Last week on Fossil Friday, I gave you a giant jaw to contemplate. Many of the scientists in our office thought for sure it was of reptile origin, but in fact it came from an Eocene mammal! What kind of mammal could have such a ghastly jaw line? It was from the genus …
While the National Center for Science Education can lay original claim to the NCSE moniker, having been around over three decades now, there is another stellar organization that we are often confused with: the DC-based National Council for Science and the Environment. Over the years I've had…
South Dakota's Senate Bill 112 was deemed the "odd bill of the week" by the Rapid City Journal (February 2, 2014). As NCSE previously reported, the bill would, if enacted, require that "[n]o school board or school administrator may prohibit a teacher in public or nonpublic…
This week's Fossil Friday was a bit of a shocker to me. Looking at the enormous jaw and terrifying teeth, I thought for sure this was some sort of gnarly reptile that would tear you limb from limb, given half a chance. But no! Upon further investigation, this is the jaw of a mammal…
If you watched the State of the Union address the other night, you may have cheered along with environmentalists and scientists when President Obama proclaimed that climate change is an undeniable fact. I wasn't cheering though—I was indignant. Climate change is real? Thanks, Mr. President. …
In part 1 of “The Two Woodrows,” I began with Woodrow Wilson’s comment, “of course, like every other man of intelligence and education, I do believe in organic evolution. It surprises me that at this late date such questions should be raised.” Wilson wasn’t himself particularly interested in…
I grew up on the music of Pete Seeger. Indeed, given that my parents named me after Woody Guthrie, a familiarity with Pete Seeger’s work was probably inevitable. His death this week, at a vigorous 94, was hardly a surprise, but is still a shock and a tragic loss. Seeger was, by his own admission…
Rush Holt House Resolution 467 (PDF), introduced in the United States House of Representatives on January 29, 2014, would, if passed, express the House's support of designating February 12, 2014, as Darwin Day, and its recognition of "Charles Darwin as a worthy symbol on…
House Bill 207, prefiled in the Virginia House of Delegates on December 27, 2013, and referred to the House Committee on Education and thence to the subcommittee on elementary and secondary education, enjoys the dubious honor of being the first antiscience bill in the 2014 legislative season.…