July 11, 2007
In my reaction to Bora's interview with Senator Edwards, I focussed on the importance of institutional safeguards for government scientists and presidential science advisors. In particular, I cited the way that President Bush misrepresents the scientific support for his stem cell policies from…
July 11, 2007
At the Johnson County District Attorney's Office Home Page, Phill Kline (the extra "l" is for loser) pimps a WingNutDaily column by local conspiracy theorist Jack Cashill (HT: KSDP Buffalo Blog). Kline's heading for the article is "WorldNetDaily coverage of Morrison / Tiller controversy," an…
July 10, 2007
The National Center for Science Education is looking for a new logo. The nation's premier force standing up for accurate science education has decided that their old logo lacks pizzazz. They want to enlist the vast online evolutionist cabal and naturally select the very finest ideas. Send your…
July 10, 2007
Carl Zimmer sez:
go to the Wellcome Library's new image bank and find your favorite scientific image.
On the old blog, I wrote a post about an X-ray Wilhelm von Röntgen took of his wife's hand and wedding ring. While hunting for that image, I came across this X-ray of a snake eating a mouse by…
July 10, 2007
Pollster.com's Professor Franklin's latest update on Presidential approval is pretty astounding. Since some time in late April, approval has been in freefall, and where it will land, no one can know.
The lowest approval ever recorded was 23%, seven months before President Nixon resigned in a…
July 10, 2007
Chad points out how the war on water has led airport security astray:
In one test, TSA inspectors hid the components of a fake bomb in carry-on luggage that also contained a bottle of water. Passengers are prohibited from carrying containers holding more than three ounces of liquids, gels or…
July 9, 2007
Via Jesus' General, I learn that any possible hypothesis that I could possibly be innocent, or that I could conceivably get into heaven, is in fact incorrect. You can find out whether you are innocent by visiting needgod.com. Alas, that title is an assertion, not a question, and the quiz will not…
July 9, 2007
Bora got to ask presidential candidate John Edwards 8 questions about science. As with most communications from candidates, a lot that can only be understood by reading between the lines, and by examining what isn't there. For instance, Edwards wants to win the Iowa caucuses, so ethanol is played…
July 7, 2007
At Bill Dembski's blog, crandaddy applies intelligent design to driving:
you don’t go about searching for design by looking for designers; you infer its presence from the explanatory inadequecy of epistemic nondesign processes (chance and necessity). This is the heuristic procedure for design…
July 6, 2007
Billy Dembski, self-proclaimed "Isaac Newton of Information Theory," has decided that calling himself "pro-science" is just as good as actually, you know, being pro-science, while Paul Nelson seems to think that open puzzles are a bad thing in science.
Meanwhile, Denyse O'Leary is excited about the…
July 6, 2007
Ten random tunes from the "happy" playlist in iTunes:
"Melodie d'Amour" by Pete Seeger from the album Waist Deep in the Big Muddy and Other Love Songs (1967, 1:52).
"Reflecting Light" by Sam Phillips from the album A Boot And A Shoe (2004, 3:17).
"I Must Be High" by Wilco from the album A.M. (…
July 5, 2007
When God (Morgan Freeman) approaches Evan Baxter (Steve Carrell) about becoming Noah, it requires some lifestyle changes. Baxter, a news anchor from Bruce Almighty who has become a congressman, is compelled to grows a bushy white beard, discovers an appreciation for the brown robes favored by…
July 4, 2007
Some days you just see the flag everyplace, even in leaves of grass.
(Lo, where arise three peerless stars,
To be thy natal stars my country, Ensemble, Evolution, Freedom,
Set in the sky of Law.)
Enjoy the show this evening.
July 4, 2007
The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to…
July 4, 2007
At Borders yesterday, a woman picked up The Richness of Life: The Essential Stephen Jay Gould, and got very excited. Being a fan of the author, I eavesdropped on her cell phone explanation.
She began by getting very excited at learning "Professor Gould's" first and middle names, which suggested…
July 3, 2007
For reasons which I may or may not reveal some day, I'm interested in picking your collective brains about the future of online scientific publishing.
My premises are as follows:
I do not read printed scientific journals any more – they waste space and are hard to search through when I'm looking…
July 2, 2007
President Bush commuted the 30 month jail sentence given to "Scooter" Libby shortly after Libby's last appeal was denied. Libby was convicted of lying to federal prosecutors investigating the leak of a covert CIA agent's identity. It is believed he lied to obfuscate Vice-President Cheney's…
July 2, 2007
Brad surveys the nation (at least the flying public), and writes:
If anything, my point is that it’s sad that we, as a nation, seem to have lost our sense of patriotism — and there could possibly be an inverse relationship of the degree that one is vocal about it and one’s IQ.
I think this…
June 30, 2007
I'm out of town, here are some hints to the state, city, and organization I'm visiting, and my means of getting there:
The means of travel and the organization:
"Science Vs. Romance" by Rilo Kiley from the album Take Offs and Landings (2001, 5:43).
The state:
"California" by Tom Petty & The…
June 29, 2007
"I Wanna Be A Witch" by Kim Fox from the album I Wanna Be A Witch (1997, 3:40).
"Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You" by Bob Dylan from the album MTV Unplugged (1995, 4:48).
"It Was a Good Day" by Ice Cube from the album The Predator (1992, 4:20).
"Heaven Or Las Vegas" by Cocteau Twins from the…
June 28, 2007
I'm conflicted over Tyson Foods's decision to sell antibiotic-free chickens. On one hand, anything that increases supply and reduces the costs of chicken that aren't pumped full of antibiotics is good. Antibiotic-laced chicken farms are breeding grounds for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, bacteria…
June 27, 2007
Roy Torcaso, 96, fought for the right to serve in public office without declaring his religious beliefs:
Mr. Torcaso, who said he was an atheist, was a bookkeeper by profession. He worked for a Bethesda construction company when his legal challenge started in 1959. He had been urged by his boss to…
June 27, 2007
Do you know, I think that Dr. Swift was silly to laugh about Laputa. I believe it is a mistake to make a mock of people, just because they think. There are ninety thousand people in this world who do not think, for every one who does, and these people hate the thinkers like poison. Even if some…
June 27, 2007
The Chinese Room is a thought experiment in artificial intelligence. John Searle proposed it as a way to falsify the claim that some computer algorithm could be written which could mimic the behavior of an intelligent human so precisely that we could call it an artificial intelligence. Searle…
June 26, 2007
In today's big section on evolution in the New York Times, John Noble Wilford explains the explosion of new material and new understanding of the human family tree. Through the 1990s and into this century, new fossil discoveries have pushed our understanding of hominid origins back in time, and…
June 26, 2007
Pete Seeger tells us "Moderation in all things, even moderation." A useful motto in many situations. For instance, my friend Mike the Mad Biologist rightly criticizes hackish pundits, and hackish politicians, for Compulsive Centrist Disorder, the belief that the true answer to any question must…
June 26, 2007
The UK's military chief of staff is concerned:
Climate change poses a challenge for the military in adapting operations and helping to deal with the consequences of migration and increased tensions as people compete for resources, the head of the U.K. armed forces said.
Rising temperatures and…
June 26, 2007
Denyse "Buy my book" O'Leary thinks that evolutionary biologists are just like religious folk. Among the deep parallels she finds: Scientists and the religious both give booklets to children, celebrate birthdays of important figures, claim that certain things are facts, and seek official…
June 25, 2007
From Threadless. Maybe if Dr. Myers wears this, people will stop being so down on the cephalopods.
June 25, 2007
Researchers around the world have found signs of life fitfully adjusting to global warming. In Greenland, an earlier spring is causing insects and plants to emerge earlier. The problem is, the birds that feed on those plants and insects aren't adjusting as fast. Plants emerge 20 days earlier…
