Because you can never have too much evidence of evolution these days. Visit site »
Good stuff here, if you’re like me and care about science, genetics energy, global warming, and innovation a lot more than baby killing and gay people. Visit site »
I’m definitely skeptical, but this is exciting. A guilty pleasure of mine lately has been The History Channel’s MonsterQuest, and I now know more about Bigfoot and other such animals than I ever wanted to know. Apparently, these men — longtime ‘Squatch hunters — found the body of a Bigfoot along with several live creatures, and took the carcass. They will reveal it tomorrow. Interesting! Visit site »
Two words: Hell. Yes. Visit site »
An interesting video of synchronization of five coupled metronomes in Lancaster University. Trust me, it’s more interesting than it sounds. Visit site »
Huckabee says it “doesn’t matter” whether he believes in evolution or not, with regard to his presidential candidacy. But he’s missing the point: a president will be signing science research budgets into law and getting advice from scientists on topics like terrorism, the environment, and medicine. If he is willing to ignore data that has been proven via science (like the fact that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old, not 6,000), will he also ignore other research and advice from top scientists? It does matter. We need to know if Huckabee believes in the scientific process, because how he does major parts of his job will depend on the answer. Visit site »
“In the world of evolutionary biology, the question is not whether God exists but why we believe in him. Is belief a helpful adaptation or an evolutionary accident?” Interesting stuff. Are humans hard-wired to believe in God (or something beyond what we can rationalize)? If so, why? Could it be that evolution is actually responsible for people believing in God? Visit site »
Looks like I’m about as safe as anyone in the city is, with both my home and work areas residing in “fair” risk zones. I am only a few blocks from higher risk, though, with both Myrtle Edwards Park and the downtown waterfront being pretty much toast (I presume it’s because they’re built on fill). Especially interesting (and surprising, to me), is that the University district is at such risk. Visit site »
A new juvenile white shark was introduced into the Outer Bay exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium on August 28. This is the aquarium’s third white shark, and Monterey Bay is the only aquarium that has ever kept a white shark alive for any length of time at all. As I recall, the first two were there for about nine and six months, respectively, before they needed to be freed back into the Pacific Ocean. So, if you’re in the bay area, get yourself to the aquarium and check out the white shark while it’s there — it won’t last forever! Visit site »
Includes the Alpaca, probably my favorite land-going creature. Also includes the Dumbo Octopus, which is always fun to see. Also, check out the Aye-Aye! Wild! Visit site »
“The weathermen in Beijing (have) plans to fire rockets to disperse rain clouds, an experiment aimed at securing more sunshine during the 2008 Olympics.”
As I’m moving to a rainier climate in a week and a half, I thought I’d bookmark this for future reference. Visit site »
53% of those surveyed said that evolution (when defined as “the idea that human beings developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life”) is either “definitely true” or “probably true.” However, 66% said that creationism (“the idea that God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years”) is true. That seems contradictory, to me. I believe creation and evolution can co-exist, but not when they’re framed with those definitions.
38% said “man developed, with God guiding,” and 43% think “God created man in present form.” Only 14% think “man developed, but God had no part in (the) process”.
24% of Americans believe that both the theory of evolution and the theory of creationism are probably or definitely true. This also proves that 24% of people are either idiots or didn’t read the definitions of evolution and creationism the survey uses. Again, I do think it’s possible for one to believe in both evolution and creationism, but you would have to define creation differently than they have done with this survey.
Finally, I find it astonishing that 19% of those who don’t believe in evolution chose “I believe in Jesus Christ” as their justification for it (this was the most popular response). I don’t think much of anyone, including evolutionists, doubt the existence of Jesus Christ. Believing in Jesus Christ is no reason to not believe in evolution. Every other choice on the list is reasonable, but “I believe in Jesus Christ” is just a laughable response to “Why don’t you believe in evolution?” Visit site »
Dawkins believes that to kill Saddam was to destroy a vital resource for scientists, psychologists, and the like. He makes some really good points. Visit site »
Only a year ago, the existence of these giants was believed by many to be a myth. One was photographed last year, and now a live one has been filmed. The say the elusive creatures may be more plentiful than previously believed, to boot. Very cool. Visit site »
“In the unlikely event that a vaporised penis can perform ejaculation, then the relativistic semen will create enormous air resistance, burst into flames almost instantaneously, and generate enormous impact forces.” And that’s only one of the top 10 reason why you probably shouldn’t be having sex while traveling at the speed of light. Visit site »
I enjoy reading Richard’s responses. The guy is clearly a bit of an ass, but I’m amused nonetheless. I find him to be a bit too intolerant and unsympathetic for my tastes, even though I agree with many of his thoughts. Bottom line: he makes people think, and I see that as a good thing. Visit site »
Roger is an underwater photographer, and in this blog entry he talks about (and showcases his great photos of) a recent dive with the Zambezi shark (usually called the Bull Shark in America) — arguably the most aggressive and dangerous all of shark species. Visit site »
The new white shark at Monterey has a blog. Sadly, they’re not letting him update it himself, but it is updated daily with behavior tidbits, feeding information, etc. There’s an RSS feed, to boot. Very cool. I say again: if you’re in the bay area, you should totally get to MBA to see this shark — he won’t last long and you never know when, or even if they’ll get another one. Visit site »
Videotape of Australian “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin shows him pulling a deadly stingray barb from his chest just before he died. If you weren’t already convinced this guy was a real man, you should be now. Visit site »
