pharyngula

Here's a very strange fossil from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte, an early Cambrian fossil bed from 525 million years ago. It's a collection of Waptia-like arthropods, nothing unusual there; these are ancient creatures that look rather like headless shrimp. What's weird about it is the way the…

DO NOT SEND ME ANY MORE REQUESTS TO CRASH THE PBS POLL ON SARAH PALIN. I am receiving over 50 email requests per day to do it, and there are a dozen comments every day mentioning it. You don't see them because I've had to specifically add a filter to trash them automatically, and similarly, I've…

On politics, Hitchens and I rarely agree…but this time he and I are singing in harmony. Obama is not a perfect candidate by any means, but McCain/Palin are a national disgrace, and there's only one way rational people can vote. It therefore seems to me that the Republican Party has invited not just…

Ah, the weird, wild world of the interwebs, where one actually finds people calling themselves "VenomFangX" and "Thunderf00t" squaring off to do battle. VenomFangX is one of the lower denizens of Youtube, a creationist notorious for the arrogant confidence with which he states the ridiculous and…

Browse the IgNobel Awards and find your favorites. I rather liked the idea of ovulatory status affecting the earnings of lap dancers (although I'd like to know more about other factors that might influence performance), but the best was the title of the paper that won the literature prize: "You…

When I've seen bits of it before, I've felt a terrible urge to run howling from the room…but they've hired a new cast member who might well provide some insightful and provocative opinions.

I hope Jerry Coyne will forgive me that my frequent thought as I was reading his new book, Why Evolution Is True(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll) was, "Wow, this sure is easier to read than that other book." That other book, of course, is Coyne and Orr's comprehensive text on Speciation(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll…

So people want to know more about the Toronto visit… They're charging for people to listen to me? Wow, I feel like Celine Dion now. You can get more information and order tickets at the CFI site. I am a little uncomfortable with the hyperbole on the poster, though. Couldn't they have said "world's…

I guess I wasn't paying attention. Good thing there are sources on the web to explain history to me.

Since people have been asking about my travel schedule lately, here's how I'm going to be spending my weekends: Friday, 31 Oct-2 Nov: Toronto, ON Friday, 7-9 Nov: Washington, DC Thursday, 13-15 Nov: Kearney, NE Wednesday, 19-22 Nov: Philadelphia, PA Friday, 5-6 Dec: Orlando, FL I'm…

This is just the craziest thing I ever heard. Politics where you can actually have politicians who don't believe in god, and where you can talk about removing the privileged status of religion from the legislative body, and where all the major political parties have organized representation by…

But then, isn't everything? We had a veritable orgy of communion wafer consumption in Springfield, enhanced by a chocolate coating. Why can't the transubstantiation trick involve chocolate and milk instead of bread and wine?

I lived in Philly for seven years, so I do have a connection and retain my affection for the city, and a respect for the addytood Philadelphians have always had. I felt a real tingle of sentiment when I heard that Philadelphia sports fans booed Sarah Palin. Clenched fist salute for Philadelphia!

I did not get shot at during my presentation. I was not heckled to the point of tears. Richard Carrier's talk did not bore me. Despite Springfield being the world capitol of the Assemblies of God Pentecostal church, Sarah Palin did not attend…but it is not the case that the event was poorly…

Have you ever noticed what the first result you get if you google for gift from god is? He does love us! (via Evo Terra)

We need more Tangled Bank entries — the next edition will be at Pro-Science on Wednesday. So get cracking and mail them in soon!

I'm hanging out in the airport in Springfield, Missouri, and of course CNN is blaring on all the televisions. As is typical, it's just one news story repeated and rehashed and gnawed over endlessly, but what is surprising is what the story is: John McCain is running a filthy, dirty, racist, hate-…

Many of us were fans of Possummomma and her blog, Atheist in a Mini-van. She was a passionate writer, struggling to make ends meet with her family, coping with lupus, and also having to deal with a lot of anti-atheist-bigotry in her community and online. Well, they finally got to her: she's gone…

This week on Atheists Talk radio, Hector Avalos is going to tell us how to fight ID and win, and Scott Lohman will be talking about secular humanism. Tune in at 9am Central, or if you're elsewhere… Honolulu Sun 4:00 AM     Sao Paulo Sun 11:00 AM     Addis Ababa Sun 5:00 PM…

The Brunswick school district, AKA Dover's dumber little brother, is still struggling with the creationists trying to smuggle creationism into the science classroom. The latest report, though, suggests that the pro-science side is being aggressive in fighting back, and the pro-ignorance side is…

He's already got the zombie vote and the fundiebot vote locked up, now he just needs to capture the teenaged male vote with a little violence in short-attention-span theater. I'm over fifty. I can't watch that without my head hurting.

It's a wonder that these people know how to tie their own shoes. I was sent a link to Perry Marshall's Intelligent Evolution Quick Guide, and it is certainly a fine example of the kind of reasoning that allows creationism to thrive. It's a short guide, but it goes on for over a page, when the…

Right here: Skepticast #168.

I'm here in Springfield, Missouri as a guest of the local Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and now I've suddenly found Tarvu. Say Hebbo! from Torvakian on Vimeo. What is the etiquette in such a situation? Do I have to damn my hosts, and do they have to burn me at the stake in reply?

Oh, come now. Are they just taunting me, waving a bit of succulent red meat before and begging me to bite? Should topics such as creationism or intelligent design be taught in public schools alongside the theory of evolution? 85% say yes. I cannot believe that 85% of the population are that stupid…

I get tons of news tips all the time, and I can't use them all — so here's a quick dump of a few items from the let's-laugh-at-religion file. Yom Kippur is supposed to be such a solemn holiday in Israel that no one drives, no one works, no one eats, but apparently, there is no proscription…

Richard Carrier and I will be speaking in Springfield on Saturday afternoon, in an event that has been blessed by the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. If you're in the neighborhood, you won't want to miss it! And now I get to spend my afternoon sitting in an airplane. Ho hum.

Sepioteuthis australis Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.

It sounds like Michael Shermer's Origins conference was a great event in the morning, an amusing event in the evening, and an absurd sellout to theological thinking in the middle. What Templeton money touches is tainted, I'm afraid.

Today's must-read article is by Dan Savage, whose mother recently died of pulmonary fibrosis. It's personal and painful, and it also touches on the political. Washington state has a ballot measure coming up that would make it legal for doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medication for the…