Gwangi Valley - Lost Blog of the Gwangi

Something I hear far too often for my liking and which annoys me to no end is the blustery reply, “Well in the ’70s they thought there was global cooling, so nyah!” OK, I added the ‘nyah’. But you know the argument. It’s along the lines of ‘if scientists were wrong then, then you have [...]

I’ve just heard that skeptic and astronomer and genuinely great guy Jeff Medkeff, aka The Blue Collar Scientist (http://bluecollarscientist.com), has died. He’d recently been diagnosed with liver cancer. He’ll be so very sorely missed.
Jeff and I had corresponded briefly and I kept thinking that it would be awesome if we could get together and meet. [...]

Well, P. Z. Myers has ended his crackerfest — although, one assumes, the overly worked-up catholics who’ve been sending him nasty un-christian sounding messages will continue on.
I won’t spoil the plot for you by telling you exactly what he did with his Jesus-flavoured cracker. You really need to read his post. Indeed, you should read [...]

P.Z Myers, a scientist, professor at UMN and noted stirrer-upper of shite with the religious right, is embroiled in a bit of a… difference of opinion with some very itchy Catholics. But let us talk about cows for a second. Sacred ones.
A sacred cow. I doubt anyone reading this has not heard the term. It’s [...]

I may still write a piece on ‘Expelled’, the Ben Stein movie that has everyone talking… about what a steaming pile of crap ‘Expelled’, the Ben Stein movie, is. I want to discuss both it and ‘The Profit’, the movie Scientology managed to get, in America no less, in essence banned from release. Yes, my [...]

Scientists, skeptics and other rational thinkers are often accused of being “closed-minded” or “not open to new ideas” when they refute, debunk or otherwise remain skeptical of a belief or claim. And, likely just as often, the accuser is someone arguing in favour of their own brand of mysticism or pseudo-science. Or, at the very [...]

Growing up I heard a phrase that, while crass, has stuck with me. “Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one and yours stinks.”
I would add, “Quite possibly, you’re also an asshole.” Maybe that’s just me. But I often find that pure opinion, the uninformed sort in particular, can be a parsimonious and troublesome commodity in [...]

Mistaken Premises are a lot like broken promises. They let you down in a profound way.
Today’s scrutiny falls on a fellow by the handle of Dinotheorist (http://www.dinotheorist.com). He’s a proponent of two ideas that bother me… in a profound way. The first is his assertion that dinosaurs were too heavy to walk and run in [...]

Pat Robertson fancies himself a prophet. The only problem is that, unlike your average hindsight prophet who gets to write things down after the fact so that they’re 100% accurate, Pat has to make his up beforehand.
And he fails so spectacularly at it that you almost feel sorry for him. But then you start to [...]

The world is full of misunderstandings. The rhino’s horn is misunderstood; it’s not a bone nor is it made of hair*. Chewing gum does not stay in your body for years**. And there are a number of myths about dinosaurs and ancient reptiles, as well, that need some airing out.
Fallacy: Pterosaurs couldn’t possibly have [...]