RSS Parrot

Ken Ham is easily triggered

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/28/ken-ham-is-easily-triggered/

Published: April 29, 2026 01:19

A few months ago, I wrote a short post forwarding information that Daniel Phelps had sent to me. Answers in Genesis is shrinking, with declining attendance at his dismal little theme park. Furthermore, more of the labor of writing for their website is…

She’s giving me signals

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/28/shes-giving-me-signals/

Published: April 28, 2026 14:29

Little hints, you know.

Relax, the Iran War will end soon

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/28/relax-the-iran-war-will-end-soon/

Published: April 28, 2026 12:22

They’ve brought in Kid Rock to advise military leaders. 🤡!

Saw another bird

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/27/saw-another-bird/

Published: April 28, 2026 02:04

It’s a little yellow one.

A stifling ignorance

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/27/a-stifling-ignorance/

Published: April 27, 2026 14:43

I have been privileged to witness the abrupt destruction of higher education in America. It’s been dramatic and dizzying — federal scientific institutions taken over by crackpots, research funding cut, politics inserted into the university system (well,…

Spiders in Spaaaaaaaace!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/27/spiders-in-spaaaaaaaace/

Published: April 27, 2026 12:37

A pair (not really a pair, they were of two different species) spent a few months on the International Space Station. The article about them says “Two ‘spidernauts’ were studied to see how they adapted to microgravity – with surprising results,” but…

Learning about birds

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/27/learning-about-birds/

Published: April 27, 2026 12:18

I learned about an interesting bird this morning, the American Dipper, a freshwater diving bird. I didn’t know they existed. It was particularly fascinating to me because the narrator looks so much like my late brother, when he was younger. Also, he has a…

It’s summertime, and you know what that means…

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/26/its-summertime-and-you-know-what-that-means/

Published: April 26, 2026 19:17

Probably not what you think it means. To me, it means cold, a terrible chill in my lab that makes it uncomfortable to work there, just as I’m getting the freedom to work there. Every summer, when the physical plant starts working to cool the building, they…

Suspicious!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/26/suspicious/

Published: April 26, 2026 12:07

We have a president who is notorious for openly despising journalists. For years, he has been shunning the White House Correspondents Dinner, where, in the past, some speakers have mocked him, and where he would be surrounded by people who write rude…

What a waste of an evening

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/25/what-a-waste-of-an-evening/

Published: April 25, 2026 23:49

The White House Correspondents Dinner os happening tonight, featuring remarks by the president himself. I won’t bother listening, because not only do I despise Trump, but it’s a room full of sycophants who have, with rare exceptions, enabled him. I think…

What kind of perfect date is this?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/25/what-kind-of-perfect-date-is-this/

Published: April 25, 2026 22:08

Sorry to say, it’s 5°C and raining here, and I spent my day extracting grade records and working on a spreadsheet to work out preliminary grades. I hope your day has been better.

This is a spider

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/24/this-is-a-spider/

Published: April 24, 2026 18:54

Wouldn’t want you to think I’d forgotten.

Revealing photos

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/24/revealing-photos/

Published: April 24, 2026 14:38

Two presidential photo ops: The photographer who caught that one will be shot later today. The subject for that one is the Georgia women’s tennis team. Can you tell? They’re the ones tucked away in back, behind the old white men in suits with garish red…

Now tempted to run a casino out of my house

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/24/now-tempted-to-run-a-casino-out-of-my-house/

Published: April 24, 2026 13:58

Yikes. These data jerked me right back to the first lab of my genetics course, where we learn basic principles of probability with exercises in coin flipping and dice rolling. I never even thought to ask them if they had a different, incorrect assumption…

An adorable baby

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/24/an-adorable-baby/

Published: April 24, 2026 12:35

What a cute little dead baby. That’s a Lystrosaurus embryo. If you don’t know Lystrosaurus, it’s an amazing species that survived the Permian extinction and experienced a remarkable population boom — it was a large vertebrate that came to dominate the…

Not a spider

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/24/not-a-spider-2/

Published: April 24, 2026 12:09

Spiders don’t usually look this pissed off. I know it’s not as interesting as a spider, but I’m setting goals for myself this summer. I’m making a list! Get that knee surgery, finally. I’m meeting with the orthopedic surgeon on Wednesday to, I hope,…

I’m not the only one easily seduced by giant Cretaceous octopuses

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/23/im-not-the-only-one-easily-seduced-by-giant-cretaceous-octopuses/

Published: April 23, 2026 20:12

You knew I’d have to read an article titled Earliest octopuses were giant top predators in Cretaceous oceans. How cool is that? And then they’ve illustrated it with some very appealing figures. Also, the abstract promises much. Top predators drive changes…

Oh no, last week of classes

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/23/oh-no-last-week-of-classes/

Published: April 23, 2026 15:38

It’s the perfect storm, and I have myself to blame. I gave the fourth exam of the semester yesterday, and many of the students bombed. This happens every year, and it’s because the fourth exam is the hardest of them all: everything accumulates in this…

What does Theridion eat? Asked & answered

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/22/what-does-theridion-eat-asked-answered/

Published: April 22, 2026 18:20

Yesterday, I posted a photo of Theridion on a signpost, and unclefrogy asked: the question I have is what kind of prey is also attracted to that area and what time of the day because that spider sure looks well fed. A good question! Theridion is a cobweb…

Something has happened to my blog

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/22/something-has-happened-to-my-blog/

Published: April 22, 2026 14:39

I don’t pay much attention to site stats, actively avoiding digging into them. I’m not interested in optimizing for traffic, or that SEO nonsense, but as the administrator for this site I’ve got this little toolbar at the top of the window that graphically…

Failing upward

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/22/failing-upward/

Published: April 22, 2026 14:07

Remember Devin Nunes? He’s the guy who sued a parody account, Devin Nunes Cow for $250 million (I’ve seen that number before — it seems to be a standard ridiculous number used in lawsuits by members of the Trump administration.) He lost. As a member of the…

Boomers. Ugh.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/04/22/boomers-ugh/

Published: April 22, 2026 12:26

I’ve received some spam email promoting an essay. I know I’m being their puppet by mentioning it here, but my god, this thing was stupid and annoying and feeds into stereotypes about my generation, so I’m going to link to it anyway. It’s an article titled…