Shelley Batts of Retrospectacle is up for scholarship for bloggers, and she needs your vote. You must vote for Shelley. She once gave me a special cookie in her bed. None of the others have ever given me or you a cookie of any kind, and we aren’t going to get anywhere near their beds, so the choice is clear.
Vote Shelley Batts. The one with the cookies. And the parrot. And the nice blog about neuroscience.
I’ve known for years that this was going to happen: Mario Capecchi, Oliver Smithies and Briton Martin Evans have won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work on targeted gene mutations. If you’re interested in what kinds of work they’ve done, I described one paper on Hox regulatory evolution, and this work on the evolution of the Hox code wouldn’t have been possible without their knockout techniques.
We have another round of cephalopodic loveliness. Send me more!
Kevin submits the ubiquitous octopus vs. shark movie.
How can something so cute be angry? (Oh, man, I hear that one all the time.)
Poulperia. I think it’s a variant on Santeria.
Roger Burnham sends us some movies: Caribbean Reef Squid 001, Caribbean Reef Squid 002, and Common Octopus 001
Octopuppy. It’s art!
More cephalopoetry, from the Cuttlefish Poet:
A Cuttlefish Limerick or Three
The cuttlefish: Squid-like, you think?
Just a cephalopod in the drink?
Then you also should know it
Refers to a poet,
Or any who hide in their ink.
For writers who think that they’re odd
And ignored, by indifferent God,
Don’t allow yourself–perish
The thought, and just cherish
Your label of “Cephalopod”
For today, there will be no rebuttal–
We will celebrate, loud and unsubtle!
Just the same as each squid
And each octopus did,
We’ll shake all of our legs, and our cuttle!
A Cuttlefish Double-Dactyl
Inkily, thinkily,
Deepwater cuttlefish
Hide in their ink (to a
Poet, that’s odd)
Writing, you see, is not
Characteristically
Part of the life of a
Cephalopod.
the classic Ogden Nash–
THE OCTOPUS
Tell me, O Octopus, I begs
Is those things arms, or is they legs?
I marvel at thee, Octopus;
If I were thou, I’d call me Us.)
Yes, it’s true: we have now absorbed Laelaps. Update your links and feeds.
It’s like some ravenous chthonic entity, isn’t it? Got a blog? We’ll devour it. But it’s a good thing, and I like being part of an all-consuming juggernaut of science.
Thank you, Dr House. “Rational arguments don’t usually work for religious people otherwise there would be no religious people.” Also good: “It’s not about fun, it’s about the truth.”
A two hour presentation was given at a local church last night by creation scientist whom I won’t name. This presentation overall lacked direction and seemed to jump from one topic to another without really stopping to make a point. About a third of the presentation was about dinosaur diversity, talking briefly about neat features that a variety of dinosaurs have. Various weather phenomena that could have caused the flood described in Genesis were vaguely presented without any solid background or logic. Fossils were also discussed, again without really any rhyme or reason.
There were two highlights thorughout the evening. The first was when the presenter enthusiastically exclaimed, “I do believe that there were fire-breathing dragons!” From behind me a women shouted an equally enthusiastic, “Amen!” The second highlight of the presentation was the time allotted for questions at the end when PZ Myers, who had been sitting quietly in the front row throughout the entire hour and a half presentation, raised his hand and fired one off. For some reason, this reminded me of the nationally televised Bush vs. Kerry campaign debates of 2004. Whenever Bush was asked a question, he seemed to stutter ignorantly all over his podium for a few moments and then say some elaborate nonsense that didn’t really provide an answer.
To me, trying to scientifically explain an interpretation of the Bible, an interpretation that may not even be accurate, completely misses the meaning of having faith. Some of my fellow neurobio students agreed with me that science and the Bible should not have to be in opposition. It’s a shame that some creation scientists deliberately ignore valid research in areas such as glacial geology and evolutionary ecology to formulate what they consider to be a scriptural explanation of how the Earth came about. The Bible does not define the chemical and genetic specifics of the origin of this planet and the life existing on it. So is creation science attempting to make the Bible say something it doesn’t? Perhaps people have been set in their interpretations for so long, that it’s too difficult to accept that current research in science (that may not jibe with these long held interpretations) does not have to disagree with the Bible.
You have to read this essay to believe it: Militant atheists are wrong. It’s a collection of what I call indignant pieties — “how dare atheists challenge my precious faith!” — and it’s also distilled, concentrated, essence of stupid, painful to read and even more agonizing to have to waste time arguing against. But then, it’s by Lee Siegel. Lee Siegel. There’s a man who has a lot of courage, exposing himself on the internet again. Siegel is the amazing hypocrite who denounced the ethics of the blogosphere, and then cobbled up a sock puppet ( remember “Sprezzatura”?) who went trolling around the blogosphere singing the praises of Lee Siegel. Fortunately, I don’t have to suffer over his nonsense too much — Melissa takes a bullet for the rest of us, stuffs Siegel’s brain in the toilet bowl, and flushes.
I do want to touch on one bizarre claim he makes while swirling down the drain, though.
Here’s the first volley of cephalopod recognition posts I’ve received. Do send me more, and I’ll put them up later. Do me a favor and put “Cephalopod Awareness” in your subject line so I can sort them out more easily.
The blog that kicked this all off, Cephalopodcast, has a vintage octopus wrestling video. I remember my dating days, too. It’s even from the Pacific Northwest, and that guy has a classic Seattle Scandihoovian accent.
Somebody has found their way to the inner sanctum of the cephalopod lords, and returned with pictures. Yes, it’s true: cephalopod worship, for some reason, involves scantily clad women.
Wait a minute…eating cephalopods? No scantily clad ladies for you, Rick.
The Other 95% has a collection of squid links and a video of schooling squid.
Peter Metrinko sends a poem:
Today we sing a love ballade
To the majestic cephalopod
True, they may look quite odd
But judge them not by their façade
The eyes that grace their lovely bod
Have photoreceptors like a rod
More worth our passion than some jihad
Waged for some fictitious god
Today we cast a loving nod
Towards the lovely cephalopod
See them in their natural environment! Here are some diving photos.
Check out the trailer for “The Future is Wild”: land squid! I think the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus site already did this.
Remember, it’s International Cephalopod Awareness Day! Send me links to your articles that express your appreciation of our 10- and 8-armed friends, and I’ll periodically put them up right here on Pharyngula.
You’d never guess who the second largest religious group at Missouri State University might be. And they get hate mail and threats just for existing!
If that link doesn’t work, try this:
Thanks, Greg!
