What rhymes with Des Moines?

And now for a geography lesson. And another chance to poke fun at Kansas's ongoing struggles with Darwin's theory. (And just for the record, I was totally going to do this with my toy dinosaurs and m&m's...this guy just beat me to it.)

More on Texas

The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the teaching of evolution in public school science classrooms. The organization's executive director is Dr. Eugenie Scott, who holds a PhD in physical anthropology from the University of Missouri.

Dr. Scott appeared last week on NPR's Science Friday program, where she discussed the recent adoption of new (creationist friendly) science education standards in Texas. In her interview with host Ira Flatow, she discusses the new standards, why wording and language are important, and what exactly is at stake with the passage of the new standards. You can access the interview and listen to it by following the above links, or you can download an mp3 of it here.

Here is video of Dr. Scott's testimony before the Texas State Board of Education last month:

Infomercial Hall of Fame

Since infomercials have been a previously discussed topic on this blog, I thought I'd let you all know that The Daily Beast has published their list of the 12 craziest infomercial pitchmen (or women). Here's the Cliff's Notes version:
1. Vince Shlomi: Can you use your ShamWow to clean your SlapChop?
2. Billy Mays: Could sell ice to Eskimos (and if you call in the next 20 minutes, he'll throw in some free Oxy-Clean).
3. Susan Powter: Stop the Insanity...a tall bald woman can probably scare me into buying ANYTHING.
4. Ron Popeil: Now what was I supposed to do after I set it?
5. Richard Simmons: Does "Sweating to the Oldies" refer to the music or the man?
6. Suzanne Somers: The Thighmaster...'nuff said.
7. Donald Trump: Will tell you how to get rich...
8. Jay Kordich: Can make healthy and delicious juice out of anything
9. Tony Little: A mullet with muscle.
10. Matthew Lesko: The government's giving away money...so why's he on my TV instead of standing in line trying to get some for himself?
11. John W. Scherer: Video professor...so certain you'll be satisfied, he'll send it to you for free.

Their 12th person is Billy Mays again, this time on Fox News. I think I'll substitute my own here:

12. Chuck Norris: He'll sell you a Total Gym and then kick your ass with it.

Daily Recap: Monday, 4/13

Anatomy and Physiology:
This is the last week of our rat projects. Groups should be getting really close to finishing them up. We will plan on reviewing on Thursday, then taking the exam on Friday.

Biology:
Today we played "BIGO" as a review of the material from textbook chapter 7. Tomorrow will be a test-prep day, and then we will test out of the taxonomy unit on Wednesday.

Easter Bunny biology

I pulled this essay by Darksyde off of DailyKos yesterday (thanks to the Panda's Thumb for pointing pointing it out).

Rabbits are mammals of course and at first glance they appear to fall in with squirrels, mice, chipmunks and a bunch of other adorable little critters that make up the most successful order of mammals on earth today: rodents. [...]

More recent anatomical comparison (however) suggests rabbits may not be rodents at all. In fact, they might be an offshoot or close relative of early Artiodactyls like the indohyus on the left. Modern artiodactyls include the largest, most unrabbit-like animals on earth today. But back in the Paleocene they were tiny and some, like mouse deer, still are. With tens of millions of years to work with, it's entirely possible an early artiodactyl or forerunner of same evolved into an order of their own, called Lagomorphs, now represented by rabbits, pikas, and hares. If so, one of the closer extant relatives of petite bunny rabbits would be the great Blue Whale!

So if you noticed that the bunny delivering your Easter-goodies yesterday morning seemed to be a little pre-occupied, it's probably because he was in the middle of a major identity crisis. But while this may be unnerving for the poor rabbits who now may find themselves classified more closely to giraffes and whales, it is a great illustration of how scientific models are constantly changing as new information and ideas become available.

Darksyde does end his essay on a somber note:

Alas...I must report that at present there is no evidence in the fossil record of a mansized, bipedal rabbit creeping around in the wee hours delivering candied eggs or self portraits rendered in sweet chocolate. But...it wasn’t all that long ago, in geologic time, when ancestors of the mammals celebrating Christ's resurrection today sat in the crook of a tree, munching leaves, pondering the primeval world before them with hare-sized brains. Evolution moves in mysterious ways.

Lagomorphs are highly social and quick on their feet. They breed fast, they evolve fast, and they can live patiently underground in sand, soil, or snow nibbling at dead roots and fallen leaves, while the world above convulses in nuclear holocaust or climatic catastrophe. Given time, who can say what the distant future holds for our lovable long-eared friends? So let’s not count out Peter Cottontail, or something a heck of a lot scarier, just yet.