Paul Z. Meyers
pharyngula
Posts by this author
February 18, 2009
When a milestone in the Neandertal genome project was announced last week, I was a little underwhelmed. Too much PR and too little information, I thought. Anyway, John Hawks has a summary, and if it's a little thin on specifics right now, at least he does a better job of explaining why this work is…
February 18, 2009
I've never liked this stereotypical portrayal of evolution.
It implies that evolution is linear, that it is going somewhere, and of course, that it is all about people — all the wrong messages. Yet it is ubiquitous, and probably the most common rendering you'll find anywhere. Try googling for…
February 17, 2009
I have been informed that I have survived a rather dreadful deadline. How is this for a prediction?
...Pharyngula, Panda's Thumb, EvC, RichardDawkins.net and Uncommon Descent will all have so completely degenerated as to become nothing but embarrassing footnotes in the history of internet…
February 17, 2009
For Darwin Day, Roger Ebert wrote an article on Darwin and evolution. Most of it is pretty darned good; he's writing as "an intelligent, curious person who years ago became fascinated by the Theory of Evolution because of its magnificence, its beauty, and its self-evident truth", not as a biologist…
February 17, 2009
John Holbo has uncovered an old argument against atheists, one that might have oozed languidly from the fermenting brain of Ray Comfort. But no! This is from a 19th century book of poetry! I wouldn't be at all surprised if Ray steals it soon, though.
Basically, it's an invented disagreement. An…
February 17, 2009
Uh-oh. The Phelps Family Circus is planning to invade England and picket a showing of a gay-friendly play. If you want to see exactly how insane these people are, Shirley Phelps-Roper has written a defense of their planned action. If you like my "I get email" series, you will relish that letter.
February 17, 2009
The Guardian has a well-done article on British creationism, which looks from here like a low-rent, twee version of the rampant excesses of our American idiocy (We're #1!). It also looks very familiar, with the same dead arguments and the same old delusions.
We also get new twists on old tropes.…
February 17, 2009
Muzzammil Hassan had a great idea: he established a television station to run programming that would counter stereotypes about Muslims. That sounds like a fine plan…but then his wife asked for a divorce, and his response was to murder and decapitate her, which rather confirms a particularly nasty…
February 16, 2009
This has got to hurt.
That's a yellow shafted northern flicker on the left, and a redheaded woodpecker on the right…and the flicker has got its claws on the woodpecker's tongue. I call foul!
February 16, 2009
The Minneapolis Café Scientifique is taking place tomorrow evening: and it's all about spiders in love. I want to go, but I'm still digging out from under my accumulated work.
I will be at the Café next week, here in Morris — I'm giving half of it, and Lynn Fellman will be giving the other half. We…
February 16, 2009
Collins has argued that one piece of evidence for god is the human moral sense, which he claims could not have evolved. I guess we're going to have to call monkeys our brothers and sisters then, since researchers have found that monkeys have a sense of morality. (Let me guess; he'll just push the…
February 16, 2009
This was kind of a lost weekend for me — Darwin Day on Thursday, Columbus on Saturday, St. Paul on Sunday, with all the flitting about through the air and on freeways in between, so I'm a bit swamped now on Monday morning, struggling to catch up with all the real important stuff that I get paid for…
February 16, 2009
There's at least one account on the web now — this one is from a theist and critic, though, so you know he must be all wrong.
February 15, 2009
You've eliminated measles in Australia.
High take-up rates of the infant measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine has led to the elimination of the endemic measles virus in Australia, immunisation experts say.
Researchers from the University of Sydney, writing in the Bulletin of the World Health…
February 15, 2009
I swore off reading Simon Conway Morris long ago, after reading his awful, incoherent book, Life's Solution, which I peevishly reviewed. He's the go-to guy for Cambrian paleontology, and he's definitely qualified and smart, but he's got two strikes against him: he's a terrible writer, making most…
February 15, 2009
The Steve project has reached a landmark: 1000 scientists named Steve have signed a testimonial to evolution. Best of all, the latest Steve is also a Darwin!
February 15, 2009
I missed the science fair (I might get a shot at it later today), but a reader did send in a quick report on what you'll find there.
I stopped by the Twin Cities Creation Science Fair Saturday night at the Har Mar mall. I am not a science educator so I may not be a fair judge and I don't know how…
February 15, 2009
It's Octopus Week at the Seattle Aquarium, and to kick it off, yesterday they introduced two octopuses to each other for a public courtship. Watch the story from King 5 news.
February 14, 2009
Another Sunday, another Atheist talk radio at 9am. Tune in and learn all about the new leadership of the organization.
I'll be in the air at that time, but I'll be landing about 10am — maybe I'll have to pop over to Q Cumbers for lunch.
February 14, 2009
One of my favorite meetings is the annual Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology meetings. One of my favorite cities to visit is New Orleans, Louisiana. The two pleasures will not be coinciding at any time in the near future because of the ineptitude and inanity of Louisiana's legislature…
February 13, 2009
The Daily Show has compiled their best evolution moments. I hadn't known this was such a funny business!
February 13, 2009
One of our colleagues here at Pharyngula, Cuttlefish, OM, is apparently somewhat upset at the injustices against certain cephalopods. Be of good cheer! Our plans are coming to fruition, soon, and all the world will be under the tentacle, thanks to global warming and…Science!
February 13, 2009
Shorter Casey Luskin: Waa, waa — they call me mean names!
Really, that's the whole of his extended whine in US News & World Report, a long complaint that "darwinists" aren't nice to him. It's pathetic, but that's what we've come to expect from Mr Squeaky. You really only need two pieces of…
February 13, 2009
In a potentially exciting development, researchers have announced the completion of a rough draft of the Neandertal genome in a talk at the AAAS, and in a press conference, and the latest issue of Science has a number of news articles on the subject. And that is a reason for having some…
February 13, 2009
Sepiadarium kochi
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
February 13, 2009
I was more than a little disappointed when Forbes magazine published the screeds of those ignorant doofii, Ham, Wells, Flannery, West, and Egnor. Now, though, they've also published a broadside from Jerry Coyne that demolishes the five creationists. His primary focus is on Egnor (but just as much…
February 13, 2009
One frequent motif recurs in creationist email: they may believe in god, but they don't believe in paragraphs. This one also hits another frequent theme: the racist creationist. Oh, and an obsession with incest.
The following story is what I believe to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but…
February 12, 2009
Obama made a Lincoln's birthday speech, and a fine speech it was. It was a call to work for the common good, for strong government, and for investment in things I happen to value: education and science. It also includes a brief nod to Charles Darwin.
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Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World…
February 12, 2009
People are telling me that the French and UK versions of Google are highlighted today with the image above, a picture of Charles Darwin's tangled bank, but that the US has snubbed the man. I think they're wrong; I just looked, and google.com does have the above image. I can think of a few…