CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE HTML> <html lang="en-US"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1" /> <title>The Panda’s Thumb</title> <meta property="og:site_name" content="The Panda's Thumb" /> <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta property="og:title" content="The Panda’s Thumb" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://pandasthumb.org/" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://pandasthumb.org/media/roar.jpg" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type='text/css' href="/css/normalize.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type='text/css' href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Source+Sans+Pro:300,400,600,700,400italic,700italic|Source+Code+Pro:400,700" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type='text/css' href="/css/gridism.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type='text/css' href="/css/style.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type='text/css' href="/css/github.css" /> <link rel="icon" type="image/x-icon" href="/favicon.ico" /> <script type="text/javascript" src="//code.jquery.com/jquery-3.1.1.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://use.fontawesome.com/e6a24c6dde.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" async src='https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/mathjax/2.7.1/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML'></script> <script src="/js/local.js"></script> </head> <body class="wrap"> <div class="grid page-fill"><div></div></div> <header class="topbar"> <div class="grid no-gutters"> <div class="banner unit whole"> <img src="/media/banner.jpg" alt="The Panda's Thumb" /> </div> <nav class="main-nav unit whole align-center"> <ul> <li><a href="/" title="Main Page"><i class="fa fa-home" aria-hidden="true"></i> Main</a></li> <li><a href="/archives/index.html" title="Archives"><i class="fa fa-book" aria-hidden="true"></i> Archives</a></li> <li><a href="/search.html" title="Searching Panda's Thumb"><i class="fa fa-book" aria-hidden="true"></i> Search</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> </header> <section class="main"> <div class="grid item"> <div class="unit whole"> <article class="blogpost"> <header> <h1><a href="/archives/2025/04/century-after-scopes.html">A Century after Scopes, according to Righting America</a></h1> <div class="byline"><i class="fa fa-user-circle" aria-hidden="true"></i> By Matt Young</div> <div class="attrline"><i class="fa fa-clock-o" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span><time pubdate="pubdate" datetime="2025-04-09T09:15:00-07:00">April 9, 2025 09:15 MST</time></span> <span><i class="fa fa-comments" aria-hidden="true"></i> <a href="/archives/2025/04/century-after-scopes.html#disqus_thread" data-disqus-identifier="/archives/2025/04/century-after-scopes" class="disqus-comment-count">0 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <figure class="on-the-left-side" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;"> <img src="/uploads/2025/John_Scopes_600.jpg" alt="John Scopes" /> <figcaption><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_t_scopes.jpg">John Scopes</a>, taken one month before the Tennessee v. John T. Scopes trial. <small>From the Smithsonian Institution Archives. Rotated, cropped, and cleaned by Kaldari. Photographed by Watson Davis. Public domain.</small> </figcaption> </figure> <p>According to a recent blog post by Susan Trollinger and William Trollinger, <a href="https://rightingamerica.net/a-century-after-scopes-much-has-not-changed-and-much-has-changed/">A Century After Scopes: Much Has Not Changed, and Much Has Changed</a>. I was most interested in their observation that William’s father was a fundamentalist who passionately opposed evolution. But he was also a geologist who searched for oil, believed in an “old earth,” and subscribed to what is known as “day-age theory,” that is, the belief that the “days” in Genesis are not literal, 24-hour days, but rather represent ages. Thus, at the time of the Scopes trial, creationism realistically accepted the vast age of the earth.</p> <p>Today, thanks primarily to Henry Morris, creationists do not accept an old earth and consequently are forced to deny, for example, geological science. Ultimately, they undermine virtually all of science and, according to Trollinger and Trollinger, promote an alternative education system which is</p> <blockquote><p style="margin-left: 15px;">"not just about getting creationism, the Bible, and white Christian nationalism into the public schools. It is also about funding private schools, including fundamentalist schools. It is about expanding the right-wing subculture. It is about taking dominion over the culture."</p></blockquote> <p>This, they say, is where we are 100 years after the Scopes trial.</p> <p><i>To see comments on this post click below:</i></p> <p class="morelink"><a href="/archives/2025/04/century-after-scopes.html#more">Continue Reading</a> <i class="fa fa-arrow-circle-o-right" aria-hidden="true"></i></p> </article> </div> </div> <div class="grid item"> <div class="unit whole"> <article class="blogpost"> <header> <h1><a href="/archives/2025/03/nephrotoma-ferruginea.html">Nephrotoma ferruginea</a></h1> <div class="byline"><i class="fa fa-user-circle" aria-hidden="true"></i> By Matt Young</div> <div class="attrline"><i class="fa fa-clock-o" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span><time pubdate="pubdate" datetime="2025-03-31T11:00:00-07:00">March 31, 2025 11:00 MST</time></span> <span><i class="fa fa-comments" aria-hidden="true"></i> <a href="/archives/2025/03/nephrotoma-ferruginea.html#disqus_thread" data-disqus-identifier="/archives/2025/03/nephrotoma ferruginea" class="disqus-comment-count">0 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <p>Photograph by <strong>Ole Lundin</strong>.</p> <p>Photography contest, <strong>Honorable Mention</strong>.</p> <figure> <img src="/uploads/2025/lundin_Crane_Fly.jpg" alt="Crane fly" /> <figcaption><a href="https://bugguide.net/node/view/11595"><i>Nephrotoma ferruginea</i></a> – ferruginous tiger crane fly, Englewood, Florida, March, 2014. Thanks to Panda's Thumbelinos John Harshman and M. Kim Johnson for the identification. </figcaption> </figure> </article> </div> </div> <div class="grid item"> <div class="unit whole"> <article class="blogpost"> <header> <h1><a href="/archives/2025/03/evolution-education-scopes.html">Evolution, Education, and a Century of Scopes</a></h1> <div class="byline"><i class="fa fa-user-circle" aria-hidden="true"></i> By Matt Young</div> <div class="attrline"><i class="fa fa-clock-o" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span><time pubdate="pubdate" datetime="2025-03-22T09:22:00-07:00">March 22, 2025 09:22 MST</time></span> <span><i class="fa fa-comments" aria-hidden="true"></i> <a href="/archives/2025/03/evolution-education-scopes.html#disqus_thread" data-disqus-identifier="/archives/2025/03/evolution-education-scopes" class="disqus-comment-count">0 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <figure class="on-the-left-side" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;"> <img src="/uploads/2025/Evolution_Education_Scopes.jpg" alt="Frontispiece of video" /> <figcaption><a href=""></a> </figcaption> </figure> <p>In case you missed it, Skeptical Inquirer Presents has posted <a href="https://skepticalinquirer.org/video/evolution-education-a-century-of-scopes-john-de-lancie-and-eugenie-scott/">Evolution, Education, and a Century of Scopes</a>, a discussion anticipating the <a href="https://centerforinquiry.org/scopes-trial-centennial-conference/">Scopes Trial Centennial conference</a> in Chattanooga, Tennessee, this summer. The discussants are Eugenie Scott, the former executive director of the National Center for Science Education and an expert on creationism vs. evolution, and the actor John de Lancie, who most recently toured the US with a show on the Scopes Monkey Trial and subsequently co-authored an audio play, <i>The Dover Intelligent Design Trial</i>. Mr. de Lancie was awarded the Clarence Darrow Award in 2018. The video is over an hour long, but I thought it was well worth watching.</p> </article> </div> </div> <div class="grid item"> <div class="unit whole"> <article class="blogpost"> <header> <h1><a href="/archives/2025/03/safeguarding-sound-science.html">Safeguarding Sound Science, Climate Change Edition</a></h1> <div class="byline"><i class="fa fa-user-circle" aria-hidden="true"></i> By Matt Young</div> <div class="attrline"><i class="fa fa-clock-o" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span><time pubdate="pubdate" datetime="2025-03-21T13:03:00-07:00">March 21, 2025 13:03 MST</time></span> <span><i class="fa fa-comments" aria-hidden="true"></i> <a href="/archives/2025/03/safeguarding-sound-science.html#disqus_thread" data-disqus-identifier="/archives/2025/03/safeguarding-sound-science" class="disqus-comment-count">0 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <figure class="on-the-left-side" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;"> <img src="/uploads/2025/Safeguarding_Sound_Science_600.jpg " alt="Safeguarding Sound Science logo" /> <figcaption><a href=""></a> </figcaption> </figure> <p>Safeguarding Sound Science combats misinformation, disinformation, and misconceptions about climate change with actual science. In the 7-episode <a href="https://ncse.ngo/safeguarding-sound-science">Season One: Climate Change Edition</a>, <a href="https://www.planetary.org/profiles/mat-kaplan">Mat Kaplan</a> (Senior Communications Advisor of the <a href="https://www.planetary.org/">Planetary Society</a> and former host of <a href="https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio">Planetary Radio</a>) talks to scientists, teachers, and other experts to explore who’s behind some of the more insidious efforts to sow distrust in climate science, how those efforts filter down to schools and classrooms, and what is being done to ensure that everyone — especially students — is exposed to accurate climate science.</p> <p>As of this writing, the first two installments have been posted: Episode 1: “What Climate Change? Tackling Climate Denial,” with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Mann"> Michael Mann</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Branch">Glenn Branch</a> of the National Center for Science Education; and Episode 2: “A Century of Disinformation: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Oreskes">Naomi Oreskes</a> and the Merchants of Doubt.”</p> <p><i>Reprinted with permission from <a href="https://ncse.ngo/catalyzing-action/sign-ncse-monitor">The NCSE Monitor</a> for March 21, 2025. You may access the podcasts using the Season One link above, or else use <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/safeguarding-sound-science/id1797165552">Apple Podcasts </a> or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1VENQjGuH2fMycb2lDsT4Q">Spotify</a>. </i></p> </article> </div> </div> <div class="grid item"> <div class="unit whole"> <article class="blogpost"> <header> <h1><a href="/archives/2025/03/martyn-iles-no-longer.html">Martyn Iles no longer with AIG</a></h1> <div class="byline"><i class="fa fa-user-circle" aria-hidden="true"></i> By Matt Young</div> <div class="attrline"><i class="fa fa-clock-o" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span><time pubdate="pubdate" datetime="2025-03-19T12:58:00-07:00">March 19, 2025 12:58 MST</time></span> <span><i class="fa fa-comments" aria-hidden="true"></i> <a href="/archives/2025/03/martyn-iles-no-longer.html#disqus_thread" data-disqus-identifier="/archives/2025/03/martyn-iles-no-longer" class="disqus-comment-count">0 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <p>Dan Phelps informs us that Martyn Iles is no longer with Answers in Genesis (AIG). Paul Braterman <a href="https://pandasthumb.org/archives/2023/11/Martyn-Iles-Is-Executive.html">reported earlier</a> on PT that Mr. Iles had ascended to the position of “Executive CEO” of AIG. I think we had all assumed that he was the heir apparent. Mr. Phelps asks,</p> <blockquote>He was apparently [Ken] Ham's chosen successor. I noticed he didn't do much lately. Was there a dispute, or other trouble? Who will Ham pick to succeed him? Will there be a puff of white smoke above the Ark when the decision is made?</blockquote> <p>We do not know the answers to any of those questions, but it is easy to infer from the Facebook post (reproduced below the fold) that Mr. Iles left AIG before he had an alternative in mind. Mr. Phelps notes further that Mr. Iles’s name had been dropped from the AIG speakers’ biography page by March 13, but it was there on February 3.</p> <p>If anyone has any further information, please feel free to comment, but please avoid idle speculation and invective.</p> <p class="morelink"><a href="/archives/2025/03/martyn-iles-no-longer.html#more">Continue Reading</a> <i class="fa fa-arrow-circle-o-right" aria-hidden="true"></i></p> </article> </div> </div> </section> <script id="dsq-count-scr" src="//the-pandas-thumb.disqus.com/count.js" async></script> <footer> <div class="grid"> <table bgcolor="204517"> <tr><td>    </td><td> <div align="left"> <p>  To see earlier posts, select the Archives at the top of this page</p> <p></p> </div> <div id="RecentComments" class="dsq-widget"> <div align="center"> <h2>Recent Comments</h2> <P> To see the comment in context of the discussion click on the text that indicates how long ago the comment was posted, such as "2 hours ago". Then wait for the post and then the comments to load (may take many seconds). The comment should have a gray vertical bar to the left of the commenter's avatar. <P> </div> <div> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://the-pandas-thumb.disqus.com/recent_comments_widget.js?num_items=99&hide_mods=0&hide_avatars=0&avatar_size=32&excerpt_length=100"></script> </div> </div> </td></tr> <tr><td></td><td><div class="unit whole"> <p>Copyright © The Panda’s Thumb and original authors — Content provided under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">Creative Commons BY-NC-ND License 4.0</a>.</p> <p></p> </div> </td></tr> </table> </div> </footer> </body> </html>