pharyngula

Since Coturnix turned me on to this paper on snail chirality in PLoS (pdf), I had to sit down and learn something new this afternoon. Chirality is a fascinating aspect of bilaterian morphology. We have characteristic asymmetries—differences between the left and right sides of our bodies—that are…

Developmental biologists are acutely interested in asymmetries in development: they are visible cues to some underlying regional differences. For instance, we'd like to know the molecules and interactions involved in taking a seemingly featureless sphere, the egg, and specifying one side to go on…

Please, please, please…I want to cast my vote for Al Franken in 2008, and I want him to be my representative in the Senate. Why don't our official news media ever dig into the truth as plainly as our comedians?

It's BC and Johnny Hart, so you know it's going to be godawful bad. Don't read the rest unless you've got a vomit bag handy. So Newton, Einstein, all of physics and chemistry and biology…fiction. Can anyone think of any scientific claim (or "acclaim", whatever he means by that) that includes god…

Paleontologists have uncovered yet another specimen in the lineage leading to modern tetrapods, creating more gaps that will need to be filled. It's a Sisyphean job, working as an evolutionist. This creature is called Tiktaalik roseae, and it was discovered in a project that was specifically…

Brian Alters, of McGill University, had a grant proposal turned down for an unusual reason. In denying his request, the research council's peer-review committee recently sent Mr. Alters a letter explaining he'd failed to "substantiate the premise" of his study. It said he hadn't provided "adequate…

I mentioned that I was getting a curious number of hits for the term "anencephaly" the other day, and was wondering what was prompting it. Readers have been sending me strange and obscure bits of news that might be relevant, such as this account of an unusual birth in Nepal. The neck-less baby with…

Yes, it's true: DeLay has said something with which I find myself in accord. Last Tuesday Mr. DeLay spoke at "The War on Christians" conference during which he agreed with the central theme - that there is, indeed, a "war on Christians" in America today. He went on to say that America treats…

There are still a few pocked and dirty piles of it across the street, but as of this morning, all of the snow in my yard was completely gone. We're catching up with those Californians!

I have a dream. I want to see the Genetic Omni-Dominance guy and John Titor, Time Traveler get together and have a conversation. I think it would be cosmic. This is controversial stuff, too…should I be teaching it in my classes? (via FrinkTank and Overcompensating)

Andy is looking for donations to a good cause. I lost a good friend to colon cancer several years ago myself, so I've kicked in a few dollars.

A reader sent me a note about this rather well known and deeply stupid poster from Jack Chick…I'd already seen it and addressed it some time ago, but I thought I'd bring back this old article. Jack Chick, the author of the infamous Big Daddy anti-evolution tract, has an amusing poster he's…

We have a little war going on in this thread. Some people are arguing that we shouldn't assume human beings are the most important creatures bar none around, while other people are angry that Eric Pianka would have such high regard for other organisms on Earth and would urge us to make room and…

Hey, I'd watch it: an an academic police procedural. It also sounds like my life right now. Although I did clear away half the piles of clutter on my desks last week, I once again foolishly scheduled exams in both of my courses for the very same week, so I'm frantically scribbling up exams and…

Many people have been writing me to tell me that the last episode of The Sopranos had an interaction between Tony and a creationist (hmmm…which is worse, a mobster or Kent Hovind?), but I only have basic cable so I haven't seen it. Fortunately, One Good Move has the clip. It's nice to see we've got…

Man, you know a science blog has completely sold out when they try and drum up more readers with sex and nudity.

Pianka speaks out. Nick Matzke has a good post on Pianka at the Thumb, addressing the smear campaign against him*. He links to an interview with the good Dr—what he's saying is simple sense, common in the biological community, and he's not endorsing mass murder…he's talking about conservation and…

There are these fossilized embryos from the Ediacaran, approximately 570 million years ago, that have been uncovered in the Doushantuo formation in China. I've mentioned them before, and as you can see below, they are genuinely spectacular. Parapandorina raphospissa But, you know, I work with…

In the rural fastness of Western Minnesota, a legend grows. A man so nerdly that his infamy spreads far and wide; when people see shell-less molluscs, his name leaps to their lips; when geeks and nerds gather, they all whisper the same thing: "Pee-Zee" (or, as the Canadians and Dr Who fans would…

The Pianka situation is getting very, very ugly. I've been chatting with a member of the Texas Academy of Science, and people there are getting death threats over it. Here's one example of the kind of email they're getting: While Heinrich Himmler's "final solution" was limited to exterminating the…

It's a marvelous list: Best Blog — Non Professional : Crooks & Liars Best Blog — Professional or Sponsored : Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo Best Blog Community : Daily Kos Most Deserving of Wider Recognition : Echidne of the Snakes Best New Blog : Glenn Greenwald of Unclaimed…

I am very disappointed. There is this site called How Stuff Works that I've run into a few times, that has nice, short, kid-friendly summaries of, obviously enough, how stuff works. I hadn't used it much, but it seemed like a cool idea…until a reader suggested I take a look at the section on how…

I'm getting a flood of google searches from Korea, from people looking for images of anencephaly. Anybody know what's prompting this? I know there was some news on the practice of infanticide in North Korea last week…otherwise, it's a mystery.

Now William Dembski, that untiring advocate of academic freedom and the open discussion of controversial ideas, has reported Eric Pianka to the Department of Homeland Security. Could Pianka be charged with terrorism/conspiracy to commit a terrorist act? What happens if a student actually takes his…

I'm linking to this picture just because I liked it, although I'd rather see less anthropomorphically derived tools in the tentacles of my cephalopods.

Just a few more examples: David P. Wozney, who doesn't believe dinosaurs ever existed, and Tom Ritter, a Pennsylvania school teacher who wants to have a debate. I just can't keep up with them all.

I'm getting some email requests to state my opinion on some claims by Forrest M. Mims. Mims attended a talk by Eric Pianka, in which he claims Pianka advocated the "slow and torturous death of over five billion human beings." I wasn't there, and I don't know exactly what was said, but I will…

That's Homestar Runner's head on a silver platter, not Behe's. Although there is a resemblance, Behe looks squirrelier.

It's true—there sure are a lot of godless people with weblogs out there.

Everyone is going to be there now—Duncan Black is going, so are the Firedoglakers, and oh, yeah, me. Not yet in the press releases is the fact that the lovely Dr. Mrs. Gjerness Myers will also be attending. It's going to be quite a crowd at the Yearly Kos. Anyone else joining the gang? There will…