pharyngula

Oooh, cool movie of a recently captured frilled shark, Chlamydoselachus anguineus. These are weird-looking deep water predators with awkward-seeming bodies and extremely sharp teeth that they use to catch fish and squid. (hat tip to the Count)

That would rock, and might change my opinion of ID, 'cause silk bikinis and diaphanous veils are always good.

If one were asked who the very worst advocate for Intelligent Design creationism was, it would be a difficult decision—there are so many choices! Should we go back to first principles and pick PJ Johnson, the cunning lawyer who has the goal of undermining all of science? Smarmy and obtuse Sal…

When I was a wee young lad, I remember making crystal radios and small-scale explosives for fun. The new generation can do something even cooler now, though: how about isolating your very own stem cells, using relatively simple equipment. It's fun, easy, and educational! Step 3, "get a placenta",…

I reported a while back that there was a possibility that the phosphatized pre-Cambrian Doushantuo specimens might not be embryos—they might be a particular class of bacteria—but there may be evidence against that hypothesis. John Lynch finds a description of more advanced embryos, intermediate…

Some might be surprised to hear that I'm actually in favor of this change in the British school standards: Teenagers will be asked to debate intelligent design (ID) in their religious education classes and read texts by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins under new government guidelines. In a…

The most positive, optimistic development I know of is the way many young people are coming out in defense of atheism—and the ones who do are often wonderfully eloquent. I've mentioned my daughter's testimonial before; now Brent Rasmussen finds another young lady's essay that will make you feel…

Here's another account of Phil Plait's talk at TAM5, with more details. I think he threw in a little bit of snark there. I won't complain, though—I can afford to be magnanimous after my overwhelming victory over Bad Astronomy.

Somebody gets it. Now what are we to think of a scientist who seems competent inside the laboratory, but who, outside the laboratory, believes in a spirit world?  We ask why, and the scientist says something along the lines of:  "Well, no one really knows, and I admit that I don't have…

Maybe this is the truth. At least that's the experiment.

Uh-oh…now there's a magic spray to turn you into a believer. …don’t you wish there was a God who could just make it all right for you? Wouldn’t it be nice if God could clean up the vomit, instantly heat the water, wash your shirts daily, and always keep your car full of gas? But what darn luck…you…

Scienceblogs are being reviewed by Some Guy, and Orac criticizes the critic. My disagreement with the clueless critic comes from a fundamental flaw in his approach: he's basically coming along and announcing that Blog X should be about Y, and if it isn't Y-ish enough for his taste, he pans it. He…

Yes! We made it home! The plane was a few hours late, the weather was awful, and we didn't pull into our driveway until 3AM (my brain is not exactly humming along right now, I tell you what…), but it was a great weekend at ConFusion. Skatje, me, John Scalzi, and Matt Arnold I have to thank a few of…

John Horgan criticizes Francis Collins for his defeatism in thinking that human beings will always be evil to one another: Christians castigate atheists such as Richard Dawkins for propagating a dark, nihilistic view of human existence. But Dawkins is Pollyanna compared to Christians like Collins,…

Hot tip for cephalopod fans: the February 2007 issue of Natural History magazine includes a very good article on octopus intelligence and personality. Enteroctopus dofleini and Lego™ Mather JA (2007) Eight arms, with attitude. Natural History 116(1):30-36.

Karen Klinzing, a creationist-friendly Republican who lost her run for the Minnesota legislature, has been rewarded by our Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty, with a nice cushy job…as Assistant Commissioner of Education. There's nothing quite so charming as the sight of a conservative hack getting…

I'm taking a little downtime from the busy con fun-and-games, and catching up with the various carnival announcements. Mendel's Garden Friday Ark #122 Carnival of Education #102 Four Stone Hearth #7 Skeptics' Circle #52 Carnival of the Liberals #30 I'm here in Michigan for several…

Here's a cuisine for a SF con.

Man, it's so annoying when the little sites take a poke at me, hoping to trigger a strong reaction so that I'll send lots of traffic their way. It's pathetic, and you know I can't resist. This particular site is trying to yank my chain by complaining about my lack of support for Barack Obama, and…

There's a whiff of armchair psychoanalysis to this article on why religiosity has become such an epidemic in this country, but I think there's a strong strain of truth running through it. The engine that drives the radical Christian Right in the United States, the most dangerous mass movement in…

I have been sent official confirmation that Phil Plait has carried through on his promise, and has testifed to the teeming hordes at The Amazing Meeting to the glory that is Pharyngula. Hooray!

I had sushi with John Scalzi (some guy), Skatje (some girl), and Matt Arnold (a Pensacola Christian College graduate) last night, talked with people for a long time, hung out with noisy nerds, and stayed up later than I usually do. Today is my big day of scheduled panels: alternate patterns of…

The squid-blogging confab with Bruce Schneier has been tentatively scheduled for 3:00 Saturday in the con suite on the 15th floor.

Shelley the Republican says: We conservatives have grown accustomed to liberal activist judges perverting justice for their own evil ends. Last year Judge Jones betrayed us all when he passed his verdict in the Dover school-book case. Shortly afterwards, our dear friend Kent was convicted of tax…

Bioethics is an important subject—it's too bad it gets sidetracked with nonsense driven by religious dogma and ignorance. One issue is the use of human-animal chimerae in research, which was enough to get our flibbertigibbet idiot of a president incensed, but I don't see the problem. It's not as if…

Bioephemera not only shows off a chandelier to die for (if I had one installed, my wife would make sure I died for it), but has announced that she needs a cephalopodmania category. It's infectious. Another blogger with a reputation for Friday Squid blogging is Bruce Schneier. Rumor has it that…

I forgot to set up a Friday Cephalopod post before I left, and I don't have my scanner with me! Don't panic. Deep breaths. We can cope with this, by being as flexible as a cephalopod. Here's what I've done. I've reposted an article on Gonatus onyx, which has lovely photos of a squid and its babies…

Oh, sure…one moment it's all long throbbing organs pumping slickly in and out of orifices, and then the next thing you know, you've got a whole faceful of babies and little larvae giving you that evil demonic look. This is what happens after the squid orgies. While most squid seem to lay their…

Watch the octopus crawl through a maze of plexiglas tubes—it makes a fellow wish he could get rid of his bones. Hydraulic skeletons rule!