Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
by Matthew Cobb
It’s Saturday, England whupped the Aussies in the Third Test yesterday, and I’ve just been out and bought a load of fiction to read on my holiday in a week’s time. To celebrate all that, here are two GIFs, both from science folk on Twitter. The first, via Ed Yong, shows the aurora from the ISS the second, via Adam Rutherford, shows Papal Pong (make sure you have the sound on).
(The gif was made by slimjones123, and was taken from this ISS video, which we featured in 2011.)
Good morning!
Today is the day that oxygen was discovered by Englishman Joseph Priestley in 1774 (or “dephlogisticated air” as he liked to call it) and is also notable for the day that the First World War started.
We would have probably liked Priestly around here, a man who could call Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson friend, liberal, scientist and educator. He eventually fled to America after the Priestly Riots – he was the target, not the instigator – where he remained for the rest of his life.
Hmm. Hili has been up to something. What happened to the old mouse?
Hili: Lend me 50 złoty, please.
Cyrus: What for?
Hili: I have to buy a new mouse for the computer.
In Polish:
Hili: Pożycz 50 złotych.
Cyrus: Na co?
Hili: Muszę kupić nową mysz do komputera.
by Grania Spingies
In May this year Ireland voted to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. The results demonstrated that there is a bizarre disconnect in the Catholic Church. While Bishops and other dignitaries urged a No vote and then denounced the subsequent result; the slam-dunk victory for equality came from the very people the Bishops had been counting on: the average Irish Catholic.
Some of the subsequent responses of those hoping for a No vote have been saner than others.
Prior to the election certain hard-liners amongst the clergy had warned that the Church would no longer conduct the civil part of the marriage ceremony if Ireland voted Yes. It’s not clear to me whether this was intended to be some sort of threat to motivate the general public to vote for the “right” thing; or whether the powers that be were simply overthinking things and thought this would protect them from having to conduct same sex marriages. Either way, they have done an about-face on this position. Considering the demand for civil ceremonies is on the rise in Ireland and church attendance is dwindling, this may have been a very sensible decision on the part of the Bishops. They had little to gain, but there was the prospect of plenty of money and good will to lose.
Then there were the law suits. These were private applications challenging the legality of the Referendum. Both seemed to be weak and spurious claiming that the Referendum was “unfair”. The argument seemed to be based on the fact that more people appeared to be voicing support for a Yes vote and that therefore the No vote was not getting equal coverage.
My favorite allegation: An Post (the Irish post office) issuing a St Valentine’s Day Love stamp with an equality symbol was a “subliminal message” influencing the Irish voter.
Both cases lost and their appeals were rejected yesterday.
Last, and almost certainly least, we get to the lonely campaign waged by the so-called Dublin-based “Children’s Protection Society”, whose decades-long battle against modernity and secularism makes liberal use of conspiracy theories and made-up facts; from their 1996 battle against condoms being made available in vending machines, to their rabid pro-life screed (it’s certainly colorful and creative) and in recent days this was handed out at a public shopping center.
https://twitter.com/LeanIago/status/626400576373411841
It’s possible that this is simply meant as a punitive rebuke to all those who voted Yes in the Referendum. One can only assume that its authors firmly believe that no-one knows how to use the Internet to verify its spittle-flecked claims.
Either way, they’ve lost. There isn’t going to be a do-over. Only time will tell whether the naysayers will choose to accept that gracefully or whether they will continue to rail against it.
by Grania
Most of you will already know of this story, an American tourist hunted and killed a lion in Zimbabwe and is now being investigated because the lion he shot happened to be a beloved tourist attraction at Zimbabwe’s largest game reserve, Hwange National Park. Walter Palmer is now under investigation as this hunt was clearly not legal although he maintains that he thought it was. Inevitably in the Age of The Internet, he is also now the target of threats and abuse both online and in the “real” world. He may deserve no better, but mob justice is always going to end badly. Humanity knows this from countless lessons in history. It’s why we have courts and laws and lawyers. But we don’t always seem to remember our history, and more’s the pity.
I don’t really have much to say on the subject of trophy hunting. I think it is cruel and pointless. It is also both legal and big business in many countries in Africa, so canned hunting is not going to go away any time soon. Instead of targeting the rather tasteless individuals who make use of these hunting safari clubs, the internet’s time might be more usefully spent raising awareness about animal conservation or petitioning governments to put a stop to the this type of hunting.
All of this is an overly long preamble to a new angle I did not see coming.
Apparently Animal Communicators are a thing. Or at least, they think they are a thing.
The author doesn’t just talk to animals. She talks to dead animals, and – this is the clever bit – they talk back. For a fee, of course.
It is unclear what “Raise your vibration” means, but perhaps it is one of those things that is hard to translate from the original. His style is a little archaic, but then again, perhaps that is a fault of the dead-felid-to-live-human Translator Matrix.
Why do humans do this? Self-delusion, self-aggrandizement, cynical self-promotion; take your pick.
Good morning! Grania here. Yes, we made it! Happy day of Frige if you are on the west side of the Eurasian landmass, happy day of Śukra if you are on the eastern side, and of course, also Quetzalcohuātl in Mesoamerica.
Today in 1975 labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, and there are still only conspiracy theories about what happened to him. Today is also the birthday of writer J.K. Rowling (her adult novels are good, you should try them) and NASCAR racer Louise Smith.
Hili is back to philosophizing this morning, although it is that specialized niche of philosophy that deals with food, and more specifically, food for Hili.
Hili: Can you eat the bird and have it too?
A: No, but you can eat veal from a can and have the bird.
Hili: A bowl is not as exciting.
In Polish:
Hili: Czy można zjeść ptaszka i go zachować?
Ja: Nie, ale można zjeść cielęcinę z puszki i zachować ptaszka.
Hili: Miseczka nie jest tak ekscytująca.
by Grania
Why rescue pets are awesome.
You rescue one of your cousins, you win every time.
I believe we are closely enough related to understand the faces without resorting to anthropomorphism.
From Deveoh who have a post devoted to animals rescued and given caring forever homes. There are many more happy cats and dogs at the link.
I’m Batman.
My science friends who criticize me for going after the John Templeton foundation too critically, saying to me, “Hey, they fund real science and not just woo,” should have a look at this 6-minute video (click on screenshot) called “Science and the Big Questions”. It shows how reputable scientists like Brian Greene (physics) and Martin Nowak (evolutionary biology) have been coopted by Templeton to help sell their aims. (Greene’s World Science Festival is largely funded by Templeton, as is a huge chunk of Nowak’s research.)
Note the implicit references to theology, as in Greene’s statement that “We want the person who think about the world one way to come into contact with someone who thinks about the world perhaps a different way and see: are they really at odds? Are there points of contact? Are there ways they can meld together and yield a richer picture of the way reality is constructed—or not.” Now one could say that he’s not talking about theologians, and perhaps he isn’t, but then have a listen to the rest of the video.
Frankly, I’m not sure how anything other than science can tell us “how reality is constructed.”
Shortly after Greene appears, we see Martin Nowak, a Catholic, being more explicit: telling us why scientists should talk to theologians.
The whole tenor of the Templeton Foundation is to change its words without changing its aims. “God” and “theology” are largely disappearing in favor of “The Big Questions, ” “Meaning and Purpose,” “Other Perspectives,” “Spirituality” and “Getting Other Points of View.” But make no mistake: the intent is still to find a rapprochement between science and religion. If you read Faith versus Fact, you’ll see that Templeton continues to hand out millions of dollars to projects, even scientific ones, that involve input from theologians. Theologians have nothing to contribute to understanding our cosmos. Yes, they can tell us about the history of thought about God, but that’s not much difference than telling us the history of thought about Zeus, Wotan, or Santa.
Philosophers I have no problem with, for they can provide valuable input to some scientific research programs. But theologians? Those who study nonexistent beings? They have no place in any endeavor that aims to tell us about reality.
Line up, you impecunious scientists! For the small price of selling your soul, you have over a 50% chance of getting a big grant proposal funded (my emphasis). I almost hate saying this, as I can see the scientists saying, “Hey, Coyne has told us that we can get some big money!”
Founder: Sir John Templeton
Established in: 1987
Size of endowment: $3.34 billion (2013)
Location: West Conshohocken, a suburb of Philadelphia, PA
Number of employees: 82
First year Templeton Prize was given: 1973
Templeton Prize value: £1,100,000 sterling (approximately $1.7 million)
Number of living Templeton Prize Laureates: 19
Total grant payout and charitable activities: $966 million (1987-2013)
Total grant payments: $103 million (2013)
Number of grant requests: 360 (2014)
Number of grants approved: 188 (2014)
Average grant size: $1,021,000 (2014), with 35% under $250,000
Geographical range of grants: International
Year Templeton Press was established: 1997
Number of books published by the Templeton Press: 216 (to date)
And their mission:
The John Templeton Foundation serves as a philanthropic catalyst for discoveries relating to the Big Questions of human purpose and ultimate reality. We support research on subjects ranging from complexity, evolution, and infinity to creativity, forgiveness, love, and free will. We encourage civil, informed dialogue among scientists, philosophers, and theologians and between such experts and the public at large, for the purposes of definitional clarity and new insights.
Our vision is derived from the late Sir John Templeton’s optimism about the possibility of acquiring “new spiritual information” and from his commitment to rigorous scientific research and related scholarship. The Foundation’s motto, “How little we know, how eager to learn,” exemplifies our support for open-minded inquiry and our hope for advancing human progress through breakthrough discoveries.
The operative words here are “new spiritual information.”
by Grania
Here’s a jaw-dropping gif* from HighTechPanda
Here's what an astronaut sees upon reentry to Earth on a Soyuz lander, think you could handle that?#space pic.twitter.com/occlBlkgtr
— HighTechPanda (@HighTechPanda) July 27, 2015
And to answer their question, I don’t care if I could handle it, but I certainly want the experience.
*Pronounced GIF with a hard G because of reasons and also because the acronym stands for Graphics Interchange Format, and we say graphics with a hard G and not like ssjz-raffics.