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What is Natural Selection?

Anti-vaccine advocates appointed to Minnesota autism council after measles outbreak

By Beth Mole Officials in Minnesota have appointed anti-vaccine advocates to a newly formed state council on autism, sparking controversy in the wake of a record measles outbreak in the state. State senator Jim Abeler formed the MN Autism Council last fall to address issues surrounding autism, including “treatment, educational options, employment opportunities, independent living, and more.”  While …

Seeking Superpowers in the Axolotl Genome

By Steph Yin The axolotl, sometimes called the Mexican walking fish, is a cheerful tube sock with four legs, a crown of feathery gills and a long, tapered tail fin. It can be pale pink, golden, gray or black, speckled or not, with a countenance resembling the “slightly smiling face” emoji. Unusual among amphibians for …

Why Trump is tweeting about studying the Bible

By Aaron Rupar President Donald Trump began the first week post-shutdown with a seemingly odd (for Trump) and random endorsement of Bible study in public schools, an issue that’s never been a central component of his agenda. The Monday morning tweet made some sense when Twitter users saw a segment about “Bible literacy bills” was …

Government allows S.C. foster care group to keep Protestants-only policy

By Yonat Shimron (RNS) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued an exemption that allows all foster care agencies in South Carolina to disregard an Obama-era regulation barring religious discrimination in federally funded foster care programs. The exemption will allow Miracle Hill Ministries, a Greenville-based Christian ministry, to continue to accept only Protestant, …

Truth detectives: the know-it-all skeptics railing against fakery

By Alex Moshakis One rainy Saturday morning in October, several hundred people gathered at a Manchester hotel for QED, the UK’s largest convention of science and skepticism (they prefer the American spelling). Pitched towards rationalists, the event is an opportunity to hear popular science communicators discuss the issues that concern skeptics the most: the rising tide …

Justice Alito pens a bizarre love letter to Christian right

By Ian Millhiser One of the Christian right’s top policy priorities is to effectively create two different codes of law in the United States. The first code, which applies to people who do not hold conservative religious views, is rigid and unmoving. The second code, which would apply primarily to Christian-identified conservatives, contains broad exceptions …

Here’s Why Auroras on Earth Are Different in the North and South

By Meghan Bartels Auroras paint the sky around the poles when the sun is particularly active, flinging highly charged particles at Earth’s atmosphere. Scientists once thought that the gorgeous events were mirror images, but to their surprise, displays at the north (the aurora borealis) and south (the aurora australis) don’t precisely match. Ever since scientists realized these …

There Are ‘Superbug’ Genes in the Arctic. They Definitely Shouldn’t Be There.

By Rachael Rettner A “superbug” gene that was first detected in India — and allows bacteria to evade “last resort” antibiotics — has now been found thousands of miles away, in a remote region of the Arctic, according to a new study. The findings underscore just how far and wide antibiotic resistance geneshave spread, now reaching …

Conservatives Lash Out at Reporter for Reporting on Christian Schools

By Hemant Mehta Earlier this month, after Karen Pence announced she was teaching art classes at an anti-gay Christian school, “Exvangelical” Christopher Stroop began a hashtag #ExposeChristianSchools encouraging people to share their own experiences. A lot of them were obviously disturbing. There were stories about whitewashed history, misguided science, a lack of sensible sex education, and lots of bullying. They weren’t …