One terrific poem

Natural Selection

proceeds by chance
and necessity

becomes nonrandom
through randomness

builds complexity
from simplicity

nurtures consciousness
unconsciously

evolves purposelessly
creatures who demand

purpose
and discover

natural selection


By Alan Shapiro, p. 449-450 in The Poetry Anthology, 2004, ed. by J. Parisi & S. Young. Many thanks to Tom Webb for sending it to me.

PREPPING: The big awards party is tomorrow night!

In case you haven't heard through my incessant self-promotion, Charlie's Playhouse has been named a "Best of Rhode Island 2009" by Rhode Island Monthly magazine!

Big fancy party tomorrow night. Red carpet, awards ceremony, local media, the works. I'll also find out the timeless mystery: what category did I win? They don't tell you unless you show up.

Today's agenda includes a hair cut. Possible eyebrow intervention. Trying on those pants.

More to come tomorrow....

BONC #9: Bird Lizard Antler?

We all know about pterosaurs, right? They were those huge creatures with skinny leathery wings that flew over the dinosaurs' heads. On the leading edge of their long wings, pterosaurs had bony hands sticking out, which let them walk and climb on all fours when they were on the ground.

Now here's nyctosaurus, a pterosaur with a difference. It had no hands on its wings, so it couldn't climb or crawl -- scientists think that it rarely ever landed on the ground, staying afloat in the air for most of its life!

How on earth did it do that? Well, nyctosaurus has these huge long bones coming out of the top of its skull, like antlers on a moose. These bones were the frame for a big flap of skin that worked like a sail on a boat! With their long wings and head sail, these creatures were basically parasailing all day, every day. Cool, dude! f324r8wkvm

Wake the kids! We won an award!

We've been named a "Best of Rhode Island 2009" by Rhode Island Monthly magazine! Woo-hoo!

The August issue will have a photo and blurb, and in a couple weeks I get to go to a fancy party and hobnob with Rhode Island royalty. Red carpet! Dancing! Martinis! Lobstah! A one-hour documentary by the local ABC station!

Holy moly, what do I wear?

Here's the fun part. The magazine doesn't tell winners what category they won until the party. I'm pretty sure it's not "Best Italian Restaurant" or "Best Car Wash." Previous categories have included "Best Family-friendly Comedy Night" and "Best Hassle-Free Yacht Ownership." They make 'em up every year.

Any guesses on what my category will be?

"Best Plucky Startup?"
"Best Family-Friendly Geeky Science Thing?"
"Best 18-Foot Meticulously Illustrated Evolutionary Timeline?"

Our government actually funded this research

Nobody talks to little kids about evolution. Adults treat it like a hush-hush topic around anybody younger than, say, 12. And in school? Fugeddaboudit.

But wait! Along comes the Concord Consortium, a research group in Concord MA that is studying how best to teach evolution to 4th graders. Yes, that's right, 4th graders, otherwise known as nine- or ten-year-olds.

Oh, it's magnificent. They have a computer-based curriculum that will be tested in twelve classrooms around the country, and they'll check to see how well kids learn from it. The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, which blows my mind. One tiny little branch of our government is actively supporting evolution education for young kids!?

Best of all, the investigators are incorporating some Charlie's Playhouse products into the curriculum. Hooray! This feels like the ground floor of some large edifice with "The Future" carved on top in big letters.

Next week I'll attend a training session at Concord with all the teachers from around the country. Stay tuned for more blogging from there....

BONC #8: Big Little Things

Here are some great examples of huge versions of species we know pretty well today...

This would be great at your Fourth of July clambake.... The freshwater sea scorpion Jaekelopterus rhenaniae probably lived approximately 390 million years ago was estimated to be over 8 feet long. The Jaekelopterus is a cousinof the Pterygotus, which you might recognize from your Giant Evolution timelines!

Or this thing, which isn't that old (11000 years). Doedicurus was the largest known glyptodontid. It was 5 ft tall and about 12 feet long. Dodicurus is very close to Glyptodon, which is also on the Timeline.

These next two animals should be pretty familiar to you.

How about an 8 foot long centipede? Meet the Arthropleura, the largest land invertebrate of all time! There are no fossils of its mouth so scientists have no idea what it ate!

Or a pretty dragonfly with a 3ft wingspan? Say hello to the Meganeura. They make scary movies about things like this! The Meganeura is the largest known flying insect.

And we’ve found one more, a favorite, the original giant shark. Megalodon would have swallowed Brody, Quint and Hooper in one bite.