pharyngula

Christopher Monckton, the lunatic climate change denier, has been trying to trade on his false authority, claiming to be a member of the House of Lords. When asked by ABC Sydney's Adam Spencer if he was a member, he [Monckton] said: "Yes, but without the right to sit or vote ... [The Lords] have…

I know the flaming crazy emails are more fun, but here's one of the nice ones I also get. It's also a little bit unusual in that the writer isn't a Christian. Hello professor, I'm a long time reader first time writer. I've been following your blog for over 3 years now, and you have been one of…

Man, this comic works so well for so many topics in addition to homosexuality — it also works for the troglodytes who've been lecturing women on appropriate dating behavior. (via SMBC)

A reader ran my name through one of those bible code programs — you know, those really silly exercises in goofy divination that juggles lines of the bible around to find some arrangement that reveals words and phrases — and it turns out I'm in there. See? Gosh, I guess the Bible must be true then…

(via Calamities of Nature)

Mary and I are on the way home; McCarran Airport has free wi-fi; and I notice that the Endless Thread is full. So, yay, fast update just before I get on an airplane. (Current totals: 12,737 entries with 1,437,530 comments.)

Yesterday, I listened to the talks by Sadie Crabtree and Carol Tavris on the art of persuasion, and how we can further our cause by applying the science of psychology. Today, I sat on a panel with Sadie and Carol, and also Phil Plait and Eugenie Scott and Jamy Ian Swiss, discussing communicating…

It's been a strange weekend. Everyone is wearing Randi-esque, long white beards. I ran across a delegation of Norwegians in the lobby. This was dinner. I need to sleep someday.

This is just kind of sad, but it's something I've seen several times (Ed "Old As Coal" Conrad, the Seazoria guy): someone sees random clutter in some collections of rocks, perceives a pattern, and charges off, convinced that they have discovered amazing fossils of improbable creatures. In this case…

OK, I'm feeling guilty: I'm off at The Amaz!ng Meeting enjoying myself, and totally neglecting the blog readers who aren't lucky enough to be here too. And since I've been getting lots of requests to put the full content of my talk online, I figured…yeah, sure, I can do that. So here you go, all of…

Then maybe you'll be interested in joining the Pharyngula horde at the Garden Buffet at 6pm (and later) for whatever. It's a Pharyngula meetup in the casino!

I guess the Catholic church is concerned about the rights of breast cancer tumors: they probably identify too much with a deadly metastatic disease, and don't want to seem them hindered. At least, that's the only way I can interpret the decision of the Toledo, Ohio diocese to ban all support for…

I got to see the loud, ferocious Jamie Kilstein performing tonight, so I thought I'd let all of you in Los Angeles know that you better not miss his show on 18 July. He'll make you tremble in fear like the good godless liberal he is.

I just gave my talk at TAM on likely paths of alien evolution (my conclusion: humanoids are extraordinarily unlikely), and there was one awkward bit I have to fix. Here's the problem: these were short talks, only a half hour long, so I designed it so there were some optional bits I'd only get to…

I'm supposed to talk about aliens, skeptically, tomorrow — the constraints of fitting some science into a mere half hour talk, though, mean that it's actually going to be fairly narrow talk about why functional constraints don't dictate the pattern of evolutionary solutions. But if I had a few…

I'm at #TAM! I've been busy all day! I hung out with ZOMGitsCriss! I still haven't finished my talk (also, I'm sandwiched between Jennifer Michael Hecht and Pamela Gay in the schedule, oh cruel fate)! I have to go to a party! Blog, what's that? See, I've got priorities.

Don't you just love those gotcha moments from creationists? They think they've got you stumped with some hard question, and then it turns out to be something crazy/stupid. Did you know that all planets in our universe are on the exact same plane with the exception on Pluto. If one single planet's…

OK, everyone writing to me about this, this shirt is the last thing I need to wear. I already have an image problem, this will just make it worse.

Austria has a reasonable requirement that driving license photos show the person's face without cluttering adornment — which seems fair enough, given that it will be used as ID. Unfortunately, they have an exemption for "confessional reasons", whatever that means, which is apparently that having a…

I don't know whether to be pleased or dismayed at this story of an obsessed Minnesotan who turned to crime for petty revenge. Barry Ardolf got mad at his neighbors, the Kostolniks, because they reported him to the police for kissing their 4-year-old child on the mouth, which is already a bit creepy…

If you work for the Florida Museum of Natural History, someone doesn't like you. For years, someone has been vandalizing the vehicles of workers at the museum. It started small. Darwin Fish emblems would be ripped off cars a few times a year. Undeterred, the victims would simply replace them. Then…

Jehovah should have said, "But you must never eat from the tree of the knowledge of lions because when you eat from it, you will certainly die." That would have been a credible threat. (via National Geographic)

This is wicked. Maddow compiled crazy deranged comments from a collection of ministers who will be speaking at Rick Perry's big prayer event in Texas, where he purportedly will work out economic policies with these wackos. Near as I can tell, that policy will involve sending Oprah to Gitmo, herding…

Today, Greta Christina has weighed in. Comments closed here, because I've put up with enough of the hysterical delusions of people offended by calm, nuanced, proportionate statements. It's like the responses to those mild bus signs like "You can be good without god" that leave some people…

I'll be talking with Barry Lynn this afternoon at 3pm ET. I guess it's live, and you can even call in (866-582-9933) with questions. I wonder what we'll talk about?

That's why I'm posting this video. (Last edition of TET; Current totals: 12,716 entries with 1,433,426 comments.)

That's not hyperbole. I really mean it. How else could I react when I open up the latest issue of Bioessays, and see this: Cephalopod origin and evolution: A congruent picture emerging from fossils, development and molecules. Just from the title alone, I'm immediately launched into my happy place:…

I've never heard of Alex Beam before, which is a good thing — he seems to be some kind of journalist at the Boston Globe, and that's about all I know about him, other than that he seems to be an oblivious idiot. He has a column up in which he rages about the phrase "knowledge-based", apparently…

When I was in London last month, Richard Dawkins and I had a public conversation sponsored by the British Humanist Association, and now you can watch it wherever. And here's the Q&A: