On Friday April 28, I attended a talk given by Nancy Pearcey, one of the Discovery Institute Fellows, at UC Davis. The talk was officially put on by Grace Alive, a student Christian organization, but I imagine that it is merely a formality to register the free auditorium on campus for the church’s event. Their Faith and Reason series has invited Michael Behe, William Dembski, and other anti-evolutionists.

As I expected, the anti-evolution content was not very much, but what became apparent was that this “Total Truth” lecture gave less than the whole truth. Read More…

Last week on my show, I had Dr. Eric Mussen, the extension apiculturist at UC Davis, as a guest. We talked all about bees: swarming, diseases, killer bees, honey, etc. During the show, it became apparent that the reason why I was not getting any “bee calls” this spring, despite being on multiple swarm lists, was because I wasn’t on his list. He agreed to put me on the list, and I anxiously awaited someone to call and tell me there was a swarm to catch.

So at 10:00 am the next morning, I get a call. He was serious when he said his list was the list to bee on. Unfortunately, this swarm flew away before I arrived, but sure enough, I got another call at 3 pm the same day, and I showed up at someone’s house to find a nice clump of bees on an apple tree at eye level. I forgot to get a picture of the clump, but here they are entering a “Nuc” box that I brought to catch them in.

A decent size clump of bees, making their way into the box. When you get the queen inside the rest follow suit. But looking back at this catch, with what I have seen, I can only say to myself: You call THAT a swarm? Read More…

Tonight, Lisa Simpson is going to get arrested for defending good science education a la John T. Scopes. (via the Thumb) The Monkey Suit is sure to be entertaining, but I thought I would register a prediction about the reaction to it. Read More…

PZ Myers points out how yet again, misconceptions about emergency contraception, also known as Plan B, keep fooling the mainstream news. Some people have an ideological axe to grind with plan B, and their efforts pervade everything from the FDA, to the media, to our little home-grown Davis Wiki. Why do people actively promote falsehoods? Read More…