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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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But here steps in Satan, the eternal rebel, the first free-thinker and emancipator of worlds. He makes man ashamed of his bestial ignorance and obedience; he emancipates him, stamps upon his brow the seal of liberty and humanity, in urging him to disobey and eat of the fruit of knowledge.
[Bakunin, God and the State (1874)]
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Category: db4181
Posted on: November 14, 2006 9:09 AM, by PZ Myers
My students in Developmental Biology 4181 have been blogging away all term, and here are a few of the topics they're thinking about this week.
Tests are good for you (good news, since I'm giving them one right now)
We've been reading Zimmer's At the Water's Edge, and this is the week we start talking about cetacean evolution.
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Comments
Posted by: Snail | November 14, 2006 9:26 AM
The giant snail link goes to the whale story. Darn it!
Posted by: Bro. Bartleby | November 14, 2006 9:42 AM
Gee, I'd love to audit your class (that way I could bypass those pesky exams), for all these 'thinking' points for your students are worthy of much thought and discussion, my only fear is that if I were to be seated in your class I would not be able to control my almost Tourette's-like uncontrollable urge to shout "Hallelujah!" at any given moment, but especially so when I peer into microscopes (and telescopes). I better stop here, for I feel a "Hallelujah!" coming on ...
Posted by: Warren | November 14, 2006 10:04 AM
Lung cancer vaccines ... that's intriguing. Now all we need is a vaccine for emphysema. Oh, and oral cancer. And throat cancer. And hypertension.
But hey ... a lung cancer vaccine!
Posted by: Warren | November 14, 2006 10:05 AM
Lung cancer vaccines ... that's intriguing. Now all we need is a vaccine for emphysema. Oh, and oral cancer. And throat cancer. And hypertension.
But hey ... a lung cancer vaccine!
Posted by: Hank Fox | November 14, 2006 11:49 AM
Re: Cetacean evolution.
Carl Buell has painted a number of whale ancestors, such as pakicetus, etc. I think I remember that he worked with the discoverer of pakicetus to develop the first visual image of the thing.
Fly him out to give a talk on the illustration of ancestral whales.
Posted by: Gremlin | November 14, 2006 12:47 PM
A lung cancer vaccine. Heh - I consider myself a test case.
Over a decade ago I accidently injected 5 million human lung adenocarinoma cells into my own left thumb (we were injecting nude mice - masked and gloved - and the mouse jumped while my goggles were fogged).
While sucking on a stogie I'm occasionally asked "aren't you worried about lung cancer"? I just smile superiorly and demonstrate that the pad on my left thumb isn't any bigger than the one my right (OK, nit-pickers, don't bring up the "appropriate microenvironment" hand-waving - it's one of my few amusing anecdotes).
Checking. Damn, my left thumb _is_ bigger than my right...
Posted by: Carl Buell (OGeorge) | November 14, 2006 2:02 PM
Thank you Hank my friend, but PZ has MUCH better uses for his money. I DO need a vacation however.
Actually, a number of additional discoveries have changed the way I've reconstructed a few of the animals since I did those little line drawings for Carl Zimmer's book. And of course, recent DNA studies have shown that Hippos are the whales closest relatives and the ancient Mesonychids have been "demoted" to sister group statis as opposed to directly ancestral.
Posted by: Ryan | November 16, 2006 2:55 AM
Ok... I have nothing of substance to add. (Great way to start a comment huh?). I'm just going to bask in the surreality of this moment. I just finished reading Zimmer's book and lo and behold, here's a contributor posting on this incredible blog.
And I agree with Bartleby, I'd love to audit your class PZ. Maybe I should have been a developmental biologist.