pharyngula

I was just turned on to this recent issue of the McGill Journal of Education which has the theme of teaching evolution. It's a must-read for science educators, with articles by UM's own Randy Moore, Robert Pennock, Branch of the NCSE, and Eugenie Scott, and it's all good. I have to call particular…

With so many delightful and extensive conversation examples lately, this must be the perfect opportunity to mention that it is time to select the new Molly winner for October! Leave a comment here naming names of the people you like to read in the comments, and I'll tally them up at the end of the…

Now this is the kind of thing I'd like to have on my lawn… …except, unfortunately, that I have to miss Halloween this year. Halloween is a Ray Bradbury-esque holiday best celebrated in the midwest, and I'm going to be spending that day in the sunny, cheery, less-than-autumnal climes of Southern…

Those sneaky rascals at the Templeton Foundation have asked one of those ridiculous questions that gets some otherwise rational people stumbling over themselves to give an inoffensive answer: does the universe have a purpose? Of course, the irrational people have no trouble piping up with a happy "…

I'm a bit disappointed with Al Franken. Ben Stein has donated to the Franken campaign, and he has accepted the money — come on, Al, let's see some principles. Stein is a dishonest fraud who is peddling Intelligent Design creationism in his upcoming movie, Expelled; he's a former Nixon speechwriter…

(via My Confined Space)

I mentioned before Cosma Shalizi's excellent discussion of heritability; add to that now his summary of g. We've got a few pompous no-nothings lurking in the comments who are fond of declaiming that they know that they have proof that the brain works in such-and-such a way, and that we can blithely…

I am pleased to announce that the Richard Dawkins Foundation has contributed over $2000 to the freethinkers challenge to support science education in American public schools. That brings us close to meeting our goal of $20,000, so we just need a few more of you to sign on. If you take a look at…

I am distressed at this news: the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has suspended Chancellor Jim Watson over his comments about race. I disagree with Watson passionately, and he is completely wrong in his opinions about Africa and women and who knows what else…but he has the right to say it, just as we…

So that's what Carl Buell has been up to…Donald Prothero and Carl have been working on a new book, Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), containing descriptions of important transitional fossils, and as you can tell from the title, directly countering some of…

That nice but batty lady, Denyse O'Leary, is teaching a course in intelligent design. At the University of Toronto. Woe, the devaluation of a great research university…! Oh, but wait. It's actually taught at St Michael's College, a Catholic institution within the University of Toronto. And you…

Physicists, do you feel left out? Some nobody biologist from the Middle-of-Nowhere, Minnesota gets featured in a crackpot movie, but all you get is incoherent dumpster-diving schizophrenics making tirades about your work, and never anybody who has heard of venture capital? Rejoice! Your loons are…

My latest column for Seed is now available online. It's an abbreviated summary of how vertebrates make segments (so it's illustrated with a fly…), with special emphasis on the global and clocklike mechanism we use.

Or in this case, perhaps, unskew one. Take a look at this poll that asks, Does Islam Oppress or Liberate Women? The leading answer so far is "Islam is generally liberating to women, freeing them from sexual pressures that exist elsewhere. " Yeah, if by "liberating" you mean "compelling them to wear…

This is a little creepy. The Sexy Secularist can do a pitch perfect imitation of Alister McGrath on any subject, whether it's ordering from a menu or engaging in phone sex. This has got to make him a hit at parties.

Prehistoric Pulp, my source for all pop culture with dinosaurs, reveals that there will be a new direct-to-video (not promising) animated (could be bad) movie of Turok, Son of Stone (awesome!) And it's not the stupid bastardized version that was corrupted for video games to include cyborg dinosaurs…

This is a little late for any Londoners out there, but Edge had a collaboration with the Serpentine Gallery that debuted last weekend. It's a collection of scientists' and technologists' and artists' answers to the question, "What is your formula? Your equation? Your algorithm?" All of the answers…

It seems like retribution is in order: Richard Roberts wants a leave of absence, as his wife claims to live in "a morally upright manner" even while rumors of associations with a 16-year-old boy swirl about. James Watson's sold-out lecture in London has been cancelled. I guess making bogus…

I think I really, really like this webcomic, Russell's Teapot. (Thanks, Jeff)

Greg knows a bit about the anthropology of race, and he also knows how to make fools suffer. Now he has weighed in on Watson. I'm pretty sure he left boot marks on the old man. Greg has followed through now with more criticisms of 'scientific' racism.

I've read a lot of wacky reviews of Dawkins' book, but this is so absurd I nearly choked on my coke. How about a Freudian psychoanalysis of Dawkins? The analysis? Dawkins' atheism is grounded in a psychological murder of the God/Father...For Dawkins, the Oedipal counter-current manifests itself not…

I must protest. Now we've got LOLCnidarians. What's next? LOLChoanaflagellates? LOLPriapulids? LOLLichens? This is MADNESS.

People often complain that I'm too mild-mannered in my personal appearances — that they want a real fire-breather. Well, my solution arrived as a gift in the mail today: a selection of fine fire-breathing aids from Chilestuff.com, including a spectacularly vivid t-shirt with that appropriate logo…

Is there any circumstance under which a manly gentleman like myself can wear a lovely enamel cloisonne pin? Is it OK if the pin is of an an octopus armed with guns and knives?

James Watson has really put his foot in it this time. He has a tendency to say some shockingly offensive and bizarre things. Dr Watson told The Sunday Times that he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence…

Hey, the freethinkers are doing well with the DonorsChoose challenge to support school teachers. We're still a bit shy of our final goal, so if you want to help show that we godless folk can be charitable, loosen those wallets and kick in a few bucks. And if you don't like my chosen proposals, or…

Kent Hovind may be rotting in jail, but his son Eric is continuing the family tradition of lying to the public. Eric Hovind is going to be here in Minnesota on 28 October, giving a talk at the Russian Evangelical Christian Church in Shakopee. I don't think I'll be able to make it, but this could be…

Weird ol' Target is now selling talking Jesus toys. Isn't there something in the Bible about idols? Isn't it turning their divine prophet into a cheap gimmick, literally? It seems to me that the real blasphemies seem to emanate from the Christians themselves, rather than us atheists. It might be a…

It's awfully risky to put this here, but it is a pretty picture. Feeling trinitarian yet?

The debate between Hitchens and McGrath is well worth listening to. Hitchens is cogent and sharp; he makes exactly the same points about the fundamental immorality of religion that he made at the FFRF convention, but in less time, and with fewer distracting digressions. He's on fire. Of course, he…