Sunday School DEC 19, 2010

EDIT: i'm adding this link to today's edition because it's got some excellent information- including viewing times around the world- on Monday's eclipse and will be useless come next Sunday.

first, to all those members who plan to celebrate Christmas, my sincere wishes for a great day with your friends and family! :)

now, links!

DADT just got closer to being done away with! all that's left is the President's signature!

Ed Yong puts the whole arsenic-bacteria fiasco to bed with an excellent post, a bunch of links to what's gone on since last week.

Greg Fish laments the seemingly constant stream of recent outrageously overhyped papers purporting to discover evidence of other universes in the CMBR data. that same hype led Ethan Seigel to post this piece asking what is science and what is hype. and on the subject of the recent hyped papers, Seigel explains why Roger Penrose's new idea lacks merit.

John Loftus linked to this great essay on the evolution of the Judeo-Christian concept of Hell.

that the LHC hasn't yet produced any black holes apparently rules out some versions of String Theory.

550 million years ago a rise in oxygen levels drove the evolution of animal life.

Ben Goldacre recaps the year in nonsense, looking at silly pseudoscientific claims of 2010.

parasitic worms paint warning colors on their hosts using glowing bacteria.

this is going to be some incredible Winter Solstice! make sure you check out the full lunar eclipse and the first one to occur on the Winter Solstice in 450 years. Ethan Seigel explains the phenomenon.

on extraordinary claims and extraordinary evidence...

lots of news reports bouncing around trumpeting that AIDS has been cured. unfortunately, it hasn't. Maggie Koerth-Baker, Abbie Smith, and Andrew Moseman set things straight.

Massimo Pigliucci wraps up his four-part series on Objectivism with Objectivist Politics.

Luke Muehlhauser on atheism and death.

increasingly nominally Christian teens are turning to "moralistic therapeutic deism".

remember the "rockstars of science" dust up from three weeks ago? turns out now one of the scientists featured in the campaign has been supporting nonsense. Abbie Smith and Jerry Coyne discuss.

our family tree: chimps, bonobos and our commonality.

"the Pioneer Anomaly" always shows up in those internet lists of unexplained phenomena usually with an undercurrent of "science can't tell us everything!", now it seems scientists may have figured out the explanation.

and on the subject of distant space-probes, Voyager 1 is nearing the solar system's boundary!

the bible is no place for ethics.

a common creationist assertion is that there's just not enough time for evolution to take place. they're wrong. (surprised?)

bird of paradise creates colorful dance with microscopic mirrors in its feathers.

the foundational question when it comes to atheism: why be an atheist?

the December 5th edition of Sunday School featured (thanks to Adriana!) a link to a great paper taking apart irreducible complexity. this week Jerry Coyne highlighted and discussed the paper.

a "disagreement hierarchy", how to disagree well.

"friendly" genes are more likely to be passed around, says new research.

Luke Muehlhauser is examining William Lane Craig's six assertions about the absurdity of living life without god.

on religious belief as an evolutionary byproduct.

in the course of examining Michael Behe's newly published paper Jerry Coyne predicted that the paper would be misused by ID'ers in attempt to make a case for Intelligent Design. within what amounts to hours Coyne was proven correct.... twice.

Comment by Nelson on December 19, 2010 at 9:11am: previous editions of Sunday School can be found here:

Comment by Nelson on December 19, 2010 at 9:24am: thanks so much doone! i'm genuinely glad you think so.

Comment by Nelson on December 19, 2010 at 10:13am: thanks Adriana, totally agree with you on the value of Yong's post. even leaving aside all of what you mentioned it was good to read the research author's response to the criticism and Rosie Redfield's response to the response.

Comment by Reg The Fronkey Farmer on December 19, 2010 at 10:35am: I found this while reading about the evolution and oxygen levels article you posted which may be of interest. http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-mathematics-plenty-evolution.html

Comment by Nelson on December 19, 2010 at 10:39am: cheers Reg, that subject is covered above under "a common creationist assertion is that there's just not enough time for evolution to take place. they're wrong. (surprised?)"

thanks for keeping an eye out for interesting stuff! :)

Comment by Gary Bergeron on December 19, 2010 at 11:06am: The article about the concept of hell was very interesting. Hell is Christianity's voodoo doll that keeps believers in their place, the ball and chain created by fear. Science holds the key to the shackles and education turns that key.

I'm so lucky I was able to throw off those chains of fear...

Thanks for the links, Nelson. Happy Sunday everybody! :)

Comment by Nelson on December 19, 2010 at 11:08am: thanks Gary! glad you enjoyed that one. and a happy Sunday to you as well!

Comment by Reg The Fronkey Farmer on December 19, 2010 at 11:16am: Thanks Nelson - my sunday afternoons are more interesting since I started going to Sunday school. I shall consider it extra ammo when debating creationists next week. They have all recently started using "science" and saying that it compatible with their beliefs............

@Doone As always the pictures paint a thousand words.

Comment by Nelson on December 19, 2010 at 11:18am: if Sunday School serves to arm anyone with ammo then i'm thrilled. thanks for the kind words Reg.

Comment by Jennifer Ulean Breedlove on December 19, 2010 at 12:50pm: Happy Sunday School!

Isn't today Human light day as well??

Here's a wish to a happy winter to everyone..

I am finding no matter how I count it, spring will in fact not come quickly enough.. It is cold..

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