We just ran a piece by Dan Phelps, Williamstown secret deal may get a free fire station for the Ark suggesting that the proprietors of the Ark Park in Kentucky may have discovered a new mechanism (I almost wrote scheme) for extracting funds from the government. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

2nd place in the Panda's Thumb Photography Contest, by Al Denelsbeck. I posted the winner on July 29. The artifact on the right picture, which is shown in more detail on the Thumb, may be due to aliasing. See "alt" for more. The insect is *not* a mantis. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

John Harshman's picture of a common potoo, third place in the Panda's Thumb Photography Contest. Look closely; it is a bird. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

Article in Panda's Thumb by Joe Felsenstein, commenting on a weird claim by Eric Hedin, in which he "imagine[s] that" evolution cannot occur, so life must be an Idea in the mind of God. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

Is evolution defied because life is an

pandasthumb.org

Splendid pictures of ichneumonid wasps by Malcolm Schongalla. Honorable Mention in Panda's Thumb Photography Contest. Wasps are on the same log, laying eggs on horntail larvae, which the wasp larvae will eat. Darwin found it disturbing. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

Latest post on The Panda's Thumb. Includes data showing that Ham's Ark Park has never lived up to its, um, expectations. Instead of addressing the fact, Ham notes that Enquirer's circulation is down. His, by contrast, was never up. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

Ken Ham's attack on the press

pandasthumb.org

Can We Keep One Small Corner of America Technology-Free? www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/o... Tl;dr. But I think the same of soccer. A bad call is no different from a bad bounce; they happen. OK, allow a couple of challenges a game or a half, but let the umps umpire and the officials officiate.

Opinion | Can We Keep One Small Corner of America Technology-Free?

Baseball isn’t supposed to be perfect.

nytimes.com

Joe Felsenstein shows how Lamarck, the first evolutionary biologist, is misrepresented and misunderstood by creationists, in this post in The Panda's Thumb on Lamarck's 282nd birthday. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

An unhappy birthday: Lamarck is misrepresented

pandasthumb.org

A piece by Daniel Phelps cross-posted from the blog Righting America, with a commentary by William Trollinger - shows how Kentucky taxpayers were taken for a ride, and not in an ark. The ark in the photo seems to be in drydock. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

Gert Korthof (biologist and proprietor of wasdarwinwrong.com) has won the XVI-th Panda's Thumb Photography Contest with this photo of a spider in its web, supplemented by 2 shots of a web illuminated by sunlight. The origin of the color is a mystery, at least to me. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

Oy. I suspect that Braterman is right that Vought and Miller are likely behind it all. They are in some ways scarier than Trump, in that they have a clear agenda and will not chicken out. 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Trump's Religious Liberty Commission and the dismantling of the Constitution - 3 Quarks Daily

by Paul Braterman

3quarksdaily.com

Panda's Thumb. Urophora cardui. A tomato I saw growing in a thistle (read the post!). And please do not forget the Panda's Thumb Photo Contest. Entries close next Monday at noon, MDT. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

Latest article on Panda's Thumb: "David Coppege makes it clear a refresher course is needed," by Joe Felsenstein. Coppege thinks he debunks natural selection. Yes, really. pandasthumb.org/archives/202... CC BY-SA 3.0.

The XVII-th Panda's Thumb Photography Contest. We accept photographs related to nature, science, engineering, and so on, from the smallest to the largest. Before you enter (and I hope you will) pls click the link and read the rules. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

Photography Contest XVII

pandasthumb.org

Panda's Thumb: Glenn Branch of NCSE reviewed "Evolution Is Wrong: A Radical Approach to the Origin & Transformation of Life," by Erich von Däniken, under the title, "He's Saying It Was Aliens ... But It Wasn't Aliens." Mr. Branch was not impressed. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

Today is National Panda Day! pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

My post linking to some Darwin Day, as well as Religion and Science Weekend, festivities includes a nice picture of Darwin at age 6. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

I can't resist either. From a NYT newsletter: "Propose single payer health care and call it 'Trumpcare.' The ID card is gold with his face and signature on it. He won’t be able to resist."— A comment by Kenneth from Alabama

Thom Hartmann interviews Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. White Christian nationalism - chaplains may not mention Alex Pretti but Charlie Kirk is lionized. www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/2026/02/mrff...

MRFF’s Mikey Weinstein on The Thom Hartmann Program — VA Chaplains Can’t Mention Alex Pretti; Troops Pressured to See “Melania”

“We are at the point now where you actually have to do something. You can’t just sit back, circulate blood, reflect light, and breathe!” — MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein on The Thom Hartma...

militaryreligiousfreedom.org

Clever idea: Help Minneapolis Get a Nobel Peace Prize. Too late for this year, and doubt they have "standing," but professors may nominate for Peace Prize. actionnetwork.org/petitions/su...

Help Minneapolis Get a Nobel Peace Prize

Students protest against ICE during a walkout at the University of Minnesota, on January 26, 2026 (Brandon Bell / Getty Images) The editors of The Nation are formally nominating the city of Minneapo...

actionnetwork.org

Good article by Yale student Zachary Clifton notes that Trump endowment tax hurts universities that developed "the most important scientific breakthroughs, including mRNA vaccine technology, MRI machines, pacemakers, and insulin therapy for patients with diabetes." www.thenation.com/article/soci...

Trump’s New Endowment Tax Is Already Reshaping Higher Education

The “Big, Beautiful Bill” added additional taxes on a small set of universities. Now budget cuts have hit campuses across the Ivy League and elsewhere.

thenation.com

Thank God for small mercies. Original reporting by Cassis Tingley suggests that closing NCAR for telling the truth about climate change is only second degree murder, not first. coloradosun.com/2026/01/12/d...

Did Project 2025 call for closing Boulder's NCAR research center?

No. While Project 2025 called for targeting “climate alarmism,” it did not propose eliminating the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

coloradosun.com

Just ran a short piece, Measles at the Ark, by Dan Phelps, on Panda's Thumb. An unvaccinated person with measles visited the Ark Park, and authorities are warning the public. Phelps is "sad" that "anti-science" is putting people in real danger. So I am I. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

No, but it shows the silliness of the concept cultural appropriation.

Josh Rosenau@joshrosenau.org · 9mo ago

Is it cultural appropriation that all the Chinese restaurants are full of goyim on Christmas, and decent Jews can’t get a nice meal?

I well remember when Uncle gave the green light to "supplement" manufacturers but was unaware that it had given the same consideration to "organic" food. Quotation marks used advisedly. Love seems to be a columnist for Skeptical Inquirer and well qualified. skepticalinquirer.org/2025/12/orga...

Organic Is the Wellness Industry of Agriculture | Skeptical Inquirer

The organic farming and food industry is based on clean-food ideology, chemophobia, and the fantasy that “natural” is a scientific argument. It is born from ...

skepticalinquirer.org

Bit rambling, but he asks, "So which do you think is worse — Trump dismantling NCAR because he can’t stand science or Trump’s dismantling one of the world’s premier climate research institutions simply to show [Colo Gov] Polis who’s boss?" Or that they do not think about or care about consequences?

Littwin: Trump takes revenge on Colorado in defense of election grifter Tina Peters, and the whole world suffers

Once Polis refused to pardon Peters, Trump’s budget honcho Russell Vought took down NCAR, Boulder’s crown jewel of climate research

coloradosun.com

The hero is a Muslim with no firearms training. Kudos to him.

Ben Phillips@benphillips76.bsky.social · 10mo ago

The man who heroically tackled and disarmed one of the Bondi Beach gunmen has been named: The hero’s name is Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old father of two, who owns a fruit shop.

I am sorry, but you have no religious (or any other) right to put other people's health in danger. For a medical school to agree to equate religious exemptions to medical exemptions is an outrage; religion should not be privileged over public health. coloradosun.com/2025/12/02/c...

CU-Anschutz agrees to pay $10 million in lawsuit over COVID vaccine mandate, group says

The University of Colorado Anschutz has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit over religious exemptions to its COVID vaccine mandate.

coloradosun.com

Splendid pic, but wondering why the secondary bow is white while the primary is sharp. Normally you see a white bow when the droplets are so small that diffraction exceeds dispersion. But why is the primary so sharp and the secondary white? Anyone know?

Bill Rhodes 🏴‍☠️💙🛟📷@brhodes.bsky.social · 10mo ago

only beauty #photography

My biweekly photograph on Panda's Thumb -- a tiny (few millimeters) unidentified spider about to lunch on a box elder bug, Boisea trivittata. pandasthumb.org/archives/202... I include in the post a dorsal view of a box elder bug from several years ago.