Something has sucked all the fun out of Hallowe’en. I wonder what it is? Oh, yeah, goddamit. You know what else it’s going to ruin? The echoes are going to wreck Thanksgiving, and also …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

30.10.2024

Say no to wanna-be space tyrants

Somebody finally says what our colonies in space would look like (although, to be fair, there are so many distopian science fiction novels that have repeatedly said it): they would be slave compoun…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

30.10.2024

I’d rather be voting for Bernie

Hey, this is exactly my position on the election!

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

29.10.2024

There are multiple “C words,” you know

While the Republican Party is busy covering the racism angle, Elon Musk is, in his @America account, making sure the misogynists know to vote for the convicted rapist. It’s part of a misleadi…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

29.10.2024

Some days, I wonder why I’m doing this

Today, I had 3 students (out of 11) show up for what I thought was a scintillating talk about the immediate aftermath of publishing The Origin. Wilberforce and Huxley! Huxley humiliating Owen on th…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

29.10.2024

Who is that jackwad?

Trump had a rally in Madison Square Garden this weekend and it was reminiscent of a Nazi rally. They brought on a ‘comedian’ who made a ‘joke’. I don’t know if you know this…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

27.10.2024

Transphobia rots your brain

CSICon is currently taking place in Las Vegas, with a great speaker lineup: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Cox, Michael Mann, Massimo Pigliucci, Steve Novella, etc. For some reason, they also included …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

27.10.2024

I think I see the problem here

As we get closer to the election, the frenzy of the media becomes increasingly apparent. All the stories about polls, about uncommitted voters, about wild rumors about immigrants, etc., it all has …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

27.10.2024

The FDA hates sunshine and exercise?

Remember this: Trump wants to put RFK Jr. in charge of America’s public health policy. There’s a bunch of both dangerous (opposed by the FDA) and innocuous (not opposed, and sometimes e…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

26.10.2024

Today I’m doing a “fool’s experiment” in the classroom

Fridays are the worst, from a teacher’s perspective, and Mondays are great. Students start out the week full of enthusiasm and slowly deflate, so today I’ve only got 50% attendance…and …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

26.10.2024

Little boy, you are not yet ready

Today was the day I was going to try breeding a new generation of black widows. I gently introduced some males to some females, but then chickened out. No way were these males ready for the overwhe…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

25.10.2024

A map that explains so much

Here’s a map of average precipitation across the US. I’m in the dry band that stretches from Texas to Minnesota, drawing a vertical line across the middle of the country. I grew up in t…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

25.10.2024

My political “dilemma”

Here’s the problem. The Democrats think it’s OK to murder Palestinians, but also think trans people should have rights. The Republicans think it’s OK to murder both Palestinians a…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

25.10.2024

Phase 2 complete

Phase 1 was moving the young black widows to new, spacious quarters and giving them a day to get comfortable. Phase 2 is giving them a big meal so they aren’t hungry when meeting their beaus.…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

25.10.2024

Go go go, Boeing workers!

Well, my mother’s house has been stripped bare. We hired a local contractor to sweep through and sort and dispose of everything she left behind, which leaves me feeling sad and depressed. She…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

24.10.2024

Walz has a way with words

First, it was recognizing that conservative Republicans are “weird,” out of touch with common values. Now he has absolutely perfectly pegged Elon Musk: he’s a dipshit. Democratic …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

24.10.2024

Antici…pation

An Australian reader sent me this photo of a redback, the Aussie version of Latrodectus. So pretty! And with an egg sac! That reminds me…this is a big week in the lab, I hope. My second generation …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

24.10.2024

The happy couple, getting ready for the wedding

This is one of the black widow females I just moved into roomier quarters. It does not have a red back. Our North American widows are a solid black, with a red hourglass on the underside of the abd…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

24.10.2024

I’m in trouble with AiG and its lawyers

I have been informed that I must take down a blog post, this one. Apparently, Answers in Genesis does not own a whole jet, they lease 25% of one, and how dare I quote an investor site that says &#8…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

23.10.2024

The administrators have my paycheck, but the students have my respect

University of Minnesota took over the administration building yesterday. The protest didn’t last long. The police charged in and have arrested 11 students and alumni. It’s the principle…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

22.10.2024

Living the dream, I think he should do it full time

I never worked in a fast food joint, but I had lots of friends who did; it’s a common, mundane job experience for a lot of people. It’s not an extraordinary claim at all for someone to …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

22.10.2024

Fluff and nonsense

I opened up the Washington Post this morning to see an article titled, what science says about the power of religion and prayer to heal. OK, I’ll bite. What does science say about the power o…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

21.10.2024

What it was like to be a baby grad student in 1979

I’m back! Yesterday was a long day of travel — I got up a 5am to go to the airport, and what with the flight, then waiting to take a shuttle to the western part of the state, sitting on…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

19.10.2024

I got stuff done

We have committed to a real estate agent. He thinks my mother’s house will be on the market within a few weeks. I signed up a cleaning service who will sweep in on Wednesday, and reduce all t…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

18.10.2024

<whimper>

Yesterday was a succession of meetings with lawyers and bankers. They were nice enough people, but I now have a clearer picture of what hell would be like. It’s forms, forms, forms, the click…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

18.10.2024

Everyone’s views except mine are extremist

Jonathan Chait (fuck that guy) uses a familiar tactic to argue that Democrats should throw trans people under the bus. He points out How Progressive Overreach Gave Trump His Favorite Attack Ad, and…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

18.10.2024

Why are creationists so pasty pale at Answers in Genesis?

AiG owns a private jet. That jet frequently darts down to the Cayman Islands for one-day visits. I guess they don’t have time to visit the beautiful sunny beaches of the Caribbean. Strange. W…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

17.10.2024

Spectacular scenery

I walked down the road to the mighty White River, a fast moving stream that descends from the Cascades carrying a load of glacial silt, which is how it gets its name. I had to stop and take a photo…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

17.10.2024

Testa di cazzo!

To some people, today is Columbus Day. Those people have a cultish dedication to believing that a rapist, a thief, a slaver, and an oppressor was a hero — I guess nowadays we can believe ther…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

17.10.2024

He’s not even a good dancer

Trump has run out of things to say. Two people fainted in his rally in Pennsylvania (this is probably an ongoing problem, when most of your fans are old people), and he used that as an excuse to st…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

17.10.2024

He’s only missing a creationist crypto currency now

Daniel Phelps reports: Ken Ham wants $20 million more! More! More! Ken Ham is begging for $20 million from his followers in order to 1) provide new space at the Creation Museum, 2) turn the 4th dec…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

17.10.2024

RA Fisher rises again?

I do have to do some class work while I’m trapped in the land of lawyers and banks — I’ve got essays being submitted today that I’ll have to grade this evening, and I’…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

17.10.2024

Found in a back room at my mother’s house

Mom stored these together. That’s my personal family Bible, given to me by my grandparents when I was just a baby (the indoctrination attempts begin early.) It’s well worn because I car…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

14.10.2024

Rural kitsch

I traveled across country yesterday, from Morris to Seattle, and the first stop on the journey was a truck stop in Sauk Centre, where highway 28 merges onto I-94. I gassed up the car, and then wand…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

14.10.2024

She saved what?

Everything. I’m at my late mother’s house. My sisters have been working hard to sort out the years and years of stuff Mom had stashed away. They have dragged out boxes and boxes of stuf…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

13.10.2024

I like Ed Yong even more now

I thoroughly enjoyed Ed Yong’s talk about how he coped with the pandemic. You’ll probably enjoy it, too. He’s upbeat and positive about everything, although he did break in a few …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

12.10.2024

1958-1969, the video

I waded into another batch of 8mm recordings from my childhood. This was from the time when I was still vaguely cute.

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

12.10.2024

Do you believe him yet?

Elon Musk revealed the latest generation of his Optimus robot on stage. They didn’t do much: they walked slowly into the audience, accompanied by protective Tesla employees, while Musk hyped …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

12.10.2024

My personal experience matches this observation

Everyone who has gone to grad school knows this, but we also recognize that this study was executed by grad students who just wanted to get through the next few years. A study of Swedish PhD candid…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

12.10.2024

Here we go again

I’m flying out to Seattle this weekend to take another step in the probat process after my mother’s death. I’m meeting with lawyers and bankers — can you imagine anything mo…

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Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula - Science

Hallowe’en used to be a fun holiday

Say no to wanna-be space tyrants

I’d rather be voting for Bernie

There are multiple “C words,” you know

Some days, I wonder why I’m doing this

Who is that jackwad?

Transphobia rots your brain

I think I see the problem here

The FDA hates sunshine and exercise?

Today I’m doing a “fool’s experiment” in the classroom

Little boy, you are not yet ready

A map that explains so much

My political “dilemma”

Phase 2 complete

Go go go, Boeing workers!

Walz has a way with words

Antici…pation

The happy couple, getting ready for the wedding

I’m in trouble with AiG and its lawyers

The administrators have my paycheck, but the students have my respect

Living the dream, I think he should do it full time

Fluff and nonsense

What it was like to be a baby grad student in 1979

I got stuff done

<whimper>

Everyone’s views except mine are extremist

Why are creationists so pasty pale at Answers in Genesis?

Spectacular scenery

Testa di cazzo!

He’s not even a good dancer

He’s only missing a creationist crypto currency now

RA Fisher rises again?

Found in a back room at my mother’s house

Rural kitsch

She saved what?

I like Ed Yong even more now

1958-1969, the video

Do you believe him yet?

My personal experience matches this observation

Here we go again

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