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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As it happens, Josephus, who mentions John the Baptist, does not mention Jesus. There is, to be sure, a paragraph in his history of the Jews which is devoted to Jesus, but it interrupts the flow of the discourse and seems suspiciously like an afterthought. Scholars generally believe this to have been an insertion by some early Christian editor who, scandalized that Joesphus should talk of the period without mentioning the Messiah, felt the insertion to be a pious act.
[Isaac Asimov, Asimov's Guide To The Bible ISBN 0-517-34582-X]
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Category: Academics
Posted on: December 9, 2007 8:01 PM, by PZ Myers
I'm giving my students a take-home exam tomorrow, and one of the questions references this paper:
Stoleru D, Peng Y, Agosta J, Rosbash M (2004) Coupled oscillators control morning and evening locomotor behaviour of Drosophila. Nature 431:862-868.
I'm just providing the link here to simplify finding the paper — if you aren't in my neuro class, you can ignore this.
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Comments
Everybody's doing a brand new dance now...
come on baby. Do the locomotion!
Posted by: Dan | December 9, 2007 8:04 PM
I can? Apparently with the repeated twice daily checks of your site, and RSS feed to my Google Page... I don't think I can. Adding the fact that I've now commented it seem remarkably impossible to ignore.
You may? Eh, sounds a bit like giving people permission.
*shrug*
Good luck on the test students.
Posted by: Tatarize | December 9, 2007 8:33 PM
Darn you PZ! I REALLY wanted to read that paper! (I don't subscribe, of course)
Posted by: Nic Nicholson | December 9, 2007 8:40 PM
You're telling us to ignore this? I never did take well to being told not to do something. Yes, I'm the person who touches the "Don't Touch, Wet Paint" sign to check. There's always one in a crowd.
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | December 9, 2007 8:42 PM
Oof, a take-home exam.
Posted by: j | December 9, 2007 8:50 PM
Must... click... link...
I'm sure that there must be something interesting and worthwhile behind the link...
Posted by: richard | December 9, 2007 9:05 PM
WebCT just doesn't cut it, does it?
Posted by: Will | December 9, 2007 9:13 PM
I study coupled oscillators. Maybe there'd be something interesting in there. Since you haven't given the exam yet, you can't really answer this question, but when you can answer: what's the exam question about?
Posted by: Flavin | December 9, 2007 9:15 PM
The link goes through a UMM proxy server, I'm sorry to say, so unless you've got a university password or are accessing it directly from a campus IP address, you aren't going to get through.
If you've got Nature access, though, this one will work.
Posted by: PZ Myers | December 9, 2007 9:23 PM
Can you post the exam question by any chance? I need something other than multivariate stats to think about...
Posted by: katie | December 9, 2007 9:27 PM
Well just give us your password then PZ. I promise we'll all keep it confidential ;-)
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | December 9, 2007 9:33 PM
Worst. Blog Post. Ever.
Posted by: Chris Bell | December 9, 2007 9:37 PM
Ignore?!
No fuckin' way. I dig flies. They're *like* me, man. We're *in it.*
Sheesh.
Posted by: shrimplate | December 9, 2007 9:53 PM
How can I not have access to nature? It's right outside my damned door.
Posted by: Dan | December 9, 2007 10:33 PM
Did I just read that right? The same professor that was such a hard-ass about extra-credit just gave a take home exam?
:-)
Man, I loved take home exams!
Posted by: cfeagans | December 9, 2007 10:57 PM
Cfeagans,
Mayyyyyyyybe. In-class exams are pains due to how you have to remember everything and write within the time alotted. Take-homes are nicer on the can-look-things-up and lack-of-hand-cramp fronts, buuuuut... Profs can expect that you do more, and better. Evil profs expect a LOT more and a LOT better. :-(
Posted by: Falyne | December 9, 2007 11:06 PM
Kids, don't listen to this guy, it's a trick question. Everybody in the field knows that the circadian rhythm of drosophila is controlled by the resonance of light with the outer wing tip. There's even evidence for this in the paper that the authors conveniently ignore.
Or maybe I just gave away the answer...oops.
Posted by: OneRandomScientist | December 10, 2007 1:29 AM
"Resonance of light with the outer wing tip?" I think you're bluffing the poor impressionable students :) as I checked your blog and you seem otherwise mostly sane.
Or feel free to explain otherwise?
Posted by: Stephen Wells | December 10, 2007 5:32 AM
We don' need no steenkeeng eegnorance....
Posted by: Ian | December 10, 2007 7:00 AM
I think you're bluffing the poor impressionable students
I figured if PZ can use his blog as a blackboard, I could mess with his students :)
Posted by: OneRandomScientist | December 10, 2007 3:01 PM