Science
Pharyngula
Category archives for Science
I can defend both Lawrence Krauss and philosophy!
Posted by PZ Myers on February 26, 2013 Philosophers are still grumbling about Lawrence Krauss, who openly dissed philosophy (word to the philosophers reading this: he recanted, so you can put down the thumbscrews and hot irons for now). This is one of those areas where I’m very much a middle-of-the-road person: I am not a philosopher, at least I’m definitely not as…
What I taught today: maternal effect genes
Posted by PZ Myers on February 25, 2013 My students are also blogging here: My undergrad encounters Developmental Biology Miles’ Devo Blog Tavis Grorud’s Blog for Developmental Biology Thang’s Blog Heidi’s blog for Developmental Biology Chelsae blog Stacy’s Strange World of Developmental Biology Thoughts of Developmental Biology Biology~ You know I teach the 8am courses every term, right? Every semester for years I…
What I taught today: Nuffin’!
Posted by PZ Myers on February 15, 2013 Nothing at all! I gave the students an exam instead! While I got a plane and left ice-bound Morris to fly to Fort Lauderdale, Florida! Bwahahahahahaha! Sometimes it is so good to be the professor. And if ever you wonder why my students hate me with a seething hot anger, it’s because I’m such an…
Mother’s Curse
Posted by PZ Myers on February 6, 2013 It’s a harsh world for us men. Oh, sure, we’ve got all the political and economic power, and we’ve got most of the guns, but step into a senior citizens’ center and you’ll notice the preponderance of elderly women. Men die younger, on average. I’m also acutely aware of the growing disparity as we get…
Give that fish a hand!
Posted by PZ Myers on February 5, 2013 I have a bit of a peeve with a common analogy for the human genome: that it is the blueprint of the body, and that we can find a mapping of genes to details of our morphological organization. It’s annoying because even respectable institutions, like the National Human Genome Research Institute, use it as a…
More trivial excuses for the anti-choicers
Posted by PZ Myers on January 31, 2013 Oh gob, the stupidity. The latest wave of anti-choice legislation is based on one trivial premise: it’s got a heartbeat! You can’t kill it if its heart is beating! So stupid bills have been flitting about in the Ohio, Mississippi, Wyoming, Arkansas, and North Dakota legislatures trying to redefine human life as beginning at the…
What I taught today: Position and Polarity
Posted by PZ Myers on January 30, 2013 My students are also blogging here: My undergrad encounters Developmental Biology Miles’ Devo Blog Tavis Grorud’s Blog for Developmental Biology Thang’s Blog Heidi’s blog for Developmental Biology Chelsae blog Stacy’s Strange World of Developmental Biology Thoughts of Developmental Biology Biology~ You really can’t teach a class by lecturing at them…especially not an 8am class. But…
What I taught today: gene regulation and signaling
Posted by PZ Myers on January 28, 2013 My students are also blogging here: My undergrad encounters Developmental Biology Miles’ Devo Blog Tavis Grorud’s Blog for Developmental Biology Thang’s Blog Heidi’s blog for Developmental Biology Chelsae blog Stacy’s Strange World of Developmental Biology Thoughts of Developmental Biology Today was more context and a bit of a caution for my developmental biology course. I…
The present is the past, the past is the present
Posted by PZ Myers on January 25, 2013 Ken Ham is preaching about what science is again. He’s accusing the secular activist Zack Kopplin of being “brainwashed” by evolutionist propaganda, and to support this claim, he once again drags out the tired proposition that there are two kinds of science, historical and observational, and that only the observational kind is valid; well, unless…
The death of Aaron Swartz
Posted by PZ Myers on January 13, 2013 Many of you already know that Aaron Swartz, an online activist, committed suicide earlier this week. I didn’t know much about him, but now I’ve learned two things. One, he was a victim of depression. I’ve never experienced this personally — at worst I can say I’ve been sad and stressed at time — but…