Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Lenski schools Conservapedia
Some of you may have heard of this, but if not, let me explain: Richard Lenski has been growing bacteria for a record breaking length of time (Over 40,000 generations!). Recently it was reported that one of his strains had evolved the ability to utilize Citrate. Of course, this poses a problem for creationists, as they repeatedly claim that "Random Mutation cannot increase the information in the genome". Andy Schlafly, the head wackaloon at conservapedia, wrote to Lenski demanding "data" about this evolution. It's not clear what "data" Schlafly would want, or why he would want it. After all, he is not a scientist. He also seems to think that because Lenski's work is tax-funded, he as a taxpayer should be able to obtain whatever "data" he desires. Lenski sent him a link to the peer reviewed paper, but apparently that wasn't all the "data" Schlafly wanted. He complained, and Lenski fired back at him, completely schooling him in the process. Click here to read the conversation the two have been having. It is entertaining.
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2 comments:
Lenski deserves a medal for patience, forbearance, dignity, and elegance of expression. The part I love is the P.S.:
"Did you know that your own bowels harbor something like a billion (1,000,000,000) E. coli at this very moment? So remember to wash your hands after going to the toilet, as I hope your mother taught you."
Which is, "You're full of shit, and so's your mother Phyllis" in scientist talk....
So is that what he meant. I had wondered why he threw that in there. It struck me as an unnecessary random aside. But if it was to say "You're full of shit," then I can totally see why he threw that out there.
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