Posted by Dr.GH on December 03, 2004 | Comments (113) | TrackBack (1)

The recent posting about the advisability of directly debating creationists by my colleague Matt Young has produced a very large number of secondary comments.  He concluded that it is wiser to follow the example of Deborah Lipstadt in her refusal to share the public stage with Holocaust deniers.  He then mildly criticized Michael Ruse for his frequent collaborations with evolution deniers.

The timeliness of this comparison of evolution deniers and Holocaust deniers was made even more clear in a small item from the Reuters News Service  carried the 3 Dec. ‘04 morning edition of the Los Angles Times.  The headline was “Auschwitz Unknown to Many Britons, Poll Says” and reported the results of a national poll that found that 45% of Britons had not heard of Auschwitz.  Creationists’ goal to eliminate scientific and academic freedom is immediate and real.  The stakes should be clear from the beginning.  We are never more than a single generation away from total savagery.

Continue reading  “Evolution Deniers and Holocaust Deniers in a locked step.”

Posted by Timothy Sandefur on December 01, 2004 | Comments (19) | TrackBack (0)

The San Francisco Chronicle has a front page story today on the Dover, PA and Cobb County, GA evolution controversies.

Posted by PZ Myers on December 01, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

We have yet another collection of fascinating science posts online for your perusal, in Tangled Bank #17, hosted this week at Penn. Read and savor, get inspired, write more science articles, and submit them to Tom Boyle for the next edition, on 15 December at CodeBlueBlog.

Posted by Reed A. Cartwright on November 30, 2004 | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Merriam-Webster has released the top 10 words of the year.  (Reuters)

Springfield, Massachusetts-based Merriam-Webster compiles the list each year by taking the most researched words on its Web sites and then excluding perennials such as affect/effect and profanity.

The company said most online dictionary queries were for uncommon terms, but people also turned to its Web sites for words in news headlines.

And the number one word is … “blog.”

Blog noun [short for Weblog] (1999) : a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer

Cicada was number 6.

Posted by Nick Matzke on November 29, 2004 | Comments (6) | TrackBack (2)

So far, most of the results from the Cassini mission have been scientifically interesting, but, well, not much to look at.  Most of the photos have been black-and-white.  However, today JPL put up a color composite that deserves some kind of award for science photograph of the year.

Whoa.  And again I say, whoa.  This definitely belongs in the “amazing things simple physics can do” category.  For the higher resolution version and the caption, see the main body of the post.

Continue reading  “Whoa. (New Cassini photo)”

Posted by Matt Young on November 29, 2004 | Comments (138) | TrackBack (0)

Deborah Lipstadt, the distinguished expert on the Holocaust, refuses to debate with Holocaust deniers.  If I remember a radio interview correctly, Prof. Lipstadt said, in so many words, “I do not debate with liars.” In her view, a respected historian’s debating Holocaust deniers would give them and their views stature and credibility they do not deserve.  Indeed, the very fact of a  debate will imply that there is something to debate, that Holocaust denial is a legitimate intellectual endeavor.

Evolution deniers such as intelligent-design creationists may not be consciously fabricating anything, but their intellectual output is as devoid of content as Holocaust denial.  Debating or collaborating with them, it seems to me, will imply that there is something to debate, that evolution denial is a legitimate intellectual endeavor.

Continue reading  “Debating with Evolution Deniers”

Posted by PZ Myers on November 28, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Gather up your links to interesting science posts and send one to Leah Penn Boris (lapenn (at) gmail (dot) com), who wil be hosting the next Tangled Bank at her website, Penn, this Wednesday. Or you can send them to host@tangledbank.net, or to PZ Myers—they'll all get to the right place.

As always, I'm looking for new people to host future Tangled Banks. It's not hard, it gets you some attention, and it helps promote science on the web. If you're interested, send email to me, and I'll put you on our list.