pharyngula

This is an unbelievable statement from one of our top medical advisors. Heroin overdoses kill many people; there is a cheap rescue option, though, kits called Narcan that cost a mere $9.50 and allow people to save lives. The Bush administration opposes their distribution. Dr. Bertha Madras, deputy…

We're about to witness a monstrous event here on Scienceblogs. Omnibrain: weird neuroscience from an inveterate smart-ass. Retrospectacle: Parrots and hair cells with Shelley passing out the cookies. Both are young graduate students in neuroscience, and both have decided to shut down their blogs……

Has anyone else noticed that you often only need to read the first sentence of anything written at Uncommon Descent to see them screw up royally? Especially, lately, if the author is Denyse O'Leary. Take this, for example. Textbooks often don't discuss extinction — the death of all members of a…

Thanks, Revere, for making me the point man. I didn't even mention the crazy people whose faith was rejuvenated by an imperfect potato. Although I would agree with your policy of agreeing with me.

Canadians always make such a fuss about being distinct from their southern neighbor, but you know it's all a pretense. They want to be just like the US, they admire and respect us so much. And here's the evidence: they're getting rid of the position of science advisor to their government. Just…

I don't think so. Virgil Griffith pulled out the top ten books read by students at various universities (it turns out Facebook collects that data for you), and then tried to correlate that with the average SAT/ACT score of each university. The result is a mess. You might be able to say that…

What? Today was Roy Chapman Andrews' birthday! I almost missed it, but I shall raise a cup of tea to one of my heroes.

Remember: listen to the Minnesota Atheists radio program on Air America, tomorrow morning at 9am central time. Topics tomorrow include Huckabee, an interview with Robert M. Price, and yours truly (with Kristine Harley) in a Moment of Science. We're going to be discussing useful references for…

Hey! Carnivals! Accretionary Wedge #5. Rocks? How can they possibly find enough to write about rocks? Carnival of Space #38. Space? Even worse. It's mostly nothing! I and the Bird #67. Birds? They've been at this for 67 weeks and there's still more to be said about beaks, wings, and feathers…

Well, I survived my first week of classes, and I think I'm on track to make it through the next 14. Unfortunately, in these days of fast internet communication, one of my students has a blog, and has already posted a frank review of her classes. I'm assessed. It's not good. I may have to flunk her…

So what if they want to chew your face off? They're being the best Japanese Giant Hornets they can be.

It's getting to be about that time: science fair season. I'll remind you all that we have an infamous local event, the Twin Cities Creation Science Fair, in which real live homeschooled creationist kids will present their experiments at the Har Mar Mall, on 16-17 February. I'm hoping to make it…

There might be crazy Christian ladies there! Nah, I know there are crazy Christians there, but they're mostly fairly cool…I haven't seen any eruptions like this one.

This is a painting Our President loves; it's called "A Charge to Keep," and GW Bush even used that as the title for his autobiography. Here's what Bush himself says about the picture. I thought I would share with you a recent bit of Texas history which epitomizes our mission. When you come into my…

Sure enough, we actually have a new scibling in the borgosphere: DrugMonkey. It's OK if you encourage them.

I've been tagged with a teaching meme: I'm supposed to answer the question, "Why do you teach and why is academic freedom critical to that effort?". We science types are late to the game; there are already several examples online, mostly from those humanities people. First, I'll be forthright in…

OK, it's cute and catchy, but it's also got a very awkward sudden jump from the mammal-like reptiles to the primates, and unfortunately it perpetuates the "evolution as a process on rails" concept by showing a single lineage — ours, of course. Why not show a progression to a modern rose, or a fly…

A reader sent me an example of religious kitsch, but just to be on the safe side, I'm going to have to put it below the fold. There's nothing obscene about the work in question, but I dare you to look at it and not have wildly inappropriate thoughts skitter through your brain. I think we need a…

It bodes ill for a certain southern state that my mailbox overfloweth with tales of idiocy from Florida … it's gotten to the point where I cringe a little bit when I see "Florida" in the subject line, because I know it's going to be another delusional school board, another wacky letter to the…

This is a good opinion piece in the Charlotte Observer by an Englishman residing in the city. He states right up front that he likes the city and sees a great deal of promise for the future in it, but he has one reservation: the region's religiosity. To a foreigner like myself, it's disturbing that…

It's a lot cheaper than making a movie and trying to persuade all those scientists to shut up. Let's be fair — somebody used a little photoshop on me, too. But really, my head isn't that small, I'm not quite that chunky, and I'd never use a gun.

It's all about that goofy Abunga bookstore nonsense — I love how a couple of paragraphs and a few hundred comments can make the zealots swoon. There are lots of comments there, too, most seem to either dislike Abunga's model, or are defending it on false pretenses: "we MUST maintain the integrity…

Both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are making a reduction in the legal blood alcohol driving limit from 0.08 to 0.05%. This is facing opposition from an unexpected quarter: Catholic priests are concerned about driving home after Mass. Well, now, how terrible for them. "Perhaps it…

… you should check out their recent appearance together on Bloggingheads.

We had Neil Shubin here last week, and now Jerry Coyne is guest-blogging at The Loom. I look forward to the day that I can just sit back and invite prominent scientists to do my work for me here. Although, I have to say that while Coyne is largely correct, he's being a bit unfair. He's addressing…

Uh-oh. The word is out. Being an atheist evolutionist means all the porn you could want and being surrounded by big bags of money. Good thing he left off the orgies. If people know about the orgies, we'd never get any peace.

So Heath Ledger, the young actor, is dead of unknown causes. I don't know much about him, I did not have any kind of personal interaction with him so I don't need to know much about him — I liked some of his movies, he was young, it's tragic to see a life ended so early. Those demented ghouls at…

Ken Cope, a regular commenter here (come on, you guys all know him) sent along some cephalopodian artwork a friend of his does. After browsing a bit, it was sinking in: Ken is friends with an animation artist and roller derby star, one who wins awards for most penalties in a season no less, and who…

It's safe, it's harmless, it's a good way to vent: Faith Fighter! Pick your favorite deity and pound the space bar until your enemies are unconscious. When you look at the list of opponents, you might wonder why atheism is not represented. That's because atheism is the real world matrix upon which…