A Blog Around The Clock

PZ just had a book review published in Nature:

Science and evolution have an advocate in Kenneth Miller, one of North America's eminent knights-errant, a scientist who is active in defending evolutionary theory in the conflict between evolution and creationism. He has been at the centre of many recent debates about science education, most prominently testifying against intelligent design creationism in Pennsylvania's Dover trial, which decided that intelligent design was a religious concept that should not be taught in public schools. He is also a popular speaker, offering the public a grass-roots defence of good science education. Miller's new book Only a Theory is a tour of creationist misconceptions about evolution, such as the one referred to in the book's subtitle -- a creationist predicted an inevitable victory in the Dover trial because evolution is "only a theory". The book is also a celebration of the power of evolutionary theory to explain our existence.

Also, as a part of a Forbes Magazine's special report on commuting, PZ had an article published today - Do Animals Commute?

Whether an animal commutes or not is less a function of the work they must do than of whether they actually have something that might be called a home, a haven, a shelter. We don't just invest ourselves full-time in the job--if we did, we might as well spare ourselves the commute and live in the office--but instead make the effort to set up a place of our own, a safe spot where we can relax, raise a family, or pursue activities that aren't directly related to simply feeding ourselves.

And for that, we and other animals will make the sacrifice of sinking time and energy into shuttling between a place of profit and a place of refuge. If you want to know if a particular animal engages in anything like a commute, just ask if it has anything you would call a home.

Lively discussion of commuting, of course, follows in the comments. I wish more people were commenting on animals' movements, but OK, people like to talk about themselves and other people-worries.