Science Is Constantly Evolving

Discover the latest in climate change and evolution education news.

Say What? An Infuriating False Dichotomy, Part 2
As I was just saying in part 1, I was starting to feel nervous while listening to Hope Jahren, author of Lab Girl, interviewed on NPR’s Science Friday. After she made the perfectly welcome point that scientific jargon can be alienating to the general reader, she was asked by John…
Say What? An Infuriating False Dichotomy, Part 1
I am, as regular readers of the Science League of America know, a regular Science Friday listener. I don’t always listen on Friday, but I do always listen, eventually. I let a few week’s worth of shows accumulate (perhaps as a passive-aggressive reaction to my dismay at NCSE’s…
NCSE and the Case of the Missing Pepper
A class action lawsuit over an ounce of pepper? Sounds crazy doesn’t it? But if it’s wrong to steal a million dollars from one person, isn’t it also wrong to steal one dollar from a million people? Of course it is. But as NYU professor Arthur Miller told NPR reporter Jacob Goldstein last week…
Answer Monday
It’s the ophiuroid Geocoma carinata! (Synonyms include Ophiocten kelheimense, Ophiopinna derecta, Ophiopsammus kelheimens, Sinosura derecta, Sinosura kelheimense, and Sinosura kelheimensis, so give yourself partial credit if you mentioned any of…
What We’re Reading
A philosophical question for you: Why do stories about dinosaur extinction bring out the punster in headline writers? In other news, we have a wealth of interesting stories for you this week plus a bonus adorable video. WAAAAY cuter than kittens. The Domesticated Human, Sapiens,…
It’s Earth Day: Get Busy!
It’s that time of year again. The time when the Earth starts to wake up. Flowers are popping, bees are buzzing, and everyone (humans and animals alike) is emerging from their homes, rubbing their eyes and thinking…yikes, where have I been all year?! Yep, it’s spring and with it, the incredibly…
Fossil Friday
From the Jurassic it came! But what is it? If you think you know the answer, write it on a postcard or a 300 kV FEI Titan Themis scanning/transmission electron microscope and a FEI Quanta 3D FIB/SEM dual-beam focused ion beam instrument—my eyesight isn’t what it used to be, and I think I may…
Disrupting the Classroom, or How Self-Styled “Education Reformers” Always Get It Wrong, Part 3
In Parts 1 and 2, we examined AltSchool’s ideas about how to “disrupt” education using data and technology.  But the problems with education are not only due to a lack of technology, and they are certainly not due to teachers, teacher tenure, teachers’ unions, flawed lesson plans, or grading…
Well Said! Carl Zimmer on Theories
The New York Times published eight essays as part of its “Week of Misconceptions” series in early April. Some of the ideas for the essays came from posts on the Times’s science Facebook page, but others were inspired by “areas of confusion that reporters on The New York Times…

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The National Center for Science Education is the only national organization that specializes in defending the teaching of controversial issues (such as evolution and climate change) in public schools. Because of our special expertise and experience, NCSE is often cotacted by members of the press who are writing about the evolution/creationism controversy, or about the teaching of global warming and other climate science issues that have come under political attack. Our staff can provide reliable information about creationism, evolution, climate change, and the state of science education in the United States.

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