Charlie McDonnell

October 1st, 2012

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On this date in 1990, Charlie McDonnell was born in Bath, England, where he grew up. In 2007, while bored studying for exams, he started making videos for his YouTube channel, charlieissocoollike. The channel became incredibly popular after producing hit videos like “How to get featured on YouTube” and “How to be English.” His YouTube channel has more subscribers than any other channel based in the UK. As of January 2012, he had nearly 1,400,000 subscribers. Producing videos on YouTube has been McDonnell’s full-time job and primary source of income since he graduated from secondary school in 2009. In 2010, he moved to London, where he lives with friend and collaborator Alex Day. In 2011, the two bought a house in order to shed the reputation of being “kids who make videos in their bedrooms.”

McDonnell occasionally performs humorous songs on his YouTube channel, usually accompanying himself on the ukulele. He addresses scientific themes in songs like “A Song About Monkeys,” about evolution, and “Chemical Love,” on the physical origins of human emotion. In “A Song About Monkeys,” McDonnell addresses a gorilla: “You’re my favorite animal, but I’m biased I guess, because you look exactly like me. . . . You’re an animal. You’re just like me, ‘cause I’m an animal. We’re of the same biology.” McDonnell is a member of the Doctor Who-themed band Chameleon Circuit with Day. He has also made appearances in more mainstream media outlets; he presented an award at the 2010 British BAFTA Television Awards, and in 2010 he filmed a series of behind-the-scenes videos for the BBC show “Doctor Who Confidential.” McDonnell often addresses scientific ideas from a rational perspective in his videos, and describes himself as an atheist.

Fan’s blog post (rating Charlie’s “hotness points”): Faith: Unknown but believed to be an atheist.
Charlie McDonnell: I am an atheist.
Fan’s Blog: Minus 50 [hotness] points
Charlie: Oh well, reason loses again.

— “Hotness Points,” Sep. 28, 2010 video on charlieissoboredlike YouTube channel

Compiled by Eleanor Wroblewski - www.ffrf.org

Annie Besant

October 1st, 2012

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On this date in 1847, Annie Besant (née Wood) was born in London. The sheltered girl married the unpleasant Rev. Frank Besant (rhymes with "pleasant") at 20. Besant, she later quipped in an early autobiography, had "very high ideas of a husband's authority and a wife's submission." Besant met liberal former minister Moncure Conway, and after a course of reading, gave up Christianity at age 25 and soon after separated from her husband. In 1874, Annie met Charles Bradlaugh, Britain's most prominent freethought leader and an attorney for the poor, who offered her a position on the weekly National Reformer. They embarked on a platonic professional partnership of writing, speaking and reform. Besant became a celebrity among reformers, with George Bernard Shaw praising her as "the greatest orator in England, and possibly in Europe." Annie persuaded Charles to reprint The Fruits of Philosophy, a book about birth control, to challenge the Obscene Publications Act. They were arrested, tried and narrowly avoided jail. When Annie shrewdly rewrote the outdated booklet, her version became a bestseller that hastened the birth control movement worldwide. But her involvement lost her custody of her 8-year-old daughter. Annie became a student at London University when it agreed to admit women in 1878, receiving the only honors award in botany in 1881 in Prof. Thomas Huxley's class. She was the first woman on the London School Board, and an advocate for working class women and woman suffrage. Her enthusiasms for other causes and other men gradually strained her friendship with Bradlaugh. The rudest shock to Bradlaugh, his daughter Hypatia, and admirers such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton came in 1889, when Besant officially converted to theosophy. Although retaining affection for the freethought movement, she became a successor to the mystic founder of theosophy, Mme. Blavatsky, moving to India. A fanatical bent which her mother had detected (her mother's prophetic dying words: "it has been darling Annie's only fault; she has always been too religious") took Besant on a journey to occultism. Even in India, however, Besant was a true reformer, never quite losing her practical bent. An early supporter of Indian Home Rule, she was later praised by freethinker Jawaharlal Nehru as the "Mother of India." D. 1933.

“ . . . I rejoice that I played my part in that educating of England which has made impossible for evermore the crude superstitions of the past, and the repetition of the cruelties and injustices under which preceding heretics suffered.”

— Annie Besant, Autobiography (1910)

Compiled by Annie Laurie Gaylor - www.ffrf.org

Evolution

Researchers are spinning spider-silk from goats' milk

Spider silk has a wide variety of applications but it's also hard to obtain and manufacture. Researchers are interested in spider silk for things like artificial ligaments and artificial tendons, bulletproof vests and even car air-bags. With small treatment, spider silk can be made tougher than Kevlar or even stronger than steel (source 1). But s

ince spiders are territorial, there's a narrow limit to how many spiders one can actually harvest in a limited space. This is where the goats come in.

Randy Lewis, a professor of molecular biology at the University of Wyoming, and other researchers placed the spiders’ dragline silk gene into goats in such a way that the goats would only make the protein in their milk. Similar to any other genetic factor, only a certain percentage of the goats end up with the gene. For instance, of seven goat kids born in February 2010, three have tested positive for having the silk protein gene. When these transgenic goats have kids and start lactating, the researchers will collect the milk and isolate the spider silk protein from the milk to produce silk.
Other than their ability to produce the spider silk protein, the goats do not seem to have any other differences in health, appearance, or behaviour compared to goats without the gene (source 2).

Researchers plan to extend this research by replacing goats with alfalfa plants, which they believe would be a much productive option.

Source:
1) http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/01/0117_020117TVspidermammals.html
2) http://phys.org/news194539934.html
3) http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/spidersilk.jsp
4) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/889951.stm
5) http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/CuttingEdge/spinning-tough-spider-silk-goat-milk/story?id=98095#.UGTKB1Ggm8I

Image: http://phys.org/news194539934.html

Evolution

The Anopheles mosquito is the main vector of malaria. A lot of our control programs are built around what we know about the female Anopheles and her behaviour (as it is the female who spreads malaria, biting as part of her reproduction cycle). We know that it rests during the day and prefers to bite at night, so nets and sprays are used around these times to deter attempts to feed.

However this

month has seen the discovery of a new type of mosquito in western Kenya. Researchers have not been able to match this mosquito's DNA to any known malaria-carrying species. Two findings concerned the researchers - first, that some of this species were infected with malaria, and secondly that this species displays different biting behaviour. While the Anopheles is active during the night, the majority of Species A mosquitoes caught (Species A is a temporary title until it can be properly named) were active during the evening.

This is a problem because effective treatments, such as nets, are used during the night - when Species A is active during the evening, many villagers are still out and about. Bed nets are an important preventative measure and if this new species does transmit malaria, we have lost an important tool. The search for new ways to control malaria's spread may be more needed than ever.

Photo credit: Darlyne A. Murawski.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/new-mosquito-poses-greater-malaria-threat-8142476.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120929140348.htm

Matilda Joslyn Gage (Quote)

September 30, 2012

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“The most important struggle in the history of the church is that of woman for liberty of thought and the right to give that thought to the world.”

— Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826-1898), American suffragist, feminist, author. Woman, Church and State, 1893. See Women Without Superstition.

Compiled by Annie Laurie Gaylor - www.ffrf.org

Evolution

One look at a vampire squid, and you'd think it was the product of a cheesy horror/sci-fi movie. Vampyroteuthis infernalis (meaning "vampire squid from hell") is the sole living member in the Order Vampyromorphida, and shares characteristics of both octopuses (Order Octopoda) and squids (Order Teuthida). It first appeared around 300 million years ago and has changed very little since then, making

it a living fossil that may represent an ancestral line between octopuses and squids. They live about a half a mile deep in the tropical and temperate oceans worldwide, and only grow to about 30 cm long, but their eyes are huge. In fact, they have the largest eye-to-body ratio of any animal alive today.

They lack the feeding tentacles and ink-sacs that their squid cousins possess, but they do have photophores that can emit clouds of bioluminescent particles. These are useful in the deep sea compared to chromatophores, or pigment-changing organs, which the vampire squid possesses but cannot use due to a lack of specific muscles. When scared, it will fold its body nearly inside out, pointing its long fleshy spines (or cirri) outwards to ward off predators.

It had long been thought that the vampire squid was carnivorous, like all other cephalopods, although there was little evidence to support this. Since the animal's eight arms are webbed and lack suckers (except for a few at the end of each arm), the feeding method was a mystery. That is, until a pair of long sticky filaments extending from the mouth were discovered by researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. These filaments can be as long as eight times the vampire squid's length, and are used to catch marine debris that is later sucked up into the animal's beak. The animal eats "the dead bodies of crustaceans, moults (shedded outer layers) of crustaceans, fecal pellets of zooplankton, parts of gelatinous organisms like the discarded mucus houses of larvaceans, fish scales, foraminifera (single celled marine organisms), pieces of jellyfish and salps, eggs, micro algae, radiolarians (another type of singe celled aquatic animal)," as well as other marine debris, according to Henk-Jan Hoving, a postdoctoral researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. This makes the vampire squid the only non-predatory cephalopod alive today. Rather, it is more of a scavenger.

So you can sleep without worry tonight; the vampire squid will not sneak up on you at the beach and devour you. Instead, it will happily eat the waste at the bottom of the sea. This also means that whatever pollution enters the ocean will someday float down to the vampire squid's domain, so please be wary of what you put in our oceans.

Sources: http://news.discovery.com/animals/vampire-squid-120925.html
http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=179

Image source: http://www.scitechupdate.com/2012/09/film-reveals-how-vampire-squids-eat.html

Julia Gillard

September 29, 2012

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On this date in 1961, Australia's first female prime minister, Julia Eileen Gillard, was born in Wales into a Baptist family, which migrated to Australia in 1965. Initially she wanted to be a teacher, but a friend's mother suggested a career in law since young Gillard already had excellent debating skills. (She is now considered one of the most skillful and articulate communicators in Australian politics.) Gillard studied art and law at the University of Adelaide, where she became active in politics. She transferred to the University of Melbourne and became president of the Australian Union of Students in 1983. She graduated from the University of Melbourne with a degree in law in 1986, worked in Melbourne for a law firm and became its first female partner in 1990. Specializing in industrial law, Gillard fought to improve working conditions for women in clothing and textile industry sweatshops. In 1996, Gillard was appointed chief of staff for Victorian Opposition leader John Brumby and was herself elected to Federal Parliament in 1998. She entered Labor's Shadow Ministry in 2001, and became the Shadow Health Minister in 2003. Gillard was sworn in as Australia's first female Deputy Prime Minister in 2007, and simultaneously served as the Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for Social Inclusion. Gillard ousted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for what she considered steering the government in the wrong direction, making her Australia's first female prime minister on June 24, 2010. She is additionally Australia's first unmarried prime minister, and the first foreign-born prime minister in almost a century. 

Gillard called herself a "non-practicing Baptist," on Dec. 26, 2009 (The Sydney Morning Herald, "Catholics divided in the House," by Jacqueline Maley). She told ABC Radio Melbourne's Jon Faine (June 29, 2010): "I grew up in the Christian church, a Christian background. I won prizes for catechism, for being able to remember Bible verses. I am steeped in that tradition, but I've made decisions in my adult life about my own views" and "I'm not going to pretend a faith I don't feel" (Telegraph UK, "Australian prime minister 'does not believe in God,'" by Bonnie Malkin, June 29, 2010). "I've never thought it was the right thing for me to go through religious rituals for the sake of appearance. . . . For people of faith, I think the greatest compliment I could pay them is to respect their genuinely-held beliefs and not to engage in some pretence about mine." 

Faine: Do you believe in God?
Gillard: No, I don't, Jon, I'm not a religious person. I'm of course a great respecter of religious beliefs but they're not my beliefs.

— ABC Radio 774 Melbourne interview with Jon Faine, quoted by The Australian, "Julia Gillard risks Christian vote with doubts on God," by Matthew Franklin, June 30, 2010

Compiled by Bonnie Gutsch - www.ffrf.org

Robert Stout

September 28, 2012

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On this date in 1844, New Zealand statesman Sir Robert Stout was born in the Shetland Isles, Scotland. He was educated in parish schools, qualified as a student teacher at age 13, then as a surveyor in 1860. Stout emigrated to New Zealand in 1863. After teaching in Dunedin, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1871. He served as a member of the Provincial Council of Otago in 1872, was Provincial Solicitor from 1873-1876, and was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1875 as a Liberal. He served as Attorney General and Minister for Lands and Immigration from 1878-79. He became president of the Dunedin Freethought Association in 1880, and also defended the Auckland Rationalist Association when it was threatened with prosecution for selling its magazine on Sundays. Stout eventually introduced a bill, which passed, reducing Blue Law fines and restrictions. He was often described at New Zealand's version of Charles Bradlaugh, a correspondent, and America's Robert Ingersoll. He was returned to Parliament in 1884, and was Premier, Attorney-General and Minister of Education from 1884-1887. He was knighted in 1886. Stout promoted secondary schools, medical and welfare services, and was sympathetic to the Maori and land reform. He passed the Married Women's Property Act while Prime Minister. During his entire political career he championed a secular educational system. Stout returned to Parliament in time to finally see passage of women's suffrage in 1893, a reform he had promoted. He was appointed Chief Justice, serving from 1899-1926. He was also chancellor of the New Zealand University (1903-1923). When he retired as Chief Justice, Stout was appointed to the Legislative Council, where he immediately defended secular education, which was under attack by religionists seeking to introduce bible reading and prayers in school: "I fear that parliament may set up a little state church to make people morally good . . . it will make them immoral, for it will inaugurate bitterness and ill feeling." He married Anna Paterson Logan, the daughter of social reformers and freethinkers, and they had six children. D. 1930.

“We recognise no authority competent to dictate to us. Each must believe what he considers to be true and act up to his belief, granting the same right to everyone else.”

— Robert Stout, inaugural address as president of Dunedin Freethought Association, 1880

Compiled by Annie Laurie Gaylor - www.ffrf.org

Prosper Merimee

September 28, 2012

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On this date in 1803, writer and dramatist Prosper Merimee was born in Paris, France. The son of an artist, Merimee initially studied law, then switched to the humanities. His first play, "Cromwell," was published in 1822, followed by several famed literary "hoaxes," more plays and a travel book. A student of language, Merimee made the first translations into French of many Russian classics. In the 1830s, he was appointed chief of cabinet to two ministers, then inspector-general of historical monuments, where his archaeological interests could be explored. His most famous novella, Carmen, was published in 1845, and later made into an opera by fellow rationalist Georges Bizet in 1869. Merimee was made a senator in 1853 by Eugenie of France, the daughter of his Spanish friend, the Countess of Montigo of Spain. Freethought historians Joseph McCabe, and J.M. Robertson describe Prosper Merimee as an atheist and a rationalist. D. 1870.

“The only excuse for God is that he doesn't exist.”

— Letter to fellow atheist Prosper Merimee by friend M. de Stendhal. (Cited in The Encyclopedia of Unbelief, "Unbelief in France," edited by Gordon Stein)

Compiled by Annie Laurie Gaylor - www.ffrf.org

Janeane Garofalo

September 28, 2012

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On this date in 1964, actress and comedian Janeane Garofalo was born into a conservative family in Newton, N.J. Her family relocated to Houston when she was in high school. She majored in history at Providence College, where she quickly shed her parents' politics. While a college student, Garofalo entered a Showtime-sponsored comedy talent search and won the title of "Funniest Person in Rhode Island." After college, she became a standup comedian. To make ends meet she worked briefly as a bike messenger in Boston. Garofalo's breakthrough came when she befriended actor/comedian Ben Stiller in 1992 and joined the cast of his acclaimed sketch comedy program, "The Ben Stiller Show." She starred in the 1994 Ben Stiller film, "Reality Bites," and was nominated for an Emmy, in 1996, for her role on Gary Shandling's HBO series, "The Larry Sanders Show." She briefly joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live" in 1994, worked as a correspondent on Michael Moore's news magazine, TV Nation, and hosted "Comedy Product," a standup showcase on Comedy Central. Garofalo appeared in or starred in  films such as, "Now and Then" (1995), "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" (1996), "Larger Than Life" (1996), "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion" (1997), "The Matchmaker" (1997), "Cop Land" (1997) and "Dogma" (1999), a film satirizing religion. She starred with Joaquin Phoenix and Vince Vaughan in 1998's "Clay Pigeons," and worked again with Stiller in "Permanent Midnight" (1998) and "Mystery Men" (1999).

In addition to her extensive acting and comedy career, Garofalo has been an outspoken critic of religion. Calling herself an atheist on her radio show, "The Majority Report," Garofalo has become a favorite of the left and a target of right-wing criticism. She helped launch Air America and has been a guest on Freethought Radio (June 2, 2007). Also a noted peace activist, Garofalo has said, "[God] just seems very man-made to me. There are so many theories, and not everyone can be right. It's human nature to need a religious crutch, and I don't begrudge anyone that. I just don't need one" ("Showbiz," Aug. 1995). Garofalo's celebrity has only grown, with appearances on the final season of "The West Wing" (2005-2006), the series finale of "Mad About You" (1999), the voice of Stith on "Titan A.E." (2000), the voice of Colette in "Ratatouille" (2007), and a recurrent role in the 2009 season of the hit show, "24." Garofalo received an Emperor Has No Clothes Award from the Freedom From Religion Foundation in 2001 , for "telling it like it is" about religion, and in 2007 became a Lifetime member of the Foundation.

"Organized religions and their dogmas only serve to indoctrinate the participants into sheeplike common behaviors. This type of blind assimilation promotes the popularity of top-forty count down radio stations and movie sequels. Skepticism towards groups, holy or otherwise, is enriching and makes you a far more entertaining person." 

— Feel This Book: An Essential Guide to Self-Empowerment, Spiritual Supremacy, and Sexual Satisfaction by Janeane Garofalo & Ben Stiller, 1999, p. 172-173.

Compiled by Bonnie Gutsch - www.ffrf.org

Georges Clemenceau

September 28, 2012

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On this date in 1841, French statesman and journalist Georges Clemenceau was born in France. Clemenceau followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a physician and a freethinker. At 16, he was briefly suspended from school for debating Christianity with a teacher. Clemenceau began writing for Emile Zola's newspaper, Travail, advocating a republic and free speech, and served 63 days in jail in 1862 as a student demonstrator under the reign of Napoleon III. As a foreign correspondent for Le Temps, he went to New York City in 1865. He met his wife-to-be teaching French at a ladies seminary in Connecticut. Clemenceau's book, The Great God Pan (1869), described how superstitions live on under new guises. Clemenceau also translated John Stuart Mill's book, Auguste Comte and Positivism. Returning to France, he became Mayor of Montmartre, served as a member of the Paris Municipal Council (1871-76) and was elected five times to the National Assembly. During an interlude when he left politics, Clemenceau returned to journalism. His newspaper articles, permeated with anti-clericalism and the promotion of rationalism, eventually were bound into 19 volumes. Clemenceau contributed to L'Aurore, and worked tirelessly for the release of Alfred Dreyfuss, writing more than a thousand influential articles about the case. Known as "The Tiger," the politician returned to the Chambre in 1902, became Minister of the Interior, then premier (1906-1909). Clemenceau was again elected Prime Minister in 1917-1920, and was toasted as "Pere Victoire" (Father Victory) at the close of World War I. Clemenceau was a connoisseur of the arts, and a personal friend of Rodin. He was buried, per instructions, with no rites. D. 1929.

“Not only have the 'followers of Christ' made it their rule to hack to bits all those who do not accept their beliefs, they have also ferociously massacred each other, in the name of their common 'religion of love,' under banners proclaiming their faith in Him who had expressly commanded them to love one another.”

— Georges Clemenceau, In the Evening of My Thought (Au Soir de la pensee), chapter on "Gods and Laws." Translated by William Raymond Clark, professor of French at Salem State College, Massachusetts. For more about Clemenceau, see Prof. Clark's article, "George Clemenceau: Journalist: Statesman, Atheist," Freethought Today, August 2002.

Compiled by Annie Laurie Gaylor - www.ffrf.org

Will Science Rule Out the Existence of God?

• by Anna Klenke
• September 26, 2012

Here’s some news that the GOP won’t like: Sean Carroll, a theoretical cosmologist at the California Institute of Technology, believes that science will eventually be able to explain everything in the universe — as well as provide conclusive proof that there is no God.

God’s influence is waning
According to a Huffington Post article, “Carroll argues that God’s sphere of influence has shrunk drastically in modern times, as physics and cosmology have expanded in their ability to explain the origin and evolution of the universe.” With fewer unexplained natural phenomena, he believes that there is less need for humans to look towards a deity for answers.
While it’s true that religious figures and customs have less influence on popular culture than ever before in the western world (except for maybe in the months before a presidential election), it seems rash to say that science will eventually have solved all the mysteries of the universe. It is even more far fetched to believe that science will completely replace religion and belief in God.
A peaceful coexistence
Science and religion don’t have to be mutually exclusive. I went to a liberal arts college that was affiliated with the Lutheran church and known for its high-quality science and pre-med programs. Often, the students gazing at slides under microscopes in advanced biology classes were the same ones who attended the non-mandatory daily chapel. While there were students who denied the validity of evolution, the majority were talented, informed scientists who happened to believe in God. And there was no conflict.

Believing in God today

In 2007, the New York Times asked several noted writers and artists whether they believed in a god or deity. Five said yes; six answered no; and seven placed themselves somewhere in between.
In response, writer Jonathan Franzen said, “God’s not like some chief executive sitting at a control panel, calling all the shots. At the same time, I think there’s a reality beneath what we can see with our eyes and experience with our senses. There’s ultimately something mysterious and un-materialistic about the world. Something large and awe-inspiring and unknowable” (NYT).
A few of the people polled admitted to having a firmer belief in their branch of organized religion than the abstract concept of “God.” Others believe in a larger power, but are reluctant to put a label on it. Clearly, everyone’s idea of God is a little bit different — and it seems unlikely that science will be able to wipe out each and every person’s belief in a higher power.
What do you think?
Science is one of the most important aspects of our society today. It has allowed us to cure diseases, explore outer space and drastically improve our quality of life. But it is only one facet of the human experience.
Do you believe in God or science — or both? Will biology and physics someday erase our need to believe in God, or is the human tendency towards religion something that will never be overtaken by data and statistics? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/will-science-rule-out-the-existence-of-god.html#ixzz27jtCpQvW

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/will-science-rule-out-the-existence-of-god.html#ixzz27jsb5p5F

Evolution

This is Part 3 in the Marine Biology Series.
The Abyss is a truly inhospitable place. The pressure is crushing, the water is highly acidic, freezing and above boiling point at the same time. There is absolutely no sunlight and it's pitch dark. To top it all off, hydrothermal vents spew toxic gases everywhere. Needless to say, it's the last place you would expect to find life.

And yet, a huge dive

rsity of life can be found in The Deep. Even when cut off from the source of all life, the Sun, an entire ecosystem is able to thrive, almost completely cut off from the rest of the world. Whilst ecosystems closer to the surface rely on photosynthesis to survive, species that live near hydrothermal vents rely on chemosynthesis, in which chemicals from the Earth's interior provide the energy necessary. Microorganisms oxidize the Hydrogen sulfide that is spewed out the vents, forming the basis of the entire ecosystem.

Organisms living in such conditions must also deal with highly toxic, acidic waters. They have evolved many methods to survive these conditions. For example, some polychaete tubeworms expel the toxins in their mucus.

The creatures must also contend with pressures exceeding 3000psi (That's 200 times the pressure on land). To survive this, vent species have no air spaces in theirr body, to prevent being crushed.

It's interesting to note that vent ecosystems appear to be living fossils. It is likely that whilst the world on the surface suffered mass extinction after mass extinction, life went on as usual in The Abyss.

Read more about this: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/life-in-the-abyss.html

Image Source: http://faculty.cascadia.edu/jvanleer/astro%20sum01/Hyrothremal%20Vent%20Final/hydrothermal_vents.htm

Evolution

Penguin poop can be seen from space

No, seriously. The combination of background colouring from satellite images and the penguin's formidable gastrointestinal prowess allows the Emperor penguin (and others too) to be tracked by satellites orbiting the Earth. Background colouring comes handy when all that you're looking over is white sheets of ice over which penguin poop marks can easily be discer

ned- in fact, new penguin colonies have been discovered using this method. Peter Fretwell, who led one of the studies, and colleagues totted 595,000 penguins, which is almost double the previous estimates of 270,000-350,000 emperors. The count is thought to be the first comprehensive census of a species taken from space, and there's virtually no environmental impact occurring due to research too.

Now to the pooping part: A study (see source 1) focused on Adélie and Chinstrap penguins shows that these birds can poop at four times the pressure that humans can. They sit at the edge of nests and poop forty centimetres backwards. That's really impressive given the height of the penguins is roughly 60 centimetres.

Sources:
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9zzHKvkPNo

1)http://www.springerlink.com/content/a9j4vvpattrukeyn/
2) http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090603-penguin-poop-video-ap.html
3) http://www.omg-facts.com/Facts/Penguin-poop-can-be-seen-from-space/50351
4) http://phys.org/news163141205.html
5)http://www.neatorama.com/2012/04/02/penguin-poop-can-be-seen-from-space/
6) http://www.penguinpoop.com/

Image: http://www.penguinpoop.com/

Evolution

Very little light reaches the dark depths of the ocean. Consequently we see many adaptions regarding light among deep-sea organisms, from extreme sensitivity to bio-luminescence. But as strange as they can seem, the barreleye fish blows them all away - it has evolved to see through its own head.

The green orbs you see are its eyes, which spend most of their time gazing upwards through its transpa

rent "forehead" for prey. This "forehead" is actually a fluid-filled sack. When it spots something it likes, it rotates them forward so its field of vision and mouth are now aligned to hunt. Until 2009 it was thought that these eyes were fixed staring upwards, but finding a live specimen revealed their mobility.

The two spots you can see near the mouth are called nares, which the barreleye uses to filter the water for chemical traces. In addition to the stunning head adaptation, the yellow pigment of the eyes help the barreleye distinguish between sunlight from the surface and light coming from bio-luminiscent fish. A fascinating example of evolution indeed.

Photo credit: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/factfile/5373/barreleye-fish

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4797025/Fish-has-transparent-head.html

Top Ten Humanist Videos on YouTube

http://www.americanhumanist.org/HNN/details/2011-03-top-ten-humanist-videos-on-youtube#.UGNrlDHlD-g.mailto

Open Your Mind.

To a great extent, advertising tells us who we are and who we should be. What does advertising tell us today about women? It tells us just as did it 10 and 20 and 30 years ago that what's most important about women is how they look. The first thing the advertisers do is surround us with the image of ideal female beauty so we all learn how important it is for a woman to be beautiful and exactly wha

t it takes.

Jean Kilbourne continues her groundbreaking analysis of advertising's depiction of women in this most recent update of her pioneering "Killing Us Softly" series. In fascinating detail, Kilbourne decodes an array of print and television advertisements to reveal a pattern of disturbing and destructive gender stereotypes. Her analysis challenges us to consider the relationship between advertising and broader issues of culture, identity, sexism, and gender violence.

Sections within the documentary include: Does the beauty ideal still tyrannize women? | Does advertising still objectify women's bodies? | Are the twin themes of liberation and weight control still linked? | Is sexuality still presented as women's main concern? | Are young girls still sexualized? | Are grown women infantilized? | Are images of male violence against women still used to sell products?

WATCH THE FULL DOCUMENTARY: "Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising's Image of Women"
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/killing-us-softly-3/

Norman Mailer (Quote)

September 27, 2012

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“Piety is oppressive. It takes all the air out of thought.”

— Norman Mailer (1923-2007). On God: An Uncommon Conversation (2007)

Compiled by Annie Laurie Gaylor - www.ffrf.org

Albert Ellis September 27, 2012 On this date in 1913, Albert Ellis was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. He graduated from the City University of New York with a degree in business, and later decided to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Columbia University. He graduated in 1947 and earned an M.A. in clinical psychology from Teachers College in 1943. Ellis worked as a psychotherapist, marriage and family counselor and sex therapist. He became chief psychologist of New Jersey in 1950. Ellis initially practiced psychoanalysis, but in 1953 he declared it unscientific and became what he called a “rational therapist.” In 1955, he invented Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), a type of short-term Cognitive Behavioral Therapy which counsels patients to take action to improve their lives in the present, rather than focusing on past experiences. He founded the non-profit Albert Ellis Institute in 1964, which worked to promote REBT and make it accessible. REBT is still practiced today and was considered a revolutionary change in psychotherapy. In fact, a 1982 study found that Albert Ellis was considered more influential than such famous psychologists as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Ellis became a “firm atheist and anti-mystic” at the age of 12, according to his 2007 book Are Capitalism, Objectivism, and Libertarianism Religions? Yes!. In the book, he also called himself a “probabilistic atheist,” meaning that he believed the probability of a god existing was very low. “We can have no certainty that God does or does not exist [but] we have an exceptionally high degree of probability that he or she doesn’t,” Ellis explained in his 2004 book, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy: It Works For Me–It Can Work For You. Ellis wrote “Case Against Religion: A Psychotherapist’s View and the Case Against Religiosity,” which was first published in The Independent in 1980 and later published as a pamphlet. In the pamphlet, Ellis writes that religion’s “absolutistic, perfectionistic thinking is the prime creator of the two most corroding of human emotions: anxiety and hostility.” D. 2007. “For a man to be a true believer and to be strong and independent is impossible; religion and self-sufficiency are contradictory terms.”  — Dr. Albert Ellis, “Case Against Religion: A Psychotherapist’s View and the Case Against Religiosity,” 1980. Compiled by Sabrina Gaylor - www.ffrf.org

George Gershwin

September 26, 2012

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On this date in 1898, composer George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York. Of the three boys in the family, only Ira, later George's lyricist, was subjected to a bar mitzvah. "This religious milestone apparently meant little to Ira himself. The fact that Rose and Morris never imposed it upon George and Arthur means that, by the time they became teenagers, the family had left their East European Jewish origins behind and were living a secularized existence in New York's cosmopolitan melting pot. . . . Rose made sure the living room curtains were drawn closed on the eve of sabbaths or festivals, so that her Jewish neighbors would be unaware she had not lit the ceremonial candles," according to Rodney Greenberg, in his biography, George Gershwin. Gershwin's named sources of "inspiration" were not gods or prophets but two other nonbelieving songwriters: Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern, according to biographer Edward Jablonski, Gershwin: A Biography. Self-taught as a piano-player, Gershwin began writing songs and musicals as a teenager, quickly advancing from Tin Pan Alley to Broadway musicals. Considered by many to be America's greatest song composer, Gershwin wrote memorable standard after standard, including: "Lady, be Good!" "Strike Up the Band," "Funny Face," "The Man I Love," "Embraceable You," "Somebody Loves Me" and "They Can't Take That Away from Me." His more serious work: Rhapsody in Blue (1924), Piano Concerto in F (1925), Porgy & Bess (1934-5), and Three Preludes (1926). At the height of his career, the ambitious 38-year-old, who had been sent to see a psychiatrist after complaining of debilitating headaches, collapsed from an undiagnosed brain tumor and tragically died during surgery. D.1937.

It Ain't Necessarily So

It ain't necessarily so, (repeat)
De t'ings dat yo' li'ble
To read in de Bible,
It ain't necessarily so.

Li'l David was small, but oh my! (rpt)
He fought big Goliath
Who lay down an' dieth!
Li'l David was small, but oh my!

Oh, Jonah, he lived in de whale, (rpt)
Fo' he made his home in
Dat fish's abdomen.
Oh, Jonah, he lived in de whale.

Li'l Moses was found in a stream, (rpt)
He floated on water
Till Ole Pharaoh's daughter
She fished him, she says, from that stream.

It ain't necessarily so, (rpt)
Dey tell all you chillun
De debble's a villun,
But 'tain't necessarily so.

To get into Hebben don' snap for a sebben!
Live clean! Don' have no fault.
Oh, I takes dat gospel
Whenever it's poss'ble,
But wid a grain of salt.

Methus'lah lived nine hundred years,
But who calls dat livin'
When no gal'll give in
To no man what's nine hundred years?

I'm preachin' dis sermon to show,
It ain't nessa, ain't nessa,
ain't nessa, ain't nessa,
Ain't necessarily so.

—

Music by George Gershwin. Lyrics by Ira Gershwin. Copyright 1935 by Gershwin Publishing Co.

Compiled by Annie Laurie Gaylor - www.ffrf.org

Charles Bradlaugh

September 26, 2012

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On this date in 1833, England's best-known proponent of atheism, reformer Charles Bradlaugh, was born in East London. Bradlaugh left school at age 11 to earn his living. When he announced his freethought views, he was forced to leave his family home, and found support among other freethinkers, including the children of oft-jailed publisher Richard Carlile. Bradlaugh worked as a coal merchant. After joining the army, he worked as a solicitor's clerk, learned the law and became a skillful attorney. He wrote and lectured about freethought under the pseudonym "Iconoclast." Bradlaugh briefly became editor of the freethinking bi-weekly periodical, the Investigator, in 1858. By the time he became co-editor of the National Reformer in 1860 he was a famed social reformer and orator, known in England and abroad. In 1866, he founded the National Secular Society. Bradlaugh had two daughters and one son with his wife, whose serious drinking problem broke up the family in 1870. Bradlaugh's challenge in 1868-69 of the Security Laws, inhibiting distribution of controversial periodicals, brought their repeal. He also championed land reform. In 1876, he and colleague Annie Besant were prosecuted for "obscenity" for republishing a birth control booklet, The Fruits of Philosophy, by American doctor Charles Knowlton. After a grueling trial, the pair were convicted and faced jailtime and fines, but were freed on a technicality. Bradlaugh was urged to run for Parliament in 1868, placing fifth. He ran several times before winning in 1880, but was refused seating because he would not take the religious oath. Bradlaugh was re-elected by loyal constituents four times before finally prevailing in his fight to be seated in 1886, a landmark for British freethinkers, but a legal fight that drained him financially. Bradlaugh persuaded Parliament to pass a bill permitting the right to affirm in 1888. Bradlaugh lectured three times in the United States in the 1870s, and was warmly received in India during his 1889 visit. His only surviving child, Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner, took up the freethought/reform cudgels, also defending her father's reputation from numerous "death-bed conversion" fables. D. 1891.

“I maintain that thoughtful Atheism affords greater possibility for human happiness than any system yet based on, or possible to be founded on, Theism, and that the lives of true Atheists must be more virtuous--because more human--than those of the believers in Deity, . . .

Atheism, properly understood, is no mere disbelief; is in no wise a cold, barren negative; it is, on the contrary, a hearty, fruitful affirmation of all truth, and involves the positive assertion of action of highest humanity.”

— Charles Bradlaugh, "A Plea for Atheism," Humanity's Gain from Unbelief (1929)

Compiled by Annie Laurie Gaylor - www.ffrf.org

Evolution

The human body is home to trillions of microorganisms, from bacteria to fungi. Some of these perform useful functions for us, like the flora living in our gut that aid gut development and help train the immune system. Even those that have no effect aid us just by being there - they compete for resources with harmful microorganisms like C. difficile, limiting their growth.

These microorganisms can

make for fascinating photos, but microscopic photos are incomprehensible when you don't know what you're looking at. The yellow column in this photo is a hair, and the green objects are tails.

This is a photo of the face mites that live in your eyelashes, eyebrows and hairs in your ears.

Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis measure around 0.03-0.04mm and live for about two weeks. They are more commonly found on older people than children, as older people produce more sebum (an oily substance produced by the skin to lubricate and waterproof it), which they feed on. They assume a head-in tail-out position in the follicle, but remain able to move between follicles. Though a minority of people can get reactions such as inflammations, most people live in unknowing harmony with these guests.

Photo credit: Science Photo Library.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2230.1992.tb00192.x/abstract

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http%3A%2F%2Fwww.microscopy-uk.org.uk%2Fmag%2Fartmay00%2Fdemodex.html

Evolution

‎"Intelligent" design? Not really.

Let us follow the pathway of the recurrent (inferior) laryngeal nerve, an important nerve that is a branch of the Vagus nerve (tenth cranial nerve), to see how evolution works and its limitations, and also see how "intelligent design" doesn't fit anywhere into our biological observations.

I'll use the analogy of 'Climbing Mount Improbable' by Richard Dawkins-

suppose Evolution is to be compared to a Mountain with different peaks, and the higher we go on the mountain the greater is the complexity. Suppose you're already halfway up there, and suddenly realise while standing on the vantage point that there's a a better route! But you can't climb all the way down and start afresh, because that's just not evolution, as it has no foresight, and you'll have to make do with whatever you've got.

Similar is the case with the aforementioned recurrent (inferior) laryngeal nerve. This nerve connects the brain with the larynx (voice box). Damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerve means there's damage to our voice/speech box. Hence, the obvious path for the nerve to travel is straight from the brain into the neck and into the larynx, right? If you were designing the animal from scratch and "intending" that mammals would arise someday, that makes all the sense in the world. In mammals, however, the nerve goes from the brain down past the heart and then to the larynx. This is because that's the way it was in earlier fish-like ancestors, in whom making a trip around the heart was indeed the closest route from the brain to the larynx. But as the neck evolved and lengthened in a mammalian-like morphology, the current structure could not be made to start from scratch and the nerve developed its current highly unnecessary circuitous route. And nowhere is it more prominent than in Giraffes, where the never had to travel just 2 inches but instead makes a long tour all the way down the neck, and back up. It's shown here in this video explained by Dawkins himself, do watch it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO1a1Ek-HD0

As Dawkins would say, evolution didn't start out millions and millions of years ago with the plan that mammals would someday rock the world. No. Fish got the basic, simple design and the rest of us millions of years later have to suck it up and deal with it. (Source 3)

Sources:
(suggested by one of our fans- Brian Wilson)
1) http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2010/06/22/the-laryngeal-nerve-of-the-gir/
2) http://qilong.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/the-stupid-unintelligent-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-evolution-working-as-not-intended/
3) (Image source too) http://www.laughinginpurgatory.com/2010/10/what-is-example-of-natural-selection.html

 Why Evolution is True

http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/a-sokal-style-hoax-by-an-anti-religious-philosopher-2/