MigrationsMigrationsCells, birds, and musings from a biologist Articles
Belief in Evolution, Minus Faith
2008-05-27 14:30:00 A couple weeks ago, NPR’s This I Believe podcast presented a five minute essay from paleoanthropologist Holly Dunsworth titled I am evolution. As Dunsworth says, believing evolution is different from belief in something - as though one needs to believe that fossils exist. This is the sort of clear-headed thinking that more people ... More About: Science , Evolution , Faith , Belief
Tricolored Heron
2008-05-25 11:20:00 Tricolored Heron, Egretta tricolor Picture: Larry (Dan’s father), April 24, in the Everglades More About: Birding
World Migratory Bird Day
2008-05-10 11:54:00 The Press Release: The Secretariat of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (UNEP/AEWA) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species (UNEP/CMS) are glad to announce the countdown for World Migratory Bird Day 2008. This two-day awareness raising campaign will take place globally for the third consecutive year from 10? 11 of May 2008. The theme ... More About: Conservation
The Cypriot Government?s Spring Hunting Endorsement
2008-05-01 12:53:00 Via BirdLife International: BirdLife International and its national Partner BirdLife Cyprus (BirdLife in Cyprus) strongly opposed today?s decision by the Cypriot government to allow spring shooting of Carrion Crow Corvus corone and Black-billed Magpie Pica pica. This is viewed as a backdoor allowing hunters to shoot European Turtle-doves Streptopelia turtur. The EU Birds Directive prohibits the ... More About: Government , Conservation , Spring , Endorsement , Hunting
The Evolution of Forgiveness
2008-04-28 15:45:00 The “Nature” versus “Nurture” debate is a perennial topic. In Beyond Revenge, McCullough suggests that both revenge and forgiveness are hard-wired into us as social primates. In doing so, he manages to distinguish his claims that such human behaviors are natural from fatalistic conclusions, because “natural” does not connotate a justification for vengeful actions, nor ... More About: Books , Evolution , Forgiveness , Anthropology
Recommended Reading for April
2008-04-24 17:01:00 With writing grants, time is at a premium. I still find time to scan the other blogs when I need a break, and here are a number that stand out. Also, check out tomorrow where I’ll cover the molecular bio blogs at Bitesize Bio. Contrary Imaginations - Here’s an article that you should read, given ... More About: Reading , April
Birding with David Attenborough
2008-04-20 11:27:00 Greg Laden likes YouTube clips, and some originating with David Attenborough really stand out. Take this first one listening to the Magnificent Lyre Bird, a second with raising Whooping Crane chicks, and a third displaying the Superb Bird Of Paradise. Attenborough has produced over 150 hours of video of the highest caliber, covering ... More About: Biophilia , Birding
Ambelopoulia - Illegal delicacy in Cyprus
2008-04-17 11:55:00 Here’s an article from the Environmental News Service (ENS) on September 20, 2005: Cyprus Tries Education to Halt Illegal Songbird Slaughter. NICOSIA, Cyprus, September 20, 2005 (ENS) - In an attempt to stop the illegal trapping and sale of migratory songbirds for food, the Cyprus government and BirdLife Cyprus announced Monday the launch of an ... More About: Conservation
Expelled, or Flunked
2008-04-09 08:29:00 Expelled Exposed “Flunked, not expelled: What Ben Stein isn’t telling you about Intelligent Design,” via the National Center for Science Education More About: Creationism , Expelled
Knowledge or Certainty
2008-04-08 08:36:00 One of the foundations of my high school education was watching and discussing Jacob Bronowski’s 13-part series titled The Ascent of Man. It crystallized my thinking about Western thought, science, and the trends that humanity perpetrates. It inspired Carl Sagan to produce his series Cosmos, and resonated with many young minds of my ... More About: Books , Humanism , Knowledge
Monarchs Under Threat
2008-04-05 08:43:00 Habitat Destruction May Wipe Out Monarch Butterfly Migration: Intense deforestation in Mexico could ruin one of North America?s most celebrated natural wonders ? the mysterious 3,000-mile migration of the monarch butterfly. According to a University of Kansas researcher, the astonishing migration may collapse rapidly without urgent action to end devastation of the butterfly?s vital sources of ... More About: Biophilia , Threat , Monarchs
Slap on the Wrists for Falcon Slaughterers in Cyprus
2008-04-04 10:21:00 I’m a bit late in posting this, but do you remember a few months ago, when two men here in Cyprus were tracked down after slaughtering 52 Red-footed Falcon s (Falco vespertinus), for target practice? The incident occurred on British Sovereign Base Area (SBA) land, and the case went to the SBA courts. Last month, the ... More About: Biophilia
The Opposite of Educating
2008-04-03 16:54:00 I know, I just had a quote posting, but here’s another hot off the presses. In response to ‘framing’ as laid out by Nisbet/Mooney, PZ has the money quote on why Mooney’s grand scheme for duping the public into greater acceptance of science is bullshit: [Framing implies] a demeaning opinion of the public, and it ... More About: Education , Quotations , Opposite
The Honesty of Atheism
2008-04-02 21:24:00 ?My practice as a scientist is atheistic. That is to say, when I set up an experiment I assume that no god, angel, or devil is going to interfere with its course; and this assumption has been justified by such success as I have achieved in my professional career. I should therefore be intellectually dishonest ... More About: Atheism , Quotations , Honesty
Penguins Take Flight
2008-04-01 13:49:00 Breaking news on a BBC documentary - click on image for video. (hattip: Loranablog) More About: Humor , Flight
Migrating into the Sunset
2008-03-30 21:48:00 Migrating Sandhill Cranes over the Platte River, Nebraska. (Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU.) I would be seriously remiss not to pass this one along. Hat tip: Hedwig the Owl More About: Sunset , Biophilia
Origins of Religion
2008-03-30 13:17:00 I’ve commented on various aspects of the origin of religion or religion as a natural phenomenon, including its psychological, cultural, and anthropological basis. But I’ve never put it all together in one place. Today, Razib of Gene Expression has such an article, that’s a very detailed and comprehensive summary of the subject (emphasis ... More About: Religion
Restoring Our Ecology
2008-03-29 15:10:00 ?For each of us, as for the robin in Michigan or the Salmon in the Miramichi, this is a problem of ecology, of interrelationships, of interdependence. We poison the caddis flies in a stream and the salmon runs dwindle and die. We poison the gnats in a lake and the poison travels from link to ... More About: Ecology , Biophilia , Quotations
Darwin and Racism
2008-03-27 22:15:00 One thing that keeps popping its head up with creationists and religionists in general is the misunderstanding that natural selection implies racism. Heck, even some evolutionists think that the mention of the word ‘race’ with regards to the human species, even when used in the taxonomic sense, implies ‘racism.’ This betrays a horrible ... More About: Evolution , Darwin , Racism
Communicating Expertise
2008-03-24 11:10:00 Check out my latest post on Bitesize Bio on Comments on Communicating Expertise and Knowledge. Quoting myself: When scientists are working on open inquiry and empirical evidence in this manner, they are working on entirely different presumptions about the world than pseudoscience proponents. One can try to deal with the inconsistencies of underlying presumptions, but ... More About: Science , Education
More links while life keeps me occuppied
2008-03-21 08:54:00 I’m still adjusting to Cyprus, and it’s tough. Greek lessons, job searches, establishing a new home, trying to lose a few pounds - not easy. The toughest part is of course giving up my support base back home, including my family and long-time friends, and having to rely on my wife’s family who ... More About: Life , Links
Relevant Discussions Around the Blogs
2008-03-10 09:19:00 … Relevant to some of the themes of this blog, that is. The shape of human variation - A while back, I had a person foolishly claiming that human races are merely a social construct, and thus don’t really exist. The reality is that the human species is an animal species, subject to the same ... More About: Blogs
The Human Animal
2008-03-07 16:41:00 While blogging has been light lately, here’s a YouTube clip for a bit of a reality check. What we are - really just a bunch of monkeys. Crazy, mixed-up, hairless monkeys. For a slightly more serious take on this, read The Third Chimpanzee, by Jared Diamond. More About: Animal , Human , Anthropology
Books, and More Books
2008-03-05 21:22:00 Sorry for the no posts lately. I’m still adjusting to a new culture and new language, and writing grant/fellowship applications. For blogging, my time has been (well) spent at Bitesize Bio, but I have been reading some good books lately. ... More About: Books
Encyclopedia of Life
2008-02-27 10:39:00 As a biophile, I can’t help but link to the Encyclopedia of Life (via PZ). While the concept has been tried before, E.O. Wilson is behind this incarnation of an online resource devoted to a description of all biodiversity and the classification/description thereof. It’s ambitious, I would say (1.8 million species!). More ... More About: Biophilia
When Change Is Not Enough: Seven Steps to Revolution
2008-02-26 08:13:00 A striking essay on AlterNet, putting the 2008 elections into a hopeful perspective: In a nutshell - the seven things that lead to revolution, viewed through a historic perspective, as applied to the current domestic state of affairs. Summary: 1. Soaring, Then Crashing - in which a period of stability and prosperity is suddenly disrupted, the hard-won gains ... More About: Politics , Change , Revolution , Steps
Coevolution of Religion and War
2008-02-25 15:31:00 Basically - the actual study was The Coevolution of Parochial Altruism and War, in an October issue of Science. I only recently heard of the paper, but here’s the abstract: Altruism?benefiting fellow group members at a cost to oneself?and parochialism?hostility toward individuals not of one’s own ethnic, racial, or other group?are common human behaviors. The ... More About: Religion
Communism in Cyprus
2008-02-24 18:01:00 ‘Communist’ on course for Cyprus poll win I’m not sure how to view this. I’m very liberal by American standards, but extremely right-wing by European standards. I don’t yet understand the local politics here in Cyprus, so I don’t have much of an opinion on this election as far as specific issues go. ... More About: Politics , Communism
Leatherbacks on Migratory Odyssey Across Pacific
2008-02-19 08:30:00 Leatherback Sea Turtles Followed On 12,700 Mile Migratory Journey Across The Pacific : NOAA researchers and their international partners in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands are using satellite transmitter technology to track the endangered leatherback sea turtle across the Pacific Ocean. Transmitters attached to the carapace of the turtle send signals to satellites providing ...
Evolution as a Heuristic, and Evidence for it
More articles from this author:2008-02-15 10:30:00 Various questions about life abound that are best explained by evolution, and not at all explained by creationism, design, or its permutations. How well do you understand evolution and its implications? Some questions to think about - first, the abstract questions: Does evolutionary theory explain how life began? Is evolution a random process? Can organisms sense ... More About: Evolution , Evidence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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