SkepticBlog is a collaboration among some of the most recognized names in promoting science, critical thinking, and skepticism. Regular bloggers include: Brian Dunning, Daniel Loxton, Donald Prothero, Mark Edward, Michael Shermer, and Steven Novella. This site is hosted by the Skeptics Society.
This past weekend, December 17–19, 2010, I joined paleontologists Donald Prothero from Occidental College and John Long from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County on a fossil hunting, rock hopping, geology viewing, petroglyph scanning excursion through the Mojave Desert between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Through the entire trip I kept thinking “I wish the creationists and Intelligent Design theorists would try their hand at some actual field work because then they would see (and hear and smell and especially touch) what nature is really like and what the history of life reveals in the rocks, instead of sitting in an air-conditioned or heated office in some think tank building or school of theology department, trolling through published papers by real scientists who do this field work, trying to find some little gap that must be filled by the creating designer. Continue reading…
Another batch of 3D pictures for you. For those who asked about the Uluru pics last week, these were taken with my iPhone using a handy little app cunningly titled 3D Camera. You take one picture, then you move the camera to the side a bit and take the other. Presto, a 3D pic.
These were taken a couple of weekends ago when my son and I took a quick weekend road trip to Death Valley, which is one of my favorite places. They're mostly taken in Golden Canyon, which is a popular hike.
Cross your eyes to see them. If you have trouble, some people find it helpful to put their finger on the picture and bring it toward their eyes, focusing on the finger, until the two pictures converge; then change your focal point to the screen. Click for full size.
On this, the 200th anniversary week of Charles Darwin’s birthday (12 February, 1809), we celebrate the power of deep time and nature’s processes to produce dramatic change, as Michael Shermer demonstrates how a solid hunk of lava rock can be ground down to fine grains of black s Figure Coaching and, given enough time under nature’s power of erosion.
