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.
Good morning on a Thursday and the first day of July in 2021. It’s finally stopped raining at last in Chicago, and we’ve been spared the extreme heat of the East and West coasts. It’s also National Gingersnap Day (a cookie or, as you Brits say, a “biscuit”). It’s also these food months all at … Continue reading Thursday: Hili dialogue
I really did try to read this Science paper about urban ecology and systemic racism, first reading it quickly, as I’m wont to do, and then starting to delve in, “perusing” it in the proper sense. But I had to give up on several grounds:its length (18 pages, one of the longest papers I’ve ever … Continue reading Does anybody want to read a long paper?
This is a sad story: sad for biology, sad for science communication, and perhaps saddest for Laura Helmuth, editor-in-chief of Scientific American. Over the past few years, Helmuth has injected a hefty dose of authoritarian progressive ideology into her magazine (see here for some of my posts on the issue). It’s gotten worse and worse, … Continue reading Once again, ideology distorts science: the editor-in-chief of Scientific American flubs big time, wrongly asserting that sparrows have four sexes.
We’ve reached the Ides of May: Wednesday, May 15, 2019. It’s National Chocolate Chip Day, but of course you don’t eat them on your own (unless you’re stoned). It’s also International Conscientious Objectors Day, which I’ll celebrate because I was one. The big news is of course the odious Alabama abortion bill, but we’ll get … Continue reading Wednesday: Hili dialogue
Hola from Puebla, Mexico, where the weather is predicted to be full-on sunny for the three more days I’ll be here, with highs between 72 and 78° F (22-26°C). Posting will be light today as I’ve a lot to see and do. There are old friends here—I rode in from the airport with Robyn Blumer … Continue reading Friday: Hili dialogue (and Leon monologue)
As the Aussies say, “Gooday, mates”. It’s May 15, 2017, and another damn Monday. It’s also National Chocolate Chip Day, promulgated by Big Chocolate. Meh. But I am celebrating International Conscientious Objectors Day, as I was one of them. I abjure violence (though I likely would have fought in a “just war” like WWII), and the last time … Continue reading Monday: Hili dialogue (and Leon monologue)
Glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, is a special habit of American Christians, though other Christians in other countries use it too. Both Dan Barker and Jerry DeWitt, once evangelical preachers, told me recently that although they’re now diehard atheists, they sometimes still speak in tongues when they’re alone, for they find it relaxing. The Jesus and Mo artist highlights … Continue reading Jesus ‘n’ Mo ‘n’ glossolalia
by Matthew Cobb Just out in eLife, an Open Access journal that aims to rival Science and Nature, is this fantastic fossil of an aquatic fly larva from the Chinese mid-Jurassic (around 165 MY ago), published by Chen et al. Soft-bodied animals rarely fossilise well, but the Chinese fossil-hunters have been able to find three … Continue reading A bizarre blood-sucking Jurassic maggot
As the old saying goes, “Natural selection is smarter than you are,” and I continue to be amazed at the things it’s come up with. In fact, sometimes I think that biologists should invent a drinking game in which we imagine adaptations and then try to find out if they’ve actually evolved. (To ensure reality, … Continue reading Salamander pokes its ribs through its skin to defend itself
