pharyngula

OK, if you're familiar with the usual PowerPoint bashing, you might be entertained by this explanation of why PowerPoint is not Satan's pull toy. I can distill it down a bit: Have something interesting to say Design a talk, don't just string slides together Keep the slides simple, clean, and…

Brock at Stupid Evil Bastard finds a fascinating map of US hate groups at the Southern Poverty Law Center. If you're wondering what nastiness can be found in your neighborhood, it's a handy reference. Minnesota has more Neo-Nazis and Christian Identity groups than I like to see, but you'll have to…

Here's the weekly collection of submitted art (and other) featuring cephalopods. This is the work of Evan Harris, with his strangely dissipated-looking sailor playing a cephalochord. Lego's Aqua Raiders set features a giant squid with too few arms: it looks more like a spider to me. Look! Pearl…

I just got this email, addressed to "Dear Blog Author". This must be the internet equivalent of evangelical door-knocking. Invitation to Join Christian Bloggers A small group of us have started a new site called Christian Bloggers. Our prayer and intent is to bring Christians closer together, and…

Some light reading: Friday Ark #114 Carnival of Education #94 Carnival of the Liberals #26 Everyone is so reluctant to say what they think in the other threads, so fire away here.

How many of you have a picked-over carcass in your refrigerator? Architeuthis sp. Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.

You know how we great clumsy gallumphing unsophisticated atheists are always comparing belief in gods to belief in fairies at the bottom of the garden or tooth fairies or whatever? We may have to revise those arguments. Now we really have to worry. If some space probe snaps a picture of an…

If you want to see how the other side thinks, and I mean more than just the vocal leaders at the top of the creationist movement, there's an excellent example at The Friendly Atheist. It's written by a fellow who visited his local church, Parkview Christian Church, and reviewed a 25 page pamphlet…

It's our very own Thanksgiving carol: Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant.

That guy, Larry Moran…he seems to have been the final straw to tip a whole lot of people into twitterpated consternation. In particular, Ed Brayton, that sad panjandrum of the self-satisfied mean, medium, middle, moderate, and mediocre, has declared Moran (and all those who dare to profess their…

And he's done it perfectly!

The BBC is going to be showing a program with images of developing embryos (there are some galleries online) generated from ultrasound, cameras inserted into the uterus, and largely, computer-generated graphics. It's all very pretty, and I hope it will also be shown in my country, but…these…

New artwork at Olduvai George's place: it's the start of a series on cetacean evolution.

Kent Hovind is still blogging…from jail! His sentencing is on 19 January, he's busy "saving" men (five so far!), and he has been without a pillow for 8 days. They play the TV too loud. His fellow inmates are "starved for real affection." This could get disturbing fast. He has a list of reasons why…

This is exactly what I want: in his last will and testament, Jim Anderson has bequeathed his brain to me. He left lots of other stuff to other people, but clearly I'm his favorite because I got the best part. I sure hope it's shipped express overnight. Five-day delivery could get…unpleasant.

So Skatje is setting up a new weblog, and she's looking for suggestions for a new name. Make a suggestion! Just to make it interesting, let's make it a contest: whoever comes up with a wonderful idea that Skatje accepts will receive a fabulous prize plucked from my collection of biology textbooks,…

Chopra has put up a third installment in his crusade against the ungodly, and my eyes glaze over. I can't care any more. It's just too stupid to inspire much concern. His conclusion about sums it up. Before proceeding with the next step in refuting the anti-God position, let's pause to see what…

Horgan lists the Ten worst science books. Here's his criteria for a bad science book: These books aren't merely awful, of course, but harmful. Most have been bestsellers, or had some sort of significant impact, which often means--paradoxically--that they are rhetorical masterpieces. I find myself…

Before everyone disappears on their Thanksgiving break, stock up on science at the Tangled Bank #67: Giving thanks for science. And remember: if you have any creationist family members, be sure to get in a good fierce argument about evolution over the turkey day feast.

Why is it that the funny stuff always breaks out when I'm away from the interwebs? The always looney DaveScot takes issue with the claim that the virgin birth of Jesus is biologically unlikely, and cobbles up a bizarre scenario to allow it. Why, I don't know; is ID dependent on the chromosomal…

The cat who gave birth to a dog has failed her tests. All hope rests on their search for a lizard giving birth to a chicken now.

I've been reading Valentine's On the Origin of Phyla(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll) lately, and I have to tell you, it's a hard slog. This is one of those extremely information-dense science texts that rather gracelessly hammers you with the data and difficult concepts on page after page. I am convinced…

Some dirt is being unearthed in the tale of the biggest creationist group around, Answers in Genesis, led by Ken Ham. There were two branches of AiG, one in Australia and another in the US, and there'd been hints of a split between them—and now Jim Lippard has details. It's looking ugly. In short,…

Watch out, Minnepolitans—I'm going to the bowling alley. Anyone else interested in picking up the physics of bowling?

I just received word from Per Ahlberg that the status of the Australian lungfish conservation efforts have reached a critical phase: letters are needed NOW. Here's the situation: The Traveston Dam proposal has moved into a new and critically important phase: it has been referred to the Federal…

By way of Feministing, here's a rather irritating tool to rank your site for it's "bloglebrity". It's pink and it's illustrated with a photo of Paris Hilton. I hate it. Here, I've fixed it. You can add your own photo of Barbara McClintock or Rosalind Franklin to the background.

Casey Luskin's ignorance is well-known, and this recent essay stopped most of us cold at his Ford Pinto comparison. We should have kept going. Karmen plucks out another particularly stupid statement, one that's even dumber than the Pinto remark: The article called evolution a "simple" process. In…

The NY Times is reporting on a wonderful meeting, "Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival". I wish I could have been there, but at least there's the promise that recordings will be available. A meeting that is denounced by a spokesman from the Templeton Foundation is my kind of place…

Five days ago, I wrote about a creationist letter that was published in Nature. At that time, there was a discussion going on in email with the gang at the Panda's Thumb, and someone said we ought to get a pool going on how long it would take before the Intelligent Design creationists would use…

This is hilarious: a couple of atheists get some bicycles, white shirts and ties, and travel around Salt Lake City knocking on doors and bringing the good word of godlessness to the Mormons. One old guy is an LDS bishop, and thinks that's a good enough reason for them to stop bothering him (…