Oratorio; psychedelic research; CO2 visuals; beauty parlours in Afghanistan

Published: Wed, 07/05/23

RSA Daily

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia

Thursday, July 6, 2023

Rationale, the magazine of the Rationalist Society of Australia

Good morning ,

For those of you lucky enough to be in Melbourne in July, here's something for lovers of music and science. "The origins of the universe, of life, of species, of humanity" is a new oratorio by evolutionary geneticist Jenny Graves et al. At the Melbourne Recital Centre on Tues 18 July, tix here.

Lead stories

Nothing is not nothing: how a scientist set out to sing the story of our origins

Evolutionary geneticist Jenny Graves loves classical choral music, but grew tired of its biblical…

Two hundred years ago, Haydn wrote "The Creation". Now an Australian scientist, Jenny Graves, has written a piece to celebrate the awe and wonder of creation and she asks, "Why isn't the general public in love with science?"

Do psychedelics really work to treat depression and PTSD? Here's what the evidence says

"Given the publicity and excitement around psychedelic research in recent years, it is likely most participants have strong beliefs such therapies work. This could lead to a significant placebo effect ..."

NASA Scientific Visualization Studio | Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Tagged by Source

This contains absolutely mesmerizing visualisations of CO2 swirling around Earth - and shows why it's better to live in the southern hemisphere!

Other stories of interest

Senior Army chaplain critiques colleagues | Rationalist Society of Australia

She wrote, "I find myself asking: how different is the ‘religious chaplains provide support to all’ argument to the ‘we don’t need female chaplains, as male chaplains provide support to all’ argument from earlier times." Good question!

Stumped by the cricket controversy?

A couple of Poms reflect: "It must be hard for outsiders not to be struck by anything other than a sense of unwitting English smallness that stretches from the inner sanctum of Lord’s to Downing Street and beyond .. based on a lot of bravado, an excess of wishful thinking, some rash decision-making and regular acts of national self-harm." Bit like Brexit, really.

Taliban orders all beauty parlours to close in Afghanistan

The "Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" said it would give reasons for this action only after all beauty salons - the last remaining places women could meet outside the home - were closed down. Dismal, wretched country.

Got a comment on any of these stories?

Write to me at president@rationalist.com.au