pharyngula

Science magazine this week included a brief report on the electoral progress of the ID movement. I don't think they're celebrating in Seattle this week. Intelligent design (ID) received a drubbing yesterday, with pro-evolution candidates taking control of the Kansas State Board of Education and…

Diversity is good, but these are cultures I wouldn't mind seeing go extinct. Amanda thinks she needs to boil her computer after watching this video promoting "purity balls". I don't think it's enough. Incineration may be necessary. You may have heard of this movie, Jesus Camp, about the…

Minnesota elected a Muslim, Keith Ellison to the US House of Representatives. If he'd made his religion an issue, I'd be unhappy about this (just as I am about any other pious politician), but he didn't—even though his opposition did—so I'm not perturbed. He seems to be advocating the right stuff.…

Holy crap. Look at what Bush said to Speaker Pelosi: In my first act of bipartisan outreach since the election, I shared with her the names of some Republican interior decorators who can help her pick out the the new drapes for her new offices. You going to take that kind of patronizing,…

Confirmed: God is dead. Dawkins' and Harris' book sales are going to plummet.

I'm in a Rove-induced state of total confusion. Suddenly, Rumsfeld resigns. Huh? Why now? Why not last week, when it might have affected the election? What game is going to be played here? (Yeah, I've heard the Rumsfeld→retirement, Lieberman→Defense, Unnamed Republican appointee→Lieberman's seat…

In case any of our biology students read this wacky site, I'll remind you all that there is a meeting for all first-year biology majors this evening at 7:00, at my house (300 College Ave, west of the science building and across the street from LaFave House; we're the place with the lawn that looks…

In news guaranteed to cause distress to dashing, globe-trotting, heroic professors everywhere, Henry Jones Jr has been denied tenure. I hope there is an appeal. (via Savage Minds)

This week's Tangled Bank covers everything from spacewomen to cavemen in The Tangled Bank - The Future, Present, and Past at easternblot.net. The election news is all over, so it's time to read some science!

Fascinating stuff…read this paper in PNAS, Evidence that the adaptive allele of the brain size gene microcephalin introgressed into Homo sapiens from an archaic Homo lineage, or this short summary, or John Hawks' excellent explanation of the concepts, it's all good. It's strong evidence for…

I just read Jesus' General's roundup of reactions to the election from Little Green Footballs. I suddenly feel so much more jubilant that these crazy people have lost this election.

Democrats take back the House of Representatives and make gains in the Senate. It's good news, right? So why am I not particularly happy? One reason is how they won. Republicans were just plain vile: they stunk up the joint with corruption, incompetence, greed, and viciousness, and they are saddled…

Olduvai George is back!

Here's an annoying case of political correctness run amuck. …the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) Gene Nomenclature Committee…is renaming a number of genes that have potentially offensive or embarrassing names. The shortlist of 10 genes - including radical fringe, lunatic fringe and,…

Really. We Minnesotans are so uncivil that we never read Lileks, we leave that to foreigners with more tolerance for twee jingo. Out here, we see that face in the Star Tribune and we say "Gah, #%$$&!" (or other such un-mild, un-Minnesotan phrases), and turn the page to the comics section…where…

You want a lesson in real patriotism? Ask Captain America. Then go vote for the party that doesn't need to wrap itself in the flag to conceal its blemishes. (via Orbus Quintus)

For the Kids.

A reader has asked me to comment on this interesting and controversial technique for generating stem cells. Investigators in the UK are requesting permission to do this: Collect ova from cows. This is routine, done-all-the-time stuff. The cows can't complain. Extract the nuclei from the eggs…

Maybe with a little butter and garlic. This article makes a troubling point: if cephalopods are so smart, shouldn't we feel some guilt about eating them? I think I actually agree with some of the ethical issues raised, and probably should hesitate to kill and eat something like the octopus. However…

Minnesota polling places are now open. You should be able to vote between 7AM and 8PM, so get out there and do it! I'm looking at you UMM students, too. No apathy allowed. I'll have a bowl of candy in my office—show me your "I voted" sticker, or tell me you did (I'm so trusting), and you can have a…

Now look what you've done, O American Religion. Even thoughtful people like Shelley are getting fed up with you. Regardless of how this vote goes this week, we can no longer ignore the elephant sitting in the corner that is religious influence on politics and government. People are not always going…

Jonathan Wells, the creationist who makes shoddy claims about developmental biology, has deigned to respond to my criticisms…but only indirectly, on another blog. It's an interesting response, in that it once again reveals Wells' misunderstandings of biology, and his sneaky way of inserting phony…

Put a little Streisand on the CD player, and then visit Sadly, No! for some pictorial motivation to get out and vote for the right people tomorrow. It's inspiring!

We seem to have some fresh meat new creationists coming by. It's been a while since we had such an opportunity—they seem to run away so quickly—so I'm going to remind everyone of the 3 comment rule. Please give people a chance to explain themselves before you decide to pound on them, OK? Abuse is a…

This has got to be good. I understand Cthulhu is lurking in the wings with a folding chair, too.

A while back, I mentioned this new group that had formed here in Minnesota to sponsor better science teaching, the Minnesota Citizens for Science Education. Our first big public meeting is happening this Saturday at the Bell Museum in Minneapolis, at Science Education Saturday: Some of the most…

My university doesn't subscribe to the journal, but I'd really be interested in reading this paper by Satoshi Kanazawa of the London School of Economics. Even better would be if someone else would critique it so I wouldn't have to waste my time on it. Mind the gap...in intelligence: Re-examining…

So there's this election tomorrow, and the Republicans have consistently screwed the pooch for years, and people are starting to wake up and get more vocal about the incompetence, corruption, and dumbassery of this administration…but I am not sanguine about our prospects for getting rid of the…

There's a group in the UK called "Truth in Science" (it's not just Republicans who title things ironically) which is pushing creationism in the schools there. A recommendation in Parliament is trying to dismiss these silly people as something that should be treated very cautiously by the schools,…

Don't answer that question. Dr Charles explains how I feel about Hussein's death sentence—it doesn't make sense to respond to brutality with more brutality.