Public opinion about evolution, the Big Bang, and teaching evolution in public schools was reviewed in the National Science Board's Science and Engineering Indicators (PDF) 2014. The 2012 General Social Survey experimented with two versions of true/false questions addressing evolution…
Over at Buzzfeed, Matt Stopera has an interesting post originating from the recent Bill Nye/Ken Ham debate. He asked self-identified creationists at this debate to write a question to “the other side,” and have their picture taken while holding their question. It’s very interesting seeing the…
The Union of Concerned Scientists is running a clever Presidents’ Day contest asking which US president was the most science-friendly. The first round featured pairings between Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter, Abe Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt and George H. W. Bush, and John F.…
Photo Credit: PeterThoeny via Compfight cc This past week, I gave you a fossil sea creature that looked more like a footprint than anything else! Who was this little fellow? Why, an oyster, of course: from the Miocene, found in what is now Peru. Think it was as tasty then…
Last Wednesday was Darwin’s 205th birthday! Happy (belated) birthday, Chuck! It should come as no surprise that all of us here at the National Center for Science Education had our party hats on last week. But you might be surprised to learn that while we were toasting Darwin, we…
NCSE is pleased to announce that the latest issue of Reports of the National Center for Science Education is now available on-line. The issue — volume 34, number 1 — features Joseph E. Armstrong and Marshall D. Sundberg's "Yes, Bobby, Evolution is True!"; Barbara Forrest's "Louisiana's Love…
Last week on the Fossil Friday, I gave you a delicate crinoid that looked more like a doodle than anything that might have once lived! This week's fossil is similarly deceiving: it looks like a little footprint, but no, it was actually an animal. I won't give too much away,…
The Turkish biologist Aykut Kence died on February 1, 2014, at the age of 67, according to soL Portal (February 1, 2014). A pioneer in evolutionary biology and population genetics in Turkey, and a mentor to many of the country's evolutionary biologists, he was also a tireless advocate for the…
In part 1, I began with Woodrow Wilson’s famous comment “of course, like every other man of intelligence and education, I do believe in organic evolution. It surprises me that at this late date such questions should be raised.” Although it wasn’t offered in reaction to the Scopes trial, Wilson…