Yes, that Roger Ebert. In the wake of the recent controversy over IMAX theaters, including museums, around the country deciding not to show movies that discuss evolution because of potential controversy among moviegoers, Ebert has written a column taking them to task for it. Along the way, he shows a surprising knowledge of the subject:…

My friend Wesley Elsberry has updated the Transitional Fossil Evidence Challenge (TFEC) and posted it on his blog. The TFEC has a long history in online discussions of evolution and creationism, particularly in the talk.origins newsgroup, but as far as I know this is the first time it has been extended to the blogosphere. It…

Carl Zimmer has another stellar post on his blog, this one about the evolution of the immune system. It’s a review of this article (PDF format) by Klein and Nikolaidis, entitled The descent of the antibody-based immune system by gradual evolution. This article points up a very important point that I was making in an…

Dean Esmay never replied to my post explaining why ID should not be taught in science classrooms, but in checking back at his blog for a response I’m beginning to think that the real problem is that he just doesn’t understand evolution well at all. For instance, notice this post, where he says: Scientists thing…

Yesterday I raised the question of why such a high percentage of Americans reject evolution and accept creationism despite the evidence. Here are some other suggestions on why that is from others. Timothy Burke, in an open letter to my Panda’s Thumb colleague PZ Myers, suggests several possible explanations. PZ replies to that letter, agreeing…

The Cobb County evolution disclaimer trial wraps up with closing arguments today. The judge will likely take a few weeks to make a decision, during which time briefs will be filed in addition to the ones already filed. We are finishing up a brief on the question of whether there is any real scientific evidence…

The AP has a story about the string of problems Georgia has had with evolution recently and how it has hurt people’s view of the state: First, Georgia’s education chief tried to take the word “evolution” out of the state’s science curriculum. Now a suburban Atlanta county is in federal court over textbook stickers that…

As some of you know, there is a trial going on in Georgia this week involving the Cobb County School District (CCSD) and their use of a disclaimer on all public school biology textbooks. The disclaimer says: This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living…

The school board in Grantsburg, Wisconsin is just asking for legal trouble: The city’s school board has revised its science curriculum to allow the teaching of creationism, prompting an outcry from more than 300 educators who urged that the decision be reversed. School board members believed that a state law governing the teaching of evolution…

Kelly Hollowell is not the only one making absurd statements about the new Homo floresiensis find. Ken Ham, founder of Answers in Genesis, sees her absurdity and raises it to outright idiocy in this interview with Agape Press. The way this is phrased is absolutely precious: Answers in Genesis founder Dr. Ken Ham says he…