Jonathan Wells has launched a nasty attack on PZ Myers and Ian Musgrave on the discredited Discovery Institute web site. Continue reading Myers, Musgrave, Attacked by Wells
Tag Archives: Evolution
Texas: Creationists Fail To Co opt School Board
Voters told urologist Barney Maddox to piss off, leaving incumbent and former school teacher Pat Hardy in her position on the school board representing District 11. The people of that Texas District were too smart to be fooled by an excessively expensive campaign by Maddox who spent over $120,000 to Hardy’s $10,000.Incumbent Mary Helen Berlanga, also challenged by a hard right winger in her own party (Lupe Gonzales) appears also to be holding her own in District 2.[source]
Teachers Under Fire
It is very common, across the U.S., for science teachers to dread the “evolution” unit that they teach during life science class. As they approach the day, and start to prepare the students for what is coming, they begin to hear the sarcastic remarks from the creationist students. When the day to engage the evolution unit arrives, students may show up in the classroom with handouts from anti-science sites like Answers in Genesis, to give to their friends. They may carry a bible to the lab station and read it instead of doing the work. If there is a parent conference night around that time, the teacher may be verbally abused by some of the parents for not including “alternative theories” in the classroom. Continue reading Teachers Under Fire
Best Life Science Google Search Evah!
This is not new, but i is so good that I like to remind everyone of it once every eight months or so.
This is the Minnesota Citizens for Science Education Real Science Search Engine.
This engine searches the whole web, including commercial sites, but omits several hundred carefully chosen creationist URLs. When you want to see the science, published books, professional societies, etc., but skip most of the creationist stuff, use this one.
The Origin of the Human Smile
A colleague and grad student of mine, Rob, just sent me the following question, slightly edited here:
A student in my intro class asked me a good question the other day to which I had no answer. When did smiling cease to be a threat gesture? I have a couple of ideas. One is that with reduced canines, smiling became a way to say “look, I have small canines, I am not a threat to you.” The other is that smiling is based more on a “fear-grin” than a threat. Under this idea, smiling might have been a way of showing deference to others. If everyone shows deference, it would be egalitarian, until the one guy comes along who never smiles. Maybe that’s why bosses often don’t smile. … let me know when you have some free time to have lunch. Tuesdays andWed’s probably work best for me.
Good question, and good ideas as to a possible answer. I have a couple of other ideas to contribute…. Continue reading The Origin of the Human Smile
Evolution of the Flu Virus
The flu is caused by the influenza virus, of which there are several types. H1N1 is known as the “Spanish Flu,” H2N2 as the “Asian Flu” and so on. These funny letters and numbers refer to specific genotypes. The H1N1 is the version of the flu that caused the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and 1919, which was responsible for the death of between 50 and 100 million people.Considering that the difference between a bird or pig flu that may be hanging around in the background and a human pandemic causing flu can be a few dozen changes in the genome, understanding the evolutionary patterns for Influenza A viruses seems important. Continue reading Evolution of the Flu Virus
My Uncle Is A Man Named Steve (Not A Monkey)
That is the title of the First Place science fair project from a baptist science fair.The description of the project:
Cassidy Turnbull (grade five) presented her uncle, Steve. She also showed photographs of monkeys and invited fairgoers to note the differences between her uncle and the monkeys. She tried to feed her uncle bananas, but he declined to eat them. Cassidy has conclusively shown that her uncle is no monkey.
Very cute. Too bad little Cassidy’s brain is now hobbled forever. (Well, maybe not. She’s only in fifth grade. She could get over it….)This is from here.. You will find a number of equally endearing examples of christian creationist science fair winners., such as “Women Were Designed For Homemaking” and “Using Prayer To Microevolve Latent Antibiotic Resistance In Bacteria”Too good to be true.
We ain’t outta Texas yet … Creationist Stacked School Board Looms on the Horizon
It turns out that there are TWO (not just the previously reported Barney Maddox) distinct threats to the delicate pro- vs. anti-science balance on the Texas School Board.I had earlier alerted you to trouble brewing in Texas, with Full Blown Creationist Nuthead Barney Maddox poised to take the swing seat on the Board of Education there. (PZ has also posted on this.)Now, Wired has a piece this developing story. Continue reading We ain’t outta Texas yet … Creationist Stacked School Board Looms on the Horizon
SARS comes from bats
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is caused by a coronavirus that is now believed to have originated in bats. In 2004, thousands of palm civets (a cat like carnivore) were killed off in China because it was believed that they were the main reservoir of this disease. Ooops. Continue reading SARS comes from bats
Lemur Family Tree Mapped
A DNA phylogeny based on over 200 species of lemurs and related species is now available.
Continue reading Lemur Family Tree Mapped
Texas State Board of Education May Shift to Pro Creationism
We are busy watching Florida, and the ICR’s new “degree” in “life science education” in Texas, and whatever crap is happening in our own back yards, and we may be missing a dramatic development at the K-12 level in Texas: Social conservatives are poised to take over the Texas State Board of Education. Continue reading Texas State Board of Education May Shift to Pro Creationism
More on (in critique of)’design’
Regarding the topic of design and in particular design, as a term in evolutionary biology, see “The “design” mistake” at Evolving Thoughts.
The Language of Evolution: Do we want to use the d-word?
PZ Myers notes that Ken Miller is making a case for the term design in evolutionary biology. Miller simply claims that “design” comes from the usual, expected evolutionary processes (Natural Selection, etc.). PZ is not buying this bill of goods, and neither am I. One way to address this question might be to ask: “What would Darwin do?”
Continue reading The Language of Evolution: Do we want to use the d-word?
Darwin and the Voyage: 11 ~ Elephants and Horses
In 1833, Darwin spent a fair amount of time on the East Coast of South America, including in the Pampas, where he had access to abundant fossil material. Here I’d like to examine his writings about some of the megafauna, including Toxodon, Mastodon, and horses, and his further considerations of biogeography and evolution. Continue reading Darwin and the Voyage: 11 ~ Elephants and Horses
Florida: Evolution Will Not be Watered Down. Sort of.
A good trick in child psychology is to come to a “compromise” in which the child, not knowing any better, gets what they think they wanted but it really turns out to be cod liver oil after all. Florida creationists got their cod liver oil when the Florida School Board voted, with a worrisome 4-3 count, to accept the proposed science standards that actually use the word “evolution.” Continue reading Florida: Evolution Will Not be Watered Down. Sort of.