Monthly Archives: March 2008

Ben Stein, Expelled

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You may have noticed that I’ve been entirely silent about the movie Expelled. This is because of something that I do: Utterly ignore certain aspects of reality because my level of interest does not exceed my level of annoyance. I also ignore entire chunks of reality because I find them too interesting yet don’t have the available time or energy to invest at the moment. Like the Maya. I’ve totally ignored the Maya for this reasn.But, here’s the thing: If you go to my old blog, which is a dormant archive, I’ve got a few Google ads set up, and they tend to display ads for Ben Stein, Expelled. Why? I don’t really know, but Google has always put lots of creationist ads on my old site. Moving to Scienceblogs.com was actually very nice in this respect. There is some control over, or thought put into, ad selection on this site (I assume).Anyway, I decided to help Ben and the movie Expelled out a little, so I wrote a post that includes links to many (indirectly, hundreds of) blog posts providing helpful commentary on this production. Since at the moment I don’t actively blog on that site, this post will be the top post for an indefinite period of time. My list of posts includes two search engine listings, one showing all the Scienceblogs.com posts on the movie, and the other showing all the other posts ever in the whole world, via the MnCSE science-only search engine. (That should eliminate all the creationist sites.)So go on over to and have a look if you want to know more about Expelled.

Evidence for an ancient lineage of modern humans

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ResearchBlogging.orgIt almost seems like there are two separate research project under way regarding the evolutionary history of Homo sapiens. One focuses on recent humans, tends to use DNA as a major source of information, and from this base projects back into the past. This approach tends to confirm the idea that humans share an African origin with a subsequent spread from Africa, with various degrees of complexity in that series of historical events. The other focuses on early human remains, sometimes including remains that would be placed by some in a separate species or sub species. This sort of approach typically results in a similar conclusion regarding the African origin.But the two populations … modern or recent humans and humans several tens of thousands of years old do not necessarily share a history that has been coherently assembled by researchers. Of course, they shared an actual history, but do the lines linked together to make reconstructed phylogentic trees from these two data sources match up or integrate in any sensible way? Not really.A new paper coming out in the Journal of Human Evolution shares some light on how we might connect these similar but unintegrated reconstructions. Continue reading Evidence for an ancient lineage of modern humans →

The Loonacy Must Stop

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i-fe19751e660f79998f254d2ff51bf483-loon2.jpgLoons are the fish eating canaries of secluded northern lakes. Actually, over the last several decades, loons seem to have gotten more used to people then they used to be, but are still not really big on development.My personal belief (based on anecdotal observation) is that loons can identify, to at least some degree, individuals. When I am alone with the loons, at the lake, strange things happen that don’t happen to others or when others are around. Continue reading The Loonacy Must Stop →

Icons of Evolution

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There are two books called “Icons of Evolution.” One is by Jonathan Wells. The best way to learn about Well’s Icons of Evolution is to watch Randy Olson’s Flock of Dodos. It is an anti science piece of dreck.The other is a more recently published is Icons of Evolution [Two Volumes]: An Encyclopedia of People, Evidence, and Controversies (Greenwood Icons), and it is an entirely different book. I have heard about this book, but not read it. Since it came up in a comment I thought I’d give you a direct link and a little bit of information. Info from the publisher:

Students and the general public are frequently confronted with contradictory and confusing claims about the people, ideas, and artifacts that were essential in the development of the science of evolution. Where can they find accurate and understandable information on these important concepts? Icons of Evolution comprises twenty-four in-depth essays on the most famous ideas, artifacts, people and places of evolutionary biology. Dinosaurs, Neanderthals, Charles Darwin, peppered moths, carbon dating, the fossil record, and more, are explained by some of the most respected scientists, historians, and philosophers of evolution in the world. Icons of Evolution dispels some of the myths and confusion about evolution and answers questions like:i-5dbc99f62455bf02583988df1d8466a5-icons.jpgWhat do all those horse fossils mean? Was Archaeopteryx the first bird?What is a missing link and is it missing?Did Peking Man really disappear?Where did the word fossil come from?What does ‘survival of the fittest’ really mean?Why does the idea of evolution seem to scare people so much? While written by technical experts, Icons of Evolution uses non-technical language that explains these icons for readers new to the field and for those seeking more depth. Taken together these icons tell a story that is sometimes fascinating, sometimes puzzling, always thought provoking. It is a story billions of years in the making, and one that everyone needs to know.

Icons of Evolution is listd at $175.00. Ouch.

Finally, an Open Source Robot

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I suppose I could live with Robots if they were Open Source. (Or are they just trying to lull me into complacency?)

Imagine a robot that hands you a beer and then cleans your kitchen and living room. That’s what a start-up called Willow Garage in Menlo Park, Calif., is busy developing. But the company isn’t going it alone: Willow Garage is an open source project that wants as much outside participation as possible.

Now, you see, everything OpenSource is better. This is a robot that gives you beer. It is an Open Source Robot. Free Beer and Free Software are finally married into one glorious concept!!!!The story is here. Then, there’s this: Continue reading Finally, an Open Source Robot →

Robot Vigilante Born of BBQ Prowls Atlanta Streets

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i-495ed63d826c1a286801642f29d87eaa-bbqbot.jpgThe Barbeque Bot reminds me of an old Harlan Ellison story in at least one way: This is all about using advanced technology to “enforce” laws by private citizens. In the Harlan Ellison story I’m thinking of, individual drivers attack other drivers with advanced weapons built into their cards. (I understand Ellison wrote this story after spending a weekend in Boston.) But each time a driver in a particular battle activates a new weapon, a the car’s computer asks for verification of an increase in insurance premium for that vehicle.The following story is from CNN. Continue reading Robot Vigilante Born of BBQ Prowls Atlanta Streets →

Creationism’s Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design

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i-5545603e6630aacbffde7a2ccceb8dd4-Forrest_Gross.jpgCreationism’s Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design is a must read for those interested in the Evolution – Creationism controversy. In particular, this volume is an essential part of the personal library of every science educator, for reasons that I will describe below. If you know a Life Science Teacher, this is a perfect birthday present. If you have a child in the public K-12 education system in the US, or the analog somewhere else, donate a copy of this book to the appropriate life science teacher!In this important book published by Oxford University Press in 2004, Forrest and Gross assert that there is a new strategy afoot among pro-creationists. What Forrest and Gross claimed four years ago is every bit as much true today. This strategy consists of …i-e1d1aec5e3a35b6a6524b75024658964-forrest.jpg

… a no-holds-barred commitment to particular, parochial religious beliefs about the history and fabric of the world … This variant has eliminated brilliantly the obstacle of rational opposition to ideology … The new strategy is wonderfully simple. Here is how you implement it: exploiting that modern, nearly universal, liberal suspicion of zealotry, you accuse the branch of legitimate inquiry whose results you hate, in this case the evolutionary natural sciences, of — what else? — zealotry! … Crying “viewpoint discrimination,” you loudly demand adherence to the principle of freedom of speech, especially in teaching, insisting that such freedom is being denied your legitimate alternative view…This bold strategy is working, not just with religious fundamentalists, who do not need to be convinced anyway, but with people who have no such fundamentalist commitment and who are in principle well-enough educated to see what is happening. …This lusty new variant of creationism is advancing rapidly by means of a strategy called “The Wedge.”

Continue reading Creationism’s Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design →