Pharyngula

Pharyngula Probably not. But the New York Times reports: A review of studies has found that the health benefits of infant male circumcision vastly outweigh the risks involved in the procedure. Planet of the Apes POSTED: Sunday, September 30, 2012, 12:34 PM Peter Andolfatto One of the more difficult aspects of evolution for some people to swallow is the notion that random copying errors in DNA can add up to anything useful. In two recently published projects, however, scientists show how typos can indeed lead to improvements.

Friendly Atheist Alberta Officials Reject Proposed Catholic Sex Ed Lessons That “Deny Science” Alberta officials deserve praise for this strong stance against harmful misinformation. Read more Gordon Klingenschmitt: “The Church Should Take Over the Government” Gordon Klingenschmitt, the former Colorado State Rep. who eventually lost his seat in part because of his theocratic fantasies, is at it again. Bad Astronomy Well now, this is an interesting discovery: astronomers have found what looks like a "super-Earth" – a planet more massive than Earth but still smaller than a gas giant – orbiting a nearby star at the right distance to have liquid water on it! Given that, it might – might – be Earthlike. This is pretty cool news. We’ve found planets like this before, but not very many! And it gets niftier: the planet has at least five siblings, all of which orbit its star closer than it does.

Ology List - List of -ology Sciences and Scientific Disciplines Updated November 12, 2015. An ology is a discipline of study, as indicated by having the -ology suffix. This is a list of science ologies. Please let me know if you know of an -ology that should be added to the list. How To Sell Magic Beans One of the eternal questions for skeptics is – how can some people be so gullible? We have a standard answer which captures many of the factors: poor understanding of science, lack of an innate sense of probability, all the various mechanisms of self-deception, and the strong desire to believe in certain things. Further, some cons are just slick, and anyone can be fooled by a clever-enough deception. But still, there are some claims that are so astoundingly gullible it’s difficult not to face-palm when confronted by them. One category of such claims is what I think of as the equivalent of magic amulets, or the magic beans from Jack and the Beanstalk.

An album all about science! "Terra Lumina" by John Boswell Terra Lumina is a new musical project by John D Boswell, aka melodysheep, the creator of Symphony of Science, and Will Crowley, fellow musician and collaborator for the band Hudson. We're looking to create and publish an album of songs covering a topic that is under represented in today's musical scene - science. John has pioneered a new form of inspirational and educational music through his Symphony of Science music video series, which has garnered millions of views and inspired thousands of people to pursue scientific interests; Will Crowley is a scientifically educated multi-instrumentalist and has worked for years in the public school system as a math and science educator.

The Alchemist Newsletter: Apr 26, 2012 — Welcome to ChemWeb Aspirin by any other name An international research program has revealed once more that the earliest of commercial pharmaceuticals, aspirin, has yet more roles to play in medicine. The researchers have demonstrated that salicylate, the active metabolite, directly increases the activity of AMP-activated protein kinase. This enzyme is key player in the regulation of cell growth and metabolism and is, figuratively speaking, the cellular fuel-gauge. It is triggered by exercise and by the anti-diabetic medication metformin, so understanding and modulating its activity could be relevant to overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The Story of Science: Power, Proof and Passion For thousands of years we have wrestled with the great questions of existence. Who are we? What is the world made of? EDGE 2011: What scientific Concept would improve everybody's cognitive toolkit? There's a lot of stuff in the world: trees, cars, galaxies, benzene, the Baths of Caracalla, your pancreas, Ottawa, ennui, Walter Mondale. How does it all fit together? In a word… Supervenience.