pharyngula

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Usually, I try to accentuate the positive and tell you why other animals are so much more interesting than cats, but today I'm going right for the gutter and showing you why cats are evil. Behold, the cat penis: You know who else has a penis like that? Satan. Now you have another reason to get…

(via NatGeo) (Also on FtB)

A few weeks ago, PLoS One published a paper on the observation of preserved chitin in 34 million year old cuttlebones. Now the Institute for Creation Research has twisted the science to support their belief that the earth is less than ten thousand years old. It was all so predictable. It's a game…

Take a look at the ad copy for this evil book by a friend of Meryl Dorey, the anti-vaccination kook. "Marvellous measles"? "Embrace childhood disease"? This is rank madness. Here is what WHO says about measles: Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children even though a safe…

I'm so sorry, Kentucky. How do you end up with such ignorant school superintendents? Ricky Line is concerned because his school district is teaching the facts of evolution. "I have a very difficult time believing that we have come to a point ... that we are teaching evolution ... as a factual…

He's not a very exciting speaker, but he does present the compelling evidence well. (Also on FtB)

(Also on FtB)

I have really been looking forward to seeing David Attenborough's latest, Frozen Planet, here in the US. I've seen brief snippets of the show on youtube, and like all of these big BBC nature productions, I'm sure it's stunning. And then I hear that the Discovery Channel has bought the rights!…

Would you believe that ""the largest, most definitive analysis of the mental health risks associated with abortion, synthesizing the results of 22 studies published between 1995 and 2009 involving 877,181 women, of whom 163,831 had abortions" has determined that "abortion harms women's mental…

Game over, man. No cat video can ever be as awesome as this: two mimic octopuses mating. It's like watching a nest of snakes break out into a barroom brawl. It's also the most erotic thing I've ever seen on the internet. (Also on FtB)

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Oh, man. I just finished my last lecture for this semester — this was a rough term, and I feel like I just barely dragged myself over the finish line. The big strain came from the fact that I revamped everything: I completely changed the content of my neurobiology course, with a new textbook, a new…

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Have fun and go visit the Missing Universe Museum online. You will feel as if you are finally getting close to the bottom of human stupidity. Every page promotes this argument: If you don't believe God created all living things, male and female, in 6 days.... How many millions of years was it…

I made the cut, and have an entry in Open Lab 2011, which means that I am one of 51 finalists. Which further means there are 50 articles over there you want to read. Which means I have just sent my readership away from here. (Also on FtB)

You think you're safe because you're terrestrial? Further evidence that the invasion is imminent: Foolish humans, thinking it is "cute". It was merely looking for a major artery before biting down. (Also on FtB)

I said I didn't want to say anything about free will, and I still don't, but Massimo Pigliucci weighed in, and Jerry Coyne responded, and so did Sean Carroll, and of course I created a free will thread for everyone else to talk about it, so I guess there's a fair bit of momentum behind it all. I…

Minnesota tuition rates have also been skyrocketing. My salary has been creeping upward at single digit percentage rates — low single digits, and we also had a freeze for a few years — and also, we haven't been hiring swarms of new faculty, but only replacing retiring faculty (which, by the way,…

This video by Alexander Tsiaras is simultaneously lovely and infuriating; it's a product of technology and science, and the narration is profoundly anti-science. There are some technical issues that annoy me about the video — it's a mix of real imagery and computer animation, and it doesn't draw…

It seems wasps can recognize wasp faces. I'll have to stop making my speciesist remark that they all look alike to me. (Also on FtB)

So you read that cool summary of how to build a molecular biology lab for $500. But wait, you don't know what you'd do with the mobio toys! Here's how to correct that: go to a workshop. THE MICHAEL SMITH LABS AND ADVANCED MOLECULAR BIOLOGY LAB PRESENTS OUR MOLECULAR BIOLOGY WORKSHOPS 2012 WINTER/…

Urglegurgle. I'm trying to prep a lecture on synapse formation, and just discovered that Herzog's amazing film about Chauvet cave is available…so I'm trying to scribble up technical notes on molecular biology while getting constantly distracted by 32,000 year old cave paintings. It's good to live…

The future is arriving fast. Here are the instructions for assembling a $500 home molecular biology laboratory — you can do it! And it's getting cheaper all the time! The widespread and increasing availability of second-hand professional laboratory equipment or inexpensive new commercial surrogates…

I used to keep these lovely little guys as pets — they're so pretty and active, and have such soulful eyes…and so many of them. Their courtship dance is also cool, and so easily evoked; these spiders are always looking for love. Unfortunately, the species I've been able to find in Minnesota are…

Yeah, I gave a talk at Skepticon like several other rascals here at Freethoughtblogs. Now, even if you didn't make the pilgrimage to Springfield, Missouri, you can watch it too. It's a straight science talk with several swipes at creationism, so unfortunately, I don't think it will make any ice…

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The last time I saw an appearance of the founder of the Intelligent Design movement, Johnson was looking very frail, recovering from a stroke. It's also been quite some time since I've seen him make an appearance. I hope that his mental faculties are also strong, and that he's alert and aware. The…

How to write an academic review: Cartmill on Haraway. It's a fine lesson on scholarly knife-fighting, and I think I'll have to use it as an example next time I teach our scientific writing course. (Also on FtB)

That's what he titles his latest youtube video, anyway. I laughed, just like I laughed when Eric Hovind called to complain about the misinformation on my website. He also claims I "accept defeat" Myers accepts defeat see below: Myers changes his stance from Ireland, In Ireland Myers says the '…