The Week in Science

I didn't watch the Republican debate last week, but it turns out that three of the ten candidates who took part raised their hands when the moderator asked who among them didn't believe in evolution. First, yikes. Second, I can only imagine that the three candidates were not serious long-term contenders, so could afford to satisfy their constituencies, which constituencies are presumably made up of, ironically, chimpanzees.

In the wake of this incident, blogger "Mike the Mad Biologist" (which sounds like the name of a really unsuccessful morning drive-time radio host) has implored all bloggers to link to five science stories a week. I try to keep science on the blog's radar all the time, and I'll continue to do that, but this gives me another excuse for a feature (I'm trying to develop more features, so that one day the blog will essentially be a giant template that can be run by off-site robots; how's that for evolution?)

I'll try to conclude each week's wrap-up with a "duh" link, if I can find one, because while science is grand and all that, it can also be silly. If this blogger has a guiding principle in life, it's that Anything Can Be Silly. I know that pales as a principle next to, say, Encouraging Nonviolent Opposition, but I can't help who I am.

So here's the first installment of five science links. Educate yourselves:

-- A fitting start, given the impetus for this -- a Times article about those three hand-raising Republicans, and how some others in the party are considering a strategic partnership with Darwin.

-- Americans don't have a patent on ridiculous political behavior.

-- Kids are understanding science younger and younger these days. They're still the champions of non sequiturs, too.

-- A painting of a monkey. (Includes some information about monkeys, too.)

-- Duh Science Finding of the Week: Good parenting, stable homes, and lack of exposure to crass sexualized imagery is healthy for girls.