KATY, TX–A man in danger of losing his home had his prayers coincidentally answered Tuesday by the haphazard machinations of an indifferent and entirely random universe. Marvin Pewter, 45, was able to refinance his house after a radio station in Sioux Falls, SD played the favorite song of a local data-entry worker who, quietly singing along to the tune in her office, became distracted and missed a keystroke that eventually resulted in Pewter’s credit rating increasing by 200 points.
Monthly Archives: February 2010
Great Moments in Human Evolution: The Invention of Chipped Stone Tools
Chimpanzee Food Sharing
Is chimpanzee food sharing an example of food for sex?
One of the most important transitions in human evolution may have been the incorporation of regular food sharing into the day to day ecology of our species or our ancestors. Although this has been recognized as potentially significant for some time, it was probably the Africanist archaeologist Glynn Isaac who impressed on the academic community the importance of the origins of food sharing as a key evolutionary moment. At that time, food sharing among apes was thought to be very rare, outside of mother-infant dyads. Further research has shown that it is in fact rare … the vast majority of calories consumed by human foragers in certain societies and at certain times of the year comes from a sharing system, while the fast majority of calories consumed by chimpanzees is hand to mouth without sharing.
Continue reading Chimpanzee Food Sharing
Two chimps walked into a bar …
… and made a real mess of the place when one of them spotted the jar of pickles on the counter. They fought over it until one of them had almost all the pickles and the other one had a number of bruises and a tiny fragment of one pickle that the other chimp dropped by accident.
Continue reading Two chimps walked into a bar …
What I Had for Dinner Tonight
I had one of the most interesting dinners anyone has ever had.
Continue reading What I Had for Dinner Tonight
Apes don’t read philosophy
Yes they do! They just don’t understand it!
Continue reading Apes don’t read philosophy
What does an atheist firing squad look like?
Perhaps not what you’d think.
This is not about appeasement. It is about not being a racist slob.
Continue reading What does an atheist firing squad look like?
Extended Laying Interval of Ultimate Eggs of the Eastern Bluebird
The question is: how does a bird “know” when to stop laying? When is enough enough? When is the clutch (all of the eggs laid in one breeding attempt) complete? Most of ecological literature is focused on energetics: are birds getting hungry, have they depleted some important source of energy, etc.
But the circadian field looks for internal mechanisms.
This paper is by Bora! (and co-authors)
Check it out!
Courts allow University of California to reject credit for Creationist High School courses
A federal appellate court has ruled against a Christian school in Murrieta which had sued the University of California over its refusal to accept high school courses that rely on the Bible as the unerring source of truth.
Next step: Homeschoolers!
(Hat tip: August Berkshire)
UK anti-Semitism at record high
The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK set a new high in 2009, the most since records began, according a report released on Friday.
We are being swallowed up by the generic meta
Hat tip: Casaubon’s Book
Sunday Bible Lesson: The Ark
Senator Al Franken Tears Comcast CEO New Orifice
Don’t mess with Al, man.
Continue reading Senator Al Franken Tears Comcast CEO New Orifice
A small church has collapsed in northeast D.C.
Officials say no one was inside the Joshua Temple Firstborn Church on Sheriff Road this afternoon when a tree fell onto the roof of the church and the weight of the tree and snow made the roof collapse.
source
God is punishing these people for a reason. We just need to figure out why by reference to scripture and historical analysis. Like this.
Teabaggers: “Tell congress to end Snobama! “
Michel Bachmann has organized a teabagging protest in Washington to bring right wing voters from across the nation directly into armed and ready, whites of the eye contact with members of Congress to demand that they pass legislation to end the current Snobama that is paralyzing politics and traffic in Washington D.C.
Unfortunately, all 123 Snobama protesting teabaggers got stuck in the snow crossing the mountains in Virginia on their way to Washington so the protest was canceled.