Intelligent design/creationism
tsmith | October 27, 2005(And not in a supportive way). PZ and Orac discussed a recent New England Journal of Medicine editorial critical of intelligent design. Though the article had several shortcomings, it's always a bonus to see other scientists treating ID as a valid threat (not in the scientific sphere, of course, but in the "hearts and minds" of the populace). Now the Journal of Clinical Investigation, another fairly heavy-hitter as far as medical journals go, recommends to its readers, Don't be stupid about intelligent design. Kudos to them...now come the nitpicks. :)
Neill writes,
For those who have had…
tsmith | October 20, 2005That's my new favorite anti-ID quote, spoken by Mark Blumberg, at the University of Iowa Freethinkers' panel discussion on intelligent design last evening. Dr. Blumberg was discussing what a piss-poor design the human vertebral column is, and concluded his talk with the comment above. The other speakers, Scott Robinson and Evan Fales, also did a great job of conveying the issues. On the ID side was physicist Fred Skiff,one of the "dissenters from Darwinism." I'm sure Skiff is a nice guy and apparently a good physicist, but...wow. A biologist, he ain't. He conflated abiogenesis with…
tsmith | October 20, 2005I liked him so much better during his "Tiger Beat" days. Next thing they'll tell me is that Boner has become a monk...
(But on the plus side, "argument from banana" is now my favorite creationist argument).
tsmith | October 18, 2005Ah, how rare is it that my interest in stomping creationists and my interest in infectious disease collide. But I guess that when there's a topic as hot as avian influenza, it's inevitable that even the folks at the DI will sit up and take notice, as Casey Luskin has in this post: Avian Flu: An Example of Evolution?
First, as Luskin admits in the article, the answer to his titular questions is, "well, duh; of course it is." And alas, it doesn't get any better from there.
Allow me a moment to rant a bit here. It's painful for any expert in a field to read articles authored by those who are…
tsmith | May 22, 2005Every now and then, I check in over at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) to see what new projects they're up to, as well as to see if they've released a particular genome sequence I'm waiting on. Yesterday I noticed this project:
Innovative Metagenomics Strategy Used To Study Oral Microbes
Rockville, MD - The mouth is awash in microbes, but scientists so far have merely scratched the surface in identifying and studying the hundreds of bacteria that live in biofilm communities that stick to the teeth and gums.
In an innovative new project that could help improve the detection and…