Charles Darwin
Tag archives for Charles Darwin
Darwin Day at the Bell Museum
Posted by Greg Laden on December 19, 2008 The details are not yet worked out, but the Bell Museum in Minneapolis, thanks to the inspiration and efforts of DNA artist and Twin Cities’ answer to Ira Flatow, Lynn Fellman, and Bell Museum events organizer, Twin Cities Celebrity and spectacular Cafe Scientifique Host Shanai Matteson, will have a special Darwin Day Celebration and YOU…
Darwin Award Tunnel, Russia
Posted by Greg Laden on December 18, 2008 Actually, it’s Lefortovo Tunnel, Russia. Don’t go to Russia. And if you do, stay out of the tunnel.
Blorgs Galore
Posted by Greg Laden on December 13, 2008 Stuff to read: Joan’s Darwinian Conundrum I know each cell evolved into a plant Or animal or Dinosaur or ant And that the real true Adam was an atom. Still, though I know this data here (or datum) Anthropomorphic dreams are hard to ban I’m wondering if I ever really can. It may be seasonal,…
The First Sentence of the First Post of Each Month Meme
Posted by Greg Laden on December 6, 2008 Helium running out? Charles Darwin’s bones will be 100 years old on February 12th. Americans revel in violence. This is kinda like what my front yard looks lie right now. A Missouri House Committee has just approved for consideration of the House an Academic Freedom Bill drafted with the aid of the Discovery Institute. The…
Luge Blorgs
Posted by Greg Laden on December 5, 2008 A new wild child? See: “Tarzan of Suburbia” Case Being Investigated Read about Russia’s Darwin Museum. .. And the Perils of Electron Microscopy. But be careful about the Mormons. Friday Weird Science: mmm, I love the taste of man-flesh in the morning! What are the top 100 Anthropology blogs? (Hey, wait. I’m not one of…
Allen’s Rule, Phenotypic Plasticity, and The Nature of Evolution
Posted by Greg Laden on December 5, 2008 Allen’s Rule. One of those things you learn in graduate school along with Bergmann’s Rule and Cope’s Rule. It is all about body size. Cope’s Rule … which is a rule of thumb and not an absolute … says that over time the species in a given lineage tend to be larger and larger. Bergmann’s…
Win Ben Stein’s mind
Posted by Greg Laden on December 3, 2008 I absolutely love this: I’ve been accused of refusing to review Ben Stein’s documentary “Expelled,” a defense of Creationism, because of my belief in the theory of evolution. Here is my response. Ben Stein, you hosted a TV show on which you gave away money. Imagine that I have created a special edition of “Who…
The Twenty Thousandth Comment Award
Posted by Greg Laden on December 1, 2008 As you know, this blog is heading quickly towards its twenty thousand’s comment. Now, I know this is nothing like a million comments, but it is still a good round number in base ten. And we forgot to notice the ten thousandth comment. So we’re celebrating this one. There will be three awards. This is…
The Political Gender Gap
Posted by Greg Laden on November 28, 2008 A new study published by Chiao et al. in the journal PLoS ONE explores the gendered nature of American voting behavior. Subjects were asked to rank politicians — based only on photographs of each politician’s face — along different quality scales, and also to choose among these photographs who should be President. The study concludes…
Darwin Limerick Contest Winners Announced
Posted by Greg Laden on November 28, 2008 Poets they tried hard to win on Dispersal of ol man Darwin. Some limericks they wrote And truly they smote But winning was all ’bout affection Here.
Blorging the Luge
Posted by Greg Laden on November 28, 2008 I had no idea there even was a Mole Day, and I’m really pissed that I missed it. (And that’s “mole” as in the animal, not mole as in the Mexican chocolate sauce you put in chicken.) Speaking of chickens, read about A Thanksgiving tale of an encounter with a chicken activist. And, speaking of…
Blorgospherics
Posted by Greg Laden on November 27, 2008 Solve the mystery of the Swimming Spaghetti Monster. Evolution of Resistance from Darwin Today on Vimeo. (more here) The Colbert ReportMon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c A Colbert Christmas: Toby Keith Sings Colbert at ChristmasColbert Christmas DVD Green ScreenBill O’Reilly Interview from here and here Interested in Research on and in (and of) the Blogosphere?…
The Six Arbitrary Things About Me Meme
Posted by Greg Laden on November 24, 2008 Wait! Nothing is arbitrary about me, how dare you suggest such a thing!!! … Oh, OK, OK, I’ll play along… Mike at Tangled Up in Blue Guy has tagged me with this meme, and he, in turn was tagged by PZ Myers, who was tagged by The Science Pundit, who was tagged by The Darwin…
Happy Birthday The Origin of Species
Posted by Greg Laden on November 24, 2008 By Charles Darwin. Read it here!
Can Evolution “Learn” From Past Environments?
Posted by Greg Laden on November 14, 2008 The paper I’m about to discuss is a minefield of potential misconceptions that arise from the way we often use language do describe natural phenomena. This is a situation where it would be easier to start with a disclaimer … a big giant obvious quotation mark … and then use the usual misleading, often anthropomorphic…
EMERGENCY ACTION NEEDED NOW
Posted by Greg Laden on October 15, 2008 The creationist-biased Texas Board of Education has assembled a committee to ‘review science curriculum standards.’ This group includes a few actual scientist types, and … pay attention folks .. Wisconsin based ID creationist Ralph Seelke, Baylor creationist chemist Charles Garner, and Stephen Meyer, vice president of the Discovery Institute. Yes, you read that right. The…
Cultural Evolution from Mosquitos to Worm Grunting
Posted by Greg Laden on October 13, 2008 A very good day of grunting worms. Credit: Ken Catania So-called Gene-Culture Co-Evolution can be very obvious and direct or it can be very subtle and complex. In almost all cases, the details defy the usual presumptions people make about the utility of culture, the nature of human-managed knowledge, race, and technology. I would like…
Blogospherics: Recommended reads
Posted by Greg Laden on September 11, 2008 For a true WTF moment, visit The Quantum Pontiff to see what he has discovered hiding under the internet. Seriously. I can’t explain it, just go look. Neurobiology of a hallucination Hallucinations are often associated with psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia or with LSD and related drugs. Hearing voices is a characteristic symptom which is…
Image of Charles Darwin Appears on Wall in Tennessee…. Thousands Flock
Posted by Greg Laden on September 5, 2008 A steady stream of devoted evolutionists continued to gather in this small Tennessee town today to witness what many believe is an image of Charles Darwin–author of The Origin Of Species and founder of the modern evolutionary movement–made manifest on a concrete wall in downtown Dayton. “I brought my baby to touch the wall, so…
The Abington Park Museum of Northhampton, UK, Requires Your Assistance …
Posted by Greg Laden on August 31, 2008 … in regards to its exhibit on Darwin. A creationist visiting the museum objected to phrases regarding evolution on the Darwin Exhibit (Hat Tip: Pharyngula). This led the museum to cover up the offending language. Clearly, the government unit that runs this museum, and the museum itself, needs support. They need letters, emails, and phone…
Pop Sci Book Meme
Posted by Greg Laden on August 29, 2008 There is a new book meme, started by Jennifer Oullette, and so far infecting John Lynch and PZ Myers. This is a Pop Science book meme. PZ added a few to Jennifer’s list, and I’ve added a few more. Bold = read. What are we missing? Which, among those not bolded here, should I read…
Back To School Special: What to do with Bible thumping students
Posted by Greg Laden on August 25, 2008 David Campbell is a life science teacher in Florida who was recently profiled in the New York Times because of his involvement in the debate between Creationism and Evolution. This discussion is being picked up in the Blogosphere, and this is very timely, as this is the time when teachers in most US school districts…
Charles Darwin by Michael Ruse
Posted by Greg Laden on August 25, 2008 I am currently reading Charles Darwin (Blackwell Great Minds), and so far I mainly like it. Ruse, as you may know, is a philosopher, something of a science historian, and a science writer who has criticized what he calls “strident” atheism for being too fundamentalist. So that is as annoying as hell. The volume at…
Blog Roll
Posted by Greg Laden on August 12, 2008 The Daily Transcript ~ The Dispersal of Darwin ~ The Education Wonks ~ The Ethical Palaeontologist ~ The Faithful Penguin ~ The Field Negro ~ The Flying Trilobite ~ The Friends of Charles Darwin ~ The Frontal Cortex ~ The Greenbelt ~ The Inoculated Mind ~ The Intersection ~ The Island of Doubt ~ The…
Blog Roll
Posted by Greg Laden on August 11, 2008 Powerup ~ Primordial Blog ~ Pro-science ~ Providentia ~ Punk Professor ~ Pure Pdantry ~ QuarkScrew ~ Quintessence of Dust ~ Racism Today ~ RealClimate ~ Reasic (global warming) ~ Red State Rabble ~ Reduce to Common Sense ~ Respectful Insolence ~ Retrospectacle: A Neuroscience Blog ~ Richard Dawkins Net ~ Riverside Rambles ~ Runesmith’s…
Blog Roll
Posted by Greg Laden on August 9, 2008 Bootstrap Analysis ~ Bore Me To Tears ~ Brian Foster ~ Bug Girl’s Blog ~ Buzz Blog ~ Campus Atheists & Sec. Humanists ~ Canned Platypus ~ Catalogue of Oganisms ~ cephyn ~ Chaotic Utopia ~ Charles Arthur ~ Clatic Detritus ~ Climate Change Action ~ Cocktail Party Physics ~ Coffee & Conservation ~ Cognitive…
Darwin Literature Podcast
Posted by Greg Laden on August 8, 2008 Check out this podcast from the Institute for Humanist Studies. In this month’s audio podcast we are dedicating the entire program to one story. During the 1970s, P. Thomas Carroll read and transcribed hundreds of Charles Darwin’s personal correspondences for research purposes. Carroll shares his story of becoming intimately familiar with the great 19th century…
Blog Roll
Posted by Greg Laden on August 8, 2008 10,000 Birds ~ 90% True ~ Aardvarchaeology ~ A Blog Around The Clock ~ A Blog from Hell ~ Abnormal Interests ~ About Darwin ~ A Cat Nap ~ A Constrained Vision ~ Aetiology ~ Afarensis ~ A Few Things Ill Considered ~ Afrospear ~ All-Too-Common Dissent ~ Almost Diamonds ~ A Load of Bright…
Blogospherics: Recommended reads
Posted by Greg Laden on August 5, 2008 Two follow-ups on Sizzle. From Almost Diamonds, “Stereotypes in Comedy”… and from Uncommon Ground, “The crisis in science literacy” And then, this. If you are a US citizen living abroad you MUST click this picture:
Live blogging PZ Myers on Atheist Talk Radio
Posted by Greg Laden on July 27, 2008 PZ Myers‘ appearance on Atheist Talk Radio was positively Orwellian. Host Mike the Madman Haubrich actually asked PZ about developmental biology (evodevo). Fish embryos? What about crackers!!!! I wanted crackers!!!! And I get Zebrafish! The interview was actually very interesting, in which PZ discussed homologous structures in the mouse and the bat, in reference to…
, which is now available for the 
