creationism
pharyngula | November 20, 2007Once upon a time, a company named XVIVO put together a beautiful computer animation of molecular activity in the cell — you may have already seen it. I have some quibbles with it — there is no water shown, and the behavior of the molecules is too simplistic, without enough noise (molecular behavior at the scale shown ought to be rich with Brownian phenomena) — but it's dramatic and spectacular, which was the intent. The whole thing was made to inspire and inform Harvard biology students, so it's actually owned by Harvard and XVIVO.
Now for the curious and nefarious part of the story. Fellows…
gregladen | November 20, 2007Well, no news there... but this really irks me. There is this great piece of biological simulation video that came out of Harvard last year ... I've posted bits of it here and there. Well, according to PZ Myers at Pharyngula,
what would a group of good Christians with the aim of renewing American culture do? Simple. Steal the video...They are shameless thieves..
gregladen | November 20, 2007The new creationist textbook, The Design of Life, is now available, or very shortly will be.
This definitive book on intelligent design (ID) comes as a shot across the bow to dogmatic defenders of Darwinian orthodoxy. Written by two key ID theorists, mathematician William Dembski and biologist Jonathan Wells, it presents the full case for intelligent design to a general audience. Critics, in dismissing The Design of Life, contend that intelligent design has collapsed in the wake of the 2005 Dover trial. Author William Dembski responded, "Those same people have been announcing intelligent…
gregladen | November 20, 2007Save the date: November 30th. The Christain Study Center knownas the MacLaurin INstitute, of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus will sponsor this event:
Darwin's Dangerous Idea: The Distubring Legacy of America's Eugenics Crusade
Friday, November 30, 2007
7:00 PM - 9:30 PM
FREE
Email contact: osbu0001@umn.edu
A hundred years ago in 1907, Indiana passed the world's first forced sterilization law. In subsequent years, dozens of states passed similar laws, including Minnesota in 1925. These laws were part of a crusade to breed better humans known as "eugenics." Promoted by…
pharyngula | November 20, 2007I mentioned last week that the Discovery Institute misrepresented the Minnesota state science standards, pretending that they endorsed "teaching the controversy". Now Dave Thomas goes through the other 3 (or 4? The DI can't count) states that the Discovery Institute slandered, and guess what? They don't support creationism either.
mikethemadbiologist | November 20, 2007
While the most recent misrepresentation of antibiotic resistance at Answers in Genesis by Georgia Purdom is not of the two usual varieties (either resistance evolves through gene transfer, and therefore mutation does not cause antibiotic resistance, or resistance arises through mutations only, and so mutations can't lead to novel 'kinds'--yes, creationists are that stupid), it's still pretty bad, and it shows a profound ignorance of recent work in the field of antibiotic resistance.
Purdom writes:
The mechanisms of mutation and natural selection aid bacteria populations in becoming resistant…
pharyngula | November 20, 2007It may be our next trouble spot. They have a creationist majority on the school board, and they're saying stuff like this:
Despite the Pennsylvania case, some school board members want both intelligent design and evolution taught in Polk schools. They say they have received numerous e-mails and phone calls in support of intelligent design.
"My tendency would be to have both sides shared with students since neither side can be proven," Tim Harris said.
Tim Harris, you're a moron. You need to recognize this fact soon, so that your self-confident ignorance doesn't lead your school district into…
pharyngula | November 19, 2007Matt Dowling has organized the YouTube recordings of Dembski's lecture at the University of Oklahoma: parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The man can drone on.
pharyngula | November 19, 2007He's a little late, but Afarensis finally saw Judgement Day. Verdict: he likes it! I knew he would. He also points out the key factor that demolished the creationist case:
This, in a nutshell, is why ID lost at Dover. The contrast between the experiments embodied in that stack of papers and books vs the lack of any interest in performing experimental checks on their own ideas on the part of ID advocates spelled their doom.
I think there were several factors that played a role: the obvious dishonesty of Bonsell and Buckingham, and the analysis that showed Of Pandas and People to be a…
pharyngula | November 19, 2007Whoa. Somehow, I think I've ended up in the Bizarro Universe. New Scientist reports that the Discovery Institute has a problem with the information for teachers that accompanied the recent Judgment Day documentary.
The teaching package states: "Q: Can you accept evolution and still believe in religion? A: Yes. The common view that evolution is inherently anti-religious is simply false." According to Casey Luskin, an attorney with the Discovery Institute, this answer favours one religious viewpoint, arguably violating the US constitution. "We're afraid that teachers might get sued," he says.…
gregladen | November 18, 2007We don't see this particular creationist argument being made too often these days. I think this may be because it is boring and difficult to frame nicely.
As a result, this video is a little boring, but if you are a true foot soldier in the war against irrationality, you'll sit through it as a good training film.
Good luck.
Compare with this: Talk Origins on Polonium Halos
gregladen | November 18, 2007This is an example of a fun, edgy, sexy, cool video that promotes evolution, but unfortunately also promotes some misconceptions. Like using religious metaphor and terminology in otherwise useful kid-friendly contexts, we learn here that it is all about "survival of the fittest" and that apes are monkeys.
gregladen | November 18, 2007There is an ongoing effort to change the standards for teaching science in Orlando Florida so that the students are taught actual science (as opposed to creationism, apparently) in an effort to bring the next generation's work force into the 21st century. And the public meetings are apparently getting interesting.
The new standards are widely opposed among both parents and teachers, who feel that creationism has a place in the science classroom.
Dave Finnigan, an educational consultant who lives in Celebration, said the Scopes trial should have settled the issue. Intelligent design, he…
gregladen | November 17, 2007There is a poll on the home page of "The Lariat", Baylor's on line newspaper. It asks if Baylor should encourage, discourage, prohibit, or support Intelligent Design. The Creationists are winning by a landslide.
The poll is here just in case you are interested in voting.
[hat tip Pharyngula]
Oh, and by the way ... I went over to Pharyngula to see what PZ's readers were saying about the poll, and I get the impression that many of them are voting to Encourage the research. Holy crap, I thought they were a smarter lot. I'm sure the readers of my blog will know what to do. Right?
pharyngula | November 17, 2007If you're curious about the public response to PBS's Judgment Day, the PBS ombudsman has an article up on it. It had above average viewership; there were a lot of complaints that it was "one sided", but that's just too bad, since the science is decidedly one sided.
The letters are the best part. Here are a couple of my favorites:
It doesn't take a "Rocket Scientist" to figure out that if we, as humans, evolved from monkeys . . . THEN WHY? . . . Are there STILL Monkeys??? We were "Created" by God!!! Pull up AOL now and you'll notice the Gov. of Georgia praying for rain, (No Doubt to GOD). When…
pharyngula | November 17, 2007The Baylor Lariat is running a silly poll in which they ask how Baylor ought to approach ID: encourage it, discourage it, prohibit it, or support it. The creationists have been having fun with it, and "encourage" is winning by a landslide. Let's everyone head over there and skew it the Pharyngula way!