humor
pharyngula | June 21, 2007Some people were annoyed that I included a link yesterday that led to a silly story that used strippers as an example of good marketing, that also included a photo of a woman in lingerie. It was very mild stuff, and I'm not going to apologize for that; the worst thing at the link was the sexism, and I will say that I do not endorse that at all. Sometimes I will talk about sex here, and although I'm not going to start sprinkling the articles with coarse and exploitive porn, I'm also not going to be shy about the frank talk.
Then Cocktail Party Physics had to ruin my self-image as an unabashed…
pharyngula | June 21, 2007Get ready for it: the next battle will be over Stupid Design.
All the little details are perfect, like the mangled "facts" they'll use to support it, the arguments from consequences, and the scientists conceding legitimacy in some domain to it.
grrlscientist | June 20, 2007Okay, I have a proposition for all of you, dear readers. In an attempt to increase my sicko rating while simultaneously adding some spice to my otherwise boring science blog, I have written an ad for a rare job opportunity, especially for all you struggling female scientists out there (below the fold);
Are you a female PhD in either the sciences or maths, between the ages of twenty-five and thirty? Are you tired of lying around in bed all day, depressed and unemployable, with nothing meaningful to do with your life?
Well, you never need get up again, because in six short weeks I can train…
mikethemadbiologist | June 20, 2007The Mad Biologist loves this experiment. In the April 2007 issue of Ecology, there's a nice article by Ellis et al. demonstrating how sea gull predation regulates community dynamics in the rocky intertidal. One of the methods used was the construction of exclusion cages. Essentially, these keep various critters of interest out of a patch of seashore (or in, if the researcher prefers).
For example, a cage might be constructed to let prey (e.g., snails) in, but keep predators (e.g., crabs) out. But that's hard to do with seagulls that eat large crabs: both organisms move long distances…
pharyngula | June 19, 2007Oh, no—this article about Craig Schaffer in America's Finest News Source reminds me of me.
Eddy said he has tried repeatedly to pull Schaffner back from the precipice of lucidity.
"I admit, science might be great for curing diseases, exploring space, cataloguing the natural phenomena of our world, saving endangered species, extending the human lifespan, and enriching the quality of that life," Eddy said. "But at the end of the day, science has nothing to tell us about the human soul, and that's a critical thing Craig is missing. I would hate for his soul to be lost forever because of a…
grrlscientist | June 19, 2007tags: Donald Rumsfeld, politics, humor, satire, streaming video
In an extended view, Craig shows us that you never know what those zany Defense Secretaries might do next. [2:10]
pharyngula | June 18, 2007It does add a new level of meaning to the phrase, "Come to Jesus."
(via NoGodBlog)
pharyngula | June 18, 2007This is perfect: a crossword puzzle, with the answers filled in as a scientist would, and then as a creationist would. Very cute—the creationist answers don't fit!
They will argue, of course, that the problem is our metaphysical insistence on using words that fit the grid and address the clues.
pharyngula | June 18, 2007You know, I hadn't noticed before, but if you give Fred Thompson a wig there is a bit of a resemblance…
Of course, the similarities that count are deep down.
oracknows | June 17, 2007If Irn-Bru can do this, maybe I should try some the next time I manage to make it to the U.K.:
(Via Attuworld.)
j7uy5 | June 17, 2007From
href="http://www.christianet.com/christianecards/evolutiontracts/index.htm">ChristiaNet.
They think it is clever, I guess.
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
src="http://scienceblogs.com/corpuscallosum/images/evolutiontracts_1.swf"
flashvars="">
This is the first in a series of Free Evolution Tracts that can be sent
as e-cards. What does it mean? Are they declaring
war on Christmas?
oracknows | June 16, 2007I must confess that I never really grokked the whole "LOL Cat" thing. I must admit to being a bit puzzled by the phenomenon when it metastasized to ScienceBlogs and some of my fellow SBers applied it to creationists, spurred on by Mark H at denialism.com (althogh I must admit that I nonetheless found the first entry in this post to be particularly amusing).
I should have known that it wouldn't be long before the phenomenon attacked one of my favorite SF/fantasy shows of all time, Doctor Who. So, here they are, LOL Doctor Who Cat Macros. A few that I found amusing are below the fold…
j7uy5 | June 16, 2007How do you think it feels?
href="http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/20070614_lame_ducks_unite/">
clock | June 15, 2007
Explanation
Actually, the picture (author is Antun Zuljevic, a birder extraordinnaire) is from the village of Svilojevo in northern Serbia (Vojvodina, near the town of Apatin on the Danube) where the Locust Trees have been cut, and nobody is building large haystacks any more, so the storks are forced to build nests in crazy places. This pair of White Storks was not successful in nesting on this factory chimney last year, but they had better luck this time around. Yup, storks prefer nesting on chimneys only in fairy tales. In reality, that is the site of last resort.
Source: Google group…
pharyngula | June 15, 2007There isn't enough sacrilege going on here, so I've thrown a few pictures that must offend someone below the fold.
I hate to break the bad news to you all, but if you're reading this you're going to hell. Sorry.
(If you feel you aren't quite damned enough, each of those pictures is a link. Go ahead, compound your sins.)
grrlscientist | June 15, 2007Below the fold is a list of sentiments about George Bush that have been found on t-shirts and bumper stickers throughout the United States. My favorite is #19, although I do have a certain fondness for #5 and #22. Which one do you like best?
(On an infant's shirt): Already smarter than Bush.
1/20/09: End of an Error
That's OK, I Wasn't Using My Civil Liberties Anyway
Let's Fix Democracy in This Country First
If You Want a Nation Ruled By Religion, Move to Iran
Bush, Like a Rock. Only Dumber.
You Can't Be Pro-War And Pro-Life At The Same Time
If You Can Read This, You're Not…
pharyngula | June 15, 2007This is the last day to donate to the "Send Scalzi to the Creation Circus" game. Come on, people: if ever you've read one of his books, you know you want to torment him. Go ahead, get even. (Hmm...appealing to the extremely tiny population that has ever read a Scalzi book may not be the most potent strategy for mustering contributions I've come up with.)
grrlscientist | June 14, 2007tags: Paris Hilton, humor, satire, streaming video
Okay, I hate to give in to the current state of media stupidity, but this video is just so funny that I had to share it with you. The last verse of this song is especially amusing. [2:47]
pharyngula | June 14, 2007It's true. This is pretty much how I start my day, every day.
What is that little junior assistant Satan's name, anyway? I bet it's nothing as cool as "PHARYNGULA, THE HARVESTER OF STILLBORN SOULS!".