pharyngula

I've been trying to see the Dawkins interview on CBC for the last few days, but it's always in that horrible wmv format, which only seems to work about half the time on my laptop. Cosmic Afterthoughts has the youtube version — it's pretty good. It's a pleasant, relaxed conversation where each side…

No, date rape isn't funny, but neither is the drug war. Here's an odd little story about a fellow busted for possession of a the date rape drug, GHB. It was in a bottle of soap. The police tested the soap with a portable kit, and it tested positive for GHB — as the video shows, a whole class of…

You can't trust that tyrant Terwilliger. He's an awful, awful man, and once he made school principal, he used his vast autocratic powers to make every Christian suffer. He threw them to the lions. He crucified them upside down. He beheaded them and shot them with arrows. He tied them to stakes and…

At least, that's what he says. He's a good Christian, so he wouldn't lie to us, would he? You know those parts in the debate where they sat there looking poleaxed, not knowing how to reply? They were praying. That's the ticket; when the Rational Response Squad said something rude about god, they…

There might be trouble. I've already seen a lump of coal with legs go running across the Pharyngula logo, and a frog (it is a nice frog) go hopping across the page. We have not had good luck with ads that try to escape from their cage in a box on the page — send me a note if you're experiencing…

I wish I could be more enthusiastic about the Encyclopedia of Life project. It's to be an online encyclopedia with a substantive page dedicated each species on the planet, and it's endorsed by E.O. Wilson, with sponsorship from some of the most prestigious museums around. It's a fantastic idea that…

Then you should sign this letter protesting the bogus creationist propaganda on display at Ken Ham's Creation "Science" museum. (via Greg Laden)

As a fan of Roy Zimmerman — I've mentioned his Creation Science 101 before, among other lovely songs about the modern world — I have two revelations for you. If you're a guitar player, he has released a short clip that is a tutorial on how to play Creation Science 101. There are fingerings and keys…

The Rational Response Squad has released an amateur video of their debate with Cameron and Comfort. I didn't care for the argument that the universe might be infinite, but otherwise, not bad. Not great, either, but then they were just presenting the sensible position. Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron…

My previous contributions to the basic concepts in science collection were on gastrulation and neurulation, so let's add the next stage, and the one I named the blog after: the pharyngula. First, though, a few general remarks on developmental stages. In some ways, these are somewhat arbitrary:…

Maybe. In his latest epistle from prison, Hovind has suddenly realized that the right-wing Christian position is unjust. It would be nice if he were undergoing a little actual consciousness-raising, but I expect it has more to do with his "me, me, me" attitude and the awful realization that he is…

There's something about this new blog that tells me I'm going to be a regular reader, but I can't quite put my finger on why.

This afternoon, I'm traveling to the Twin Cities again. Ricardo Azevedo is giving a talk at 4:00 in 150 Ecology at UMTC on "Sex, robustness and epistasis". The title has one of those buzzwords that always makes me perk up and pay attention. You know the one I mean. Mmmmmmm, "epistasis".

What have the funny pages come to? This is titillating and kinky to the point of obscenity. I mean, really; bondage and octopuses and radioactive spiders and so much imagination is triggered by the promise of that image … oh, my. I think I should go take a shower. (via the shameless Zeno)

I was sent a link to this editorial by the science-fiction writer, Ben Bova. I like part of the sentiment, where he's arguing that it's worth the effort to try and change the world, but a substantial part of it bugs me. The most prescient — and chilling — of all the science fiction stories ever…

This is the weirdest deep-sea video clip: a crinoid scuttling across the sea floor on its feeding appendages. These are supposed to be sessile creatures, a stalk with a flower-like fringe of many slender arms, but it's picked itself up and started crawling. I swear, I'm going to check under my bed…

I'm seeing some mixed signals on the series "A Brief History of Disbelief" — it's appearing in very few station's schedules right now, and it's tempting to suspect that it's being buried by the media, especially since right wing groups detest it: That "A Brief History of Disbelief" might be…

I'm passing along a request for all you glamorous, photogenic marine biologists: Are you a marine biologist? Do you want to be in a rock video? Hello all, this is Toren Atkinson, science lover and lead singer for the Lovecraftian rock band, The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets. You may, at http://…

As a small tremor in a bit of a staff shakeup at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, James Lileks got the axe — he's been demoted from a guy with a regular column to a beat reporter. It's about time. He's not a bad writer, in the sense that he does have his own recognizable voice, but yeesh, he's such a…

I may have to learn the words to "O Canada" if Dan Gardner is representative of that great nation. His recent article is marvelous. So I thought this is an opportune moment to say I think all three of these faiths -- these mighty institutions, these esteemed philosophies, these ancient and honoured…

Since everyone is having fun with the good/evil quiz, let's up the ante: what kind of god or goddess are you? The questions are very dada-esque, which is appropriate, since godhood doesn't make any sense anyway. Which God or Goddess are you like? Your Result: You are your own God or Goddess…

At least it's an easy answer: nonexistent.

This product is apparently a joke, but as long as Coke is constantly tinkering with their formula, I don't see why dumping in an extract of fried mollusc shouldn't be within the realm of possibility.

Greg Laden puts an interesting twist on the question of how many hominin fossils we have: the question should be, "how did they die?". We seem to have evolved from a species that was primarily a prey item on predators' grocery list, to one that succumbed most often to disease, to one where…

Would you believe a Nebraska community college is offering a course in creationism … and awarding science credits for it? If any McCook Community College students tried to transfer to my university, I'd argue that any who took that course ought to get negative credits because we'd have to assign…

One of my favorite blogs around is The Well-Timed Period, and it's unfortunate that it doesn't get more attention: it's greatest strength also militates against it achieving widespread popularity (which is more a flaw in how the internet and blogs work than with the blog itself). It's so…

She beat Brownback. She trounced Tancredo. She even clobbered Coburn. America's Holiest Congressperson is Minnesota's own Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN). Bachmann, an Evangelical Lutheran, and self-professed "fool for Christ," ran for Congress because God—and her husband—wanted her to. The…

If you're trying to come up with names for an exotic element with amazing properties for that comic book, fantasy novel, or role-playing game you're writing, here's a list of apocryphal elements (there's also a similar list with more details). These are all genuine false alarms from the world of…

The latest Gene Genie #6 is rich in genetical goodness, but the rap video about Mendel? That's pure wickedness. I almost regret that my genetics lectures are over for this term, so I can't inflict it on my students.

I even tried going back and changing some of my answers to get a slightly less extreme result, but it sensed my true nature over the tubes of the internet. How evil are you? I did discover that if I lied in response to every question, I could get it to judge me as "angelic". (via Circe)