February 6, 2009
This is direct from Shawn Otto:
This is direct from Shawn Otto:
Several people have emailed suggestions I will share with everyone:
1. WHAT TO DO: call and email your two U.S. senators. Contact from a constituent on a wonky issue like this will have enormous influence. Calling is better than email…
February 6, 2009
UPDATE HERE
I just received this note from Sean Otto of ScienceDebate 2008:
I am writing to alert you to efforts underway this morning to zero out a large portion of the science funding from the Senate American Reinvestment and Recovery Act as a part of a $77.9B reduction effort led by Senators Ben…
February 6, 2009
What do you eat when you are traveling the world in search of truth about the natural world? Most of the time Darwin ate pretty well...
~repost~
While traveling through the South American interior near Rio, Darwin makes note of some of the agricultural practices of the region. He is visiting…
February 5, 2009
Those of us who have been following former Sen....So it is no surprise that Norm wants to sidestep campaign finance law and use his campaign funds to pay for his defense against the FBI investigation into the charges of not reporting the gifts totaling $75,000.
A must read post at MN PP.
February 5, 2009
I became acquainted with an Englishman who was going to visit his estate ... more than a hundred miles [north] of Cape Frio. As I was quite unused to travelling, I gladly accepted his kind offer of allowing me to accompany him.
And so was the case with a number of Darwin's excursions into the bush…
February 5, 2009
The first time I read the following passage from The Voyage, I was reminded of my own first experience in a rain forest (in Zaire, not Congo). Evident in this passage is at least a glimmering of Darwin's appreciation for the complexity of ecosystems. Darwin could be considered the first…
February 5, 2009

Behold this humble passage by Darwin, which is what immediately follows his discussion of the octopus. This passage is a touchstone to several important aspects of what Darwin was doing and thinking, and is a poignant link to what Darwin did not know:
Repost with slight modifications
ST. PAUL…
February 5, 2009
When word of this study gets around, you may start to hear that voluntary vaccination "works." This would not be an accurate statement. There is a new study just now out in PLoS Computational Biology that reveals that under certain conditions, which may actually be quite rare, voluntary…
February 5, 2009
Totally stolen from Migrations.
February 5, 2009
I want to bring your attention to a somewhat dense and possibly inconclusive (but important) paper accompanied by a very informative overview in PLoS Biology, concerning mutations in the human genome.
Mutation rates and patterns of mutation are important for a number of reasons. For one thing, the…
February 5, 2009
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common serious neurological disease that affects young adults, wiht about 2.5 million victims worldwide. The disease involves a loss of myelin in brain and spinal cord neural tissues. Myelin is the protective and insulating layer that covers most axons in the…
February 5, 2009
Hat Tip: Ana.
February 4, 2009
Thank's, PZ, for totally ruining my day.
February 4, 2009
This is why all religion should simply not be allowed. Even if the basic tenets of a religion are not too objectionable, its pieces ... which consist of brainwashed people and the powerful ideas making up the framework of a culture ... can be knitted together like household items into a pipe bomb…
February 4, 2009
Of his time on the Beagle (1832 - 1836), Darwin wrote, "The voyage of the Beagle has been by far the most important event in my life and has determined my whole career." Of the manuscript describing that voyage, he wrote, "The success of this my first literary child always tickles my vanity more…
February 4, 2009
And by "academy" I mean THE academy.
Comedian, economist, speechwriter and game show host Ben Stein withdrew as speaker at the University of Vermont's spring commencement ceremonies Monday after concerns arose about his opinions on evolutionary theory, intelligent design and the role of science…
February 4, 2009
The complete genome of a Neanderthal dating to about 38,000 years ago has been sequenced by the team lead by Svante Paabo. The genome will be announced on Darwin's Birthay, Feb 12.
"We are working like crazy at the moment," says Pääbo, adding that his Max Planck colleague, computational…
February 4, 2009
A Texas Law makes it easy for religious teachers and school administers to force kids to pray in public schools. Although this is said to be a "moment of silence" it is known that some school employees are explicit about this event being for prayer. One child was told to be quite and pray a…
February 4, 2009
With an absurd opinion piece by Henry Morris III.
You can't comment on the piece, so I'll just tel lyou that it is in the current web edition of the paper and you can go dig it up if you want. (Blog policy: No logic, no links. Unless I feel like it.)
Henry Morris is the guy from the Institute…
February 4, 2009
Glenn Branch, of the NCSE, has written a wonderful piece in US News and World Report on Intelligent Design. It is here.
I don't know about you, but I'm writing a note to the editors of USNWR praising this piece.
February 4, 2009
Teenager told to act like teenager when confronting government agents!
A 14-year-old thought to be the youngest bride of jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was advised through text messages to "please stay angry" and to "keep crying, pout, sleep in" in an attempt to manipulate Texas caseworkers…
February 4, 2009
I've always been annoyed at women giving birth to seven, eight kids at once. There are too many freakin' people in the world, who do they think they are? But my annoyances is limited.
Other people in the past seem to have been less annoyed, and instead of being miffed they reward these baby…
February 4, 2009
UPDATE:
The chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board was critically injured Wednesday when his car exploded as the family physician was leaving his home for work, the board attorney said.
Board attorney William Trice said he believed Pierce drives a hybrid, but Trice had no information on…
February 4, 2009
Or, more accurately, did these dinosaurs either engage in intraspecific combat (such as territorial or mating contests among males) or fight predators such as Tyrannosaurs, like in the movies?
Well, one thing we know for sure: If any folklore, belief, or 'fact' related to a fossil species sits…
February 4, 2009
How much are we actually spending on the development of pharmaceutical tools to treat HIV/AIDS, TB, leichmaniasis, malaria and sleeping sickness?
Today, PLoS Medicine Policy Forum asks this question. According to a press release from PLoS:
The first comprehensive survey of global spending on…
February 3, 2009
An article released moments ago in PLoS ONE, by Gingerich et al., describes one of the more interesting fossil discoveries ever.
To cut right to the conclusion: We now have reason to believe that the proto-whale Maiacetus inuus, a true transitional form, gave birth on land, not in the water.…
February 3, 2009
Human Events is a right wing email newsletter and magazine/publishing thingie that regularly spews out the puss produced by such notable festering sores on the asscrack of humanity known as Anne Coulter and Pat Buchanan, with frequent contributions by Chuck Norris and others. I used to subscribe…
