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A Chronology of Past PhACT Meetings
We have been hosting lectures and other PhACT meetings since 1995. Here is the list.
Most of the recent meetings have been held on Zoom. We have recordings of many of those meetings
on
PhACT's YouTube Channel .
2024
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, April 20, 2024 | What's the Harm of Psychics? | Rob Palmer | | Saturday, March 16, 2024 | Explorations into the Age of Fishes and the Origin of Limbed Vertebrates | Ted Daeschler | | Saturday, February 17, 2024 | 19th Century Astronomy CANCELED | Robert Hicks | | Saturday, January 20, 2024 | The Allure of the Multiverse | Dr. Paul Halpern |
2023
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 18, 2023 | How Are We Deceived? | Brian 'Happie' Foshee | | Saturday, September 16, 2023 | Hacking Humanity - Advances in Technology Lead to Big Breakthroughs in Medicine | Dr. Nathan Lents | | Sunday, July 9, 2023 | SUMMER PICNIC | | | Saturday, May 20, 2023 | Valley Forge Park | | | Saturday, March 18, 2023 | Science Activism does not stop during a world-wide pandemic: or How I spent my lockdown | Susan Gerbic | | Saturday, February 18, 2023 | Public Perception of Science: Lessons from a Dead Sheep | Adam Ruben | | Saturday, January 21, 2023 | The Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project | Rob Palmer |
2022
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 19, 2022 | Changing Climate Extremes and Global Warming | Tom Delworth | | Saturday, October 15, 2022 | Separating facts and opinions about sex and gender | David Langdon, MD | | Saturday, September 17, 2022 | The Uses of Delusion | Stuart Vyse | | Saturday, June 25, 2022 | picnic | | | Saturday, May 7, 2022 | Valley Forge Park Excursion | | | Saturday, April 23, 2022 | Inside the White Rose -an Anti-vaxx, Covid Conspiracy Theory Ecosystem | Michael Marshall | | Saturday, March 19, 2022 | Havana Syndrome- Tilting at Windmills? | Robert Bartholomew and Rob Palmer | | Sunday, February 20, 2022 | Media Coverage of the Pandemic | Faye Flam and Dr Dave Cragin | | Saturday, January 15, 2022 | Flashes of Creation: The Big Bang | Paul Halpern |
2021
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 20, 2021 | The Dark Side of Science: Misconduct in Biomedical Research | Dr Elisabeth Bik | | Saturday, October 16, 2021 | A Chat with Rob Palmer & John de Lancie | Rob Palmer & John de Lancie | | Saturday, September 18, 2021 | Skeptical of Clean Eating | Steven Novella | | Saturday, July 24, 2021 | Picnic and book swap | | | Saturday, May 15, 2021 | John J Audubon Center | | | Saturday, April 17, 2021 | Mark Edward, Professional Mentalist | Mark Edward | | Saturday, March 20, 2021 | Adventures of an Australian Skeptic | Ian Bryce | | Saturday, February 20, 2021 | Circular Reasoning: The Rise of Flat Earth Belief | Michael Marshall | | Saturday, January 16, 2021 | The State of Science | Marc Zimmer |
2020
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 21, 2020 | The Psychology of Superstition | Stuart Vyse | | Saturday, October 17, 2020 | Behind the Scenes on a TV Ghost Show | Benjamin Radford | | Saturday, September 19, 2020 | Why is there something instead of nothing? | Steve Landsburg | | Saturday, August 15, 2020 | Giving the Devil His Due | Dr. Michael Shermer | | Saturday, July 25, 2020 | PhACT Picnic | | | Saturday, June 20, 2020 | Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes Too Far | Paul A Offit, MD | | Saturday, June 6, 2020 | How the Science of Oligonucleotide Therapeutics can defeat Covid-19 | Arthur Krieg, MD | | Saturday, February 15, 2020 | The Monty Hall Problem & Other Wonders of Statistics and Probability | Mike LeWitt, MD, MPH |
2019
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 16, 2019 | The Ethical Algorithm | Aaron Roth | | Saturday, October 19, 2019 | Beyond The Echo Chamber: Skeptical Outreach Through Pop Culture | Russ Dobler | | Saturday, September 21, 2019 | Ancient Aliens, Astrology, Apollo Conspiracies, and Space Telescopes | Barry Vacker | | Saturday, June 22, 2019 | picnic and book swap | | | Saturday, May 18, 2019 | Hike to Indian Rock @ Tyler Arboretum | Don Nigroni | | Saturday, April 20, 2019 | Investigating Mysteries: Out-of-the-Box Thinking that Solved Strange Cases | Kenny Biddle | | Saturday, March 16, 2019 | The Workshop and the World: what ten thinkers can teach us about Science and authority | Bob Crease | | Saturday, February 16, 2019 | SETI | Earl Bennett | | Saturday, January 19, 2019 | Bad Advice: Why Celebrities Aren't Your Best Source of Health Information | Paul A. Offit |
2018
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 17, 2018 | Cults: 30 Years Ago & Today | Joe Szimhart | | Saturday, October 20, 2018 | The Evolution of Creationism | Eric Krieg | | Saturday, September 15, 2018 | Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW) | Rob Palmer | | Saturday, June 30, 2018 | picnic and book swap | | | Saturday, May 19, 2018 | PhACT Expedition to Laurel Hill Cemetary | Mike Brooks - guide | | Saturday, April 21, 2018 | Hip Hop and the Illuminati | Rob Brotherton | | Saturday, March 17, 2018 | Science Unlimited?: The Challenges of Scientism | Massimo Pigliucci | | Saturday, February 17, 2018 | The Confederate Vaccination Crisis of the Civil War | Robert D. Hicks | | Saturday, January 20, 2018 | The Quantum Labyrinth | Paul Halpern |
2017
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 18, 2017 | Ethics of Artificial Intelligence | Ted Schick | | Saturday, October 21, 2017 | The Anthropology of Food | Alan Mann | | Saturday, September 16, 2017 | The Political Climate for Science (and Skepticism) | Ken Silber | | Saturday, July 22, 2017 | Annual PhACT Picnic | | | Saturday, May 20, 2017 | PhACT Expedition to Valley Forge Park | | | Saturday, April 15, 2017 | Science Gone Wrong | Dr. Paul Offit | | Saturday, March 18, 2017 | Worldwide Adventures in Skepticism Through Story and Song | George Hrab | | Saturday, February 18, 2017 | Disasters: Geology vs. Hollywood | Jon Nyquist | | Saturday, January 21, 2017 | A Numerate Life | John Allen Paulos |
2016
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 19, 2016 | HILLEMAN - A Perilous Quest to Save the World's Children | Paull Offit, MD | | Saturday, October 15, 2016 | Thinking Critically about Money and Investing | Richard Saunders | | Saturday, September 17, 2016 | The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories | Dr. Rob Brotherton | | Sunday, July 31, 2016 | Annual PhACT Picnic | | | Saturday, May 21, 2016 | PhACT Expedition to Haycock Mountain | | | Saturday, April 16, 2016 | Global Warming and Climate Change | Tom Delworth | | Saturday, March 19, 2016 | Stanislaw Burzynski | Bob Blaskiewicz | | Saturday, February 20, 2016 | The Scars of Human Evolution | Alan Mann | | Saturday, January 16, 2016 | A Farewell to Tiktaalik | Ted Daeschler |
2015
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 21, 2015 | The Ecosystem Within You, How is it Affecting You? | Robert Baldassano, MD | | Saturday, October 17, 2015 | Debunk It! | John Grant | | Saturday, September 19, 2015 | Einstein's Dice and Schrödinger's Cat | Paul Halpern | | Saturday, July 18, 2015 | PhACT Picnic | | | Saturday, May 16, 2015 | PhACT Expedition to the Mullica River | | | Saturday, April 18, 2015 | Fears and Fallacies: A Skeptic's Guide to Food, Evolution, and Life | David Cragin and Faye Flam | | Saturday, March 21, 2015 | A Non-Stop Skeptic in a Believer's World | Debbie Berebichez | | Saturday, January 17, 2015 | The High Cost of Free Energy | Eric Krieg |
2014
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 15, 2014 | Neuroethics: the Perils and Potential of Brain Science | Ted Schick | | Saturday, October 18, 2014 | Doomsday Scenarios | Barry Vacker | | Saturday, September 20, 2014 | "Back off, man -- I'm a scientist" | Paul Brewer | | Saturday, June 21, 2014 | PhACT Picnic | | | Saturday, May 17, 2014 | PhACT Ghostbusting Expedition to Ridley Creek State Park | | | Monday, April 28, 2014 | Michael Shermer on The Believing Brain | Michael Shermer | | Saturday, March 15, 2014 | Bigfoot and Cryptozoology | Brian Regal | | Saturday, January 18, 2014 | Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and Science in the Media | David Cragin and Faye Flam |
2013
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 16, 2013 | Why Symmetry Matters: a description of the beautiful simplicity of the universe | Dave Goldberg | | Saturday, October 19, 2013 | Paul Offit | Paul Offit | | Saturday, September 21, 2013 | AIDS Denialism | Nicoli Nattrass | | Saturday, June 15, 2013 | PhACT Picnic | | | Saturday, May 18, 2013 | PhACT Expedition to the Heinz National Wildlife Refuge | | | Sunday, April 21, 2013 | Brunch with James Randi | James Randi | | Saturday, April 20, 2013 | The Amazing James Randi | James Randi | | Saturday, March 16, 2013 | The Museum of Scientifically Proven Supernatural and Paranormal Phenomena | Bob Glickman | | Saturday, February 16, 2013 | Behavioral Economics and the Libertarian Paternalism Approach to Policy | John Ruscio | | Saturday, January 19, 2013 | Media Myths | W. Joseph Campbell |
2012
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 17, 2012 | Science vs. Politics: A Post-Election Look at the Political Climate for Science | Kenneth Silber | | Saturday, October 20, 2012 | The Pseudoscience Wars: Immanuel Velikovsky and the Birth of the Modern Fringe | Michael D. Gordin | | Saturday, September 15, 2012 | Edge of the Universe: A Voyage to the Cosmic Horizon and Beyond | Paul Halpern | | Saturday, July 7, 2012 | PhACT Picnic | | | Saturday, May 19, 2012 | PhACT Scientific Expedition to the Blue Hole | | | Saturday, April 28, 2012 | The Good Old Days: They were Terrible: Toxicology and the Modern World | David Cragin | | Saturday, March 17, 2012 | The New Alchemy | Tom Napier | | Saturday, February 18, 2012 | Bioethics and the Evolution of Consciousness | Stacy Ake |
2011
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 19, 2011 | The Fracking Controversy | Roland Wall | | Saturday, October 15, 2011 | The Reality of Civil War Medicine and its Interpretation | Robert D, Hicks | | Saturday, September 17, 2011 | The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) | Earl Bennett | | Saturday, June 25, 2011 | PhACT Picnic | | | Saturday, May 21, 2011 | Annual Banquet | Tom Beebee | | Saturday, April 23, 2011 | The Dover Intelligent Design Trial | Judge John Jones | | Saturday, March 19, 2011 | Disasters: Geology vs. Hollywood | Jonathan Nyquist | | Saturday, February 19, 2011 | Destructive Cults | David Clark | | Saturday, January 15, 2011 | Nonsense on Stilts | Prof. Massimo Pigliucci |
2010
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 20, 2010 | Cosmology and Crackpots | Dave Goldberg | | Saturday, October 16, 2010 | Myths of Psychology and Child Rearing | Cathy Fiorello | | Saturday, September 18, 2010 | Denying Science | John Grant | | Saturday, July 10, 2010 | PhACT Picnic | | | Saturday, June 19, 2010 | Colliding with Creationists and Cults on the Internet | Jim Lippard | | Sunday, May 16, 2010 | New Jersey Devil Expedition | | | Saturday, May 15, 2010 | PhACT Banquet | Joe Nickell | | Saturday, April 17, 2010 | Risk and Numbers | David Cragin | | Saturday, March 20, 2010 | The Decline of Males | Lionel Tiger | | Saturday, February 20, 2010 | Conspiracy Theories in Science | Ted Goertzel | | Saturday, January 16, 2010 | Orbs or Dust? A Practical Guide to False-Positives | Ken Biddle |
2009
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 21, 2009 | Robert Park | Robert Park | | Saturday, October 17, 2009 | The Large Hadron Collider | Paul Halpern | | Saturday, September 19, 2009 | Science, Pseudoscience, and the Law | Lewis Misfud | | Sunday, July 19, 2009 | Annual Picnic | | | Saturday, May 30, 2009 | Fund-Raising Banquet | Faye Flam | | Saturday, April 18, 2009 | Thinking Socratically | Sharon Schwarze and Harvey Lape | | Saturday, March 21, 2009 | The Dover Evolution/Intelligent Design Trial | Lauri Lebo | | Saturday, February 21, 2009 | Integrative Oncology: Complementary Therapies and Botanicals in Cancer Care | Barrie R. Cassileth | | Saturday, January 17, 2009 | In Search of Time | Dan Falk |
2008
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Sunday, December 14, 2008 | PhACT Solstice Party | | | Saturday, November 15, 2008 | False Memory Syndrome | Pam Freyd | | Saturday, October 18, 2008 | We the Person: Evolutionary Psychology and the Many Branches of your Brain | Robert Kurzban | | Saturday, September 20, 2008 | Innumeracy -- Math in Society | John Allen Paulos | | Sunday, July 13, 2008 | PhACT Picnic | | | Saturday, May 17, 2008 | Banquet in Horsham | | | Saturday, April 19, 2008 | Science Education in Crisis | Andrew J. Petto | | Saturday, March 15, 2008 | Real Free Energy | Nick Pine | | Saturday, January 19, 2008 | Vaccine Safety: Science, Politics, and the Media | Paul Offit |
2007
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 17, 2007 | Everything's Relative and Other Fables in Science and Technology | Tony Rothman | | Saturday, October 20, 2007 | Science and Sexuality | Faye Flam | | Saturday, September 15, 2007 | Mysterious Delusions: Witchcraft in Salem Village | Walter F. Rowe | | Saturday, April 21, 2007 | Award Banquet with Ted Daeschler | Ted Daschler | | Saturday, February 17, 2007 | Global Warming and Projections of Future Climate Change | Thomas Delworth | | Saturday, January 20, 2007 | Issues of Free Speech | Bill Ewing |
2006
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 18, 2006 | Science Askew | Dom Simanek | | Friday, October 13, 2006 | Michael Shermer | Michael Shermer | | Saturday, September 16, 2006 | Black Light Power Corporation and the Hydrino atomic theory. | William Wong | | Saturday, June 10, 2006 | Picnic at Galena Lake | | | Saturday, May 20, 2006 | PhACT Day at The Academy of Natural Sciences | | | Saturday, April 15, 2006 | Terrorism and Emergency Response | Mr. Ralph Gumbert | | Saturday, March 18, 2006 | Dennis Lee and Free Energy -- can motors run on snake oil? | Eric Krieg | | Saturday, February 18, 2006 | The Two Mysteries of the Great Pyramids | Tom Napier | | Saturday, January 21, 2006 | Toxicology and the Environment: Separating fact from fiction | David Cragin |
2005
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 19, 2005 | A Skeptical look at Skepticism | Charles Eisenstein | | Saturday, October 15, 2005 | Medical Bioethics | Stacy Ake | | Saturday, September 17, 2005 | The Di Vinci Code | Joe Szimhart | | Saturday, June 18, 2005 | PhACT Picnic and investigation of "Ringing Rocks" | | | Saturday, May 7, 2005 | Icons of End of the World Thinking | Thomas Beebee | | Saturday, April 16, 2005 | How to Think About Weird Things | Ted Schick | | Saturday, March 19, 2005 | The Social Epistemology of Medical Consensus Conference | Miriam Solomon | | Saturday, February 19, 2005 | Confronting Creationists in the Schools | Colin Purrington | | Saturday, January 15, 2005 | A Startling Geological Announcement | Harry Rothwell |
2004
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, December 18, 2004 | Winter Solstice Party | | | Saturday, November 20, 2004 | Ghosts in Philadelphia? | Eric Krieg, Bob Glickman, and Rodney Anonymous | | Saturday, October 16, 2004 | Bunkum in Psychology | Becky Strickland | | Saturday, September 18, 2004 | A PhACT Get-together with Benjamin Radford | Benjamin Radford | | Saturday, June 19, 2004 | PhACT Family Picnic | | | Saturday, May 15, 2004 | Tour of the purportedly haunted Eastern Penitentiary | | | Saturday, April 17, 2004 | Freedom, Determinism, and Moral Responsibility | Bill Wisdom | | Saturday, March 20, 2004 | The Henry George Economic Theory | Dan Sullivan | | Saturday, February 21, 2004 | Risky Business: Assessing Risks to Human Health | Mike Jayjock | | Saturday, January 17, 2004 | Toxicology in the Media: Separating Fact from Fiction | David Cragin |
2003
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, December 20, 2003 | Winter Solstice Party | | | Saturday, November 15, 2003 | Open Mike Night at PhACT | | | Saturday, October 18, 2003 | Examining the Fringe Culture of Free Energy Claimants | Eric Krieg | | Saturday, September 20, 2003 | Controversies in Science and Society: An Exploration of Critical Thinking About Scientific Theories | Andrew J. Petto | | Saturday, June 14, 2003 | Picnic | | | Saturday, May 17, 2003 | Science in Journalism | Faye Flam | | Saturday, April 19, 2003 | Science in the Courtroom | Walter Rowe | | Saturday, March 15, 2003 | Harmful Cults | Joe Szimhart | | Saturday, January 18, 2003 | Complimentary and Alternative Medicine | Dr. Barrie R. Cassileth |
2002
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 16, 2002 | The Pitfalls of Polygraph Testing | John Ruscio | | Saturday, October 19, 2002 | Con Men | Louis Sgro | | Saturday, September 21, 2002 | Bob Glickman vs. The Flying Saucers | Bob Glickman | | Saturday, August 17, 2002 | PhACT Phamily Picnic | | | Saturday, June 15, 2002 | The Borderlands of Science - Where Sense Meets Nonsense | Michael Shermer | | Saturday, May 18, 2002 | The Seven Warning Signs of Voodoo Science | Robert Park |
2001
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, October 20, 2001 | The Psychic, The Paranormal, and the Supernatural | George Hansen | | Saturday, September 15, 2001 | How to Convince a Skeptic | Tom Napier | | Saturday, March 17, 2001 | Looking For a Miracle | Joe Nickell | | Saturday, February 17, 2001 | AIDS Deniers: When Pseudo-science Kills | Anna Forbes and Walt Cuirle | | Saturday, January 20, 2001 | Skeptical Discussion Day | |
2000
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, December 16, 2000 | Winter Solstice Party | | | Saturday, November 18, 2000 | The History of Skepticism | Bill Wisdom | | Saturday, October 21, 2000 | Debunking Thought Field Therapy | James D. Herbert, PhD, and Brandon Gaudiano | | Saturday, September 16, 2000 | Medical Orgonomy | Richar Moroch | | Saturday, May 20, 2000 | The Norm Biss Story | Norm Biss | | Saturday, April 15, 2000 | If the Spirit is Willing: a Brief History of Spiritualism | Chip Denman | | Saturday, March 18, 2000 | Global Warming - Is it Real? Should We Care? | Tom Delworth | | Saturday, February 19, 2000 | Field Trip to the Philadelphia Mütter Museum | | | Saturday, January 15, 2000 | Psychology of Children's Behavior | Cathy Fiorello |
1999
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
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| Saturday, December 18, 1999 | Keeping Fiction out of Science -- panel discussion | | | Wednesday, November 10, 1999 | Dennis Lee Free Energy Show | | | Saturday, October 16, 1999 | Destructive Cults | Joe Flanagan | | Saturday, September 18, 1999 | Does Eating Candy Increase Longevity? | Jeff Lewis and David Cragin | | Saturday, May 15, 1999 | Fanaticism in Cyberspace | Eric Krieg | | Saturday, April 17, 1999 | PhACT Annual Banquet | Pam Freyd | | Saturday, March 20, 1999 | Media Integrity Symposium | | | Saturday, February 20, 1999 | How Do You Know That's Impossible? | Walter Cuirle | | Saturday, January 16, 1999 | Hot Air, Hope, and Hand Waving | Tom Napier |
1998
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|
| Saturday, November 21, 1998 | How to Think About Weird Things | Ted Schick | | Saturday, October 17, 1998 | The Skeptic as Expert Witness in the Case Against the Faith Healers | Bill Wisdom | | Saturday, September 19, 1998 | Creationism's Achilles Heel: The Geologic Record | Donald Wise | | Saturday, May 16, 1998 | Introducing Cryonics | Doug Platt | | Saturday, April 18, 1998 | PhACT Annual Luncheon | Joe Nickell | | Saturday, March 21, 1998 | What Constitutes Proof When Examining Alternative Healthcare? | Saul Green | | Saturday, February 21, 1998 | Memes and Mass Delusion | Aaron Lynch | | Saturday, January 17, 1998 | The Roswell Incident | Tom Carey |
1997
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
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| Saturday, November 15, 1997 | Weird Encounters Day | | | Saturday, October 18, 1997 | Making Sense of the Millennium | Ted Daniels | | Saturday, September 20, 1997 | The High Cost of Free Energy | Eric Krieg | | Saturday, July 19, 1997 | PhACT Family Picnic | | | Saturday, May 17, 1997 | Skeptical About Skeptics | David Leiter | | Saturday, April 19, 1997 | Group Discussion Day | | | Saturday, February 15, 1997 | Conspiracy Theory | Evan Harrington | | Saturday, January 18, 1997 | Can Nurses Feel Energy Fields? | Bob Glickman |
1996
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
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| Saturday, November 16, 1996 | The James Randi Luncheon | James Randi | | Saturday, September 21, 1996 | False Memories | Pam Freyd | | Saturday, August 17, 1996 | Ringing Rocks | | | Saturday, July 20, 1996 | Creationism's Sins | Craig Olsen | | Saturday, June 15, 1996 | World Skeptic Conference | | | Saturday, May 18, 1996 | Health Frauds and Quackery | Dr. Stephen Barrett, MD | | Saturday, April 20, 1996 | Psychics and the Law | Louis Sgro | | Saturday, March 16, 1996 | UFOs | Philip Klass | | Saturday, February 17, 1996 | Does Astrology Work? | Eric Krieg | | Saturday, January 20, 1996 | The Two Mysteries of the Great Pyramid | Tom Napier |
1995
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
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| Saturday, November 18, 1995 | How to Tell What is Possible and Impossible | Milton Rothman | | Sunday, September 24, 1995 | Cults and Pseudoscience | Joe Szimhart |
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