The Reality Check #18: Prayer + Safety Laws + Myth of the Week: Coke Tabs

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This week we take a look at whether there is any evidence that prayer can heal, debate whether or not our safety laws are justified, and if there’s is any point to collecting tabs from soda cans.

Listen now: http://media.libsyn.com/media/therealitycheck/The_Reality_Check_Ep_18_-_2008-12-04.mp3

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The Reality Check #17 – Zombies, Crime Stats, and Moon Illusion

Zombie from Haiti

This week we discuss the plausibility of a zombie apocalypse, whether or not crime is as bad as ‘they’ say, and why the moon seems bigger some nights.

Listen now: http://media.libsyn.com/media/therealitycheck/The_Reality_Check_Ep_17_-_2008-12-04.mp3

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The Reality Check Episode 16 – Mortality/Risk+Evidence/Falsifiability+Coriolis Effect/Toilets

Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear

This week we discuss fear of mortality vs actual risk, the nature of scientific evidence, and the myth that toilets work differently in Australia.

Listen now: http://media.libsyn.com/media/therealitycheck/The_Reality_Check_Ep_16_-_2008-11-29.mp3

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The Reality Check – Episode 15 – JFK Assassination, Pesticides+Cancer, and the Brain+Evolution

Image of JFK

This week the crew discuss the 45th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination (and the lingering conspiracy theories), the science of pesticides and cancer (should you worry?), and the inaugural episode of “as if you need more evidence for evolution”.

Listen now: http://media.libsyn.com/media/therealitycheck/The_Reality_Check_Ep_15_-_2008-11-20.mp3 
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The Reality Check Episode 14 – Astrology, Prevention in Medicine, and “Yes Captain, I do”

The Reality Check Logo

This week the regular crew discuss the trouble with astrology, the double standard applied to scientific medicine with respect to prevention, and we reexamine the claim that sea captains can perform marriages. This episode we’re trying a shorter format, please let us know what you think.

Listen now: http://media.libsyn.com/media/therealitycheck/The_Reality_Check_Ep_14_-_2008-11-13.mp3 

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The Reality Check Episode 13 – Calorie Restriction, Wedding Superstitions, BPA, and Unlucky Numbers

This week Adam, Cat, Darren, Jon, and Xander discuss calorie restricted diets, wedding superstitions, bisphenol A, and the world of unlucky numbers. Due to time constraints no logical fallacy of the week was discussed.

Listen now: http://media.libsyn.com/media/therealitycheck/The_Reality_Check_Ep_13_-_2008-11-06.mp3

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The Reality Check Episode 12 – Persinger’s God Helmet and Halloween Dangers

In this ‘spooky’ halloween episode Darren, Xander, and Jon discuss if maybe Dr. Michael Persinger’s claims deserve a bit of skepticism, and we discuss the real stats behind the dangers of ‘trick or treating’. The logical fallacy of the week is the ‘Appeal to FEAR’. The science myth of the week is ‘Does the moon affect people’s personality?’

Listen now: http://media.libsyn.com/media/therealitycheck/The_Reality_Check_Ep_12_-_2008-10-30.mp3

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The Reality Check Episode 11 – Franken-foods, Acai Berries, and UK UFO Documents Revealed!

We discuss genetically modified foods (aka “franken-foods”) and find out if there’s anything to worry about, the growing in popularity Brazilian fruit called the acai (a-sa-ee), and the latest release of UFO documents from a major government (in this case it’s the UK).

Listen now: http://media.libsyn.com/media/therealitycheck/The_Reality_Check_Ep_11_-_2008-10-23.mp3

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The Reality Check Episode 10 – Islamic Doll, What Energy Is Essay, and Cognitive Dissonance

In this episode Adam discusses a Fisher-Price doll that apparently says some ‘shocking’ things, Darren shares with us an essay he wrote about energy (and it’s misuse), and Jonathan discusses the psychological theory of cognitive dissonance. We then finish with the logical fallacy of the week and the science myth of the week.

Listen now: http://media.libsyn.com/media/therealitycheck/The_Reality_Check_Ep_10_-_2008-10-16.mp3

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The Reality Check Ep 9 – Vitamin C + Chemotherapy, Maggie the Counting Dog, and Out of Body Study

On this week’s show we discuss a news report that vitamin C may interfere with chemotherapy drugs’ ability to fight cancer, a dog that can supposedly do math, and the announcement of a new study that will figure out if out of body experiences are more than just hallucinations.

Listen now: http://media.libsyn.com/media/therealitycheck/The_Reality_Check_Ep_9_-_2008-10-09.mp3

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