Science Is Constantly Evolving
Discover the latest in climate change and evolution education news.
In 1995, the governor of Alabama, Fob James, spoke before the state board of education, which was then considering a proposal to insert a disclaimer about evolution in all biology textbooks used in the state. In The Creationists (2006), Ronald L. Numbers primly writes, “The Republican…
The issue of whether Sherlock Holmes is science literate led to some fascinating discussion in the comments section, though not, I fear, to a consensus. But let’s turn to a matter closer to my own heart and examine what we can learn about someone’s science literacy based on whether they reject…
Religious News Service reports on comments Pope Francis made in unveiling a new bust of his predecessor: The pope was addressing the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which gathered at the Vatican to discuss “Evolving Concepts of Nature.” “When we read about Creation in…
I’ve been meaning to write about William Bell Riley (1861–1947), a Baptist preacher who was as responsible for the flourishing of the antievolution crusade of the 1920s as anyone. In some ways, Riley wasn’t a stereotypical creationist. He wasn’t in the Bible Belt, for example: he spent forty-…
When we last left off, a lab had accidentally mated two mice that had been exposed to harmful chemicals in the womb. (Quick note! In last week’s post, I incorrectly called these two mice siblings—they weren’t! Sorry! They were unrelated mice born to different parents that were part of this…
Stephanie Keep, who normally leads Misconception Monday, is kindly allowing me to guest-spot while she's up to her eyeballs in epigenetics. I thought I’d take this opportunity to highight one of the most common mix-ups involving climate change: conflating the human-caused…
The Chapman University Survey on American Fears included a pair of questions relevant to evolution and climate change. Asked "Which of the following statements comes closest to your views about the origin and development of man?" 39.9% of respondents preferred "God created man pretty much in…
Last week on Fossil Friday, I presented you with a fossil—and very little information about said fossil. I told you it was found in modern day Nevada, and hails from the Miocene. But beyond that, you were on your own. Was it a piece of dino-poo? A strange and warty blowfish? An early gambling…
A creationist group is organizing an event at a major university (unnamed, since I certainly don’t want to promote the event), and some scientists there wanted advice on how to respond. One approach we discussed was using humor to push back. I love the idea, but it's not as simple as you'd think.…