pharyngula

Tips for flourishing after a mass extinction. Ceratites nodosus (MCZ-7232) (A), from the Triassic of Germany, was similar to the ceratitid ammonoid species that thrived in the water column in the Early Triassic (1), while bottom-dwelling species languished. Key to the ceratitids' rapid success…

My home state! In a region with some of the highest percentages of godless people in the country! And they have this awful law on the books. Washington's law specifies that a person treated through faith healing "by a duly accredited Christian Science practitioner in lieu of medical care is not…

I know, you can't use reason to talk someone out of a position they didn't use reason to arrive at, anyway. But this result at least tells us the depth of the problem. When asked what they would do if scientists were to disprove a particular religious belief, nearly two-thirds (64%) of people say…

Phillip Garrido was a man of God with a joyful story to tell. "If you take this a step at a time, you're going to fall over backward and in the end you're going to find the most powerful, heart-warming story," he said. "I tell you here's the story of what took place at this house and you're going…

Tonight, at 10:30pm Central time, Innerside Radio will have an interview with FSMDude, the infamous serial desecrator of YouTube. He was recently visited by the Canadian Mounties, who were a bit concerned about this mysterious FSM cult, and wanted to know about his stockpile of firearms.

One of the claims to fame of midwestern fairs is the food — usually deep fried, and on a stick. Minnesotans must be expressing their inner Thai. In Thailand, food I have eaten on a stick includes squid, squid tentacles, insects, jellyfish, quail eggs, and every part of a water buffalo including…

Karen paid a visit to my university office and didn't find me, but left a nice note. Thanks! This is going to be a common occurrence. I'm on sabbatical, so I'm not in my office very often — but if you just go out the main doors of the science building, turn right and walk up the sidewalk to College…

I must admit that I quite like the subtitle for this new anti-atheist lament in the New Yorker by James Wood: "A don defends the Supreme Being from the new atheists." I just picture a gigantic graying gentleman in academic robes, his sleeves flapping as he swats aside the helicopter gunships…

This is one of the best ideas around for promoting better science communication: The Science and Entertainment Exchange forges an alliance between scientists and the popular media. This interview with Jennifer Ouellette shows that she's doing it just right, since it isn't one of these things where…

If you've got cable, you'll want to tune in to the "SyFy" (yeesh, could they have made it a little dorkier?) channel for…Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus!!!. Who ever said television was a great wasteland? That's quality entertainment! That's this Saturday evening. We're all nerds together here, I know…

Kentucky had a law on its books requiring the department of homeland security to honor the Christian god, claiming that "The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God." Note the past tense, "had". The silly law has been struck down as…

Oh, who to root for? (Sent to me by Martin Hingston)

Orac seems shocked that the University of Toronto is hosting a conference of autism kooks. Universities are not entirely benign institutions dedicated to honest scholarship — they have their fair share of grasping administrators who look for short term financial gain, and they are often beholden to…

I hadn't even realized he was still alive, but William Calley has apologized. What a strange thing that is… There is no doubt that Calley was a bad man and a weak man — he was the lieutenant who led the My Lai massacre of Vietnamese civilians in 1968 — but at the same time, he was one of the pawns…

Sad news: another Kennedy has gone. Despite his reckless personal life, I liked the policies he stood for, and he was an excellent senator — may we have many more Massachusetts liberals to take his place. I have to add that there is one thing I find really repellent about that NY Times obituary.…

In his "museum," he didn't single out any atheists, but he does have displays berating liberal Christians, like Slacktivist. You'll see why.

I've really gotten under the skin of the frauds at Answers in Genesis — now Terry Mortenson is whining about my cruelty and lying frantically. Last week I gave a lecture in the Creation Museum on "Millions of Years: Where Did the Idea Come From?" This is based on my PhD research. The next day the…

It's right next door, but I haven't been to North Dakota that often. There are a couple of dates planned that will change that, though: on 24 September, I'll be in Fargo for a free movie night with the Red River Freethinkers.They'll be showing Julia Sweeney's Letting Go of God at the Fargo Theater…

Since I just chastised the misleading presentation of this paper in the press (and I must emphasize that the odd focus on Darwin is not in the paper at all), we can now take a closer look at the paper itself. The data is actually cool to see, and represents a large amount of work; I still have…

Some of you may recall that horrible, annoying talking paper clip that Microsoft inserted into their evil software many years ago. It was universally reviled, so you don't see it anymore, but have you ever wondered what happened to it? Clippy met Cthulhu. No contest.

Maine recently legalized same-sex marriage —hooray and all that, but we don't get to be complacent about it now. There is a proposition on the ballot for November, Proposition 1, that would revoke marriage equality, and as you might expect, conservative forces are gearing up to promote this bill.…

If you're like me, you are eagerly awaiting the release of Dawkins' next book, The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), and you've probably already put in your preorder at Amazon. It's kind of like the anticipatory excitement for the Harry Potter books, only…

This is a very interesting analysis of Unscientific America: the authors weren't only shallow in identifying solutions to the problems they identified, they completely missed the big one. This is an informative chart. American variation in science literacy is enormous. Data from Salzmann &…

Speaking of cartoon renderings of yours truly, I've been Simpsonized. Wait a minute…my archnemesis is Ben Stein? Don't I even get a challenge? My greatest foe is a guy with the superpower of being boring. Finding out that Moist was my enemy would be a step up.

I must have really stung those poor fellows at the Creation "Museum". They've added a new article in the Jason Lisle ouevre which takes a few silly slaps at me, and also perpetuates the image of Lisle as the most boring pedant ever. As usual, his schtick is always the same: he accuses everyone else…

CNN has tossed up a scientific issue for a vote. Should Pluto be reinstated as a planet? Yes83% No17% It's as if changing the title of a piece of rock in space suddenly changes its physical characteristics, and if enough people truly believe, it will be so.

A couple sent their child to Vacation Bible School (not recommended, not even for the most open-minded atheists — VBS is always an awful waste of time). I like this kid's reaction. One couple who said they were atheists decided to give their son a chance to attend one year. On the first day of VBS…

Shorter Robert Wright: All we have to do to end the conflict between science and religion is convert the Christians to deists and get the scientists to pretend that evolution is teleological! Who knew it would be so easy? Unfortunately, from my perspective, knowledge is not one of those things on…