Young Australian Skeptics

Organization

Young Australian Skeptics

Formation| 2008; 17 years ago (2008)
Location|

* Melbourne, Australia

Founder

| Elliot Birch

Editors

| Elliot Birch
Richard Hughes
Belinda Nicholson
Jack Scanlan
Website| youngausskeptics.com

The Young Australian Skeptics (YAS) is an Australian skeptical organisation whose primary focus is its collaborative blog, which attempts to address topics central to science, critical thinking and scientific skepticism. The group has published a Skeptical Blog Anthology Book reviewed in Scientific American, and has been represented in national broadcast media in Australia and North America, skeptically addressing conspiracy theories, as well as discussing topics specific to young members of the skeptical movement.

## Overview

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The Young Australian Skeptics (YAS) organisation was founded in 2008 by Elliot Birch, with its web site functioning "as an experimental community-style blog."[1] They have been described in a guest post at Scientific American as "an affiliation of skeptically-minded people, primarily college students, scientists and artists living in the city of Melbourne."[2] The group caters specifically to young people, defined as individuals who are in the age range "from high school to maybe late 20s," according to editor Jack Scanlan.[3]

In 2009, the Young Australian Skeptics began an anthology project, compiling a list of skeptical blogs based on nominations from users, initially including "blog entries posted between January 1 and December 1, 2009," according to a 2009 article in Skeptical Inquirer.[4] In 2012, the Skeptical Blog Anthology book was made available as a print collection of reader-nominated articles and essays, edited by Kylie Sturgess.[2]

The Young Australian Skeptics assumed a leadership role in promoting the activities of Freethought University Alliance groups at The Amaz!ng Meeting Australia 2010 (TAMOz), interviewing "current leaders in skepticism such as Eugenie C. Scott and Simon Singh," as reported in Skeptical Inquirer by Sturgess.[5]

## The Pseudoscientists

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Radio show

The PseudoscientistsGenre| Science, skeptic, interview

|

Running time| approximately one hour
Country of origin| Australia
Language(s)| English
Hosted by| Tom Lang
Sarah McBride
Belinda Nicholson
Jack Scanlan
Rachael Skerritt
Original release| 2008
Audio format| Mono
Podcast| youngausskeptics.com/podcasts/the-pseudoscientists

The Pseudoscientists is the weekly official podcast of the Young Australian Skeptics, which aims to explore issues pertaining to science, critical thinking while engaging young skeptics with science communicators.[6]

As reported in an April 2009 article in The Age, the podcast "rank[ed] higher on the Australian iTunes chart than similar offerings from the BBC, the CSIRO and NASA" within its first four months after launching.[7]

The show format typically spans over an hour in length per episode, and "includes interviews, book reviews, and other segments."[8]

## Media appearances

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In July 2009, Alastair Tait represented the Young Australian Skeptics on 702 ABC Sydney in an interview with Nick Rheinberger about the group's investigation into Moon landing conspiracy theories.[9] In the interview, Tait addressed several specific claims about the Moon landing, including explaining the effect of torque on the flag as it was planted, discussing the types of radiation (beta particles) that the astronauts would be exposed to while traveling through the Van Allen Belt, the transparent by-product of lunar module thrusters, the lack of visible stars photographed in a light-saturated landscape, and several other popular hoax theories.[9] Tait followed up by pointing audience members to recently taken photographs taken of the lunar landing site by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, whose mission was in progress during the interview.[9]

A May 2010 episode of the Skeptically Speaking radio show based in Edmonton, Canada featured Young Australian Skeptics' Jack Scanlan, Elliot Birch, and Jason Ball.[10] In dialog with host Desiree Schell, the YAS representatives discussed issues that face young members of the skeptical movement, including their role in the larger skeptical community and relating to peers who might be more credulous.[10]

## Publications

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* Kylie Sturgess, ed. (16 August 2012). Skeptical Blog Anthology. Young Australian Skeptics.

## See also

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* Australian Skeptics
* Notable Skeptics and Skeptical Organizations
* Pseudoscience
* Quackery

## References

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1. ^ "About – Young Australian Skeptics". Young Australian Skeptics. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
2. ^ a b Zivkovic, Bora (3 January 2012). "What is the Skeptical Blog Anthology?". Scientific American. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
3. ^ Sturgess, Kylie. "The New Faces Of Young Skepticism: The Young Australian Skeptics Site Relaunch". James Randi Educational Foundation. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
4. ^ Lavarnway, Julia. "New anthology to showcase skeptical blogs". Skeptical Inquirer. 33 (6): 42.
5. ^ Sturgess, Kylie. "The wizards of TAMOz". Skeptical Inquirer. 35 (3): 9.
6. ^ "The Pseudoscientists". Young Australian Skeptics. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
7. ^ Lallo, Michael (2 April 2009). "Not in Kansas any more". The Age (Melbourne, Vic.). p. 6.
8. ^ Grothe, D.J. (2009). "A Skeptic's Guide to Podcasts". Skeptical Inquirer. 33 (6): 30.
9. ^ a b c Tait, Alastair (20 July 2009). "Did They Really Land On The Moon?". ABC New South Wales (Interview). Interviewed by Nick Rheinberger. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
10. ^ a b Schell, Desiree (14 May 2010). "Young Skeptics". Skeptically Speaking. Retrieved 7 July 2015.

## External links

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* Young Australian Skeptics website
* The Pseudoscientists podcast
* "Young Skeptics" guest appearance on Skeptically Speaking
* Discover Magazine "Young Australian Skeptics" article Archived 15 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine on Bad Astronomy by Phil Plait

* v
* t
* e

Skeptic organizations

* Association for Skeptical Enquiry (ASKE)
* Association française pour l'information scientifique (AFIS)
* Australian Skeptics
* Center for Inquiry (CFI)
* Centre for Inquiry Canada
* Círculo Escéptico
* COMCEPT
* Comité Para
* Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI/CSICOP)
* Český klub skeptiků Sisyfos
* Dakshina Kannada Rationalist Association
* De Vrije Gedachte (DVG)
* Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Bekämpfung des Kurpfuschertums (DGBK)
* Edinburgh Skeptics
* Eesti Skeptik
* European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO)
* Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA)
* Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP)
* Glasgow Skeptics
* Good Thinking Society
* Het Denkgelag
* Humanists Sweden
* Hungarian Skeptic Society (Szkeptikus Társaság)
* Irish Skeptics Society
* Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Pseudosciences (CICAP)
* James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF)
* Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham
* Klub Sceptyków Polskich (KSP)
* Laboratoire de Zététique
* Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti
* Merseyside Skeptics Society (MSS)
* New England Skeptical Society
* Norwegian Humanist Association
* NZ Skeptics
* Observatoire Zététique (OZ)
* Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (RDF/RDFRS)
* Science and Rationalists' Association of India
* SKEPP
* Skepsis ry
* Skeptic Society
* Society for Psychical Research
* Stichting Skepsis
* Tarksheel Society
* The Skeptics Society
* Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (VtdK)
* Vetenskap och Folkbildning (VoF)
* Young Australian Skeptics (YAS)

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