1. Pink iguanas unseen by Darwin offer evolution clue

Comment #314014 by neander on January 6, 2009 at 5:22 pm

Wow! Yet more information for the fundies to ignore.
More upsetting, is it yet another species slated for extinction due to our actions?

2. Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People

Comment #298754 by neander on December 8, 2008 at 3:26 pm

Ricky is a thinker, and honest with himself. Hence his cutting insight humour nad his atheism. Hard to find both thinking and self examination/honest in a modern religious person.

3. Clever Monkeys

Comment #282138 by neander on November 11, 2008 at 5:29 pm

I'd love to see crows driving cars, lets train them. The farmer next door(') to us when I was a kid had a chimnpanzee that drove his tractor.
Sorry, almost totally off topic - but isn't it true that chimps taught sign language teach it to their kids'

4. Humanists Launch Godless Holiday Campaign

Comment #282136 by neander on November 11, 2008 at 5:26 pm

Black wolf,
Yes, whenever I tell a religious or fundy that I'm an atheist the reply is usually "Oh" or a stupid attempt at an argument.
If, however, I meet a humanist the response is usually worse (and more boring) than the fundy. The general trend being that atheist is too offensive a word!
I am sure we need to be obvious, not offending people is what has let these religions get strong.

5. Humanists Launch Godless Holiday Campaign

Comment #282130 by neander on November 11, 2008 at 5:07 pm

Atheist vs Humanist. Neither is better. Humanists tend to be far too conciliatory.

6. Clever Monkeys

Comment #282121 by neander on November 11, 2008 at 4:55 pm

The passing on of culture seems to be an important part of our evolution. Are the monkeys passing on memes' And is this the survival trait that has unfortunately led us to religion'

7. Tolerance Over Race Can Spread, Studies Find

Comment #280198 by neander on November 7, 2008 at 6:36 am

Tolerance. Pass it round.

8. CFI Pushes Back Against Religious Restrictions on Free Expression, Joins Debate at UN HRC

Comment #269342 by neander on October 22, 2008 at 8:42 pm

About time. I was getting worried. We still need to actively harrass our politicians to defend free speech.

9. Dark matter 'bridge to nowhere' found in cosmic void

Comment #247714 by neander on September 15, 2008 at 12:21 am

Very interesting stuff, but still very hypothetical. I'm always a bit wary concerning "New Scientist" as it wasn't that many years ago they published an article "examining" homeopathy in a positive light.

10. Our scientists must nail the creationists

Comment #247097 by neander on September 14, 2008 at 12:55 am

As a teacher in a creationist hotspot I am constantly getting into trouble for opposing this same sort of drivel. Reiss makes the old "world view' saw, but its just crap. There is no view of anything outside of their blinkers. Shame on the royal society.

11. Creationism call divides Royal Society

Comment #247094 by neander on September 14, 2008 at 12:47 am

The royal society is in danger of making itself irrelevant. Its credibility has surely been damaged by this piece of stupidity. Religion and science have no common ground.

12. Michael Palin for President

Comment #244475 by neander on September 8, 2008 at 8:38 pm

He has a special shovel and a unique interest in the weather!

13. Devolution in Education

Comment #244031 by neander on September 8, 2008 at 7:48 am

Looks like Texas has genuinely built a time machine and is headed for the middle ages. Hang on folks, we're all being dragged down.

14. Trichoplax Genome Sequenced: 'Rosetta Stone' For Understanding Evolution

Comment #243424 by neander on September 5, 2008 at 8:18 pm

Hellene, the things on your fishtank were probably planarian worms. They share the genes as well I assume.
I also have a spare fire extinguisher.

15. Scientists Develop New Computational Method To Investigate Origin Of Life

Comment #242363 by neander on September 3, 2008 at 3:15 pm

Yes, it will give us more ammunition. But if the morons were responsive to evidence then there wouldn't be any morons to start with. This will just be another piece of data they don't understand and misuse!

16. Friend or Foe? Crows Never Forget a Face, It Seems

Comment #241642 by neander on September 3, 2008 at 12:17 am

A recent article in Sci Am showed the same thing as this, that cows have "theory of mind". They can judge and predict actions of individual people based upon past behaviour.

17. Bill Maher on Religion

Comment #233628 by neander on August 20, 2008 at 6:02 am

Nice and solid. Its good to know there are some intelligent views being put that might reach a broader public.

18. Big-brained Animals Evolve Faster

Comment #230651 by neander on August 15, 2008 at 2:43 am

I also remember an article on this years ago; showing how Blue-Tits (not Boobies) in England had opened up a new niche pecking holes in milk bottles to eat the cream!

19. Big-brained Animals Evolve Faster

Comment #230647 by neander on August 15, 2008 at 2:40 am

A clade is a grouping based upon a collection of physical or other characteristics. The greater the number of shared characteristics, the closer the connection. Of course now we use genetics instead of just physical comparison.

20. Big-brained Animals Evolve Faster

Comment #230641 by neander on August 15, 2008 at 2:20 am

Big brained animals evolve faster - That explains creationists being so stupid!

21. Judge says UC can deny class credit to Christian school students

Comment #229007 by neander on August 13, 2008 at 2:32 am

Finally. There's hope for the US yet.

22. The HMS Beagle Project

Comment #228349 by neander on August 12, 2008 at 12:14 am

What a great enterprise. Something to uplift all humanity. I can just see the fundametalists picketing every port along the way.

23. Charlie Brooker's screen burn

Comment #227876 by neander on August 11, 2008 at 1:42 am

Wow Sargeist, well spotted. made me choke on my coffee.

24. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227386 by neander on August 9, 2008 at 7:32 pm

Good article. As to iterbreeding one individual is not enough to draw a conclusion. It also fails to account for interbreeding after that date with males! There are also some skeletons (approximately 6 -27,000 yo) that show some indications of interbreeding. I'd like to see a lot more research before calls like that are made.
Even if we suspect they are correct, thinking we already have the answer is the end of scientific enquiry and the start of belief.

25. Dawkin 'bout a revolution

Comment #225545 by neander on August 7, 2008 at 1:35 am

I'm up for it, As an Aussie I'll pledge for the UK bus. Hopefully it'll get the ball rolling here. It doesn't have to be about "spreading the word" so much as creating public awareness and discussion. Where I live we're at 15% creationists (North Queensland) and it needs a bit of a stir.

26. Brainwashed by a parasite

Comment #224922 by neander on August 6, 2008 at 3:04 am

Yes, Vanitas. Cunningly evil yet lovable. Unlike those damn religious memes which are just cunningly evil.

27. Is our universe fine-tuned for life?

Comment #224836 by neander on August 5, 2008 at 6:11 pm

Mordacious, it may be non provable but it is potentially testable - mathematically but just not with current technologies.
This is actually a nice piece as it disagrees with the silly ideas postulated by Paul Davies that got him the Templeton. That is that our universe was "created" specially for us.
Good stuff.

28. Kung poo panda 'The Sex Lives of Animals' exhibit digs deep.

Comment #221752 by neander on July 30, 2008 at 4:24 am

Wonderful! It will upset the fundies/religious too. they'll all being trying to censure what we see.

29. Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Thinking about Morality

Comment #221749 by neander on July 30, 2008 at 4:20 am

MRI has shed more light on the functioning of the brain than any other piece of technology. Wonderful insights to come I imagine.
Of course the scientologists would probably object.
Paul42, you're right. The majority of the religious wouldn't understand. Thats why they need education however much they resist.

30. Bush Bureaucrats at Dept. of Health and Human Services Redefine Contraception as Abortion

Comment #212972 by neander on July 18, 2008 at 12:05 am

To paraphrase an Australian PM (Whitlam), "in Bush's case, abortion should be retrospective"
Seriously, there is an interesting connection between abortion and crime rates (see "Freakonomics" by Levitt & Dubner), maybe Bush is preparing a crime wave for 15 years in the future so that they can run a tough anti-crime election campaign!

31. Did pre-big bang universe leave its mark on the sky?

Comment #158574 by neander on April 10, 2008 at 7:12 pm

I expect thinking like this to upset the loonies. Pushing gods back even farther!

32. Iowa county board gives initial OK for ghost hunters to investigate asylum

Comment #151446 by neander on March 28, 2008 at 6:01 pm

I like to phone the local psychics, astrologers etc. and not say anything. I hang up when they ask, "Who's there?"

33. Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90

Comment #151421 by neander on March 28, 2008 at 4:56 pm

Athur was instrumental in my love of science. We are all richer because of him.

34. Italy's Padre Pio 'faked his stigmata with acid'

Comment #81312 by neander on October 24, 2007 at 3:12 pm

The Catholic Anti-Defamation League

35. Creationism raised as Ont. election issue

Comment #68326 by neander on September 6, 2007 at 8:30 pm

Spinoza, I also got a very good, liberal education in a religious school (as an atheist). But was that a sign of the times? Given the current state of religious evangelism and the present pope we must ask if those schools will stay as you remember. Leaving them alone is really a ticking bomb!

36. Pig study sheds new light on the colonisation of Europe by early farmers

Comment #68325 by neander on September 6, 2007 at 8:22 pm

A good article that actually backs up Diamond's comments in "Guns, Germs, and Steel".

37. Creationism raised as Ont. election issue

Comment #68322 by neander on September 6, 2007 at 8:08 pm

Yes, Daniel Dennet's idea has merit. Otherwise, its wellcome to the dark ages.
Is there a possability that if Tory's idea goes though, that subsequent governemats could control the private schools and actually remove their religious content?

38. Bonobo Handshake: What Makes Our Chimp-like Cousins So Cooperative?

Comment #68046 by neander on September 5, 2007 at 8:44 pm

How closely related?

But in contrast to chimpanzees who live in male dominated societies, where infanticide and lethal aggression are observed..

39. Ancient Protein Tells a Story of Changing Functions

Comment #64769 by neander on August 21, 2007 at 6:13 pm

Great stuff. Won't move the loonies though!
remember "Creationism is just god's way of saying 'You're Stupid!'"

40. Evolution IS a Blind Watchmaker

Comment #51629 by neander on June 23, 2007 at 9:39 pm

Well done. As an analogy it is great. It clearly explains the reasons for the lack of transitional fossil forms, and the "sudden" jumps of the fossil record. So much for punctuated equilibria being anything more than an observation. I will be using it in my classes.
Age of pendulums..LOL.

41. U.S. circumcision rate drops

Comment #50575 by neander on June 18, 2007 at 8:45 pm

Lets get a grip .. so to speak. Check out:

www.circumstitions.com/Sexuality.html#sorrells"

to see the results caused by the lack of sensation in a circumcised penis. Apparently deeper and more violent thrusting is necessary to achieve orgasm. Besides violence towards women, this leads to increased(not guaranteed but increased chances of preferring anal and homosexual sex as the only ways of achieving release. Since the increased vascularization in the rectum is prime for HIV transmission then it is likely that moves to circumcise as a prevention of HIV may actually have the opposite effect.

42. 5000 Darwin letters go online

Comment #42805 by neander on May 19, 2007 at 6:35 pm

A wonderful resource for all of us.

43. Television evangelist Falwell dies at 73

Comment #41137 by neander on May 15, 2007 at 2:36 pm

You may not realise that Jerry "saw the light" in his last hours and converted to atheism saying that his life "had been a lie".

44. Gene mutation linked to cognition is found only in humans

Comment #39482 by neander on May 10, 2007 at 8:49 pm

Isn't depression a MENTAL illness .... just like the religion it lead to. It is no accident that ALL mental patients in asylums are believers.

45. Fighting Words: A wartime lexicon

Comment #34974 by neander on April 25, 2007 at 7:35 pm

This is great. I only wish I could speak and write as well as he does.

46. Pope says science too narrow to explain creation

Comment #32108 by neander on April 15, 2007 at 7:01 pm

Science says the pope too narrow to explian anything.

47. Then Call it God

Comment #30787 by neander on April 9, 2007 at 8:05 pm

Sums it up nicely.

48. Praying for the Apocalypse

Comment #30785 by neander on April 9, 2007 at 7:59 pm

WilliamP - didn't you know that the Rapture already happened! ;) I'm sure a good net trawl should give us some article showing it occurred in 2001 or 2002 or 2003. Anyway it happened and left these nuts behind.
That's what I always tell them - gets a good response.

49. Scientists Hope Vigilance Stymies Avian Flu Mutations

Comment #28946 by neander on March 31, 2007 at 7:11 pm

An evolutionary time bomb! Or is it just god killing wholesale as he/it usually does?

50. John Paul Sainthood Nun 'Gentle, Simple'

Comment #28565 by neander on March 29, 2007 at 7:42 pm

If she was praying why did she get parkinson's in the first place? Maybe prayer would work better if they prayed for something more reliable - like the sun coming up, ot the world turning.