Paul Z. Meyers
pharyngula
Posts by this author
July 10, 2007
Uh-oh. The creationists are going to love Darwin's skull-topped walking stick — it's wicked.
I think I love it, too. Where can I get an imitation?
July 10, 2007
We now have a draft of the sea anemone genome, and it is revealing tantalizing details of metazoan evolution. The subject is the starlet anemone, Nematostella vectensis, a beautiful little animal that is also an up-and-coming star of developmental biology research.
(click for larger image)…
July 10, 2007
Honestly, it's unusual for biologists to be the target of hate — except when they work on cute furry animals — so the news that religious kooks are slipping threatening notes into evolutionary biology labs isn't too specifically worrying.
University of Colorado police are investigating a series of…
July 10, 2007
The terrible thing about going on vacation is that you fall behind on everything, including your reading, and when you get back you have to struggle to catch up. When I got back on Sunday I found three books waiting in my mailbox, and of course I'd missed a whole week of the journals, so I've been…
July 10, 2007
I got a request from Alonzo Fyfe for any written material to counter Intelligent Design creationism that is geared for the younger set, 12-14 years old. I figure there are enough people reading this that some might have suggestions.
Along the same lines, I've long thought that a collection of…
July 9, 2007
click!
I've also always wondered if those creationists who deny the power of chance think that victory or defeat in the church bingo games are predestined.
July 9, 2007
Now their insane denial of the legitimacy of modern psychiatry leads to an insane woman butchering her family. It's appalling: the parents were scientologists who refused to give anti-psychotic drugs to their daughter, and the end result is that they and another daughter are slaughtered.
This is…
July 9, 2007
David Ng is asking if biologists have physics envy, which is both a common and a peculiar question (short answer: no, physicists should have biology envy). Then he follows up with a few brief questions to determine if scientists are actually pining away, wishing they'd gone into some different…
July 9, 2007
He doesn't ask the obvious question — "do you believe in evolution?" — even once! I guess when you interview the serious candidates, you don't need to ask the stupid baby questions.
It's not a bad interview; Edwards says all the pro-science and pro-education stuff, favoring increased investment in…
July 9, 2007
The Modulator informs me that there are 20 blogging commandments. Then I discover how to create your own religion in 10 easy steps. It figures that it's twice as easy to create a religion as it is to create a successful blog.
So if I'd pursued that other avocation, I'd be pope by now? Or at least…
July 9, 2007
These kinds of calculations are always handy. Larry Moran estimates the number of novel mutations you carry: the textbooks say about 300, he calculates something over 120. So next time a creationist tells you all mutations are deleterious, just tell him he's a mutant himself with somewhere around a…
July 8, 2007
Two more carnivals made an appearance today, and although they don't have a lot in common with each other, here you go: you can read about genetics at Mendel's Garden #16 and/or godlessness at the Carnival of the Godless #70.
July 8, 2007
I'm home from our vacation, and our painfully tiring redeye flight from Seattle, and I get a treat right as I step through the door: a copy of Natalie Angier's The Canon(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll) arrived in the mail while I was away. What did I do? Right after we got all the luggage into the house, I…
July 7, 2007
This video is one of the most effective criticisms of Ham's horrible little monument to ignorance in Kentucky — it's a geological tour of the rocks the “museum” is built upon. It seems the creationists chose to build on some beautifully fossil-rich Ordovician layers.
It convinces me that if I…
July 7, 2007
Aww, the creationists are criticizing me. It would be so darned hurtful if they actually had valid complaints, but as usual, it's all half-truths, misrepresentation, and selective quoting … and projection. It's amusing how their complaints are more accurately reflected back at them.
Poor pathetic…
July 7, 2007
Who's chattier, men or women? This is a simple study that strapped microphones onto subjects that turned on for 30 seconds every 12.5 minutes so that the investigators could do word counts. Here's the final tally of the average number of words spoken per day:
Men: 15,669 ± 8343
Women: 16,215 ± 7301…
July 7, 2007
Oy, I have so much catching up to do…
Humanist Symposium #4
Circus of the Spineless #22
Carnival of the Blue #2
Encephalon #26
Skeptics' Circle #64
Carnival of the Liberals—July 4th edition
Friday Ark #146
All right, tell me what else is new in the universe outside the Pacific…
July 7, 2007
A scientist, Charles L. Rulon, debated an ID creationist, and here are the opening remarks he gave to justify joining in the debate. He first gave a list of reasons to not debate, which I'll summarize in my own words here:
It pits oratory against science in a venue where you'll be judged on your…
July 7, 2007
Skatje has posted photos from our zoo trip yesterday, and they include the scariest butterfly you'll ever see. It'll give you nightmares.
We also visited the Pike Place Market, among other things. We have now discovered the secret way to Skatje's heart, for all of you fanbois out there: "bright…
July 6, 2007
Here are our goals for today:
We're going to spend the morning screwing around downtown, and are going to be at the Seattle Center International Fountain around noon.
Skatje wants to go to the zoo, so we'll do that in the afternoon. Then around sixish we'll be peckish and I tried to find a…
July 6, 2007
Euprymna tasmanica mating pair (male on the left)
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
July 6, 2007
Euprymna tasmanica
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
July 5, 2007
A new squid has been caught near Hawaii — much is being made of the fact that it has eight arms instead of ten, but that doesn't seem like such a big deal to me, since we have the example of Taningia danae with a similar arrangement. It's more interesting that there is a preliminary assignment to…
July 5, 2007
Here's a curious poll: "If marriage is a sacred institution authored by God, should atheists be barred from marrying?"
One answer is sweeping the vote (and I don't think sending the Pharynguloid horde over there will change the trend), but Austin is making an interesting point. If gay people can't…
July 5, 2007
We're scatter-brained touristas on vacation, so pinning us down to specific times and places is hard. However, we are going to be puttering about in downtown Seattle on Friday, and I think we can commit to one thing: lunch! We're going to pop into the Food Court at Seattle Center House around noon…
July 5, 2007
Be careful, Nathan Zamprogno. The background research behind compiling a list of all the insane things Kent Hovind believes can be very hazardous to your mental health.
Reading the list can be very entertaining, though, so thank you for the sacrifice of some of your psychological stability.
July 4, 2007
Say…I think I know this guy:
That fellow on the right has made the move to Scienceblogs and is now
writing away at Neurophilosophy. Say howdy, everyone.
Hmmm…maybe we should also bring that fellow on the left into the stable, too.
July 4, 2007
Since I brought up the hype for this Diesel fashion show, Phil has revealed that you can now watch it on the web.
It's some kind of holographic light show on a fashion runway. I don't know what the point of all the skinny people wandering around in clothes might have been, though. It didn't make…