October 20, 2012
Allen's Rule. One of those things you learn in graduate school along with Bergmann's Rule and Cope's Rule. It is all about body size. Cope's Rule ... which is a rule of thumb and not an absolute ... says that over time the species in a given lineage tend to be larger and larger. Bergmann's Rule…
October 19, 2012
Bruce Springsteen in Ohio Campaign for President Barack Obama:
And now for the comic relief (You'll need to turn the volume up):
October 18, 2012
Some of whom you might possibly recognize...
October 18, 2012
I wrote a post at 10,000 birds that starts to explore this question by comparing the number of birds that there are, the number of birds that seem to die off every year, and the possible number that get munched by cats, and briefly discusses predator niches and that sort of thing. I hope this is…
October 18, 2012
First, I want to remind you that Greata has written a great book called "Why are Atheists so Angry." From my previous notice:
Why are atheists so angry?
And they are! Just yesterday I was hanging around with a bunch off atheists and they were all pretty angry. They were even getting angry with…
October 17, 2012
How do science and religion view the origins of life, of humans, of the Universe? NCSE executive director Genie Scott examines the two approaches, the similarities, the conflicts. When 9/19/2012. Where: Westminster College
October 17, 2012
How can you go wrong with blimps?
The Aviator is a new book that gives you a world of post-global warming climate and interesting developments in transportation technology and artificial intelligence. It is written by New Zealand based writer Gareth Renowden. The Aviator explores a post-…
October 17, 2012
W. Kamau Bell explains why he hates science just like Mitt Romney.
October 16, 2012
...Sungudogo is a little known zoological mystery, an “undiscovered” primate living in the remote and rugged region of the eastern Congo, where the Central African Rain Forest fringes the high walls of the western edge of the Great Rift Valley.
Sometimes called the “fourth African ape,” Sungudogo…
October 16, 2012
Or even better yet, how about the original? It's going up for sale on ebay. Here's my copy of the letter:
And the ebay site is here.
The letter was written to the author of Choose Life The Biblical Call To Revolt, and includes this famous comment:
... The word God is for me nothing more than…
October 13, 2012
... the podcast, is now available for download:
This week, we’re looking at the science – and pseudoscience – that affects the healthcare decisions parents make for their children, and women make for themselves. We’re joined by Allison Hagood and Stacy Herlihy, to talk about their book Your Baby’s…
October 13, 2012
Just follow these unstructions:
October 11, 2012
The juxtaposition of Nobel Prize season and the revelation of High Octane Crazy in the Republican Party in regards to science is examined by Rachel Maddow:
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
October 10, 2012
I knew a guy who had a simple answer to the whole Death Penalty thing. He's hold is fingers, thumb and index finger, a short ways apart from each other like he had something in his grasp, and he's say, "One bullet ... costs about nine cents." I have no idea how much a bullet really costs, but I…
October 10, 2012
Quite possibly. Here's a picture of it:
Image from NASA. Obviously.
There's a pretty good chance that this is a manufactured object and not some natural thingie that formed on the surface of Mars by Mars-esque natural processes. But, if that's true, then there's a pretty good chance that the…
October 10, 2012
This has been known for years. It is very frustrating to see people ask questions like "well, what we don't know is what will global warming do?" Global warming has done, already, quite a bit and it is insulting to our collective intelligence and an affront to the families of those who have died…
October 10, 2012
This morning, my inbox had a handful of interesting data that are totally unconnected to each other, each interesting in its own right, and together, a veritable potpourri of bloggyness. So, here goes:
First, Don Prothero at Skeptiblog has written one of those posts you want to keep handy next time…
October 9, 2012
The evidence that if you are a Republican you are a member of a club that you should be embarrassed to be a member of mounts. In this case, Jon Hubbard and Loy Mauch of Arkansas speak out in favor of slavery and blame African Americans for the results of institutional racism.
"Arkansas…
October 9, 2012
David Schnare is a climate change denier, right-wing activist, and lawyer, and he works for the conservative “free market” think tank American Tradition Institute (ATI). Evidence has come to light suggesting that Schnare acted unethically during the course of a recently settled legal battle over…
October 8, 2012
I knew this guy, can't remember his name, who practiced a combination of naturopathy and homeopathy (they are different) along with a few other suspicious arts, back in the 1970s. Other than the white muumuu that he usually wore, I remember two things about him. I remember that a few years before…
October 8, 2012
NCSE executive director Genie Scott chats with polar explorer Will Steger about their experiences and perspectives on climate change education. Steger is an educator and author of several books on his expeditions and environmental issues, including climate change. Where: University of Minnesota.
October 8, 2012
This post has moved to THIS LOCATION.
October 7, 2012
On July 9th, 2012, Anoka High School student Justin Aaberg committed suicide. Here in Minnesota, when a kid commits suicide we don't talk about it; often the other kids in the school are never told. There's just a funeral service and a yearbook page but no discussion, no action, no response. But…
October 7, 2012
Watch the following video without reading any context. Listen to what the guy says. Note that he says that evolution and embryology are lies from hell. Note that he claims that these lies have one purpose: To keep us from knowing that we need a savior. Note that he claims that the earth was…
October 6, 2012
No matter how much one may have disagreed with a colleague in life, no matter how much damage one might feel a particular person's work may have done, when that colleague finally dies one says a few good words, pays respect, and puts aside past differences.
But not in this case. I met Jean…
October 6, 2012
Would it really matter? What would really happen?
Science blogger Kevin Zelnio has the story: A Post-PBS Educational Television Landscape
What is the bottom line of Kevin's post? Well, go read it and find out.
And for when you get back from Kevin's post, here is Rick Santorum letting the genie…
October 6, 2012
We've been talking about marriage, and we'll continue that conversation. But for now I just wanted to alert you to the fact that a big chunk of money, allegedly about 2 million bucks from one person, has been given to the anti-same sex marriage organization, "National Organization for Marriage,"…
