I’ve got a few talks upcoming in Sydney. Come and see the show!
2 August 2018, Sutherland Astronomical Society
Title: Following Light to the Beginning of the Universe
Time: 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Location: Green Point Observatory, Oyster Bay
Free. (I think. Maybe a gold coin for tea and coffee). More details here.
Abstract: How do we know what the Universe is made of? And what shapes its parts into the stars, galaxies and clusters of galaxies that we see around us? Starting from the very early universe, I’ll discuss how the fundamental factors of our universe, its forces, particles, and the dynamical stage that they tread (space time), compete and cooperate to fashion the Universe today.
5 August 2018, St Mark’s Darling Point
Title: The Big Questions – Science and God
Time: 8am, 10am and 5:30pm
Location: 1 Greenoaks Ave, Darling Point NSW 2027
More details here.
10 August 2018, The Australian Botanic Garden (Mount Annan)
Event: Stars over the Garden
Come and enjoy the beautiful Garden under a starry sky! You will learn about Western and Aboriginal views of the night sky.
Dr Luke Barnes, astronomer at Western Sydney University will introduce you to the night sky over Mount Annan and the Macarthur Astronomical Society will bring out their telescopes so you can experience the best views. Our Aboriginal educators from Shared Knowledge will share their dreamtime stories about Australian sky and talk about how the visibility of certain star signs influences their lives.
If the weather permits you will have the opportunity to watch the stars and planets close up through the telescopes. A glass of wine will round up an amazing night experience.
Time: 4.45 pm-6.15 pm
Location: Narellan Road, Mount Annan 2567
Cost: $29.00 per person / Garden member $25.00. No walk-ins. Tickets must be purchased in advance here.
13 August 2018, St. Luke’s Clovelly
Title: The Big Questions – Science and God
Time: 7.45 for snacks, 8pm start
Location: Corner Arden St and Varna St, Clovelly (location)
More details here.
17 August 2018, Centennial Park
Event: Astronomy in the Park
Immerse yourself into a night of stargazing. Looking up we see the bright and the dark – explained by our scientists of the Sydney Observatory, and by our aboriginal educator who will share his stories about the sky with us. At our telescope station, you will have the chance to observe the sky and ask our scientists about the phenomena you discover.
Once you and your group have discovered the sky and the park, we will wind up the evening at a campfire where you can relax, reflect the stories you heard, and enjoy a night in the park under the stars.
Time: 5pm-7pm
Location: Wild Play Discovery Centre, Dickens Drive, Centennial Park
Cost: $29.00 adults / Children $15.00. Find more details and purchase tickets here.
21 August 2018, Narrabeen Baptist
Title: The Big Questions – Science and God
Time: 7:30pm – 9pm
Location: 13 Grenfell Ave, North Narrabeen (location)
More details here.
Letters to Nature 
Hi Luke, I dunno if you check here much these days, and I’ve just chosen this place to ask a fine-tuning and probability question. (I am not a statistician or a physicist.)
I heard an argument recently that went like this. Sure the probability of a life permitting universe by chance, P(LPU|C) is very low (say Penrose’s number or something like it), but that isn’t the same as the probability of the cause being chance now we are in a LPU, P(C|LPU). That would be the Prosecutor’s Fallacy.
How would you answer that? Thanks.
The other part of the calculation is the probability of LPU on an alternative hypothesis, such as theism. If p(LPU|T) >> p(LPU|C), then theism is supported by this evidence over “chance”.
Thanks for replying. I think the sticking point may be that an atheist can logically say that P(LPU|T) is high (i.e. IF there was a God, then we can grant that he might easily create a LPU) while denying there is actually a God, but many people don’t understand conditional probability and think that statement is granting too much.
Well, that’s either misunderstanding how probabilities work, or putting the prior probability of theism implausibly low.