Who searches for “gravity false” anyway?

I suppose that most of the people reading this blog are either:

1. Creationists who search for “dogs giving birth to cats”, “evidence for spontaneous generation” or “creation research” on WordPress.com (Those are real search terms people have used to find me, no lie!),
2. Evolutionists who search for “gene frequency and evolution”, “homologous of a cat’s leg” or “creationist” on WordPress.com (Also real search terms), or
3. Skeptics who come in from sites like Podblack, Skepbitch and/or Skelliot’s Blog

If you’re in the last two categories, you may have already heard of this. However, it is my duty to it to promote it, regardless of its huge popularity.

Yes, that’s right. The Atheist Blogroll: I have joined it. And Mojoey, the guy who runs it, hath decreed that I shall promote the Blogroll with a post in my blog. And so I am.

So check it out: there’s a massive number of, eh, atheist-related blogs on there, such as the afore-mentioned Podblack (which is awesome, by the way).

However, if you’re the person/people who searched for “youtube intercourse” or “youtube high school intercourse” in WordPress.com and found my blog: you may want to go to a slightly more adult blogroll. The Atheist Blogroll is probably not for you.

CCC No.2: “Probability falsifies evolutionary change”

Today’s CCC relates to the tendency for creationists to assert that evolutionary theory can be falsified simply by calculating the supposed probabilities surrounding the accumulation of mutations that are necessary for evolutionary change.

CCC No. 1: “Evolution is not happening now”

In this series of posts, I’m going to be dismantling common claims made by creationists in general, rather than specific articles that they have written. Don’t worry, I’m stilll going to be doing the ‘Creationist Breakdown’ posts, but this series will allow me to delve into more detail about topics that may come up in refutations but not be adequately explained.

Today’s Common Creationist Claim (or CCC, as I will be referring to them from now on, in an effort to create my own self-contained mini-meme) is: “Evolution is not happening now.” A similar claim is: “Evolution has never been observed”, but I’ll focus on the first one for now.

Student Research Scheme Details and Photos

So, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I took part in the CSIRO Student Research Scheme, which I talked about here on the 9th of May earlier this year. What this scheme entails is that students in Year 11 are given the opportunity to work in real research situations and help scientists out with their research, which could be in any field they choose. Of course, my field preference was biology (more specifically molecular biology, genetics or medical research), and so I was allocated to the Botany department of LaTrobe University in Bundoora to work with a postgraduate student on his research into the genetic modification of common crops (canola, rice and wheat), specifically targeting certain MYB genes that control of the development of seeds.

Institute for Creation Research: Mutations: The Raw Material for Evolution? (Part 2)

Let’s continue on with refuting this article from the Institute for Creation Research. You can find Part 1 here, if you haven’t read it already.

The Atheist Thirteen

What’s a meme between friends? Seeing that I’m an atheist and all, I thought I might answer the set of questions that nullifidian put out on his blog yesterday.

Q1. How would you define “atheism”?

Quite simply, the lack of a belief in a deity of any sort, defined or not.

Q2. Was your upbringing religious? If so, what tradition?

I wasn’t raised in any religious tradition, and as such I’ve been an atheist all my life. However, I only really started to take interest in religion at the age of 13 or so, so I didn’t know I was an atheist until that time.

Q3. How would you describe “Intelligent Design”, using only one word?

No.

Q4. What scientific endeavour really excites you?

Genetics is, of course, up there, but astrobiology (also called exobiology) takes it for me. The prospect of finding different sorts of life that we can’t even conceive of is very exciting.

Q5. If you could change one thing about the “atheist community”, what would it be and why?

I would change the level of hatred that is directed towards it, because being the most hated minority group sort of sucks. At least in the US, anyway.

Q6. If your child came up to you and said “I’m joining the clergy”, what would be your first response?

“Son/Daughter, we need to have a little talk…”

Q7. What’s your favourite theistic argument, and how do you usually refute it?

My favourite argument has to be “If there is no God, where did life come from?”, because it usually opens up a conduit that allows me to educate someone about science they know nothing about. The refutation comes out of talking about the scientific method, and how presuming supernatural origins because the evidence for a natural one is not complete is fundamentally flawed.

Q8. What’s your most “controversial” (as far as general attitudes amongst other atheists goes) viewpoint?

Hmm. I’m not sure. Because I’m “just a child”, it seems that I must agree with everything I’m told, especially by those crazy atheists I talk to.

My most controversial viewpoint then has to be: Australia is a much better country than the US, and that all your accents are hilariously funny. So there.

Q9. Of the “Four Horsemen” (Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens and Harris) who is your favourite, and why?

Probably Dawkins, because he’s the only evolutionary biologist there, and one he’s of my scientific heroes. “The Selfish Gene” really was a very good book.

Q10. If you could convince just one theistic person to abandon their beliefs, who would it be?

The next President of the US, just to see how that society would change (hopefully for the better).

Now name three other atheist blogs that you’d like to see take up the Atheist Thirteen gauntlet:

1. Skelliot’s Weblog
2. Podblack Blog
3. Splendid Elles

Institute for Creation Research: Mutations: The Raw Material for Evolution? (Part 1)

Another article from the website we’ve all learnt to feel edgy around: the Institute for Creation Research. It’s called “Mutations: The Raw Material for Evolution?”, and is authored by Dr. Barney Maddox, M.D. At the bottom of the article, there is a short paragraph about Dr. Maddox’s authority on evolutionary biology:

Dr. Barney Maddox is a urology specialist in Cleburne, Texas, and author of the biological sciences course material for the Creationist Worldview distance education program offered by ICR.

Oh. So, you’re saying he’s not an evolutionary biologist? He’s a urologist? No offense to any urologists who are reading this, but if I want to know about evolutionary biology, I don’t go to a urologist to teach me. But hey, I’m 16, he’s a guy who studies kidney excretions: we should have the same level of knowledge, right? Well, we’ll see.

Article link: Institute for Creation Research: Mutations: The Raw Material for Evolution?, by Dr. Barney Maddox, M.D.

Does Dr. Maddox know anything about evolution? Let’s see by examining what he writes.

Skeptics of Carlos - June Edition

Just a quick note to remind anyone reading this that the second edition of the Skeptics of Carlos blog circle is to be held at the Skepbitch blog on the 13th of June. So, if you’re an Australia skeptic, or even a non-Australian skeptic, contribute and make the Internet a more skeptical place.

To submit articles for the June edition, send them to skepticsofcarlos@gmail.com or email Karen of the Skepbitch blog.

I hope to see you all there!

Exploring Life’s Origins

I was perusing the Panda’s Thumb blog, and I came across this post. It turns out that a new website, called Exploring Life’s Origins, has just been opened by the American Museum of Science. It’s a very nice website that has various graphics and videos detailing some of the processes that could have occurred in the abiogenic process on Earth three and half billion years ago.

It also goes into detail about liposome formation on the early Earth, something I didn’t know much about until I read about it here. It turns out that fatty acids can be produced around hydrothermal vents, and when the acids come to the surface in a burst of steam pressure they can be carried long distances by adhering to the edges of water droplets and forming micelles when the water evaporates. Interesting.

So, visit Exploring Life’s Origins, and you too can be scientifically educated.

Revolution Against Evolution: The Instantaneous Transition From Non-Life to Life

The article in question today is called “The Instantaneous Transition From Non-Life to Life”, and it comes from the wonderfully obtuse Revolution Against Evolution. The author of this stunning piece is Douglas Sharp, a computer scientist who, according to Revolution Against Evolution, “has taught on the creation-evolution issue for over 30 years”. Again, it’s another non-evolutionary biologist coming out to tell us about a subject they have no expertise in. Remember, just because you read the Bible, it doesn’t make you up to date on the evidences for evolutionary theory! Stephen Caesar, the anthropologist from Harvard who you all remember talking about microevolution, learnt this the hard way. Put down that Bible, son, and pick up a bit of knowledge on the subject!

Okay, maybe I shouldn’t be too harsh on the guy. I wouldn’t want creationists catching me red-handed typing out an ad hominem attack against one of their own. Maybe his arguments hold up. Maybe I’ll want to believe that Jesus rode dinosaurs by the end of this piece. After all, I’m just a teenager from down under: what the hell do I know about science and its place in the world?

Article link: Revolution Against Evolution: The Instantaneous Transition From Non-Life, by Douglas Sharp

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