Monthly Archives: May 2007

Evolution of Morality

Posted on May 31, 2007 by arensb

The Post has an interesting article about the origin of morality (HT curvemudgeon). It talks about research showing that various moral impulses are hardwired into our brains by evolution. This dovetails nicely with another bit of research I stumbled upon … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Science | 1 Comment

Islamic Bicycles

Posted on May 25, 2007 by arensb

This is for real, as far as I can tell: Iran plans to make special bicycles designed for women that will be compatible with Islamic regulations and not expose their body movements while riding. The new bicycle would have a … Continue reading →

Posted in FFS, Religion | 10 Comments

Why Name A Newspaper After an Insect?

Posted on May 21, 2007 by arensb

One question that’s been bugging me (sorry for the pun) is why any newspaper would call itself the “Town Name Bee”. Thankfully, the Sacramento Bee has an explanation (summary: the bee represents industry, as in “busy as a bee”). Naturally, … Continue reading →

Posted in Things I've Learned | Leave a comment

Well, That Didn’t Take Long…

Posted on May 18, 2007 by arensb

Falwell In Hell

Posted in Links, News, Religion | Leave a comment

Why Everything Good Is Bad for You

Posted on May 15, 2007 by arensb

Imagine an animal that requires some substance, but that substance is scarce. Say, a mountain goat that needs salt, but lives in mountains where there’s hardly any around, unlike the seashore. In such an environment, it’ll need all the salt … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution | Tagged , | Leave a comment

This Article Is About Self-Reference and Complexity (but This Title Isn’t)

Posted on May 12, 2007 by arensb

I’m reading Douglas Hofstadter’s I Am A Strange Loop, and there’s something that doesn’t sit well with me. In Chapter 4, he discusses his fascination with self-reference and feedback loops of all kinds. He talks about the operation of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Math, Miscellaneous | 3 Comments

Latte Art

Posted on May 10, 2007 by arensb

Maybe I just don’t hang out at the right coffee houses, but I don’t think I’ve seen this before: Coffee Geek has a guide on how to do this sort of stuff.

Posted in :-) | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Has Hovind Actually Learned Something?

Posted on May 8, 2007 by arensb

Kent Hovind says on his weblog: At lunch last week, one of the inmates said, “If I could, I would bomb the Christian Coalition. They are the reason we are here.” I was shocked by his statement! I love the … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous, Politics | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

If You Could Never Leave the Milky Way, Would You Call it Imprisonment?

Posted on May 6, 2007 by arensb

Frank Pastore has a rather moronic column over at Clownhall. If you’ve got your anti-stupid goggles on, you can read the whole thing, but one paragraph isn’t addressed in the comments. Here, he is ostensibly reading from the atheist playbook: … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, FFS, Miscellaneous | 2 Comments

Drawing the Wrong Conclusion from Giant Bacteria

Posted on May 6, 2007 by arensb

DaveScot has an article over at Casa Dembski about Epulopiscium fishelsoni. Judging by the article that he links to (from the Journal of Bacteriology, 1998), this bacterium looks like a pretty interesting beastie: it changes size by up to 20 … Continue reading →

Posted in Intelligent Design | Tagged , | Leave a comment