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Young people should vote.
Hey young people of Canada: Vote! It really, really does matter. Young people should vote. is a post from Genomicron.
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A Conservative majority? Not so fast.
Like most Canadians, I am disappointed at the results of yesterday’s election. But wait! Didn’t the Conservatives win a large majority? How can I say that “most Canadians” don’t support this? 1. Seats...
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Should evolution be taught in school? Should math?
The first clip is a series of responses to the question “Should evolution be taught in school?” by the 2011 Miss USA contestants. If you can’t get through the whole thing (I couldn’t), don’t worry —...
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Someone elected this person.
FUN FACT: Someone elected this person to congress. And she’s a contender for the presidential nomination. Someone elected this person. is a post from Genomicron.
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Mega Carnival of Evolution at Sandwalk.
Carnival of Evolution #38 is now posted over at Sandwalk. Larry has put together a massive collection, well worth checking out! Mega Carnival of Evolution at Sandwalk. is a post from Genomicron.
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Scary emails.
Haven’t been blogging much recently due to being busy and other excuses. But here’s a quick post that highlights something I did learn early on as a faculty member: students will often read a fair bit...
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Larry Moran clarifies the Onion Test.
Head on over to Sandwalk to see Larry Moran’s superb clarification of the Onion Test, which seems to be a source of confusion for some. Larry Moran clarifies the Onion Test. is a post from Genomicron.
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Remembrance Day (re-post).
(This post was first written in 2007, but I don’t think I can do better and thought it appropriate to re-post it today on Remembrance Day 2011). In Canada, as in many countries around the world,...
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Dulce et Decorum Est.
In high school, I gave a presentation on the poetry of Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) about the First World War. His most famous poem, and one that I still think of often, especially at this time of year, is...
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Thorough takedown of the supposed connection between Darwin and Nazism.
It has been a common tactic among creationists to attempt to discredit scientific ideas by linking them to the horrific actions of the likes of Hitler and the Nazis. The scientific merits of a theory...
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PZ Myers on junk DNA.
PZ Myers, who apparently has a blog or something, gave a talk about junk DNA. Favourite part: the Onion test followed by a Simpsons reference (at 37:00). Can’t ask for more than that! (Incidentally, PZ...
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A seriously cranky press release.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know that I often feel frustrated by press releases that are overhyped, misleading, and/or laden with buzzwords and cliches. Today I received by...
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Copyright notice from NRC Press.
Well, it finally happened. I received a copyright notice from a publisher about reprints that are posted on my lab website. I actually thought most publishers were sympathetic to the realities of...
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Making something of junk earns geneticist top award.
Making something of junk earns geneticist top award When Sydney geneticist John Mattick suggested junk DNA was anything but rubbish he was challenging an assumption that had underpinned genetics for...
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Eddie-Baby does it again.
If you’d like to see what a very good story about non-coding DNA with an intriguing function looks like, head on over to Not Exactly Rocket Science and see Ed “Eddie-Baby” Yong’s* piece called “Under...
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PhD scholarships available for Canadian students at U of Guelph.
The Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph announces a competition for multiple PhD awards in the disciplines of Ecology, Evolution, and Comparative Physiology, each guaranteed...
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Game Changer for Evolutionary Theory?
Hold on to your hats folks, another major shake-up of evolutionary theory! A new hypothesis posed by a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, associate professor and colleagues could be a game changer in...
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Why I don’t write papers about chemistry.
Because I might end up with something as silly as when chemists write about evolutionary biology. Could ‘Advanced’ Dinosaurs Rule Other Planets? New scientific research raises the possibility that...
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In defence of Mattick.
This comment was posted in defence of John Mattick, but it was on an older post so I thought it would be better to put it up front in a new post. I (and others) have talked about the problems with...
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Does Dawkins understand group selection?
This struck me as a very odd passage. It’s from a recent, critical review by Richard Dawkins of E.O. Wilson’s latest book. “Nobody doubts that some groups survive better than others. What is...
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