This comes from the National Center for Science Education:

I thought that you would like to know about a screening of "No
Dinosaurs in Heaven," a new documentary directed by Greta Schiller
about the creationism/evolution controversy, to be held at 6:00 p.m.
on March 15 in the Martin E. Segal Theatre at the Graduate Center of
the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th Street) in
Manhattan. The event, part of the Science & the Arts Series, is free
and open to the public.

According to the filmmaker, "No Dinosaurs in Heaven" is "a film essay
that examines the hijacking of science education by religious
fundamentalists, threatening the separation of church and state and
dangerously undermining scientific literacy. The documentary weaves
together two strands: an examination of the problem posed by
creationists who earn science education degrees only to advocate
anti-scientific beliefs in the classroom; and a visually stunning raft
trip down the Grand Canyon, led by Dr. Eugenie Scott, that debunks
creationist explanations for its formation. These two strands expose  read more »

Every year on Darwin's birthday, I like to repost/update my essay explaining evolution and the evidence for it. Darwin's theory of evolution has been one of the most robust theories in science. With some modifications, it is still the basis of our understanding of most of biology. Every Feb 12th (Darwin's Birthday) I post an article or series of articles discussing evolution and the evidence for Darwin's theory.

Darwin's theory grew out of an era when a considerable amount of careful observation from around the world was beginning to be formulated into careful scientific ideas. Not all ideas from this era were equally scientific, nor equally valid. Charles Darwin's theory was formulated based on a huge amount of observation both personally made by Darwin and made by correspondents he wrote to from all over the world. It took many years for Darwin to put his ideas into words and his book, Origin of Species, spends a great deal of time addressing criticisms of the theory of Evolution. When Darwin formulated his theory, the Mendelian rules of genetics were unknown, and DNA wasn't even conceived of. So, in essence, the mechanisms and rules that govern evolution were unknown. Darwin defined the patterns of how living things changed and competed, and it was only later that those mechanisms were discovered, giving the statistical and molecular context for Darwin's theory. Those later discoveries have only strengthened Darwin's theory, never contradicting his ideas.  read more »

Every year on Darwin's birthday, I like to repost/update my essay explaining evolution and the evidence for it. Darwin's theory of evolution has been one of the most robust theories in science. With some modifications, it is still the basis of our understanding of most of biology. Every Feb 12th (Darwin's Birthday) I post an article or series of articles discussing evolution and the evidence for Darwin's theory.

Darwin's theory grew out of an era when a considerable amount of careful observation from around the world was beginning to be formulated into careful scientific ideas. Not all ideas from this era were equally scientific, nor equally valid. Charles Darwin's theory was formulated based on a huge amount of observation both personally made by Darwin and made by correspondents he wrote to from all over the world. It took many years for Darwin to put his ideas into words and his book, Origin of Species, spends a great deal of time addressing criticisms of the theory of Evolution. When Darwin formulated his theory, the Mendelian rules of genetics were unknown, and DNA wasn't even conceived of. So, in essence, the mechanisms and rules that govern evolution were unknown. Darwin defined the patterns of how living things changed and competed, and it was only later that those mechanisms were discovered, giving the statistical and molecular context for Darwin's theory. Those later discoveries have only strengthened Darwin's theory, never contradicting his ideas.  read more »

There is some really cool science in this BBC article (having to do with animal behavior and actual planning furture actions, something considered part of consciousness). But what struck me most was that if I were a captive chimp in a zoo...THIS just might well be what I would be like (and a friend of mine suggested that perhaps NYC is tantamount to a zoo). I suspect I know some local politicians who may well view me as being just like this chimp right about now. From BBC News:

A male chimpanzee in a Swedish zoo planned hundreds of stone-throwing attacks on zoo visitors, according to researchers.

Keepers at Furuvik Zoo found that the chimp collected and stored stones that he would later use as missiles.

Further, the chimp learned to recognise how and when parts of his concrete enclosure could be pulled apart to fashion further projectiles.

The findings are reported in the journal Current Biology...  read more »

Darwin's theory of evolution has been one of the most robust theories in science. With some modifications, it is still the basis of our understanding of most of biology. Every Feb 12th (Darwin's Birthday) I post an article or series of articles discussing evolution and the evidence for Darwin's theory.  read more »