Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
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It is Hell, of course, that makes priests powerful, not Heaven, for after thousands of years of so-called civilization fear remains the one common denominator of mankind.
HL Mencken
Evolution of sensory signaling
Generic bumps and recycled genetic cascades
I think I despise anti-environmentalists as much as I do anti-evolutionists
Upstream plasticity and downstream robustness in evolution of molecular networks
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« History doesn't burn easily | Main | Pharyngutopia »
Category: Personal
Posted on: March 9, 2006 7:48 AM, by PZ Myers
Here it is, my 49th birthday, and it's spring break. My wife's at work, my daughter is at school, all the students are away, it's dead quiet around here. How to celebrate? I know! I'm going to do some guest lectures at the local high school!
So that's where I'll be this morning, introducing high school kids to the subject of…evolution.
(TrackBack URL for this entry: )
[painting by Carl Dennis Buell] Little Billy Dembske jetted breathless across the campus of the Minne-toba Tropical and Marine Biology Institute. He was late for his tutoring session, and to keep Dr. Myers waiting on his birthday! Billy was mort...
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Comments
Happy Birthday PZ!!!!!
Posted by: Torris | March 9, 2006 8:04 AM
i hope you are online by this afternoon!
Posted by: GrrlScientist | March 9, 2006 8:04 AM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!
i could just tell every one how old you are, but it's your birthday, so i'll be nice.
Posted by: vairitas | March 9, 2006 8:05 AM
PZ--
you may have blacked out your age in the post, but on the scienceblogs.com home page the fancy blackout graphic doesn't show up, so you're announcing it loud and clear..
just so you know.
Posted by: JP | March 9, 2006 8:08 AM
happy birthday, by the way
Posted by: JP | March 9, 2006 8:09 AM
Happy birthday, PZ!
Posted by: Tom Morris | March 9, 2006 8:15 AM
Hey, it's my Birthday too! Woohoo! I feel cool, sharing a b-day with you. Have a great day!
Posted by: Ian | March 9, 2006 8:18 AM
Happy birthday and I hope the students don't give you too much sass.
Posted by: Joseph O'Donnell | March 9, 2006 8:24 AM
don't worry, i know his age, and i am only too happy to share .. er, keep it secret (for a price!)
hippo birdies two ewe, PZ.
Posted by: GrrlScientist | March 9, 2006 8:26 AM
Happy birthday, mate. I can attest that there is no sudden loss of acuity or fitness at 49. It happens at 50.
Posted by: John Wilkins | March 9, 2006 8:34 AM
Herzliche Glückwünsch zum Geburtstag!
Now, if any of the biological sciences geniuses around here have some time and would care to chime in on this thread on Oliver Willis' site, wherein I (being trained in physics and not so well versed in biology and genetics) attempt to lay a serious beatdown on some ass-head wingnuts spouting the "we'll be harvesting babies for stem cell research" meme, it would be much appreciated.
Posted by: Rheinhard | March 9, 2006 8:35 AM
SURELY you meant you were going to lecture high school students on Intelligent Design.
Happy Birthday,
Mixter
Posted by: Mixter | March 9, 2006 8:37 AM
Happy b-day to us :)
http://www.jasonbock.net/JB/Default.aspx?blog=entry.fedc844c6ec8478085f6ba04b69afaa4
Posted by: Jason Bock | March 9, 2006 8:38 AM
Happy birthday, PZ!
Posted by: RavenT | March 9, 2006 8:46 AM
Happy birthday, PZ!
Posted by: John | March 9, 2006 9:01 AM
Happy Birthday, and may you have many more. We need you around to keep debunking those enemies of science. Best, and keep on blogging.
Posted by: Angel | March 9, 2006 9:11 AM
Happy birthday, PZ.
Oh, and just so you know, my 3-year-old daughter asked me the other day if dinosaurs and dogs were related, because "their bones look the same."
She already knows we're related to monkeys.
There's always hope. ;)
Posted by: Jeff Fecke | March 9, 2006 9:14 AM
What an excellent birthday gift you are giving to others! Science needs to do a LOT more outreach to young minds if we are ever going to steer the course of this ship away from pseudoscience. Your high school lectureship is exactly what needs to be done. I envy you and I admire you!
Posted by: pablo | March 9, 2006 9:14 AM
Happy Birthday, PZ. Teaching evolution to high school students is like giving a birthday present to yourself, isn't it? Hope you have a great day.
Posted by: Rexroth's Daughter | March 9, 2006 9:18 AM
Many happy returns, PZ!
GrrlScientist - I got that same card about twenty years ago, with the cute animal cartoons. Is it still around?! ...looks... found
How about that?
Posted by: Carl Manaster | March 9, 2006 9:24 AM
If Hobbits give gifts to others on their own birthday, why shouldn't you go out and give the gift of critical thinking?
Happy birthday and have fun.
Posted by: Baruch Grazer | March 9, 2006 9:24 AM
Happy birthday.
Posted by: Keith Douglas | March 9, 2006 9:24 AM
Happy Birthday, sir. Thanks for the good work so far, and as William Goldman said, On To The Next.
Posted by: Strange Forces | March 9, 2006 9:25 AM
I cheated and looked up your real age on the main page too. You're 6 months younger than me. (I figured out the general time scale from your baby photo. Your parents are dressed a lot like mine were at that stage in my life!)
So -- happy birthday, kid!
Posted by: Julie Stahlhut | March 9, 2006 9:36 AM
Oh, now everyone's looking at the main page. Naughty. It's not about age--it's about wisdom! Right? Happy Birthday, PZ--you're just a little ahead of me!
Posted by: Kristine | March 9, 2006 9:41 AM
Happy b-day, PZ! It was good talking to you and Alaric last night. We'll have to convince Robin to hold a DL in Morris one of these days so you can have something other than a soft drink. Drunk scientists are fun.
Posted by: Smartie | March 9, 2006 9:47 AM
Happy birthday and good health!
Posted by: Mike | March 9, 2006 9:55 AM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PZ!
gee, i feel like an elder. i was born 2 months after MIT's Whirlwind computer was featured in American Scientist.
so, did you get any doubters in your HS audience?
Posted by: ekzept | March 9, 2006 9:59 AM
Very happy birthday and many more!
Posted by: Rocky | March 9, 2006 10:00 AM
Happy Birthday! Keep up the great work!
Posted by: Steve Forti | March 9, 2006 10:05 AM
You say it's your birthday --
Well it's my birthday too, yeah...
Happy birthday to you.
Obviously March 9 is a marvelous to have been born!
My own birthday post is here. More Dante, less Darwin.
Cheers!
Posted by: Stephen Frug | March 9, 2006 10:06 AM
Happy Birthday, PZ.
Age doesn't matter. What matters is that we live our lives as well as possible.
Viewing you from outside, and from a distance, it still looks to me like yours is a life well-lived.
By the way, I got a sneak peek at the birthday card Carl Buell painted for you. Will we get to see it posted here?
Posted by: Hank Fox | March 9, 2006 10:09 AM
... And by the way, since "50 is the new 30," you have many wonderful years still ahead.
Posted by: Hank Fox | March 9, 2006 10:12 AM
hank .. and everyone .. all shall be revealed in due time.
tick, tock, tick, tock.
Posted by: GrrlScientist | March 9, 2006 10:13 AM
Happy birthday!
Posted by: MissPrism | March 9, 2006 10:14 AM
Happy Birthday! Just want you to know I enjoy the blog every day!
Posted by: Bill Meisel | March 9, 2006 10:16 AM
Paul wrote:
"Here it is, my 49th birthday, and it's spring break."
Since life begins at conception ;-) I prefer to celebrate my conception day: June 6, 1943.
My father was in the Marine Corps in Camp Lejeune NC and he got a weekend pass and a plane ride to New York. He and my mother spent Saturday June 5 and Sunday June 6 at the Bear Mountain Inn, upstate New York.
By November he was fighting on Roi-Namur in the Kwajalein atoll and then on Tarawa, Saipan and Iwo Jima in a war that was truly worth fighting. He didn't get to see me until I was almost 2 years old.
And young people think they have it tough today.
Semper Fi, Marine...
Posted by: Charlie Wagner | March 9, 2006 10:20 AM
Happy birthday and many happy returns!
We would be honored to have you lecture on evolution at the Jedi Temple Academy (don't blame me; my son named it) any time.
Posted by: Molly | March 9, 2006 10:22 AM
Happy birthday PZ! Have a good one teaching the high school kids.
Posted by: Tara Mobley | March 9, 2006 10:24 AM
Another March 9 birthday here. Turning 50. I'm taking comfort in math , paleontology and the contingency of evolution. From the math, 50 is no significant number. Less interesting than, say, 47 (prime), 48 (lots of factors) or 49 (a prime square). From paleontology and the contingency of evolution knowing that some early tetrapods had 8 or 7 fingers makes 50 seem less significant and more a mere artifact of the contingent fact of evolution that we have 5. Considering our lifespans, if we'd had 7 fingers, 49 would surely have been seen as a very significant age.
Of course, then we'd write it as 100. I hope that doesn't make PZ feel any older.
Posted by: Mike | March 9, 2006 10:25 AM
Happy Birthday PZ!! Keep on truckin'...
Posted by: Madam Pomfrey | March 9, 2006 10:26 AM
Happy Birthday, PZ!!
Posted by: Carla78 | March 9, 2006 10:26 AM
And another "Happy Birthday PZ!!!" added to the ominously growing list... :)
Posted by: Sastra | March 9, 2006 10:27 AM
Add me to the chorus: Happy Birthday, PZ!
Posted by: David | March 9, 2006 10:29 AM
Happy Birthday Professor Myers!
Posted by: Timothy Shortell | March 9, 2006 10:30 AM
Happy Birthday, PZ! Keep us laughing and learning for another 49 years.
Posted by: Duane | March 9, 2006 10:38 AM
Happy Birthday! Here's a birthday hairy crustacean for you: http://www.ibiblio.org/Dave/Dr-Fun/df200603/df20060309.jpg
Posted by: Redshift | March 9, 2006 10:41 AM
hippo birdie two ewes
hippo birdie two ewes
hippo birdie deer pharyngula
hippo birdie two ewes
Posted by: eyelessgame | March 9, 2006 10:51 AM
Happy birthday PZ!! And happy evolution too!! ;)
Posted by: Teophobus Atheist | March 9, 2006 10:53 AM
Happy (max{x in N: h(x) = 1} - 16)/3rd birthday, PZ.
Posted by: Alon Levy | March 9, 2006 10:54 AM
Happy birthday, kiddo! I bet you're really going to amount to something when you get older.
Posted by: Zeno | March 9, 2006 10:59 AM
Many happy returns!
Posted by: Glenn Branch | March 9, 2006 11:00 AM
Same here! Happy Birthday!
Posted by: Sherry Konkus | March 9, 2006 11:04 AM
Happy birthday! I'm older by a few years and I can attest that it just gets better. Thanks for writing the most interesting blog on the net.
LM Wanderer
Posted by: LM Wanderer | March 9, 2006 11:06 AM
Congratulations on another year, PZ!
Posted by: Luis | March 9, 2006 11:09 AM
Happy Birthday, PZ, and thanks for helping lead the charge of the Brights Brigade!
Posted by: Dr. Spinoza | March 9, 2006 11:11 AM
I hope that wasn't in bad taste -- please erase if it was.
Posted by: Dr. Spinoza | March 9, 2006 11:11 AM
Happy Birthday PZ!
Although, since you noted here just how murky the definition of life beginning is, it really only can be considered the day you were born, not the beginning of your life, which, in some ways, appears to have happened way back when, a few billion years ago.
Gives new meaning to "Old as the hills", eh?
Still, we can still celebrate the beginning of your development towards being the PZ Meyers that we all respect and cherish.
Happy Birthday!
Posted by: ColinB | March 9, 2006 11:16 AM
Happy Bday, PZ. I'll see if I can get you Behe's head on a silver platter as a gift.
Posted by: BronzeDog | March 9, 2006 11:19 AM
Happy Birthday, and thanks for the blog.
Posted by: N.Wells | March 9, 2006 11:23 AM
Happy black-boxth birthday PZ!
Posted by: Patrick | March 9, 2006 11:27 AM
Happy Birthday!!!
(What's your birthday wish?)
Posted by: osteopath | March 9, 2006 11:30 AM
49 is what comes up in View Source.
Also, when I search on 49, I can see behind the black box.
So, the question is, did you know this would happen (i.e., that "49" would easily be found)? If so, is it accurate. Certainly seems truthy, maybe even plausible.
As Paul Simon once sang, "Man, you're old."
I guess if I had to bet on a single year, I'd bet on 1957, which for a long time, perhaps still, was the year of the most births in the US. And that's not counting HI or AK!
Posted by: paul | March 9, 2006 11:32 AM
"Happy Bday, PZ. I'll see if I can get you Behe's head on a silver platter as a gift."
Put it on a stick and its a ready-made maraca.
Posted by: Mike | March 9, 2006 11:53 AM
Happy birthday.
Posted by: Steve Sutton | March 9, 2006 11:58 AM
*fires up Calculator*
*49*
*-*
*46*
*=*
*looks at sum*
Yeah, what paul said.
Posted by: Chris Clarke | March 9, 2006 12:02 PM
delurking to say: thanks for a terrific blog. i'm only a sometimes visitor, and not a scientist, but never disappointed. and,
1957 was an excellent year to be born! not that i remember it personally; i'm a few months younger than you, and my real memories begin around 1960. i'm sure you remember where you were when JFK was shot; remember looking at the moon when humans first went there; early heart transplants; and ideas like gas conservation, and recycling, and protection of species and land becoming mainstream ideas.
science has moved so far in so many areas, and yet its impact on political and public life has become so marginalized. yours is a unique voice, and i wish you many years of raising hell [using, of all things, facts].
Posted by: kathy a | March 9, 2006 12:08 PM
1983 wasn't a bad year to be born either. I was born the same day Pioneer 10 left the solar system; there just wasn't enough room for the two of us.
Posted by: Patrick | March 9, 2006 12:17 PM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you Professor P.Z.
Keep on keeping on!!!
Posted by: Fred Gray | March 9, 2006 12:18 PM
Happy birthday!
Debate over intelligent design comes to TU
Posted by: wamba | March 9, 2006 12:41 PM
Wayne Adkins talks straight in American Chronicle
Posted by: wamba | March 9, 2006 12:49 PM
Happy Birthday PZ! It was nice to talk with you and your son last night at DL.
Posted by: Dave Puskala | March 9, 2006 12:50 PM
Posted by: wamba | March 9, 2006 12:53 PM
49 years ain't so bad. I don't think it sounds as bad as:
* 1,546,300,800 seconds or
* 25,771,680 minutes or
* 429,528 hours or
* 2,556 weeks or
* 17,897 days
Posted by: NatureSelectedMe | March 9, 2006 12:54 PM
Go PZ!, and happy birthday!
"Teach 'em nothing but facts, sir!"
And erm, what is that in "zebra-fish years"?
Posted by: Pete K | March 9, 2006 12:59 PM
Happy Birthday to you, Professor.
Posted by: B. B. Breece | March 9, 2006 1:08 PM
Happy Birthday, fellow March person!
Posted by: Rana | March 9, 2006 1:12 PM
The Happiest of Birthdays to a wonderful person; may a hundred or so just as happy follow it!
(I rode in on the coat-tails of Rexroth's daughter if you're curious...)
alan
Posted by: alan | March 9, 2006 1:41 PM
Happy birthday, PZ!
Posted by: jason | March 9, 2006 1:57 PM
You're one year older
One year wiser
Rock-n-Roll Star, King,
Czar, and a Kaiser
A room full of friends
A mouth full of cake
Every present is for you
and it feels pretty great
You're the man of the hour
The V-I-P
You get the first slice
of the P-I-E
but first blow out the candles
and make a wish,
Put a smile on,
Cause it's your birthday, bitch!
-Hesh's Birthday Song, by MC Chris
Posted by: Tiax | March 9, 2006 2:03 PM
Happy Birthday, and keep evolving!
Posted by: Linkmeister | March 9, 2006 2:19 PM
happy b'day, you young whippersnapper (whatever that means). thanks for your good work.
Posted by: dread pirate roberts | March 9, 2006 2:33 PM
If it makes you feel better PZ, you are roughly 74 Venusian Days old, me I'm 75.13 Venusian days old. (Oh yes, and Happy Birthday and Hertzliche Glueckwunsch)
Posted by: Ian Musgrave | March 9, 2006 2:40 PM
Happy Birthday.
Enjoy your day and have a great year.
Posted by: Cat | March 9, 2006 2:40 PM
Happy birthday, PZ!
Since you and my brother share a birthday, you and he must have identical personalities and aptitudes. Are you really good at making noises with your armpits?
Posted by: Apikoros | March 9, 2006 2:58 PM
Happy 49th Birthday Dr. Myers!!! We shall enjoy some calamari for dinner, in your honor.
The Countess, Count, and Royal Spawn
Posted by: The Countess and Count | March 9, 2006 3:12 PM
PZ,
You remind me of a poem I read in college, by the Daghestani (formerly soviet) poet Rasul Gamzatov:
"Zest for life, the quest for truth
Are a sign, they say, of youth.
Holy wrath is wont to cool
Shortly after leaving school.
Both the wish and will to fight
Vanish almost overnight.
On life's road, they say, you'll tire.
Lose all interest, retire
At a solemn, stately pace.
Blind to honour and disgrace,
Equal courtesies you'll show
To a friend and to a foe...
If this prophecy be true,
There's but one escape for you:
Choose a clifftop, say: "Goodbye!"
Take a running jump - and die!"
So, may that holy wrath of yours never cool down, Prof. Myers!
Happy Birthday!!
Posted by: Madhu | March 9, 2006 3:26 PM
Ditto, ditto, and ditto on the b-day wishes! :)
Posted by: Jenna | March 9, 2006 3:30 PM
happy Birthday, and thanks for all the good work.
Posted by: aiabx | March 9, 2006 4:53 PM
Happy Birthday, PZ!
Posted by: Bourgeois Nerd | March 9, 2006 5:28 PM
De-lurking to wish you a Happy Happy Birthday, and to tell you how much I envy those high school kids. Thank you for this blog... it is a very bright candle in the dark.
Posted by: sphex | March 9, 2006 5:53 PM
HB,PZ!
Posted by: Skeptyk | March 9, 2006 5:56 PM
In honor of this occasion, I'm telling lies about you at my blog.
Many happy returns, mazel floss, and may the wind be at your back as you continue to slide your way towards senescence.
Posted by: The Wege | March 9, 2006 6:03 PM
Happy Birthday!
Posted by: afarensis | March 9, 2006 6:14 PM
Happy Birthday, PZ!
Posted by: Michael I | March 9, 2006 6:27 PM
And many more...
Happy Birthday from the high Arctic
Posted by: Clare | March 9, 2006 6:29 PM
Happy Birthday. But didn't you learn anything from Jack Benny?
Posted by: John Pieret | March 9, 2006 8:06 PM
I'll add my birthday wishes to the throngs, and thank you for your blogging. May you blog for many more years.
Posted by: Dawn | March 9, 2006 8:12 PM
Happy Birthday, PZ!
Posted by: Amit | March 9, 2006 8:13 PM
Happy birthday from the Netherlands Mr. Myers.
So far, your blog has been an insight to me on the ongoing state of ID vs Evolution. Keep up the great work!
Posted by: michiel | March 9, 2006 8:23 PM
To the tune of The Volga Boatmen:
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday
Sorrow, misery and despair
People dying everywhere
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday
BTW, when I saw the socks on this page, you were the first person I thought of. :)
http://squid-knits.blogspot.com/2006/03/presenting.html
Posted by: Janice in GA | March 9, 2006 8:25 PM
Happy Birthday! Red State Rabble sent me here :)
Posted by: little.hoot.owl | March 9, 2006 8:55 PM
Happy Birthday, PZ.
Posted by: D. Sidhe | March 9, 2006 8:55 PM
haaaaaaaaappeeeee birthdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay peeeeeeeeeeeeee zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedd!
and a happy new year.
Posted by: the amazing kim | March 9, 2006 9:03 PM
Congrats on being 94!
Posted by: UberKuh | March 9, 2006 10:09 PM
Happy birthday, PZ
and thanks for all your great work.
Robb
Posted by: Robb H | March 9, 2006 10:21 PM
Happy birthday PZ. Thanks for all your great work. Don't do anything I wouldn't!
Louis
Posted by: Louis | March 10, 2006 1:37 AM
Manual trackback: This post is part of the Zeitgeist!
Posted by: Zeitgeister | March 10, 2006 8:47