Awesome video

Please all Christians watch this awesome and funny video of a Christian to other Christian on why you should listen to the expertise of REAL scientists - ie evolutionary biologists!

IN fact check out his whole "channel" - I haven't watched any of his other videos but I'll be back to check them out! http://www.youtube.com/user/DonExodus2

I will post some links to blogs etc on the Texas State Board of Education results from the past 3 days testimony and voting of the Board on science standards. It's a mixed bag.

Not on the Test

Check out this fantastic song/video by Grammy winner Tom Chapin, Not on the Test. It aired on NPR and is a sarcastic song about the problems with standardized testing, sung to his 3rd grade son. Check it out: http://www.notonthetest.com

Here is one stanza of lyrics, mid-song

Each box that you mark on each test that you take,
Remember your teachers, their jobs are at stake.
Your score is their score, but don't get all stressed.
They'd never teach anything not on the test.

And here's an article in NY Teacher, Union fights the trend that starts with teaching to the test.

God spot and White House science advisors

Just wanted to post a couple links. I came across this article today in the Daily Mail newspaper online, and found it interesting.
Scientists discover the brain's 'God spot'... and show that faith helps human survival.

The only thing that annoys me about the journalist's reporting of the story, and possibly inherent in the research (I haven't read the scientific papers themselves so can't remark) is in this sentence in the article: "Scientists, philosophers and theologians continue to argue about whether religious belief is a biological or a sociological phenomenon."

Why is it an either/or proposition? It's NOT.

Second I wanted to express my complete excitement when I got an email over a listserv I've long been a member of, ECOLOG-L (sci.bio.ecology) talking about the Obama administration inducting zoologist Jane Lubchenco as NOAA advisor and former AAAS president (American Association for the Advancement of Science) John Holdren as White House Science Advisor. I saw this and thought, wow how exciting that a scientist whose marine ecosystem work I read about in my Biology 101 textbook back in 1989 or so is now being inducted in the Obama admin! How cool to not have industry cronies advising the White House on science! But then I also saw that some Senator has placed an "anonymous hold" on them... and I am not sure what that means, exactly, but UGH! Here's a link to a blog post on the hold:

http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2009/03/science_advisor_and_noaa_admin.php