Making a Fool of Yourself

There are many ways of making a fool of yourself. I know, because I've successfully attempted every one of them over the past few decades. I've even repeated some of the easier ones. Several Dozens of times.

Michael Shermer reminds us how easy it is by quoting a physicist. [When Scientists Sin: Fraud, deception and lies in research reveal how science is (mostly) self-correcting]

In his 1974 commencement speech at the California Institute of Technology, Nobel laureate physicist Richard P. Feynman articulated the foundation of scientific integrity: “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.... After you’ve not fooled yourself, it’s easy not to fool other scientists. You just have to be honest in a conventional way after that.”

This reminds me of an even earlier quotation from Peter Medawar in 1961. It's from a review of The Phenomenon of Man by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

It is a book widely held to be of the utmost profundity and significance; it created something like a sensation upon its publication in France, and some reviewers hearabouts called it the Book of the Year—one, the Book of the Century. Yet the greater part of it, I shall show, is nonsense, tricked out with a variety of metaphysical conceits, and its author can be excused of dishonesty only on the grounds that before deceiving others he has taken great pains to deceive himself.

It's much easier to fool yourself these days, in part because Peter Medawar and Richard Feynman aren't around to keep us honest.

That's one of the problems with modern science.

It's worth noting that Medawar was an atheist and he had little use for those who attempt to bolster religious beliefs with scientific arguments. It's also worth noting that forty years after Medawar's review you can still find people defending Teilhard as in Prophets without honour?, an essay published in Nature in 2000.

Teilhard's books were published posthumously: his religious superiors forbade him publishing his views on human evolution in his lifetime. He thus shared with Galileo the distinction, if that is the right word, of having his work suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church. Just because Galileo was right does not, of course, give everyone else whose work is proscribed the stamp of scientific rectitude, but Teilhard was doubly distinguished in his second martyrdom at the hands of scientific orthodoxy. But apart from its religious streak, Teilhard's approach is not so different from that of the modern field of evolutionary psychology, and he anticipated the explosive growth of mass communication. For a book written in the late 1930s, The Phenomenon of Man seems remarkably prescient.

Teilhard is not alone in being tried by the scientific establishment while experiencing popular success. A good deal of hostility has been directed at the concept of the biosphere as an intelligent organism — James Lovelock's Gaia — and at astronomer Fred Hoyle's ideas on the extraterrestrial origin of life. Both met with popular enthusiasm before the scientific establishment would admit that they were candidate hypotheses. The evolutionary biologist John Maynard Smith castigated Hoyle recently in this very journal ( Nature 403, 594–595; 2000).

Teilhard's books must have far outsold Medawar's Reith Lectures, and therein lies a dilemma for scientists in their relationship with the public. Should they, like Medawar, stick to the facts, satisfying the dictates of scientific conscience but, with a limited horizon, reaching a limited audience? Or should they throw caution to the winds as Teilhard did, appeal to a large audience, but risk disapprobation by the scientific community? There is a psychological issue, too, which is that the public may have twigged that not only do orthodox scientists restrict their enquiries to the physical world, but also that many of them believe in their hearts that there is nothing beyond it.

Speaking of phenomena, how often do you see someone's work compared to evolutionary psychology where the comparison is meant to be a compliment?

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On the Origin of the Double Membrane in Mitochondria and Chloroplasts

I've just finished revising my chapter on lipids and membranes for the 5th edition of my textbook. I decided to insert a short explanation about double membranes in order to clear up some common misconceptions.

Eukaryotic cells are surrounded by a single membrane—the familiar lipid bilayer we learned about in high school. Prokaryotic cells come in two varieties, those that have a single membrane like the gram positive bacteria, and those that have a double membrane, like the gram negative bacteria. A double membrane consists of two lipid bilayers (plasma membrane and outer membrane) with an enclosed intermembrane compartment.¹

There are membrane bound compartments within eukaryotic cells. Many of them are surrounded by a single lipid bilayer. Some have a double membrane. The nucleus, for example, is surrounded by a complex double membrane that completely breaks down and is reformed during mitosis and meiosis. Mitochondria and chloroplasts also have double membranes.

Mitochondria and chloroplasts are derived from ancient gram negative bacteria that entered into a symbiotic relationship with primitive eukaryotic cells. The bacteria entered the cytoplasm of the much larger eukaryotic cell where they continued to generate energy by creating a proton gradient across their inner membranes. The protons were temporarily stored in the intermembrane space until they were used to drive ATP synthesis during their return to the cytoplasm. According to chemiosmotic theory, the generation of this protonmotive force in primitive bacterial cells required an intermembrane compartment bounded by two membranes [Ode to Peter Mitchell, Ubiquinone and the Proton Pump].

It's no surprise that mitochondria and chloroplast have a double membrane because their ancestral bacterial cells also had double membranes.

The fact that gram negative bacteria have a double membrane has been known for over half a century. The fact that mitochondria and chloroplasts descend from bacteria has been accepted for almost forty years. The fact that the ancestral bacteria are gram negative bacteria became well established 25 years ago.

In spite of all this evidence, there's still a persistent mythology about the origin of the double membrane in mitochondria and chloroplasts. I was reminded of this when I read the article that won third place in the 3 Quarks Daily 2010 prize for best blog posting about science [The Winners of the 3 Quarks Daily 2010 Prize in Science]. The judge was Richard Dawkins.

First prize was won by Ed Young of Not Exactly Rocket Science for his article on Gut bacteria in Japanese people borrowed sushi-digesting genes from ocean bacteria. Second prize went to Carl Zimmer for Skull Caps and Genomes. Third prize was for an article by Margaret Morgan on The Evolution of Chloroplasts: endosymbiosis and horizontal gene transfer.

Morgan repeats the common myth ...

About 2.7 billion years ago, another remarkable change was occurring: the evolution of eukaryotic cells. This entailed the process of endosymbiosis [Gk: endon "within", syn "together" and biosis "living".] In endosymbiosis, one organism engulfs another and incorporates it into its own body or cells. It's important to remember that this takes place by invagination: think of pushing your finger into the side of an inflated balloon. Your finger is surrounded by both its own external membrane (your skin) as well as the membrane of the balloon itself. Now imagine (and sorry, the metaphor gets a bit gross at this point!) that your finger falls off and the balloon seals itself up again. Now your finger is inside the balloon, wrapped in a double membrane. That endosymbionts evolved by this process is evidenced by the fact that they have a double membrane, including their own original form that resembles the ancestral bacterial surface.

This is very wrong. The original bacteria had a double membrane and that double membrane was an integral part of the energy producing pathway that became so important for the eukaryotic cell. It's simply not true that the double membranes of bacteria and chloroplasts were the result of endocytosis.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of other things about this article that are wrong or misleading. I suppose it's further evidence that Richard Dawkins is not a biochemist!

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1. I don't mean to imply that a membrane consists only of lipids. Proteins make up a substantial percentage of all membranes.

Ogura, M. (1963) High resolution electron microscopy on the surface structure of Escherichia coli. Journal of Ultrastructure Research 8:251-263 [doi:10.1016/S0022-5320(63)90006-6 ]

Stephen Meyer Explains Intelligent Design Creationism

 
Here's Stephen Meyer on The 700 Club explaining why Intelligent Design Creationism is likely to be true. This is about as good an explanation as you're ever going to get.

Keep in mind that Intelligent Design Creationism is a strictly scientific theory. It is not religious. It just so happens that an evangelical Christian television show has an audience that's very interested in science.

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PZ's Radical Tree of Life

 
Check out PZ Myer's "radical" tree of life [Radial tree of life].



Why is this tree "radical"¹? Because it completely misrepresents the relative importance of animals. Bacteria are relegated to insignificant status when, in fact, the diversity among bacteria is every bit as great as the diversity within eukarotes. Protists are grossly underrepresented as well.

This is a tree for those people who think that humans and other animals should be much more important than they are. One word for that is "radical" but I can think of many others. I'm surprised at PZ for using this tree. That's not at all like him.

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1. PZ says it's a "radial" tree, not a "radical" tree.

[Tree Source: David M. Hillis, Derrick Zwickl, and Robin Gutell, University of Texas]

AAAS Supports Accommodationism, Illogically

 
Alan I. Leshner is the CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Executive Publisher of Science. He has written an article for the Huffington Post [Science, Religion and Civil Dialogue]. As usual, this type of accommodationist focuses on the fact that there are religious scientists. In this case, the recent study by Elaine Ecklund gets a prominent mention.

Let's hope that Ecklund's unusually comprehensive assessment will help overturn the myth that scientists reject spirituality, or that science and religion are inherently incompatible.

That myth persists among scientists and religious believers alike. In 2009 study by the Pew Research Center, 61% of Americans said that science poses no conflict with their own faith. Nonetheless, 55% of those same respondents said they view religion and science generally as "often in conflict." Evolution, for instance, has divided Americans since 1859, when Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species."

There is a better way, which will be demonstrated June 16 when leading scientists and a respected Christian minister engage in a free, public dialogue at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

There may be a myth that all scientists reject spirituality. I really can't comment on that except to note that I have never, ever, heard anyone make this claim.

The real issue is whether science and religion are inherently incompatible and that issue is not a "myth" by any stretch of the imagination. It's a perfectly reasonable position, whether you agree with it or not. The existence of scientists who are religious does nothing to decide the issue one way or another. After all, there are scientists who believe in homeopathy but that doesn't mean homeopathy is compatible with science. What Leshner says is illogical and logic is supposed to be one of the hallmarks of good science.¹

If the CEO of AAAS can't distinguish real philosophical issues from "myth" then I suggest that Americans need a new CEO—one who will keep the organization out of domains where it has no mandate to speak for all scientists. If Alan I. Leshner can't keep religion out of the organization then he should resign.²

As you might expect, Jerry Coyne restates the position that many of us hold [The AAAS goes all accommodationist]. Scientific organizations like AAAS have no business making claims about whether science and religion are compatible or not. When they cow-tow to religion they are separating themselves from a great many scientists who hold contrary points of view. The organization does not, cannot, and should not speak for scientists on subjects outside of science.

What Should Scientific Organizations Say about Religion?

How Should Scientific Societies Treat Religion?

Are Science and Religion Compatible? AAAS Says Yes.

AAAS Panel: Communicating Science in a Religious America

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1. I haven't mentioned the other illogical part of the argument; namely, that criticism of religion is "uncivil."

2. Please, let's not have any silly debate over whether Leshner is expressing a personal opinion or speaking for AAAS. Read his article and note how he identifies himself as author.

Richard Dawkins Talks About the Human Genome

Richard Dawkins is hosting a four part series on the human genome to be broadcast on BBC radio [The Age of the Genome]. Here's part of the summary for episode 1.

In spite of the advances, there have been some surprises and deepened mysteries. One of the greatest shocks was the finding that we have far fewer genes than scientists had assumed before they read out our genetic instructions. It takes no more genes to make a person than it does to make a simple microscopic worm. What makes a man different from a worm lies more in what researchers now calling the Dark Matter of the genome - 300 million letters of genetic code which work in currently mysterious ways.

Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist at Oxford University and the author of numerous books on evolution and genetics such as 'The Selfish Gene'. In interviews with scientists who led the initial effort to decode the genome and those who are now at the forefront of genetic research, Richard brings his evolutionary insights and fascination with the universal genetic code of life to illuminate how far we've come, and where we are heading in the Age of the Genome.

Note to Richard,

Many scientists, including the experts in the subject, expected there to be about 30,000 genes in our genome. They were pretty close to being right. No surprises there.

What makes a man different from a worm is that we have a smallish number of different genes and the genes we have in common are regulated differently. This conclusion comes from studies in developmental biology that were completed before the Human Genome Project began. Differences in regulating gene expression can be easily accomplished by changing a few base pairs in the promoter/enhancer region of the gene. No mystery there. The field is called evolutionary developmental biology and it's based on an understanding of evolution.

The "dark matter" is junk. The sequence of the human genome goes a long way toward proving what was suspected back in 1970. That's not a surprise. It's a prediction confirmed. Everything we know about the evolution of genomes in diverse species is consistent with the idea that much of our genome has no function. Evolution explains pseudogenes, it explains the so-called C-value paradox, it explains transposons and selfish DNA, it explains highly repetitive sequences. The "dark matter" has been exposed to the light of day and it looks like junk.

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False History and the Number of Genes 2010

Mihaela Pertea and Steven L Salzberg have just published a paper in Genome Biology with an interesting title: Between a chicken and a grape: estimating the number of human genes. Part of their paper covers the history of gene number estimates and it includes the figure shown here.

Figure 2. The trend of human gene number counts together with human genome-related milestones. Individual estimates of the human gene count are shown as blue diamonds. The range of estimates at different times is shown by the two vertical blue dotted lines. Note how this range has narrowed in recent years.

This is really annoying because it perpetuates a myth that needs to be debunked. I've addressed it in an earlier posting [Facts and Myths Concerning the Historical Estimates of the Number of Genes in the Human Genome].

Mihaela Pertea and Steven L Salzberg have completely ignored a substantial literature on the subject. First, there's the genetic load arguments of King and Jukes from 1969. They estimated that there had to be fewer that 40,000 genes in our genome. Ohno summarized the estimates in a 1972 paper and came up with an estimate based on current knowledge of 30,000 genes (Ohno 1972).

Then there's the substantive literature on expressed sequences from the 1970's These were mostly hybridization experiments showing that human tissues had a core of about 10,000 genes expressed in the most complex tissues. The estimate was that there were probably no more than double that number of genes in total. Benjamin Lewin was the expert on this subject and his early books (especially Gene Expression II) covered all the bases. By 1983, Lewin was able to conclude in Genes II ...

Given some uncertainties about estimating the numbers of genes present in multiple copies, we might say that the mammalian genome looks to be of the order of 30,000 - 40,000 gene functions.

He published the same estimate in Genes IV in 1990.

Lewin was not alone. Most textbooks contained similar estimates in the 1980s. In Molecular Biology of the Cell by Alberts et al. (1983) the estimate was also 30,000 genes (p. 406). These estimates were not dismissed as unreliable. Quite the contrary. In my circles, the general impression was that humans had to have fewer than 50,000 genes and the number was likely to be less than 30,000.

It's true that Walter Gilbert had "guesstimated" 100,000 genes and it's true that the early estimates from the Human Genome Project used a number like this (based on a false assumption). But that doesn't mean that everyone agreed. Indeed, among those who had really studied the problem, a much lower number was preferred.

During the 1990s, the preliminary results from EST cloning and sequencing started to come in and it looked like there were at least 100,000 genes based on this data. However, this was a controversial estimate precisely because so many people knew that it conflicted with a lot of data. Sure, there were those who believed the EST data over everything else but they did not represent everyone who was interested in gene numbers. It is very misleading to suggest that there was a consensus in favor of more than 50,000 genes as the figure implies.

That's false history and it does a great disservice to those who turned out to be correct.

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[HatTip: Carl Zimmer]

King,J.L. and Jukes,T.H. (1969) Non-Darwinian evolution. Science 164; 788-798.

Ohno, S. (1972) So much "junk" in our genome. Brookhaven Symp. Biol. 23:366-310.

Nicholas Wade Writes about Genomes and Evolution

His fellow science writers often think that Nicholas Wade is among the best of their ilk. Wade writes for the New York Times and his latest article is: A Decade Later, Genetic Map Yields Few New Cures. A couple of paragraphs from that article deserve some kind of award.

But while 10 years of the genome may have produced little for medicine, the story for basic science has been quite different. Research on the genome has transformed biology, producing a steady string of surprises. First was the discovery that the number of human genes is astonishingly small compared with those of lower animals like the laboratory roundworm and fruit fly. The barely visible roundworm needs 20,000 genes that make proteins, the working parts of cells, whereas humans, apparently so much higher on the evolutionary scale, seem to have only 21,000 protein-coding genes.

The slowly emerging explanation is that humans and other animals have much the same set of protein-coding genes, but the human set is regulated in a much more complicated way, through elaborate use of DNA’s companion molecule, RNA.

Thanks to Jonathan Eisen at The Tree of Life, Nicholas Wade can now add the "Twisted Tree of Life Award" to his many others [Twisted tree of life award #5: Nicholas Wade & use of higher, lower, ladders, etc].

You see, Wade makes one of the most fundamental errors of evolutionary thinking when he writes about "higher" and "lower" on the "evolutionary scale."

There are two other flaws in his quoted excerpt. First, it did not come as a big surprise to all scientists that humans had about the same number of genes as other animals. That's a myth based on overemphasizing the opinions of some people and underemphasizing the opinions of the experts [Facts and Myths Concerning the Historical Estimates of the Number of Genes in the Human Genome]. This is part of what I call The Deflated Ego Problem and it's not endemic. It can be cured by reason.

Second, the explanations for similar numbers of genes in animals come from genetics and developmental biology over the past fifty years. It may have been "slowly emerging" back when I first started teaching but it's now fully emerged and has been for twenty years. Long before the human genome was sequenced we knew that major morphological changes could be caused by small mutations in regulatory sequences. During the 1980s and 1990s it became apparent that animals such as Drosohila and humans shared many important development genes¹ and even more of the genes involved in basic metabolism. This was not a surprise.

It may be true that RNA places a much more important role in regulating gene expression than we thought. The jury is still out on that one. However, even if RNA is part of the regulation picture that fact does not change the basic principle that molecular biologist developed over the past thirty years; namely, that the same basic gene set is just regulated differently in different animals. This is the contribution of Evo-Devo.

There's one other logical flaw made by those with deflated egos. What they're looking for is some specific mechanism that explains the marvelous complexity of humans relative to the "lowly" fruit fly or nematode. What they need in order to satisfy this longing is a mechanism that we have and they don't. As far as I know, there isn't (hardly) anyone who claims that regulatory RNAs have only evolved in humans. The genome sequences of all animals is pointing in the same direction. If there are abundant regulatory RNAs then there are lots in nematodes and fruit flies as well. It's not going to solve the pseudoproblem that Nicholas Wade imagines.

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1. Perhaps you've heard of homeotic genes and HOX genes?

Nature Opens Mouth—Inserts Foot

 
Nature Publishing Group has responded to the potential boycott of its products by the Universities of California [Nature vs. The University of California]. Here's what they have to say for themselves ... [Public statement from Nature Publishing Group regarding subscription renewals at California Digital Library (CDL)].

The implication that NPG is increasing its list prices by massive amounts is entirely untrue. We have been publishing our academic site licence pricing for several years on our librarian gateway. Dollar list price increases have been reasonable (averaging roughly 7 % over 4 years), and publicly available throughout. A 7% cap on annual list price increases is currently in place.

The complication with CDL is that they have been on a very large, unsustainable discount for many years, to the point where other subscribers, both in the US and around the world, are subsidising them. The origins of this discount can be found in the lack of clear definitions around consortia and 'single institute, multisite' subscribers, as well as previous accommodations of CDL's budget limitations.

If we regard CDL as a consortium of multiple libraries (not least suggested by CDL's membership of International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC), and the libraries' ARL listings), the CDL discount on list price is 88%. By their own figures, CDL receives average discounts of 55% from publishers. After several attempts, we are now trying to bring them close to a 50% discount (although this leaves CDL on better terms than many other consortia). We do recognise the situation can be viewed from different perspectives, and we remained committed to ongoing discussions.

Translation: It's completely untrue that NPG is increasing its prices. It's only massively increasing prices for the Universities of California. Price increases for other schools are "only" 7%.

Question: Is it true that the prices to other universities have increased because CDL has been getting a bargain? That's the only way to interpret the statement that, "... other subscribers, both in the US and around the world, are subsidising them"? If so, then if the new contract with CDL results in a huge price increase, doesn't it follow that the prices for all other subscribers should go down? That means the University of Toronto will get a price reduction when CDL and NPG reach agreement, right? Or am I missing something?

Our own projections show CDL will be paying roughly $0.56 per download under the new prices. This represents incredible value for money across any publisher's range of titles. We now call on CDL to reveal how much it spends with all the major publishers, and how this translates into cost per use, and/or other indicators of value. If NPG represents poor value for money, we will work with CDL to readjust their pricing. If, as we expect, NPG represents good value for money compared with other publishers, even at the new proposed pricing, we want to work with CDL to have this reflected in our agreement. We sincerely hope that no boycotts will occur, not least because it is detrimental to the advance of science, but we will not be bullied into continuing CDL's subsidy by our other customers.

Translation: We're embarrassed and we probably will be bullied into making a much lower offer to CDL. Furthermore, we equate the advance of science with the business of publishing. It's it reduces our profits then it must be bad for science.

The one good thing that will come of this is that it will stimulate many universities to get together and form bargaining groups. That will give them a lot more clout. I'm sure all the other publishers will be thanking NGP for making this such a prominent issue.

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Why Dads Can't Dance

This is a topic that's dear to my heart? Why? Because it's one of the few things where Denyse O'Leary and I completely agree—the silliness of evolutionary psychology.

Here's her blog posting [Coffee!!! Evolution explains why Dad’s dancing is so awful, except where it isn’t]. Here's the article published in the Telegraph ['Dad dancing' may be the result of evolution, scientists claim]. The "scientist" is Peter Lovatt, a psychologist and a dancer at the University of Hertfordshire (UK).

The cringeworthy "dad dancing" witnessed at wedding receptions every weekend may be an unconscious way in which ageing males repel the attention of young women, leaving the field clear for men at their sexual peak.

"The message their dancing sends out is 'stay away, I'm not fertile'," said Dr Peter Lovatt, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire who has compared the dancing styles and confidence levels of nearly 14,000 people.

His research has backed up scientific studies showing a connection between dancing, hormones and sexual selection.

Men between the ages of 35 and 60 typically attempt complex moves with limited co-ordination – an observation that will be obvious to anyone who saw George W Bush shake his stuff with a troupe of West African performers in 2007.

Dr Lovatt pointed to research showing that women could gauge the testosterone levels of their dance partners by the style and energy of their moves, and suggested that "dad dancing" may be a way of warning women of child-bearing age that they might be better off looking elsewhere.

"It would seem completely unsurprising to me that since middle-aged men have passed their natural reproductive age, and probably have a family already, evolution would act to ensure they are no longer attractive to 18-year-old girls," Dr Lovatt said.

No comment is necessary except to say that psychology better do something to clean up its image or the entire discipline is going to become a joke.

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[Photo Credit: That's my daughter Jane at her wedding in June 2007. And that's me, demonstraing my infertility in the same way my cavemen ancestors might have done.]

Deepak Chopra Lecture in Toronto Has Been Cancelled

 
Deepak Chopra's lecture at the University of Toronto—the one sponsored by the Royal Ontario Museum—has been canceled [Shame on the Royal Ontario Museum]. I'd like to say that the cancellation was due to the outrage expressed by skeptics all over the world but, alas, that wasn't the reason. The lecture was canceled because of the G20 summit being held in Toronto at the end of June. The University is shutting done from June 21st to June 27th and that's why his lecture was canceled.

The good news is that there doesn't seem to be any attempt to re-schedule it. Let's hope that the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) has come to its senses and realized that it has a public relations disaster on its hands.

CASS has sent the letter with your signatures. You can find the links on the CFI website at: CFI Expresses Dismay at ROM’s Presentation of Deepak Chopra.

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Nature vs. The University of California

 
The various campuses of the University of California subscribe to science journals by purchasing a license that allows electronic access for members of the university community, including students. The average cost of this subscription for life science journals is $4,142 per journal. Total cost for the University of California system is 24.3 million dollars per year.

Nature Publishing Group publishes 67 journals including Nature and all of the various spinoffs. The average cost for a NPG journal was $4,465 but NPG is proposing to charge $17,479 per journal next year. This is a 400% increase.

All this is explained in a letter to University of California faculty members [Informational Update on a Possible UC Systemwide Boycott of the Nature Publishing Group]. The University of California schools are dropping the subscription to all NPG journals because it can't afford such a large increase.

An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education summarizes the UC proposal [U. of California Tries Just Saying No to Rising Journal Costs]. The idea is not only to drop the subscriptions but to boycott all the NPG journals, including Nature.

Keith Yamamoto is organizing the boycott.

Keith Yamamoto is a professor of molecular biology and executive vice dean of the School of Medicine at UC-San Francisco. He stands ready to help organize a boycott, if necessary, a tactic he and other researchers used successfully in 2003 when another big commercial publisher, Elsevier, bought Cell Press and tried to raise its journal prices.

After the letter went out on Tuesday, Mr. Yamamoto received an "overwhelmingly positive" response from other university researchers. He said he's confident that there will be broad support for a boycott among the faculty if the Nature Group doesn't negotiate, even if it means some hardships for individual researchers.

"There's a strong feeling that this is an irresponsible action on the part of NPG," he told The Chronicle. That feeling is fueled by what he called "a broad awareness in the scientific community that the world is changing rather rapidly with respect to scholarly publication."

Although researchers still have "a very strong tie to traditional journals" like Nature, he said, scientific publishing has evolved in the seven years since the Elsevier boycott. "In many ways it doesn't matter where the work's published, because scientists will be able to find it," Mr. Yamamoto said.

Way to go, Keith!

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[HatTip: Janet Stemwedel]

Methodological Naturalism - How Not to Attack Intelligent Design Creationism

My philosopher friends from Ghent have published their paper ...

Boudry, M., Blancke, S., and Braeckman, J. (2010) How Not to Attack Intelligent Design Creationism: Philosophical Misconceptions About Methodological Naturalism. Foundations of Science doi:10.1007/s10699-010-9178-7.

Abstract
In recent controversies about Intelligent Design Creationism (IDC), the principle of methodological naturalism (MN) has played an important role. In this paper, an often neglected distinction is made between two different conceptions of MN, each with its respective rationale and with a different view on the proper role of MN in science. According to one popular conception, MN is a self-imposed or intrinsic limitation of science, which means that science is simply not equipped to deal with claims of the supernatural (Intrinsic MN or IMN). Alternatively, we will defend MN as a provisory and empirically grounded attitude of scientists, which is justified in virtue of the consistent success of naturalistic explanations and the lack of success of supernatural explanations in the history of science (Provisory MN or PMN). Science does have a bearing on supernatural hypotheses, and its verdict is uniformly negative. We will discuss five arguments that have been proposed in support of IMN: the argument from the definition of science, the argument from lawful regularity, the science stopper argument, the argument from procedural necessity, and the testability argument. We conclude that IMN, because of its philosophical flaws, proves to be an ill-advised strategy to counter the claims of IDC. Evolutionary scientists are on firmer ground if they discard supernatural explanations on purely evidential grounds, instead of ruling them out by philosophical fiat.

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If I Had a Billion Dollars: the Video

 
Go to Jennifer's blog and see the video. It's fantastic.

If I Had a Billion Dollars - The Video!

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If I Had a Billion Dollars

 
Stephen Harper and his cronies have spent over one billion dollars preparing for the G8 and G20 meetings in Canada this month. That's a lot of money. The city of Toronto will be pretty much shut down from June 24 to June 27. The University of Toronto will be closed on the 24th and 26th and all activities are canceled on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd.

Here's The Bare Naked Ladies singing "If I had a million dollars" (With many interruptions). Go to Jennifer Smith's blog Runesmith's Canadian Content to see the new lyrics for [If I Had a Billion Dollars].

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