Science Is Constantly Evolving
Discover the latest in climate change and evolution education news.
Many years ago, I moved to Paris with only high school French to sustain me. Parisians have a reputation for—shall we say—brusqueness, and I had no shortage of embarrassing encounters that I interpreted as scorn for my weak French and wretchedly obvious American-ness. Over time as my French…
I mentioned recently that I was rereading Ray Ginger’s Six Days or Forever? Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes (1958) in order to prepare for a talk about the Scopes trial. While doing so, I took notes about more than just the ornate vocabulary, which I discussed in “A Ginger Glossary” (…
This past week on Fossil Friday, I gave you a stack of fossils all the way from Danville, Kentucky! What were they? It was a couple of Cystaster stellatus on a Rafinesquina alternata brachiopod dating from the Upper Ordovician. The C. stellatus are an extinct…
Last week, I discussed the misconception that everything is adaptive. This week, I want to talk about ways we can help our students see and appreciate the wonder of life without their adaptation-everywhere goggles on. At the younger grades, I’d simply try to watch how I present characteristics…
A new report from Ipsos MORI includes data on public opinion about the causes of climate change from twenty nations — and the United States led the world in the rate of climate change denial, as assessed by answers to two questions. The United States and India were tied, at 52%, for agreement…
This week on Fossil Friday, I bring you another great fossil (or set of fossils) from Dan Phelps, the president of the Kentucky Paleontological Society. This photo has two different species in it, one stacked over the other. They were found in Kentucky and date from the Upper…
Asteroid 249530 Eugeniescott was named in honor of NCSE's founding executive director Eugenie C. Scott, according to the Minor Planet Circulars for July 12, 2014 (PDF, p. 324). She is described there as "an American physical anthropologist who served as the executive director of the…
While rereading Ray Ginger’s Six Days or Forever? Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes (1958) recently, I was struck by what even I considered to be a plethora of unusual, obscure, and confabulated words in the book. This isn’t intended as a criticism of the book: it’s highly readable,…
Josh, Steve, and I just returned from spending 8 days with a group of 21 NCSE members on NCSE’s Grand Canyon raft trip. Steve regaled us with the actual geological history of Grand Canyon, and Josh supplemented with a tongue-in-cheek presentation of the creationist view – with me helping a bit…