These two holidays, falling a day apart were made for each other.

Go fall in love and procreate, creating a new combination of genes that will slowly transition us into something better (one hopes).

The BBC has an intriguing article on a little known project that Darwin and his colleagues had worked on – Ascension island.

In short, this volcanic island in the middle of the Atlantic was a barren rock.

What happened in the interim is the amazing story of how the architect of evolution, Kew Gardens and the Royal Navy conspired to build a fully functioning, but totally artificial ecosystem.

By a bizarre twist, this great imperial experiment may hold the key to the future colonisation of Mars.

Go read the rest here!

One of the larger embarrassments to the young earth creationist movement is bringing his special brand of anti-intellectualism to the Johns Hopkins campus on November 19th. You guessed it, Ray Comfort, the infamous banana-man, is at it again – this time with a ploy so ridiculous it’d be laughable if it wasn’t so dishonest.

Ray’s latest ploy at deceiving people involves taking Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and adding his own 50 page introduction. This special addition is basically Ray’s attempt to disprove and bring into disrepute Darwin’s work.

US News and World Report has a four part article where Ray Comfort defends his decision to republish Darwin’s work (it’s legal as it is now in the public domain, yet at the same time dishonest as Ray edits out parts of the book…). Firing back on Ray in this series of articles is Eugenie Scott, Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education. To get a good picture of what’s going on and to see Eugenie tear Ray’s weak suppositions apart read: Ray leads off, Genie responds,Ray Retorts, Genie wins.

Ray continues to fall down against the usual canards that his ilk always stumble over. Create a conclusion (“my interpretation of the bible is correct, literal, and inerrant”) and then back-fill with as much junk as possible. Thus we have the basis for the anti-intellectual movement that has been building up in America and in its cross hairs is science. Why?

Science is a tool, moreover a set of tools for exploring and discovering certain natural truths or laws. Things like the speed of light is roughly 300,000 kps. The Earth revolves around the Sun. That E=mc^2. Science is not the conclusion, it’s a way to reach a conclusion with supporting evidence and reproducible results. It’s science’s ability to separate false claims from fact that make it reviled in the circles that Ray Comfort travels – and that makes about as much sense as hating a hammer or any other tool.

Ray Comfort is genuinely and purposely intellectually dishonest in an effort to deceive people into believing his pablum because his claims can’t hold water when run through any sort of logical process. He has since dropped his banana charade due to the overwhelming evidence against him. Had no one spoken out he’d still be using it to push his deceptive message – and this is why his latest ploy is so disgusting.

What can be done? His errors and fallacies have already been pointed out. Ray obviously doesn’t care. He plans to push his lies regardless (oh, the thick irony of a man pushing beliefs wherein one of the commandments in said beliefs is ‘Thou shalt not lie’).

It’s rather simple. If you have the time, travel to one of the many campuses where this book is being distributed. Ask for a copy. Ask for several copies. Remove the fallacious 50 page introduction and either keep the rest of the book for yourself or donate it to charity.

Given the current political and scientific climate in America at the moment, I about spit coffee out the nose upon seeing this image.