Almost half — 47% — of Americans surveyed in 2010 agreed that "human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals," and 38% agreed that "the universe began with a huge explosion."

The State of State Science Standards 2012 (PDF), published by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, is a new report offering a survey and evaluation of the state science standards in all fifty states plus the District of Columbia. Among the major problems across the country: "An Undermining of Evolution."

It's time to dust off your Darwin costume again: less than a month remains before Darwin Day 2012! Colleges and universities, schools, libraries, museums, churches, civic groups, and just plain folks across the country — and the world — are preparing to celebrate Darwin Day, on or around February 12, in honor of the life and work of Charles Darwin.

A poll of Protestant pastors in the United States found that they "overwhelmingly believe that God did not use evolution to create humans and think Adam and Eve were literal people," according to a press release (January 9, 2012) issued by LifeWay Research.

The National Earth Science Teachers Association released the executive summary of its 2011 on-line survey on climate change education, which examines (PDF) the responses of 555 K-12 educators in the United States who teach about climate change.

James F. Crow

The eminent geneticist James F. Crow died on January 4, 2012, at the age of 95, according to the blog of his colleague John Hawks (January 4, 2012).

The latest issue of Evolution: Education and Outreach — the new journal promoting the accurate understanding and comprehensive teaching of evolutionary theory for a wide audience — is now published. The theme for the issue (volume 4, number 4) is Evolution and Medicine, edited by Kristin P. Jenkins and Michael F. Antolin.

"A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has opted to let a jury decide whether NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory discriminated against a former employee who claims he was fired for discussing intelligent design," according to the Pasadena Star-News (November 30, 2011).

Lynn Margulis

The eminent biologist Lynn Margulis died on November 22, 2011, at the age of 73, according to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Evolution: Education and Outreach — the new journal aspiring to promote accurate understanding and comprehensive teaching of evolutionary theory for a wide audience — will be freely available through December 31, 2011, thanks to the generosity of its publisher, Springer.