Science Is Constantly Evolving

Discover the latest in climate change and evolution education news.

Kudos for NCSE's Reid
Ann Reid "Ann Reid has been a researcher, a policy wonk, and a program manager. In January, she will put on a new hat — as first responder to attacks on science education," reported Science Insider (November 20, 2013), taking notice of NCSE's announcement of Reid's appointment as its new…
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
  Photo Credit: RubioBuitrago via Compfight cc I have a confession to make. I used to be a smoker. Not a social smoker. Not a light smoker. But a regular, good old-fashioned Marlboro-man-style smoker. And not for a year or two. I was a cigarette smoker for fifteen years.…
A final defeat for Freshwater
In a 4-3 decision issued on November 19, 2013, the Supreme Court of Ohio upheld the termination of John Freshwater. In its decision, the court wrote (PDF): After detailed review of the voluminous record in this case, we hold that the court of appeals did not err in affirming the termination.…
Forty-Five Years after Epperson, Part 2
In part 1, posted on the forty-fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Epperson v. Arkansas, I related how the state law prohibiting the teaching of evolution (“the theory or doctrine that mankind ascended or descended from a lower order of animals”) in Arkansas’s public…
Albert the Great and the Foundations of Science
When beggars die, there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. —William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act II.   So wrote Shakespeare in 1599, echoing a common assumption about the relationship between comets and terrestrial affairs. But…
NCSE's new executive director
Ann Reid NCSE is pleased to announce that Ann Reid will be the new executive director of NCSE. Reid succeeds Eugenie C. Scott, who served as executive director for twenty-seven years, 1986 to 2013. Like NCSE itself, Reid combines scientific excellence with communications…
Answer Monday! Correction!
  Last week I presented you with a pretty challenging fossil to identify, which even I had trouble identifying!  My source at the museum had told me it was a mammoth tooth, but of course our NCSE members knew better—even better than a paleontologist! After posting that it was in fact…
The Heartland Institute's Propaganda Machine Needs to Work On Its Mailing List
The second funniest thing that happened to me this week was discovering a package from the Heartland Institute in my faculty mailbox. Most well-adjusted people wouldn't find this amusing, but I was already well-familiar with Heartland's recent climate denialist mailing to teachers, and had even…
Fossil Friday!
  This week's fossil is one of my all time favorites. Not just because of the animal it came from, but because of the way it has decayed over time. Can you guess what animal it came from?  Better yet, which California Bay was it found in…

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The National Center for Science Education is the only national organization that specializes in defending the teaching of controversial issues (such as evolution and climate change) in public schools. Because of our special expertise and experience, NCSE is often cotacted by members of the press who are writing about the evolution/creationism controversy, or about the teaching of global warming and other climate science issues that have come under political attack. Our staff can provide reliable information about creationism, evolution, climate change, and the state of science education in the United States.

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