Science Is Constantly Evolving
Discover the latest in climate change and evolution education news.
Even as I was writing three recent blog posts about flat-earthery—“Voliva!” discussing Wilbur Glenn Voliva, a flat-earther who hoped to be called to testify in the Scopes trial; “The Rim at the End of the World,” reviewing the flat-earth explanation of why the oceans don’t cascade off the planet…
I could write a “Say What?” blog post about Glenn Beck’s recent rant about the imminent danger of newly airborne Ebola being brought to America by Nigerian prison guards. But writing “Say What?” columns about the ways Glenn Beck gets science wrong just doesn’t seem worthwhile—it would be like…
“In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth.” ―Rachel Carson, “Our Ever-Changing Shore” In part 1, I explained that the Coconino Sandstone poses a serious scientific challenge to young-earth creationist Flood geology. If you think…
NCSE is pleased to announce the publication of Climate Smart & Energy Wise (Corwin Press, 2014), written by NCSE's Mark McCaffrey. In their foreword, Eugenie C. Scott and Jay Labov write, "Climate Smart & Energy Wise provides a roadmap to teachers to assist them in…
Recently I've been contemplating the heroism involved in teaching, learning, and applying climate change science. By heroic I don't mean in the traditional Hollywood hero-coming-to-the-rescue-in-the-final-reel sense of the word. Rather, in the more ordinary, everyday sense…
There are so many things that I love about being a scientist and writing about science. It’s creative, challenging, and incredibly interesting. I mean, where else but in science can it be your job to think about why human males have nipples, or what the heck this weird protrusion on…
Last week, I unveiled a fossil jaw from the Eocene, that sure looked like a tapir, but was most definitely not! It actually came from the genus, Hyrachyus. From the Encyclopedia of Life: “Hyrachyus eximius is an extinct member of order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates…
How much do you know about antibiotic resistance? You might want to take the Pew Charitable Trust’s online quiz to find out. I’m embarrassed to say that I scored only 60%, despite my many years hanging around microbiologists. I got the biology questions right, but I didn’t know how many more days…
This week’s Fossil Friday comes to you straight from the middle Eocene. This is a photo of a lower jaw found in what is now Sweetwater County, Wyoming. This fellow’s family has been mistaken for the tapir’s family, and though it does share an early ancestor, I can assure you it is different.…