When in a slump, it is nice to compile a list of things that make the light at the end of the tunnel. Here’s a few things I’m looking forward to:

The finale of Battlestar Galactica. With mixed emotions, of course - finale means no more. But I think it’ll be worth it.

Watchmen, the movie. I’m not one of those crazy fanatics who cry whenever there’s been a plot change when adapting a novel or graphic novel to the screen. Looking at the trailers, I doubt I’ll be disappointed.

Mass Effect 2. Because it will be awesome.

Spring. I want to know how many of our beehives survived the winter and start planning for the season’s beekeeping.

March 17. Just because.

Finally, with a hat tip to Steph at Almost Diamonds, have some nerdcore hiphop:

entertainment

Eluana Englaro, the comatose woman whom Italian prime minister Berlusconi declared “in the condition to have babies“, died a couple of hours ago. My immediate reaction was a sigh of relief and muttering, ironically, “thank god”.

Regardless of whether one agrees that she should have been taken off life support or not, the political circus surrounding the case was absolutely tasteless. Berlusconi is a pig both for getting involved in a bereaved family’s private life and for suggesting that a woman’s primary function is to have babies, and don’t even get me started on the Vatican (who has magnanimously announced that god will forgive Mr Englaro for wanting to let his daughter go).

My condolences to the Mr Englaro and any other members of the family. I hope they can finally get some closure.

eluana englaro, berlusconi, vatican, euthanasia

Sorry about the lack of posting lately, I’m in a bit of a slump. I got a couple of nice topics to blog from people who completed the tree quiz, so expect that up sometime … soonish.

In the meantime, if you happen to be a Stockholmer or visiting for whatever reason, I can recommend a visit to the old Observatory, where you for the measly sum of 50kr (bring cash!) can get a guided tour of the building - and of the history of Swedish astronomy. Their opening hours are a bit limited - a few hours on sundays, and during the darker months, tuesday and thursday evenings (with stargazing!).

It’s a nice building with a fascinating history, filled with peculiar old instruments and topped with a telescope. What’s not to like?

astronomy, stockholm, observatory, museum

The latest Carnival of Evolution is out (and would you believe I just almost spelled that “evilution”?)! It’s in two parts and full of great posts on many different aspects of evolution.

Go check it out!

Part #1, Part #2

evolution, biology, blog carnival

Here’s me grudgingly getting on the bandwagon and helping in the dissemination of the Tree of Life video with David Attenborough.

It’s very pretty. And all the facts are correct, so far as I’m aware. But this video still makes my skin crawl a bit. Why? Because it’s pretty much a perfect illustration of one of the problems I discussed in my post on tree thinking. Here’s evolution depicted as a linear process, with a clear line of progression from the simplest forms of life towards … well, humans, of course. What else?

They do mention insects invading land long before vertebrates did, which is nice. And there’s a short digression into dinosaur territory. But still - the video essentially supports a view of life where evolution inexorably works towards its goal, which is apparently primates with large brains. A tiny group of animals on an earth veritably crawling with other much more abundant forms of life. A self-centered, egotistical species, who cannot for a moment let go of the idea that we’re the pinnacle of creation, whether that creation was effected by a god or physical processes.

Also the video fails to point out that mammals came from the very same lineage Attenborough claims is ancestral to today’s tortoises, snakes, lizards, crocodiles and dinosaurs (including birds). It’s like mammals simply turn up by magic and start taking over the earth once the dinosaurs are gone.

And of course, there’s the glaring omission of the huge part of the tree of life that’s not animal. Plants and fungi are pretty much entirely ignored, bacteria are mentioned briefly and archaea not at all. This is ok, of course - the study of animals is obviously bound to be extra interesting to animals capable of appreciating said study - but I find it disingenious to call it a study of the tree of life when in fact we’re just looking at one of the several main branches.

But. It feels wrong to be critical of Attenborough. He has probably done more to popularise biology than anyone, and although he’s not a scientist he usually gets his facts straight (which, lately, feels more like a boon than it should) - so who am I to complain? Here’s a couple of things I really like about the video:

Firstly, Attenborough states that life began 3000 million years ago, rather than 3 billion. This is a very nice rhetorical trick to make people start realising just how vast a span of time we’re talking about. Graphically, the fact that the tips of the branches are all at the same level somewhat counteracts the idea that any living species is at the “top” of the tree. All living species are! Finally, the video does end with Attenborough pointing out that we mammals actually share the world with many other lineages.

So, Sir Attenborough, should you by any chance read this - I still love you. Just don’t do it again, ok? Now go to your room.

attenborough, tree of life, biology, evolution

Dear Britain: What the fuck?

Half of British adults do not believe in evolution, with at least 22% preferring the theories of creationism or intelligent design to explain how the world came about, according to a survey.

My first reaction upon reading this was: Kudos to the British public! Evolution does NOT explain how the world came about. Creationism actually does that better, since evolution doesn’t even attempt it. If the survey actually asked them if evolution explains “how the world came about”, no wonder the results were abysmal.

Now, the question is, was the survey really as stupid as the Guardian makes it out to be? This press release from Theos Think Tank seems to dispel that notion. It’s simply the case that the journalists and editors at the Guardian has gotten their heads stuck up their asses. Unfortunately, so do the people at Svenska Dagbladet, a Swedish newspaper that picked up the item and pretty much translated the article from the Guardian.

Why, journalists? Why must you make my job so difficult before I’ve even got one? I’m very nearly contemplating giving up my career plans as a biologist to become a science journalist intstead. At least I’d be halfway competent.

(And no, I’m not even touching the fact that the British public is in sore need of some good science education. With newspapers like the Guardian around to confuse people, I’d say the figures cited are pretty good.)

Hat tip to Terra Incognita and commenters.

ETA: Bob Churchill sets things right. Dear gods, the whole thing’s a mess when you think about it.

evolution, uk, science, journalism, science journalism

I know, I know. It’s the oldest trick in the blogger’s manual - can’t think of anything to write about? Have a look at what people have been searching for when they stumbled over your blog, and then make fun of them!

But it’s just too much fun. So here we go again:

are koalas unicellular or multicellular
…oh dear. This question is so confused about basic biology that I daren’t answer it.

arguments against sarah palin
As much as I’d like to believe Sarah Palin was really just Tina Fey in disguise pulling a huge prank on the American public, unfortunately I actually believe she exists. Now if you ask me about arguments against God…

brain activity before death
All of it, I’d say. This is a common theme among keywords that lead to my site.

ex-christian guilt free
Probably moreso than before they became ex-, yes!

feed bees sugar cubes
Well, you could, but I’m not sure why you’d want to. We occasionally feed our bees table sugar when there’s been a dry spell or constant raining and they don’t have much food left. But in cube form? That seems unnecessarily expensive.

gay life in sweden
Yep, it’s not like we ever suffer from SAD or anything. Oh, wait, you were talking about homosexuals? Damn. I’ve no idea, then.

house md proves god doesn’t exist
Damn, that’d be the day. Actually, I hope it won’t happen. I’d pretty much be forced to marry Hugh Laurie then and I don’t think my boyfriend would appreciate that.

how hot can you heat honey
Presumably there’s no upper limit, although of course, after a while the molecular structures will fall apart and then it’s debatable whether it can really be called “honey” anymore. (The actual answer to the question is 40 centigrade. Heat it more than that for more than a few seconds and the healthy enzymes break apart and you’re left with just sugar.)

i worked in a bank, was this where i caught hepatitis
…yes, yes it was. No one should work in a bank, ever.

identifying my personal guardian angel using my date of birth
What, wait, is there some sort of directory of guardian angels where you can look them up or something? That’s so awesome!

if not a combover then what
ANYTHING! ANYTHING ELSE! ANYTHING BUT A COMBOVER! (I get a surprising number of hits from people looking for something to do with combovers. Hopefully, I have averted one or two disasters speaking out against them!)

is virgin beeswax ok on the face
Yes. Can’t have any of that slutty beeswax though. In fact, make sure it’s wearing a purity ring or at least has made a serious committment to not having sex before marriage. Saddlebacking is ok though.

losing virginity before and after pictures
This makes me wonder about the motives of the person googling. I think there’s three possibilities: Either it’s someone looking for virgin-fetish porn. Or, it’s a girl who doesn’t know what a vagina’s “supposed” to look like, and is worried something has gone wrong. Or, it’s a girl who’s done it but wants to claim to be a virgin and wonders if anyone would be able to tell. Both the latter options make me a little sad. A little sex ed goes a long way to help in cases like this!

what does the saying “life before death” mean?
That I don’t believe in an afterlife and want to focus on the life I have here and now instead.

why do bees leave hive in winter
… because they’re dead. Really. If you have no bees in your hive at the end of winter, that’s because they’ve died.

keywords, bees, sex, combovers, religion