pharyngula

DarkSyde is on the stem cell story, and he uses Neurotopia's summary of the biology. I just don't understand the other side's argument. Adult stem cells are not a substitute for embryonic stem cells, at least not yet. The anti-stem cell research crowd wants to claim that we don't need ES cells,…

I just finish cussing out a creationist for getting his evolutionary ideas from a Mr Potato Head box, and what do I find? The Pain presents…Mr Cthulhu Head.

Every time I talk to creationists, I'm always stunned at the depth of their misconceptions. There are always the same old boring arguments that are ably dismissed with a paragraph from the Index to Creationist Claims, but there are also occasions when they get, errm, creative, and unfortunately…

The newest, niftiest, most fascinating edition of the Tangled Bank is now available online at Salto Sobrius.

Despite Brownback's snowflake stunt and Santorum's insistence that zygotes are persons, the House stem cell bill, HR810, has passed, as have the two inconsequential smokescreen bills that Santorum tossed up. It's going to be interesting to hear Bush's stammered excuses when he vetos it; I'd figure…

That irreverent rapscallion Larry Moran suggested that I read this article by Natalie Angier. She begins by telling us that scientists are always asking her to help out in the fight against those loony creationists, but then she turns around and chews them out for their hypocrisy. I say, give 'em…

Kent Hovind really is a complete kook.

Well. I don't see the point of this study, but I suppose there are people who need to be clubbed about the head with the obvious who would be well-served by reading it. It's a study to determine whether clones would have separate identities. Umm, yeah? They determined this by interviewing twins,…

A reader sent me copy of a letter that will be published in Science this week, criticizing the dishonest tactics of the anti-scientific adult stem cell "advocates" (in quotes because they aren't really science advocates of any kind—they're only using it as an issue to limit stem cell research.)…

From the insightful Digby comes this insightly insight: Why do the vast majority secularists vote for the Democrats? Could it possibly be for the same reason that African Americans do? Could it be that the Republican Party is so implicitly or explicitly religiously intolerant that they have no…

From Under no circumstances, I have discovered Chris's Invincible Super-Blog, which is full of bizarre comic book summaries, giant robots, and now, a ghostly octopus. I also note that the ghostly octopus is horribly malformed. What is its beak doing there? Aaaaaaaaaah! It's hideous!

I've come out at the top of another list: Top Ten Blogs That 11D Can't Spell. I am humbled and honored.

Carl Zimmer wrote on evolution in jellyfish, with the fascinating conclusion that they bear greater molecular complexity than was previously thought. He cited a recent challenging review by Seipel and Schmid that discusses the evolution of triploblasty in the metazoa—it made me rethink some of my…

Let it go! (thanks to Kevin)

I'm taking it easy here in the fabulous Van Dusen mansion, a bed and breakfast where I'm staying tonight, and I thought I'd browse through the stem cell legislation that's being considered in the senate right now. It's strange: one substantive bill has come up from the House, and all of a sudden…

I've made it to St Paul and am sucking down some caffeine before strolling over to the venue for my talk this afternoon, and I've got a few minutes for a quickie link dump from the mailbag. Digest these for a while… There's a great new response to the Randi paranormal challenge. Unfortunately,…

Do vertebrate embryos exhibit significant variation in their early development? Yes, they do—in particular, the earliest stages show distinct differences that mainly reflect differences in maternal investment and that cause significant distortions of early morphology during gastrulation. However,…

We're getting rude, we dare to criticize the theistic evolutionists, and now Ophelia has done gone and poo-pooed the distinction between methodological and metaphysical materialism. I love it! Rise up, all ye fierce and firebreathing atheists! Much as I'd enjoy the squeals of agony from the usual…

They even show up on the weather radar. I think a weather report that predicted a chance of buzzing clouds of arthropods would be cool.

Because if there were no anthropocism contest, I wouldn't be able to enter it. (via Uncertain Principles)

The next Tangled Bank (#58) is coming up on Wednesday, 19 July, at Salto Sobrius. Have you sent in a submission yet? Mail links to your science weblog entries to Martin Rundkvist or host@tangledbank.net or me by Tuesday.

John Bentley sent me an issue of Seven Days with this interesting illustration on the cover: it's titled "California", by Chris Varricchione. Excuse the smudginess, but I just scanned it in from newsprint, so it isn't exactly the cleanest image to start with. Still, I had to make it my desktop…

I'm going to be giving a talk tomorrow and Tuesday in St Paul and Minneapolis—if you're free at the noon hour, stop on by! The title of the talk is "Science and Secularism in a Demon-Haunted World," and it's sponsored by the Atheists for Human Rights. On Monday at noon I'll be at the St Paul…

Thank you for the concern about my spiritual well-being, Craig Clarke! Usually I just get promises to pray for me and bible quotes and suggestions to bring a big bottle of aloe vera with me when I go to hell, but Craig gave me choices. He sent me a link to the Godchecker, an online searchable…

So go watch some deep-sea movies—there are a couple of exotic cephalopods, some predatory arthropods and fish, and a very pretty sea cucumber. It cooled me right down. (tip o' the hat to Phil)

Salon has an interview with "Pete", the blogger who mistook an Onion humor piece for a real article. Reached by phone at his Virginia home a week after his initial post about the Onion story, Pete said, "You write some article off the cuff and throw it out there and you never know what's going to…

Praise Jesus! The Talent Show had to ruin my morning with a revelation: check out this evil thread on Rapture Ready—these kooks are overjoyed at the war and mayhem and death in the Middle East, and treat every catastrophe as a sign of their imminent ascent into heaven. I too am soooo excited!! I…

Monkey what? The Apostropher is committing blasphemy, heresy, and sacrilege with this surreal "Monkey Jesus" abomination. I must respond in kind with…Dr Monkey.

Hug a lungfish! I've had about 8 requests for further information on saving the Australian lungfish. That's a good start, and thanks to everyone who wrote in, but it's not enough. Look at that beautiful finny beast to the right; do you want them all to die? And seriously, look at those fins: aren't…

Eugenie Scott is going to have to increase the length of her list of scientists out to "destroy religion." Larry Moran (fans of Talk.Origins will recognize the name) has posted an article, Theistic Evolution: The Fallacy of the Middle Ground. There is no continuum between science and non-science.…