguished Visiting Professor of Logic and Philosophy at Hillsdale College in Michigan. At the Institute, Dr Pirie was part of the influential team which pioneered privatization and the extension of market choices and incentives. His work in helping to develop the Citizen's Charter led to his appointment to the Prime Minister's Advisory Panel from 1991-95. A graduate of the universities of Edinburgh, St Andrews and Cambridge, Dr Pirie is author of several books including The Book of the Fallacy, Micropolitics, Privatization in Theory and Practice and Blueprint for a Revolution. With his colleague Dr Eamonn Butler, he has co- authored a series of books on IQ, including The Sherlock Holmes IQ Book.

Mental "Shortcuts" – A Necessary Evil?

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Daniela Rudloff has always had a profound interest in critical thinking, leading her to join the German Skeptics in 1994. In 2006 she commenced a PhD in Psychology to find out what keeps Joe Bloggs from being a rational, reasonable and skeptical person. She’ll give an introduction to the everyday mental shortcuts and biases we all employ, arguing that even though they’re often misleading, they’re also necessary – and almost impossible to avoid.

Authenticity and its Influence on Behaviour, Attitudes and Beliefs

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The work of social psychologists has always emphasised the extent to which our behaviour, beliefs and experiences are shaped by the requirements of the various roles that we occupy in the course of everyday life. One important need for us is that the roles we occupy should be perceived as authentic or legitimate. We therefore strive to maintain the perceived authenticity of our role at any particular time. This can be seen as a mutual endeavour by participants in reciprocal role relationships such as doctor-patient or therapist-client interactions. I hope to demonstrate the usefulness of this way of thinking with reference to certain practices (orthodox, unorthodox and anomalous) and certain sexual crimes on which I have provided an opinion for the Courts. Michael Heap is a clinical forensic psychologist in private practice and at Wathwood Medium Secure Hospital in Rotherham. He is a founding member of the Association for Skeptical Enquiry (ASKE) and is its current Chairman and Secretary.

The Skeptic in the Courtroom

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This talk will address, in an objective and balanced manner, how the law deals with certain controversial issues of belief and non-belief. Prompted by recent developments, the talk will explore whether the courtroom is really the appropriate forum for settling disputes that relate to controversial issues of belief and non-belief. For example, the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951, the last remnant of the old witchcraft legislation, was repealed in May 2008. Mediums and psychics are now be under a new and modern legal regime in respect of any unfair commercial practices. But how do these new sanctions work in practice? Are mediums and psychics who adopt questionable practices more or less likely to face legal action? The ancient common law offence of blasphemy may also soon be abolished. A recent High Court decision has effectively narrowed its scope in any case. There is the new offence of incitement to religious hatred. But can the legal process really deal with what can be questions of religious dispute? Other examples of where the law grapples with issues of belief and non-belief include the "Evolution" trials in United States, the Holocaust denial trials, and when religious groups seek to incorporate aspects of religious law into more general legal systems. The talk will describe and assess these and other legal developments, using practical examples. It will also offer practical suggestions for both skeptics and non-skeptics on how legal regimes may affect them.

David is a solicitor in London with wide experience of the communications, media, and public sector fields. He is the author of the chapters on the restrictions that criminal law places on free speech in the current edition of Law and the Media (http://books.google.com/books?id=n-EbAdB9jzwC). He is also regularly attends (and used to co-organise) Skeptics in the Pub in London.

A Sceptical Look at Spiritualism

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We will examine the brief history of the Spiritualist movement and the growth of it as a mainstream faith in Britain. Phenomena inexorably linked with Spiritualism, such as materialisations, apports and the spirit trumpet will be discussed, along with the functions of the Spiritualist church. The industry behind the movement will also be examined, and the ‘need’ to believe in the unbelievable.

The Real X-Files

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Nick Pope will discuss the Ministry of Defence's policy on UFOs, explain how investigations are undertaken and discuss some of the UK's best known UFO sightings. He'll give some new insights into Britain's most famous UFO incident, in Rendlesham Forest, and will discuss his investigation into a case from 1993 which involved liaison with the US Embassy and led to the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff being briefed. Nick will also discuss the MoD's remote viewing study and their involvement in the crop circle mystery. Finally, Nick will talk about the Freedom of Information Act and the programme to release the MoD's archive of UFO files, which began in May 2008. About Nick Pope Nick Pope used to work at the Ministry of Defence, where from 1991 to 1994 he was posted to a division where his duties included investigating UFOs. Initially sceptical, his official research and investigation convinced him that the UFO phenomenon raised important defence, national security and flight safety issues. He was particularly interested in cases where the witnesses were pilots or where UFOs were tracked on radar. Nick is now recognised as a leading authority on UFOs and the unexplained.

The Psychology of Anomalous Experiences

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Ever since records began, in every known society, a substantial proportion of the population has reported unusual experiences many of which we would today label as “paranormal”. Opinion polls show that the majority of the general public accepts that paranormal phenomena do occur. Such widespread experience of and belief in the paranormal can only mean one of two things. Either the paranormal is real, in which case this should be accepted by the wider scientific community which currently rejects such claims. Or else belief in and experience of ostensibly paranormal phenomena can be fully explained in terms of psychological factors. This presentation will provide an introduction to the sub-discipline of anomalistic psychology, which may be defined as the study of extraordinary phenomena of behaviour and experience, in an attempt to provide non-paranormal explanations in terms of known psychological and physical factors. This approach will be illustrated with examples relating to a range of ostensibly paranormal phenomena.

Chris French is a Professor of Psychology and Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths College, University of London (www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/apru). Anomalistic psychology may be defined as the study of extraordinary phenomena of behaviour and experience, including (but not restricted to) those which are often labelled “paranormal”. It is directed towards understanding bizarre experiences that many people have without assuming a priori that there is anything paranormal involved. He has edited the (UK) Skeptic magazine since 2001. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the British False Memory Society and the Advisory Board of the Center for Inquiry, London. He has published over 100 articles and chapters covering a wide range of topics within psychology. His main current area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. In addition to academic activities, such as conference presentations and invited talks, he frequently appears on radio and television casting a sceptical eye over paranormal claims.

The Truth About Mars

Douglas Ellison on Mars Myths

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Websites, the blogsphere, controversial books and the tabloid media love Mars. They tell of the Face on Mars, Cydonia, anomalistic rock formations, spacecraft conspiracies and a coverup to hide 'the truth' about Mars. With half a dozen spacecraft on or around Mars, data is streaming back at an unprecedented rate, adding new layers of detail to our understanding of the Red Planet. Doug Ellison takes you on a tour of the more popular conspiracies and fringe theories, and presents the raw data that tells us the 'Truth about Mars'.

Skepticism and Beer: The World's Best Combination

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Nick Pullar ran Skeptics in the Pub in London for five years - and in all that time, he didn't drink a drop of beer, or consume any other alcoholic beverage - skeptical? Nick says skepticism is a useful tool to have in our own mental toolbox to help deal with difficult subjects. Come along to see how skepticism can help understand UFOs, psychic healers and God.

Trick or Treatment: Alternative Medicine on Trial

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Prince Charles is a staunch defender and millions of people swear by it; most UK doctors consider it to be little more than superstition and a waste of money. Welcome to the world of alternative medicine. Join Simon Singh, as he brings his considerable scientific knowledge and scrupulous impartiality to this most controversial subject and an honest examination of more than thirty of the most popular treatments, such as Acupuncture, Homeopathy, Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Chiropractic and Herbal medicines.

After completing a PhD in particle physics, Simon Singh joined the BBC and worked as a director and producer on programmes such as Tomorrow’s World and Horizon. He has also presented programmes on Radio 4, BBC4 and Channel 4. He is best known as the author of Fermat’s Last Theorem, The Code Book and Big Bang.