Consilience: An African Science Podcast

Consilience: An African Science Podcast

By Natural Sciences
Download on the App Store

Consilience: An African Science Podcast episodes

  • Episode #59: Neil Armstrong Gone, Rat Malaria Cured and Vietnamese Hangovers

    Neil Armstrong. First human on the moon.

    The 59th episode of Consilience is out! You can download the mp3 here (33mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here.

    Starring

    • Owen Swart
    • Michael Meadon
    • Danny Kopping


      • Teaching Angela to Appreciate History

      1. 1965 – Gemini V splashed down. It went into space and came back. It was awesome.

        2. Updates

        1. Marikana massacre was caused by a rabbit


          2. News

          1. Neil Armstrong is gone.
          2. Has UCT found a cure for malaria? UCT presser. Blag. Better article. Here? Here?
          3. Rhinos being poached for Vietnamese hangovers.


          4. Sci-fi/Fantasy Quote

            “Just because you cannot fathom the nature of a thing does not make that thing magic!”

            – Doctor Terrence 13, All-Star Western #11,  written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray


            Announcements

            1. Johannesburg
              1. Open evening – astronomical history and sky viewing – SAASTA/Royal Society of SA. Saturday 25th August, 18:00 at the Johannesburg Observatory. Entrance is free. There’s a talk by Professor Francis Thackeray and some other cool stuff, including sky viewing, if weather permits. You’re invited to bring a picnic basket and enjoy the view at sunset before the proceedings start, as well as binoculars for the sky viewing.
              2. Public talk: Origin of Mass – Discovery of a Higgs-like boson – by the Wits SA-CERN team. Wits University. Monday 27 August, 18:00.
              3. Sceptics in the Pub. Wednesday 2th September 19:00. Green & Gold Pub.
              4. Royal Society SA Spring Science Showcase. SUNDAY 9th SEPTEMBER 2012 14:00-18:30. Delta Environmental Centre, Blairgowrie, Johannesburg. Entry fee – R120 per person (R70 students, postdocs, scholars).
              5. Talk Does Evolution really threaten Religion? – John Ostrowick. 11 Sept 2012 at 18:00. Origins Centre, Wits University.
              6. Cape Town
                1. Sceptics in the Pub – Friday 24th August. Beleza Pub.
                2. Open Night at SAAO – Black holes and other revelations. Dr. Vanessa McBride. Saturday 25th August 08:00 pm. Auditorium (SAAO, Cape Town)
                3. Sceptics in the Pub – Friday 31st August, 19:00. Touch of Madness
                4. Open Night at SAAO – Radio Astronomy Revolution – Dr. Nadeem Oozeer (SKA). Saturday 8th September, 08:00 pm. Auditorium (SAAO, Cape Town)


                  5. Link of the Week

                  Michael – Robo-journalism 

                  Danny – Google Me

                  Angela Owen – Powerwatch – Huge database of studies of EMF re: dangers etc.



                  http://archive.org/details/Consilience59

                  http://archive.org/download/Consilience59/Consilience59.mp3

                  0 min
                6. Episode #58: Curiosity Vaporises, Strikers are Bulletproof and Atheism Rises

                  Curiosity does a duckface self-shot.

                  The 58th episode of Consilience is out! You can download the mp3 here (26mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here.

                  Starring

                  • Owen Swart
                  • Michael Meadon
                  • Angela Meadon


                    • Teaching Angela to Appreciate History

                    1. 565 – First recorded sighting of a monster in Loch Ness. A Christian saint named Columba was doing missionary work in the land of the Picts. Not only did he see the Loch Ness monster, but he used his powerful Jesus-sorcery to battle the thing!

                      2. Updates

                      1. Curiosity has finished its stationary systems check. Stretched out its arm. Has set its laser to vapourise. Has investigated its immediate surroundings. Is ready to start moving tomorrow.


                        2. News

                        1. Lonmin miners used muti to give themselves superpowers. Maybe.
                        2. Parents hoping for miracles torturing?
                        3. Atheism on the rise in SA? Unlikely.
                        4. New fossil finds in Kenya suggest two separate early Homo species in the pleistocene, apart from Homo erectus.


                          5. Sci-fi/Fantasy Quote

                          “Just because you cannot fathom the nature of a thing does not make that thing magic!”

                          – Doctor Terrence 13, All-Star Western #11,  written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray


                          Announcements

                          1. Johannesburg
                            1. Open evening – astronomical history and sky viewing – SAASTA/Royal Society of SA. Saturday 25th August, 18:00 at the Johannesburg Observatory. Entrance is free. There’s a talk by Professor Francis Thackeray and some other cool stuff, including sky viewing, if weather permits. You’re invited to bring a picnic basket and enjoy the view at sunset before the proceedings start, as well as binoculars for the sky viewing.
                            2. Public talk: Origin of Mass – Discovery of a Higgs-like boson – by the Wits SA-CERN team. Wits University. Monday 27 August, 18:00.
                            3. Sceptics in the Pub. Wednesday 2th September 19:00. Green & Gold Pub.
                            4. Royal Society SA Spring Science Showcase. SUNDAY 9th SEPTEMBER 2012 14:00-18:30. Delta Environmental Centre, Blairgowrie, Johannesburg. Entry fee – R120 per person (R70 students, postdocs, scholars).
                            5. Talk Does Evolution really threaten Religion? – John Ostrowick. 11 Sept 2012 at 18:00. Origins Centre, Wits University.
                            6. Cape Town
                              1. Sceptics in the Pub – Friday 24th August. Beleza Pub.
                              2. Open Night at SAAO – Black holes and other revelations. Dr. Vanessa McBride. Saturday 25th August 08:00 pm. Auditorium (SAAO, Cape Town)
                              3. Sceptics in the Pub – Friday 31st August, 19:00. Touch of Madness
                              4. Open Night at SAAO – Radio Astronomy Revolution – Dr. Nadeem Oozeer (SKA). Saturday 8th September, 08:00 pm. Auditorium (SAAO, Cape Town)


                                5. Link of the Week

                                Michael – Conservapedia

                                Angela – Snake Oil Infographic

                                Owen – Doctor Terrence 13


                                http://archive.org/details/ConsilienceEpisode58

                                http://archive.org/download/ConsilienceEpisode58/Consilience58.mp3

                                0 min
                              5. Episode #57: Martian Robots, Cellphone Idiots and Dinosaur Double-whammy

                                It’s totes a commbadge.

                                The 57th episode of Consilience is out! You can download the mp3 here (30mb) and the file’s page on Archive.org is here.

                                Starring

                                • Owen Swart
                                • Michael Meadon
                                • Angela Meadon
                                • Chris Sham


                                  • Teaching Angela to Appreciate History

                                  1. 1576 – The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe‘s Uraniborg observatory is laid on Hven. Johannes Kepler and all that stuff. Hven, an island in the Øresund between Zealand and Scania. King Frederick II of Denmark gave it to him.


                                    2. Updates

                                    1. Parliament has rejected the DoBE’s catch-up plan, which isn’t even as good as it was described in ep.52; study guides are out.
                                    2. 5,000 more brand new textbooks found dumped in Limpopo, while Motshekga is trying to use “lack of resources” as part of her constitutional argument.


                                      3. News

                                      1. Curiosity!!!!!11111111111111111111elebenty!!
                                        1. Doing checks and boring stuff ATM
                                        2. What’s new.
                                        3. Specs.
                                        4. How single-celled life specialised into multi-celled life via division of labour
                                        5. Government idiots want to put warning labels on cellphones
                                        6. More evidence building up that the Chicxulub impact wasn’t the sole cause of the KT Extinction

                                          7.  

                                          Sci-fi/Fantasy Quote

                                          “Nothing beats the power of nature for putting our self-importance in check.”

                                          — Dr. Hood
                                          Eleventh Hour (US), season 1, episode 15, “Electro”


                                          Announcements

                                          1. Johannesburg
                                            1. SFSA Star Trek Minicon – Saturday 18th August, 10:00 till 19:00. Wits Medical School
                                            2. Sceptics in the Park – Sunday 19th August, 13:00. Rose Garden, Johannesburg Botanical Gardens, Emmarentia
                                            3. Pretoria
                                              1. Sceptics in the Pub – Saturday 18th August, 12:30. Venue to be advised.


                                                2. Link of the Week

                                                Chris – Kerbal Space Program

                                                Michael – Atul Gawande piece in New Yorker.

                                                Angela – Follow Curiosity’s Descent to Mars

                                                Owen – 7 Ridiculous Things People Believe About the “God Particle”


                                                http://archive.org/details/ConsilienceEpisode57

                                                http://archive.org/download/ConsilienceEpisode57/Consilience57.mp3

                                                0 min