pharyngula

So this past weekend, we had the Midwest Science of Origins conference here in Morris, Minnesota. At precisely the same time, about 190 miles north-north-east of us, in Bemidji, Minnesota, a team of lying clowns from the Institute for Creation Research were repeating the same bullshit that provoked…

Physicists might look up and recognize awesomeness in the skies, but biologists look down and see it swimming in our seas. (via The Scuttlefish and Whales of Dominica) (Also on FtB)

Hey, that sounds familiar. The monster snake is getting some new attention, with a life-size replica installed in Grand Central Station, and to be featured in a documentary on the Smithsonian Channel (which I don't get, and never heard of until now) tomorrow. The documentary might be a little bit…

Forget that goofy crocoduck. I want a cephalogull. Actually, this isn't an octopus growing bird wings. I have a whole series of violent photos of the event — it's a very cunning octopus that oozed up to the Ogden Point breakwater in Victoria, BC, reached up silently with it's suckered arms, and…

What do you do on airplanes? I usually devour a book or two, usually something popcorny and light, sometimes something I need to get read for work. On my trip home from Washington DC, I lucked out: I was handed a book the day I took off, and it turned out to be a damned good read. Jason Rosenhouse…

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(via NatGeo) (Also on FtB)

(via NatGeo) (Also on FtB)

Oh, joy. Senator Tom Harkin will appear in a video message at the Reason Rally. While he may be a lifelong Catholic, as he declares in the announcement, and while he is one of the biggest supporters of acupuncture, chiropracty, herbal and homeopathic 'healing', and all the alt med bullshit he can…

James Inhofe, the ridiculous climate change denier, appeared on the Rachel Maddow show and made a series of ridiculous claims. Among them was the claim that those wacky environmentalists were greatly outspending the entire energy industry on propaganda. Wait, what? The top five oil companies made $…

Regal, triumphant…but so alone. Which reminds me that I must fly home soon to my 32nd wedding anniversary and some cephalove. (Also on FtB)

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As long as we're thinking about gorillas, what do gorillas think about? (via NatGeo) (Also on FtB)

Good news! The gorilla genome sequence was published in Nature last week, and adds to our body of knowledge about primate evolution. Here's the abstract: Gorillas are humans' closest living relatives after chimpanzees, and are of comparable importance for the study of human origins and evolution.…

As a man with a history of heart concerns, I know what to be aware of in me, and know what symptoms would send me off to the hospital (or to the phone — don't exert yourself if experiencing heart attack symptoms!) But there are women I care about too, so it's useful to know that women often…

Are you intimidated, or do you see this as a challenge? (via TONMO, which has the whole explicit sequence of octopus mating captured in exquisite photographic detail) (Also on FtB)

I am abrupt in my dismissal: I see no evidence nor plausible mechanism for group selection, and I don't even understand why some scientists continue to insist it had to have happened, other than a fondness for some kind of vague deus ex machina to reach down and smooth over the indirect and…

That's the title of an academic science book. It sure sounds sciencey, doesn't it? It got accepted by Springer-Verlag for publication. And then inside it claims that one of their conclusions is that "conventional chemical and evolutionary mechanisms seem insufficient to fully explain the labyrinth…

It has the potential to be fun or a fizzle. The Discovery Institute is leaping to the defense of David Coppedge, a computer technician (don't be fooled, the DI is desperately straining to enhance his credentials) who was demoted and then fired at the JPL. Coppedge claims to be the victim of…

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Those Australians…they recently ran a segment on their Dateline program featuring their fellow Australian Ken Ham and the Creation "Museum", which includes portions of an interview with me. Actually, I seem to be the only critic to get any airtime in the show, which is flattering, but I could have…

The latest Carnival of Evolution is buggy in more ways than one: I couldn't get it to load in Mac Firefox with all my adblockers in place (but it worked fine on Google Chrome), and also every link is full of bugs. Literal bugs, not the software kind. All I can say is that it needs more squid. Then…

Feeling cranky on a Monday morning? Read this story, and not only will it cheer you right up, but you'll understand why this man is smiling. Lord Howe Island Stick Insect hatching from Zoos Victoria on Vimeo. (Also on FtB)

(Image without watermark available commercially from CoolWaterPhoto) (Also on FtB)

This is a plant germinated from 32,000 year old tissue recovered from permafrost. I'll take their word for it, but I'd like to see some ID. (via NatGeo) (Also on FtB)

Apparently, someone decided 27 February-4 March is Acupuncture Awareness Week. I'm happy to help out. You should be aware that acupuncture is total bollocks. There. Is that enough? No, it is not. We must also crash a stupid online poll. Devastate it, please. It's on a site run by dishonest quacks,…

(via NatGeo) (Also on FtB)

It had to by flying squid today, because of this story in Nature about squid locomotor energetics. Scientists measured the velocities of flying squid in air, and noted that they can move five times faster in a less dense/viscous medium (as we say in our technical discussions of this issue…no duh.)…

Both Phil Plait and Sean Carroll are tentatively reporting that they may have an explanation for the recent anomalous report of neutrinos traveling faster than light: it may have been a case of a faulty connection in a timing circuit. If that bears out, it may be a bit embarrassing. But it does…