From evolution wars to climate wars in the classroom

The war over teaching evolution in the classroom, that was such a huge issue in the last century and even prompted me to write a book about it, seems to have subsided after the latest incarnation known as intelligence design getting severely smacked down in a Pennsylvania courtroom in 2005. But Katie Worth writes that now there is a new war in the classroom, this time involving climate change. Wealthy people who oppose any action to combat climate change, like the Koch brothers and the Heartland Institute, are trying to influence teachers in schools by mailing them free packets of misinformation. But once the pro-science community got wind of this move, they fought back with mailings of their own, a project headed by the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI).
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The moon continues to create a sense of wonder

Galileo used the newly invented telescope to persuade people that the moon was not a perfectly smooth sphere, as all celestial objects were believed to be at that time, but had mountains and valleys and craters that made it seem just like the Earth. This caused considerable consternation at that time with some denying what they saw, saying that it was the telescope that was creating those blemishes.
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Stephen Hawking

I have not written anything about the death of iconic physicist Stephen Hawking because there did not seem much that I could add to the massive coverage it received. But throughout his life, there has been one thing that troubled me about the way he was covered and that was how the media dealt with his motor neurone disease. I could not quite put my finger on what bothered me but Ellis Palmer, who also identifies himself as disabled and is a wheelchair user, explains his own unease with how people like him are seen and portrayed.
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Whale evolution through deep time

The evolution of mammals that live in the sea (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) are of particular interest because they went from ocean to land and then back to the ocean again. There are many depictions of the first stage but fewer of the second. This animation by artist Jordan Collver shows the second stage of the evolution of the sperm whale, from the amphibious Pakicetus to its present form.
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Theological spin on scientific discoveries

After posting earlier today about the detection of when the cosmic dawn (i.e., the appearance of the first stars) occurred, I started thinking about how religious people would react to news like this, especially those religions that have anthropocentric views of the universe, like the Abrahamic religions that have the Genesis story as their foundational myths
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March came in like a lion alright

The winter in Cleveland has been relatively mild so far, and the last two weeks in particular saw warm temperatures and no snow at all. The forecasts seemed to indicate that this would continue but just yesterday the forecast changed suddenly because of the emergence of a storm in the northeast and we had a major snowstorm last night that dumped a large amount of snow on the ground as we slept.
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No evidence that Planck graininess slows down light

Last October, I had a post that looked at the units known as the Planck length, Planck time, and Planck mass and discussed the question of whether these were just a universal set of standards that replaced the traditional ones of meter, second, and kilogram or foot, second, and pound, or whether they had a more fundamental significance. I pointed to a paper that suggested that the Planck length might represent a fundamental limit to the continuity of space, that at that level space ceased to be continuously divisible and became like a foam.
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Shaolin monk pierces glass with a needle

The Shaolin order of monks in China is noted for its rigorous training that enables them to perform quite incredible feats of strength and endurance. They are also known for being fierce kung fu warriors, strange for Buddhist monks who are supposed to be pacifist. So how did that happen? Kallie Szczepanski provides a brief summary of the turbulent 1,500 year old history of the order that mixes legend with facts.
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