14 September 2020

Episode 160: Hauntings

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem, Laura, Ashlyn, and Lauren discuss the plausibility of hauntings, then do a deep dive on the true (and not-so-true) stories behind the Amityville Horror and the Coventry University Ghost. Then Ashlyn brings the show home with her thoughts on why COVID quarantine seems to have resulted in an uptick in hauntings.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

The Amityville Horror: ‘Amityville Horror’ Was Based on a True Story? (Snopes) | 6 Horror Movies Inspired by Real Stories and Hoaxes (HISTORY) | The Amityville Horror (Wikipedia) | Ronald DeFeo Jr. (Wikipedia)

Ed & Lorraine Warren: No, the Annabelle doll didn’t actually escape from the Warrens’ museum (AltPress) | Ed and Lorraine Warren (Wikipedia) | Annabelle (Wikipedia)

The Coventry University Ghost: The Ghost in the Machine (Journal of the Society for Psychical Research) | Our history (Coventry Cathedral) | Some “Ghosts” May Be Sound Waves Just Below Human Hearing (Gizmodo) | Ghost buster (The Guardian) | Famous ghost stories that turned out to be fakes (Insider)

Quarantine Hauntings: Haunted House? These People Are in Isolation with Ghosts (The New York Times) | Haunted house reports on the rise during pandemic, says paranormal researcher (CBC Radio) | Haunted home residents see rise in ‘spooky’ happenings amid quarantine (New York Post)

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Posted by on 14 September 2020 in History, News, Religion, Science, Skepticism and tagged , , , , , .

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18 August 2020

Episode 159: Policing in Canada

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem is joined by Ashlyn, Lauren, and Laura to discuss the history of policing in Canada.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police: Historical events in RCMP-Indigenous relations (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) | Canada isn’t offering a history lesson on colonialism, but the RCMP is (The Eyeopener) | History of the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) | Explainer: Who were the RIC? (TheJournal.ie) | Sitting Bull (The Canadian Encyclopedia) | The RCMP was created to control Indigenous people. Can that relationship be reset? (Global News) | Don’t forget RCMP’s history (Ammsa.com) | Heritage Minutes (YouTube)

The Pass System: Don’t forget RCMP’s history (Ammsa.com) | A Condensed History of Canada’s Colonial Cops (The New Inquiry) | Pass System in Canada (The Canadian Encyclopedia) | North-West Rebellion (The Canadian Encyclopedia) | 1889: Peasant Farming policy implemented (decolonizEd) | The pass system: another dark secret in Canadian history (CBC Radio)

Police Killings in Canada: List of killings by law enforcement officers in Canada (Wikipedia) | Discover Canada: Canada’s History (Canada.ca) | Aboriginal Justice Inquiry (Wikipedia) | John Joseph Harper (Wikipedia) | Inquest begins into police shooting of Winnipeg teen (CBC News) | Police identify man shot by officer (CBC News) | ‘It’s devastating’: South Sudanese condemn fatal police shooting of man with mental health issues (CBC News) | ‘Truly sorry:’ Winnipeg officer sentenced to prison for killing pedestrian (National Post) | Canadian police struggle to maintain reputation under unprecedented scrutiny and demands for new approach (National Post) | Stop the killing: Fatal police shootings in Canada (The Indy) | A timeline of police charged with murder or manslaughter in Canada (The Globe and Mail) | Theft (Armoured Suits Criminal Defence Lawyers) | Capital punishment in Canada (Wikipedia) | Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations (Wikipedia) | Shooting of Chantel Moore (Wikipedia) | Investigation of shooting death of Chantel Moore could take months (CBC News) | Edmundston, N.B., police officer who shot Chantel Moore now back at work (Global News) | Five things to know about Quebec police watchdog probing New Brunswick shootings (Global News) | Muslim man shot dead by Canadian police during mental health crisis (Daily Sabah) | Death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet (Wikipedia) | Defund the police? Here’s a look at how much Canadian cities spend on policing (CTV News)

Alternatives to Calling the Police: Alternatives to Calling the Police (Safe Congregations Handbook, UUA.org) | 12 Things to do Instead of Calling the Cops (Sprout Distro)

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Posted by on 18 August 2020 in History, Humanism, Law, News, Politics and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

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27 July 2020

Episode 158: Public Health History

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Ashlyn, Gem, Laura, and Lauren discuss the history of several public health initiatives: handwashing, toothbrushing, and nutrient fortification of food.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Updated: During his segment, Gem mistakenly said “postpartum examination” when he meant to say “postmortem examination”. This has been corrected.

Handwashing: Hand washing (Wikipedia) | When and How to Wash Your Hands (CDC) | Ignaz Semmelweis (Wikipedia) | Daily Deaths, 2018 (Statistics Canada) | Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System (Maternal and Infant Health, CDC)

Oral Hygiene: Monkeys may have better dental hygiene than you (Science, AAAS) | Miswak (Wikipedia) | Efficiency of traditional chewing stick (miswak) as an oral hygiene aid among Muslim school children in Lucknow: A cross-sectional study (NIH) | The evolution of the toothbrush | Who invented the toothbrush? (HISTORY)

Nutrient Fortification: Overview of Food Fortification in the United States and Canada (NCBI Bookshelf) | A brief history of food fortification (Baking Business) | History of U.S. Iodine Fortification and Supplementation (NIH) | Iodine (Wikipedia) | Fortification and Health: Challenges and Opportunities (Advances in Nutrition, Oxford Academic) | Rationale and Plan for Vitamin D Food Fortification: A Review and Guidance Paper (NIH)

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Posted by on 27 July 2020 in History, Medicine, Science and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

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22 June 2020

Episode 157: UFPhonies

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem is joined by Ashlyn, Laura, Lauren, and special guest Ian James to discuss several famous UFO sightings that turned out (in large part) to be hoaxes.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Past UFO Episodes: Episode 112: Did Aliens Build the Pyramids? | Episode 122: UFOs

The Maury Island Incident: The Maury Island UFO Incident (HowStuffWorks) | Maury Island incident (Wikipedia) | Men in black (Wikipedia)

George Adamski and Orthon the Venusian: A Critical Appraisal of George Adamski: The Man Who Spoke to the Space Brothers (Marc Hallet) | George Adamski and the Space Brothers (HowStuffWorks) | George Adamski Got Famous Sharing His UFO Photos and Alien ‘Encounters’ (HISTORY) | George Adamski (Wikipedia)

Betty and Barney Hill: The Betty and Barney Hill Abduction (Gaia) | Barney and Betty Hill (Wikipedia) | How Betty and Barney Hill’s Alien Abduction Story Defined the Genre (HISTORY) | Betty and Barney Hill Papers, 1961-2006 (Library) | Once upon a time, Betty and Barney Hill told a story that was out of this world (Concord Monitor) | The Hill Abduction (HowStuffWorks) | The Zeta Reticuli (or Ridiculi) Incident (Astronomy Magazine) | The Truth about Betty Hill’s UFO Star Map (Astronotes) | The Debate Over Repressed and Recovered Memories (Verywell Mind) | Repressed Memories: 5 FAQs (HealthLine) | Amniocentesis Prior to 1980 (The Embryo Project Encyclopedia) | Boston Evening Traveller (Wikipedia) | John G. Fuller (Wikipedia) | Strange Arrivals Podcast

The Gulf Breeze Incident: Gulf Breeze, Florida UFO (HISTORY) | Gulf Breeze UFO incident (Wikipedia)

Alien Autopsy: Alien autopsy (Wikipedia)

US Department of Defense Videos: Pentagon’s release of UFO videos a big deal for believers in extraterrestrial life: former U.K. investigator (CBC Radio) | UFO caught on video? Skeptics weigh in on weird footage (CNET) | The Skeptic’s Guide to the Pentagon’s UFO Videos (VICE) | Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos (U.S. Department of Defense) | Navy admits UFO videos are real, but would like to stop using ‘UFO’ (The Washington Post) | NYT: GIMBAL Video of U.S. Navy Jet Encounter with Unknown Object (Metabunk) | Parallax (Wikipedia)

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Posted by on 22 June 2020 in Conspiracy, Geekery, History, Skepticism and tagged , , , , , , , , .

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25 May 2020

Episode 156: Wrath of the Quiz Show!

With their usual trivia night cancelled due to COVID quarantine, on this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else Gem, Laura, Ashlyn, and Lauren put together one of their own.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Computers: B (programming language) (Wikipedia) | C (programming language) (Wikipedia) | Fax (Wikipedia) | Ada Lovelace (Wikipedia) | FLOW-MATIC (Wikipedia) | Tim Berners-Lee (Wikipedia) | Zero-based numbering (Wikipedia) | Boolean algebra (Wikipedia)

Canadian Roadside Attractions: Manitoba’s 9 wackiest roadside attractions (canada.com) | Meleb’s early buildings worth visiting for history buffs (Winnipeg Real Estate News) | Meleb Park Cumming Mushrooms (Interlake Tourism) | Red Paperclip Story (Town of Kipling) | 10 quirky Canadian places to visit for Canada’s 150th birthday (Globalnews.ca) | Sunny the Giant Banana Monument (Historic Sites of Manitoba) | The Vegreville Pysanka (Atlas Obscura) | Vegreville Pysanka (Town of Vegreville) | Canada’s 25 Biggest Attractions (Literally) (Reader’s Digest Canada) | The First Giant Squid (Archival Moments) | Sizable Squid in Glover’s Harbour (CBC Archives) | Ready and waiting: Alberta town built world’s first UFO landing pad 45 years ago (National Post) | The Sunless City (Wikipedia) | Homecoming History: Roots of a mining town (Flin Flon Reminder)

Animal Facts from the Cincinnati Zoo: Videos from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (Facebook)

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Posted by on 25 May 2020 in Geekery, History, Science and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

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