A Great Day

There are many interesting posts in the blogosphere today. Unfortunately, I don't really have the time to do them justice, though I can give an example or two.

Here's Ed Yong at Not Exactly Rocket Science describing another fascinating result of scientific research. Scientists have apparently discovered the gene, and the part of the brain, that make people gullible.

Scientists have discovered the part of the brain that makes people gullible, it was claimed today. The findings could have massive implications for treating the growing number of people who fall wide-eyed for sensationalist media reports. ...

When Morris studied individual neurons within the supra-credulus, he found that gullibility was associated with the activity of a single gene called WTF1. The less active it was, the more feckless people were. This fits with existing evidence, for faulty versions of WTF1 have already been linked to a higher risk of being Rickrolled and buying the Daily Mail. “You could say that gullibility is in your genes,” said Morris. “You’d be shatteringly wrong, but that wouldn’t matter to gullible people.”

I also want to note The Very Big Atheist Conference planned for 2011 (exact location and date still up in the air). Greta Christina has posted the schedule, and it really sounds great. Speaking of sounding great...