Posts Tagged ‘Science’

Beautiful.

Sam Harris is the author of “The End of Faith” and co-founder of the Reason Project, which promotes scientific knowledge and secular values.
From the NYT:
President Obama has nominated Francis Collins to be the next director of the National Institutes of Health. It would seem a brilliant choice. Dr. Collins’s credentials are impeccable: he is a [...]

From Wired:
1. Sea mammal blowhole: Any animal that spends appreciable time in the ocean should be able to extract oxygen from water via gills. Enlarging the lungs and moving a nostril to the back of the head is a poor work-around.
2. Hyena clitoris: When engorged, this “pseudopenis,” which doubles as the birth canal, becomes so [...]

I’ve been talking to the International Humanist and Ethical Union’s Babu Gogineni in India about how to assist them in combating superstition in rural areas. It’s actually a movement that’s sweeping the country. I have so much respect and admiration for the people doing this very critical work.
From the Irish Times:
SEVERAL HUNDRED villagers in northern India [...]

Valerie Tarico, Ph.D. is a psychologist in Seattle, Washington.  She is the author of The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth, the founder of www.WisdomCommons.org, and the host of Christianity in the Public Square, Moral Politics Television, Seattle.

My father died in a climbing accident when he was 59, and I was in [...]

Richard Dawkin’s new book, The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution is scheduled to be released on September 29th.

And another piece of the Jenga-like Intelligent Design monstrosity is removed. Watch it crumble under the weight of a transitional fossil!
Scientists have found a 47-million-year-old human ancestor. Discovered in Messel Pit, Germany, the fossil, described as Darwinius masillae, is 20 times older than most fossils that explain human evolution.
Known as “Ida,” the fossil is a [...]

Sorry, this is a little stale, but I’m still catching up. Srsly, if you don’t believe in evolution, stop going to the doctor and pray yourself well, unless, that is, you don’t truly believe…

This movie, about Hypatia, is an indictment of fundamentalism and of the intolerance of belief. It recently debuted in Cannes.
Set in 4th century Alexandria in Egypt, during the onset of decadence in the Roman Empire, Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz (“The Constant Gardener”) portrays the legendary Hypatia, who devoted herself to science, the search for truth and [...]

Science journalist and author Chris Mooney will give a talk about his next book, “Unscientific America,” about the effects of science illiteracy in the general public.  Mooney will be joined by local experts, including Dennis Schatz of the Pacific Science Center, Steve Jones of Washington State University, and Sandra Archibald of the University of Washington’s [...]