The title of the present post really ought to be “Tracking Dr. Fraas”—or perhaps “Fracking Dr. Fraas” for the alliteration?—for, as I explained in part 1, it turns out that “the famous paleontologist Dr. Traas,” who reportedly claimed, “The idea that mankind is descended from any Simian species…
“Ownage is ownage.” That’s what Mike Krukow, one half—along with Duane Kuiper—of the legendary San Francisco Giants broadcasting team, says when a great hitter just can’t get a hit on a certain pitcher. Or a great pitcher just can’t seem to get a certain hitter out. In my book, when it comes to…
With so many of the world’s major players in climate change gathered in the City of Light for the COP21 climate talks, it is not surprising that climate denialist groups are riding the coattails of this event to promote their anti-science agenda.
The Heartland Institute is one such group. As I…
Let’s take another look at last week’s fossil, just to remind ourselves what we're dealing with. What is it? It’s a tooth! What kind of a tooth? A GIANT SLOTH TOOTH!!! Okay, I was very excited to finally give you all something that was actually from a giant sloth. I…
Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful holiday, and put into practice Josh Rosenau’s helpful advice if there was a monster at your Thanksgiving table. We’ve got a nice collection of articles for you this week, from tardigrades to koalas, and from Iraq to Miami to the halls of Congress. Enjoy…
Jim Himes House Resolution 548 (PDF), introduced in the United States House of Representatives on December 3, 2015, would, if passed, express the House's support of designating February 12, 2016, as Darwin Day, and its recognition of "Charles Darwin as a worthy symbol on which to celebrate…
Matt Cartwright A measure that would have acknowledged "the overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is real" was rejected in the U.S. House of Representatives on December 3, 2015, according to The Hill (December 3, 2015). While H.R. 8 — the North American Energy Security…
Reminded, in a recent discussion with Jason Rosenhouse, of William A. Williams’s The Evolution of Man Scientifically Disproved (1925), a Scopes-era effort in using pseudomathematics to debunk evolution, I was skimming the book again. Chapter 28 is entitled “Scientists Condemn…
This week in Fossil Friday I have a specimen I’m particularly pleased to show you. It’s the holiday season—consider it a gift! So what is this thing the University of Iowa fossil curator, Tiffany Adrain, is holding? This was a particularly nice specimen to touch: really smooth with…