Creationism in the classroom

Andrew Brown writes in the Guardian (with a picture of some bloke setting things up at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky)  … At least creationists have given it some thought. Would you rather an indifferent or a passionately wrong child in the science classroom? Let’s not simply sneer at Darwin deniers If you read … Read more

Nice quote from PZ at TAM9 during panel discussion

While at TAM9 in Vegas a couple of weeks ago, one of the many panels I listened to was one in which they discussed  “communicating skepticism”. It included Phil Plait, Eugenie Scott, Jamy Ian Swiss, Sadie Crabtree, Carol Tavris, and of course PZ Myers. During this PZ came out with what I believe is a … Read more

Trust Me, I’m a Scientist

Great article in the latest Scientific American by Daniel T. Willingham. He is a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and the author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?”. His article discusses why so many people choose not to believe what scientists say, so is of direct interest to skeptics.

A friend of mine has long held that a vaccination his son received as an infant triggered his child’s autism. He clings to this belief despite a string of scientific studies that show no link between autism and vaccines. When the original paper on such a link was recently discredited as a fraud, my friend’s reaction was that it will now be more difficult to persuade people of the dangers of vaccination. He is not alone: nearly half of all Americans believe in the vaccine-autism link or are unsure about it.

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See James Randi in Norway – Live Online Video on Monday

I’ve simply cut and pasted this from here where the original was (well) written by Sadie Crabtree. It hit my “Oh thats cool” button, and yes indeed, I’m a JREF fan and 100% support all that they do. If you are not familiar with the JREF you may be interested in checking them out, I do highly recommend you to do so.


James Randi is traveling throughout Norway for a public awareness campaign sponsored by the Norwegian Humanist Association. Friday night he gave a lecture to a packed theater in Oslo, where more than 2,500 lined up to get one of the 1,000 seats for his free presentation.

Randi’s next talk in Trondheim will be broadcast live online by the University student association Studentersamfundet, beginning at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (10:00 a.m. Pacific) on Monday. Bookmark this link and tune in on Monday to watch.

Randi has given nearly a dozen interviews to Norwegian TV, radio, podcasts and daily newspapers—about homeopathy, Uri Geller’s recent visit, and the strange beliefs of the Norwegian Princess Märtha Louise. We’ll put some of these online when they’re available in English, along with video of Randi’s lectures.

If you’re in Norway, you can find Randi’s tour schedule here.

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Why teach evolution? – NCSE – YouTube – NatCen4ScienceEd

With a hat tip to the Richard Dawkins net for this one …. if you are in any way involved in teaching science, then these folks can help you. At the recent NSTA conference, Steve Newton talked about the central role evolution must play in science education, why biology teachers are hesitant to teach evolution, … Read more

Louisiana school science – your support needed please

Note: The following has been re-posted from the original By ZACK KOPPLIN – WWW.RICHARDDAWKINS.NET Added: Wednesday, 17 November 2010 at 12:11 PM. You can Click here to go to that Original Article. A rare and welcome good news story – but please give your support if you can to ensure that Zach’s splendid work is … Read more