A New Method of Determining Age From Teeth: One From The Archives

This is one from my old blog and was originally published on 9/16/05. I am republishing it because it bears on some recently published research, which I will get around to blogging about after I have read the recently published article a few more times.

Oh Hell, What Next: One from the Archives

I wrote this back in January 2006. Apparently it is still relevent to today’s news… Homeland Security opening private mail: In the 50 years that Grant Goodman has known and corresponded with a colleague in the Philippines he never had any reason to suspect that their friendship was anything but spectacularly ordinary. But now he [...]

Friday Know Your Primate: Special Edition

This is one from the archives. Although there are a number of resources that answer the question presented below, I decided to give my own response (the more resources the merrier). Creationism/ID is something of a hobby of mine. I try to keep track of current arguments and have had several “discussions” with proponents of [...]

Australopithecus afarensis and Apes: One from the Archives

I’m currently trying to get through a rather lengthy book – which I will be reviewing in a later post – so in the meantime here is one from the archives… I wrote it back in April of 2005 and think I would write it somewhat differently today. I’ve toyed with doing a similar post [...]

Defending Christmas: Dwarf Mistletoe Joins War on Christmas, Attacks Christmas Trees

Some of my Sciblings are reporting on their role in the “War on Christmas”. I think this is heinous. So I am reposting this piece I wrote last year detailing my plans to defend Christmas by burning Christmas trees…

Dinosaurs in Hollywood

This is one from May 2005

My Cousin Vinny, The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, and “Bitch-Slapping” Behe: One from the Archives

One from 2/12/05 (which explains the reference to Darwin’s birthday)…with typos corrected… I just finished watching “My Cousin Vinny” wherein we learn such anthropological tidbits as what “utes” are (that’s an anthropology joke for those of you unacquainted with Native American tribes). But what I really want to blog about is Charles Darwin. Today is [...]

Bone Eating Sea Worms: One From the Archives

This is a combination of two posts from the archives…

God Bless America: I am Sick of that Infernal Song

I was idly watching the Mets beat the Dodgers when the seventh inning rolled around and of course they had to sing “God Bless America” so here is one from the archives….

Mammoth Nuclear DNA says African Elephant, Mitochondrial DNA Says Asian: One From the Archives

One from the archives, in which I think out loud and try to solve a conundrum… Okay, now I’m confused! I have posted on the Mammoth DNA study several times. One of the articles I read stated that Mammoths are more closely related to Asian elephants than African. Yet the story linked to above claims [...]

More on Mammoth DNA: One from the Archives

National Geographic News has a story on mammoth DNA:

Mammoth Mitochondrial DNA Partially Decoded: One From the Archives

From December of 2005. The first of three posts on the subject… According to BBC News the mitochondrial genome of the mammoth has been partially decoded: It shows that the mammoth was most closely related to the Asian rather than the African elephant. The three groups split from a common ancestor about six million years [...]

How Fossils Are Made: One from the Archives

Via Palaeontologia Electronica

“Junk” DNA and Fruit Flies: One from the Archives

From October, 2005… Genetics is an interesting, if mind numbingly complicated, subject. As you all know genes are composed of four nucleotides that form pair bonds with each other (to be simplistic). Adenine pairs with thymine and guanine pairs with cytosine. Three base pairs form a codon, etc. Traditionally, a gene is defined as a [...]

The Intelligent Designer is a Gateway God: A Public Service Announcement.: One from the Archives

One from May, 2005… From The Ayn Rand Institute via Chris Mooney comes the best description of Intelligent design I have heard to date. Their scientifically accessible “designer” is nothing more than a gateway god–metaphysical marijuana intended to draw students away from natural, scientific explanations and get them hooked on the supernatural.