Greg Laden is a biological anthropologist and science communicator. His research has covered North American prehistoric and historic archaeology and African archaeology and human ecology. He is an OpenSource and OpenAccess advocate. Greg's wife, Amanda, is a High School biology teacher, his daughter Julia is a world traveler and his son Huxley is 2.
This is the most challenging time of year for duck watching. But it may be easier than one thinks to bump into a wolf in the forest.
We've been exploring the western side of the north-central part of the state, in and around Itasca as far west at Tamarack Wildlife Refuge, where we saw several fine…
.... Particularly disturbing is the adoption of the PowerPoint cognitive style in our schools. Rather than learning to write a report using sentences, children are being taught how to formulate client pitches and infomercials. Elementary school PowerPoint exercises (as seen in teacher guides and in…
I was thinking something like "Imma let you finish being stupid and all, but first I want to review the preponderance of evidence for evolution. But you may also like to see Genie Scott's take on it:
The heretofore unknown events that led to an investigation of Dr. Marc Hauser of Harvard University, which led to a recently completed investigation of Hauser's scientific conduct.
You cann read the article here. I hope you can access that document (it may be fully or partly behind a firewall…
Emerging infectious diseases do not only affect humans. Wildlife is threatened as well, and an alarming report from Britain documents an avian tragedy of great proportions.
Emerging protozoan caused diseases are seriously affecting British populations of Carduelis chloris, the greenfinch, and and…
But Conservapedia is going to fix that.
... apparently Conservapedia is unhappy that after Terence Tao got the Fields Medal four years ago he then endorsed Barack Obama for President, ... To deal with this apparent liberal bias and affirmative action in the Fields Medal, Conservapedia is starting…
There is a swath across the map of Minnesota that runs northwest to southeast across the state, separating the major biomes of the eastern two thirds of the country, and for complicated reasons. North, it is colder, south warmer. Much of the moister in the region, especially in the summer, comes…
Well, not yet, but wait for it. This story and this story describe "tracking" of the Democratic Candidate by the Teabagging Republican, which is also discussed by Jim in this story from the point of view of an insider.
Do check out this series of guest posts at Quiche Moraine, written by by Jim Emery, which detail the events associated with a recent campaign for the US Congress in a hotly contested district in Minnesota.
Inside the Political Process: Jim Emery and the Madia Campaign
Inside the Political…
Elvis In 1977 I drove from Nashville down to Memphis with no particular plans regarding Memphis. It was just a place to stop on the way to Hot Springs, Arkansas. I had the name of a cheap motel and a vague idea of where it was. But I kept getting lost. Every time I came to about where this…
Genie Scott at Plymouth Congregational Church in Lawrence, Kansas, delving into the creationism/evolution controversy, how evolution is misunderstood, what evolution really is, and more. Event date: 9/8/1999
Amanda next to the tallest white pine tree in Minnesota
They say Lake Itasca is the source of the Mississippi. This is why there is a big state park surrounding the lake, a park that preserves some beautiful old forest despite the best efforts of 19th century lumberjacks to cut it down.
I've…
A typical adult human recognizes that the image one sees in a mirror is oneself. We do not know how much training a mirror-naive adult requires to do this, but we think very little.
When a typical adult macaque (a species of monkey) looks in the mirror, it sees another monkey. Typical adult male…
Genie Scott's recent talk at an Atheist Alliance International conference. The title: "Who Pulled the Stake Out? The resurgence of young-earth creationism". Event date: 9-28-2007
Stephen Jay Gould and David Pilbeam wrote a paper in 1974 that was shown ten years later to be so totally wrong in its conclusions that it has fallen into an obscurity not usually linked to either Gould or Pilbeam. However, they were actually right in ways that they could not have anticipated.…
Lucy, Ardi, Frodo, and us: what old bones and new genetics are revealing today.
Who are these people and can we call them family? Listen to Greg Laden and Lynn Fellman discuss how recent fossil and tool discoveries are changing the shape of our family tree.
A report earlier this week showed…
A fairly accurate and well done, and more up to date, account of what has gone on with the Marc Hauser investigation is here, in a piece punished in the New York Times by Nicholas Wade: In Harvard Lab Inquiry, a Raid and a 3-Year Wait.
It is very clear that the Fourth Estate is on the verge of a…
Wanted: A shortcut key to zip backwards to the last mispelleded word in a text document. (And, forward too would be nice, but backwards is most important.) Next time you are writing stuff, think about how cool this would be.
See the whole "WANTED" list here.
Money Harper is a musician who has put to song several actual research projects of University of Oklahoma scientists. He's raising money to finish the project. Maybe you can help him out. Either way, it is an interesting story, and I'm sure you are going to want a copy of the CD.
My old friend…
I will be interviewed on Sunday Morning by Lynn Fellman on Minnesota Atheist Radio. We'll be covering the recent and almost recent news in several areas of human evolution, and discussing "Lucy, Ardi, Frodo, and us: what old bones and new genetics are revealing today"
... but since news from the…
An episode from KTEH's Uncommon Knowledge series: "Darwin under the Microscope: Questioning Darwinism". Dr. Genie Scott goes toe to toe with creationist Dr. William Dembski. Air date: 12/7/2001
There was an election in November of 2008, but you probably knew that already. You cast a vote for a presidential candidate, and if you were especially interested, put a bumper sticker on your car and a sign in your yard. If you're a typical Minnesotan, somewhat more engaged in the process than is…
After I reported this recent and interesting research paper about urinary tract inflictions, a number of conversations broke out on that post, on my facebook page, and via email, and some of these conversations raised the question of cranberry juice and whether the idea that it prevents, reduces,…
Chronic infection is, in a way, the new emerging infectious disease. Many pathogens are relatively tenacious when they infect elderly individuals or individuals who are otherwise not fully immunocompetent, and such individuals are, thanks to modern medical technology and practice, more common in…
