Science Is Constantly Evolving
Discover the latest in climate change and evolution education news.
Last Friday I showed you a section of a fossil that stumped not only me, but an intern working in the museum, too. Here, take a look at the whole thing with a scale bar; see if that helps. Did it? I’ll admit that it didn’t help me! But apparently, if you really know what you’re doing, it’s…
This week on Fossil Friday we have a specimen that totally stumped me. Take a look! What is this thing? This thing confused me. When the intern took it out of its case, I couldn’t even tell what sort of Giant Sloth artifact it might be. With all those swirls and whorls and spikes, it had to be…
In Part 1, I described the totally serendipitous discovery of an unprecedented hominin fossil haul. More than 1,500 bones of at least fifteen individuals (representing both genders and ages ranging from infant to elderly) of a new hominin species were pulled from an extremely difficult-to-get-to…
I’ve been discussing Thomas Henry Huxley’s attitude toward and use of William Paley’s Natural Theology (1803). So far, I’ve noted (in part 1 and part 2) that Huxley apparently came to Paley earlier, and stayed with him longer, than Darwin; that in the 1880s Huxley repeatedly invoked a…
Is our children learning science? If those children are being taught about climate from Florida’s 5th grade science textbook from publisher Scott Foresman (Pearson), then those children are learning from a text so riddled with glaring and obvious errors that it’s hard to know how such a book…
A basic understanding of evolution lets us know that we are all descended, with modifications, from a common ancestor. If we trace our lineage back far enough we will find our kinship with fish over 400 million years ago (mya). Moving forward in time from our formerly fishy selves, we find…
NCSE is pleased to offer a free preview (PDF) of Donald R. Prothero's The Story of Life in 25 Fossils (Columbia University Press, 2015). The preview consists of chapter 15, "Terror of the Seas," about the discovery and the evolutionary history of Kronosaurus — "one of the…
The California Science Teachers Association adopted a position statement on climate change education at its board meeting on September 12, 2015. Observing that "[t]here is broad consensus that the Earth's climate is warming" as a result of human activity, the statement affirms, "As science…
I woke up last Thursday morning to an NPR report on a new human fossil find. I’m not in any way a morning person, so not a lot of detail made its way into my sleepy head, but I heard enough to know one thing: I’d be writing a blog on this…after coffee. I’ve written about human evolution a few…