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This week on Think Atheist Radio we have our chat with Dr. John Allen Paulos. Dr. Paulos received his PhD in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin and is now a professor of that same subject at Temple University. Mathematical logic and probability has been the focus of of his academic work and the subject of many scholarly papers. The recipient in 2003 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Award for Promoting the Public Understanding of Science and Technology, Dr. Paulos has been a long time contributor to print, radio, and television media, including the New York Times, the London Review of Books, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, ABC's 20/20, CNN's Larry King Live, and more. He is the author of several popular level books, among which are Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences (a New York Times Best Seller), A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, and Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up. We asked Dr. Paulos to join us to get the thoughts of a mathematician on critical thinking and the arguments for God. Join us!

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging President Obama to leave out "so help me God" from the oath of office at his upcoming inaugural.

Neil Godfrey continues his chapter by chapter review of D.M. Murdock's (Acharya S) The Christ Conspiracy.

The 7 types of commenters you'll see on a science article.

Physicists at the LHC have detected one of the rarest particle decays in nature. The detection leaves a bit less room for a theorized solution to some of the outstanding questions surrounding the Standard Model called supersymmetry. Ethan Siegel asks what kind of physics there may be beyond the Standard Model.

The world's largest manufacturer of homeopathy products has just published a study of homeopathy's effectiveness. Edzard Ernst examines. Steven Novella examines the "logic" of homeopathy.

The Pew Research Center took a closer look at the momentum toward marriage equality, finding a regional gap between support and opposition across a North-South line persists.

Jerry Coyne questions the case made by a priest against a reliance on science as the only way of knowing.

Scientists have used a novel technique to probe dark matter some 10 billion years into the past.

The fundamental strength of science is that it forces us to confront our own fallibility.

Through a method developed at the University of Western Ontario a patient in a vegetative state for 12 years has apparently communicated with doctors to say that he's not in any pain. The medical community still has to be convinced, but if the method is confirmed this will be an amazing thing.

Previous I had linked to Sam Harris' thoughts on neurosurgeon Eben Alexander's new book claiming to have had a Near Death Experience that confirms that consciousness is something more than simply natural. Those initial comments were based on Alexander's statements in the media about the book. Now that Harris has read the book itself he has more to say.

Evolution's top 10 greatest survivors.

A large study of 98,000 children is claiming to show a connection between influenza, fever, and autism. Should these conclusions worry anyone?

What's it like to grow up in Scientology and what do Scientologists actually believe?

Geneticist Gerald Crabtree is asserting that humanity is growing less intelligent. Here's why that's unlikely to be the case.

Is big money better spent on solving practical problems over pure research like the LHC?

A rogue planet, one without a parent star, has been spotted 100 light years away.

Opponents of reproduction rights can be heard to claim that women who have abortions are more likely to suffer from psychological problems and depression. A new study totally trashes the notion.

In the past, apologists have attempted to outright justify the Bible's Canaanite genocide. More recently, a new brand of apologetics has sought to justify the genocide on the basis of the stories being figurative or rhetorical. Hector Avalos questions the success of this strategy.

John Wilkins examines the much-discussed Hard Problem of consciousness and doesn't see much there.

Along with the rise of the "nones" may come a new name for non-theists who evade the term atheist– "evatheist."

A woman has died–– Wait. No. She was basically murdered– after being denied a termination for her ongoing miscarriage when in a Catholic hospital in Ireland. Some have claimed that there was nothing that could have been done to save her. Medical professionals say false. And don't for a second think this is just a problem in Catholic Ireland. It's the US too. Some Catholic bloggers say this is all down to a misunderstanding of Catholic doctrine that would otherwise have kept this from happening. Adam Lee examines that claim and finds it absurd. PZ Myers insists that it's time to abort the Catholic Church. What a lot of people don't consider is that abortion providers are motivated by conscience too.

The absolutely inexplicable UFO seen over Denver recently has a pretty simple explanation: bugs.

Uganda's "death to gays" bill is apparently likely to pass before the end of the year.

A church for atheists in, of all places, Tulsa, Oklahoma, gets hundreds of attendees.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is suing the IRS for violations of the establishment clause for their failure to enforce church electioneering laws.

Yet another city has a taxpayer-funded cross controversy.

Think Republicans would wake up following their recent loss caused, in part, by their disgusting stance on women's issues? Wrong. They're now standing in opposition to the Violence Against Women Act. You gotta ask, when was that right wing Christians stopped thinking of women as people?

Human ancestors made deadly stone-tipped spears 500,000 years ago.

Hints of life in the deepest scientific marine drilling samples ever collected.

US school science standards labeled as "dismal." Science instruction (but not the grades) are disappearing from classrooms.

What does Einstein's brain tell us about his genius?

Why won't people vote for an atheist?

Astronomers may have spotted the most distant galaxy ever. Here's a video showing where it is in the sky.

On Ray Kurzweil's dubious new theory of mind.

Natural selection needs variability on which to work. So how does an all female asexual organism get DNA for this variability? It hijacks it from other organisms.

Our evolved cognitive mechanisms are hard to get out from under! When put to the test, even hard-nosed rationalist scientists fall into purposeful language when referring to nature.

A grassroots movement has recently emerged, consisting of legal experts, scientists, and philosophers, supporting the idea that some nonhuman animals are deserving of human-like legal protections. When does an animal count as a person?

Myths about atheism obscure its secular values.