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Why SETI's search for intelligent extraterrestrial life is different from the work of proponents of Intelligent Design. An interesting bit of argumentation regarding the distinction between the simple signals searched for by SETI and the complex signals used in arguments for ID.
comment posted at 10:12 PM on Dec-2-05

Tomorrow, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood. At its core, the case is about the constitutionality of New Hampshire's abortion notification law. In reality, the two questions before the Court are a bit more complex. This may be one of the most significant abortion-related cases in years, and a ruling in favor of New Hampshire may put a serious dent in in the pro-choice movement. As a result, the Court has taken the rare step of allowing C-Span to air audio of the arguments soon after they conclude. (more inside)
comment posted at 5:12 AM on Nov-30-05

This just in! First photo of Flying Spaghetti Monster taken using bacteria!
comment posted at 5:49 AM on Nov-28-05
comment posted at 6:08 AM on Nov-29-05

Faith based prisons... Can Gov. Jeb Bush's new drive to introduce God to the inmates make a difference, or was Jesus 'dying for our sins' not enough already? Is Jesus a solution or an excuse?

"Night has fallen. He has died now. A fly crawls over the still flesh. Of what use is it to me that this man suffered, If I am suffering now?" - Jorge Luis Borges
comment posted at 9:00 PM on Nov-25-05
comment posted at 4:03 AM on Nov-26-05

Flying Spagetti Monster expelled from Kansas The Kansas School Board has decided that it knows much more about the origins of life than the combined intelligence of all the scientists on the planet, and that fiction can be taught as fact. But seriously, if you don't even understand the scientific method, what business do you have setting academic policy?
comment posted at 8:17 PM on Nov-8-05
comment posted at 10:41 PM on Nov-9-05

The origin of life?! I heard from an authority in molecular biology today that a group of researchers funded by the Carnegie Institution and NASA believe they've discovered the origin of RNA, and with that, the origin of life. This new discovery grew out of NASA's Deep Impact mission to study the composition of comets. Specifically, they started investigating a kind of carbon that forms in layers, with each layer slighly offset from the previous one in a helix shape. Significantly, the thickness of these carbon layers corresponds with the thickness of each twist in a strand of RNA. It turns out that the individual building blocks of RNA are capable of bonding to this layered carbon when exposed to UV radiation. Once this has happened, apparently formaldehyde can then bond to the building blocks of RNA on the carbon "pattern", allowing the bonded RNA to slough off into the primordial soup. Over time, some of these RNA strands could fold and bond to themselves, forming DNA. Formaldehyde, the initial bonding material, would eventually be replaced by a more chemically sophisticated substance, creating the chemical bond that we observe today in DNA. Expect a paper on it to be released in approximately three months with all the details.
comment posted at 9:37 PM on Nov-6-05
comment posted at 6:12 AM on Nov-7-05

Abortion in America is a blogger's thoughtful summary of a report (pdf) by the Third Way Institute about who is having abortions in America, how many they're having, and why. (via sully.)
comment posted at 6:19 PM on Nov-1-05
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comment posted at 7:29 PM on Nov-1-05

James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, calculated that on this day in 4004 BC the Universe was created by God. His magnum opus, Annals of the World, has recently been republished. An overview of Ussher's methodology and an account of the man by Larry Pierce, who prepared the new edition with his wife Marion. Bishop Ussher also figured in the Scopes Monkey Trial. Some people dispute Ussher's adherence to what the Bible says.

But let's not listen to the partypoopers and instead wish the Universe a Happy Birthday!
comment posted at 8:20 PM on Oct-23-05

Tracks of Swimming Dinosaur found in Wyoming The tracks of a previously unknown, two-legged swimming dinosaur have been identified along the shoreline of an ancient inland sea that covered Wyoming 165 million years ago, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder graduate student.
comment posted at 5:39 AM on Oct-20-05

Creationist author Michael Behe: "Astrology is a scientific theory". If, that is, you use his definition of theory. Behe, you may recall, is the grand high poobah of "intelligent design", the theory that states that somebody (who totally doesn't have to be God) created designed all life on Earth. It seems the latest iteration of the Scopes Monkey Trial isn't going so well for Mr. Behe. Even the courtroom audience is laughing at him.
comment posted at 7:54 PM on Oct-19-05

"Killer in Our Midst : Methane Catastrophes in Earth's Past and Near Future" (a free net book) - During the greatest extinction pulse known to have happened in the history of life on Earth - the Permian catastrophe - 90% of then existing species perished. This astonishingly well written, authoritative, free book may be the most important thing you will ever read on the net or off of it : it explains in great detail an inevitable Methane catastrophe, if humans do not stop adding CO2 to the Earth's atmosphere, during which "not only would a considerable percentage of existing plants and animals be killed off, but a large percentage of the human population as well" (or the whole species). In the worst scenarios the atmosphere itself could become poisonous to Oxygen breathing life. Mundane laws of physics, expressed in impending Methane Hydrate release, dictate to humanity : cut CO2 release or perish. Simple.
comment posted at 5:45 PM on Oct-13-05

In a recent poll nearly two-thirds of Americans say that creationism should be taught alongside evolution in public schools.
comment posted at 6:49 PM on Sep-3-05
comment posted at 2:09 AM on Sep-4-05

Hastert Questions Rebuilding New Orleans Let's see...they're poor, they're black, and they voted for Kerry. He, on the other hand, is rich, fat, white, from Illinois, Speaker of the House and the body behind KOMPAC ("Dedicated to Keeping Our Republican Majority in the U.S. House"). Why on God's green earth would Dennis Hastert want to see New Orleans rebuilt anyway? What a disgrace.
comment posted at 4:33 PM on Sep-1-05

Did the Devil bury dinosaur bones to trick people? No longer the Devil's handiwork, dinosaurs are being embraced by Christians, who have reclaimed them for Jesus.
comment posted at 7:13 PM on Aug-27-05
comment posted at 8:11 PM on Aug-27-05

It's baby killing time. Taking on one of the most highly charged questions in the abortion debate, a team of doctors has concluded that fetuses probably cannot feel pain in the first six months of gestation and therefore do not need anesthesia during abortions.
comment posted at 9:25 PM on Aug-23-05
comment posted at 12:32 AM on Aug-24-05

Scientists speed up light, causing it to travel faster than "c," the long recognized speed of light in a vacuum. This, like the experiments conducted several years ago to briefly stop light, are hard for the average person to comprehend, but have important applications in fiberoptic communications.
comment posted at 8:45 PM on Aug-23-05

Bone Wars is an educational game that "simulates the process of creating a scientific hypothesis and testing it against new data" (A good thing to teach kids with people like these guys running around). The game is based on the legendary Cope/Marsh feud: a conflict that caused one Dinosaur to be classified twice and could make for a really cool movie someday.
comment posted at 6:09 AM on Aug-17-05
comment posted at 6:35 AM on Aug-17-05

Did the discovery of evolution lead to Darwin's agnosticism, as claimed? Carl Zimmer wonders. More importantly, can evolution be reconciled with Christianity?
comment posted at 6:00 PM on Aug-11-05
comment posted at 8:08 PM on Aug-11-05

Unwanted guests in Crawford? Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son in Iraq, and is now very active as a founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, is at Bush's ranch as he starts his 5-week vacation. "I want to ask George Bush: Why did my son die?" She's not leaving until she gets to meet with him personally, altho it won't be the first time she met the President. Former Senator Max Cleland-- who lost both legs and an arm during the Vietnam War, didn't have any luck when he tried to get through to Bush at Crawford last year. Will this grieving mother do any better?
comment posted at 5:32 AM on Aug-7-05
comment posted at 1:58 PM on Aug-7-05

Don't like the results of legitimate scientific research? Make up your own! Conservatives (including GW) love to quote Paul Cameron of the Family Research Council on the effects of gay parenting. This Boston Globe articles tells what everyone should know about the man and his methodology.
comment posted at 6:12 PM on Jul-31-05

Umbert The Unborn, the world's most lovable unborn baby & The wacky adventures of a fetus. Order now for Christmas
comment posted at 6:21 AM on Jul-30-05
comment posted at 8:47 AM on Jul-30-05
comment posted at 1:19 PM on Jul-30-05
comment posted at 7:05 AM on Jul-31-05

People often say 90% of statistics are made up on the spot. This probably isn't true, but according to this scientific paper about a third of scientific papers turn out to be wrong. Perhaps we shouldn't be so quick to take published research at face value. (research applies to medical research, not other fields of science, as far as I can tell)
comment posted at 9:40 PM on Jul-13-05

The Boob is back at the Department of Justice. The Ashcroft curtain has come down and the "Spirit of Justice" statue, commissioned from sculptor C. Paul Jennewein, can once again supply her breast for ironic photos.
comment posted at 10:55 AM on Jun-26-05
comment posted at 4:55 PM on Jun-26-05

Pirates, Global Warming and Intelligent Design. (oh my)
comment posted at 7:32 PM on Jun-23-05

Reason #48713 for teaching the Bible in schools: "The classics of British and American literature are filled with biblical allusions that would be lost on a reader without basic knowledge of the Bible"
comment posted at 6:28 PM on Jun-22-05

UpdateFilter: Schiavo autopsy results --contrary to those who used this poor shell of a woman as a political football and fundraiser, Schiavo was not abused, was blind so could not possibly have seen a balloon or her loved ones, and had a brain half the normal weight that was massively and irreversibly damaged. previous posts here--and just one example of the many many lies printed about her and her husband here. Some people should really be ashamed of themselves.
comment posted at 5:41 AM on Jun-16-05
comment posted at 6:51 AM on Jun-16-05

The American Taliban. Christian fundamentalists in their own words.
comment posted at 8:36 PM on Jun-6-05
comment posted at 9:06 PM on Jun-6-05

Former Nixon speechwriter (and Ferris Bueller's economics teacher) Ben Stein loses his mind over Mark Felt: "There is a lot of debate about whether or not Mark Felt was a hero. Obviously, I don't think so. I think the hero was Richard Nixon, fighting for peace even as he was being horribly mistreated and crucified just for his fight for peace." And that's not nearly the worst of it.
comment posted at 9:16 PM on Jun-4-05

Creationism: God's gift to the ignorant - Richard Dawkins talks about how the Fundamentalists distort science.
comment posted at 8:39 PM on Jun-3-05
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comment posted at 9:00 PM on Jun-4-05