Shock-horror at tampering with the speed of light; coarse and flippant attacks on peer review.… Read the rest
Welcome to our archive of news stories relevant to the project of fighting fashionable nonsense. The stories are drawn from the electronic pages of the world’s media. On this page, you’ll find links to those stories that have been featured on Butterflies and Wheels during the current year. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find links to separate archives of stories from previous years.
We’re always pleased to hear about news stories that you think should be featured on Butterflies and Wheels. Just send an email here, if you want to point one out to us.
A note about links
Inevitably links go out of date. We suggest, therefore, that you make hard-copies of the stories that particularly interest you.
Pope Lays Down the Law 
Apr 18th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
More ridiculous rules and strictures from the guy at the Vatican.… Read the rest
Tocqueville Updated
Apr 18th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Niall Ferguson reviews Fareed Zakaria’s book on the rivalry between democracy and freedom.… Read the rest
Anthony Gottlieb Reviews ‘Rational Mysticism’
Apr 17th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
But attitudes of reverence and wonder need not be ‘mystical’.… Read the rest
Susan Greenfield on Scientific Literacy
Apr 17th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Science as exciting as football, as fun as going to the cinema.… Read the rest
Strike! Give Will His Due!
Apr 16th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Teachers’ union considers a boycott of English test that dumbs down Shakespeare.… Read the rest
Sheffield, Baltimore, Florence
Apr 16th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Single women supporting art, eccentric women traversing Europe to buy shocking paintings: Michael Palin’s sort of thing.… Read the rest
Library Burnt
Apr 16th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The fire at the National Library in Baghdad destroyed manuscripts many centuries old.… Read the rest
Archaeologists’ Letter in Guardian
Apr 16th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Nine archaeologists urge protection for Iraq’s antiquities. … Read the rest
They Saw It Coming
Apr 15th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Archaeology Magazine worried about the looting of Iraq’s antiquities before the war began.… Read the rest
James Watson on Using Genetic Knowledge
Apr 15th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Conservatives want to stop improvement, Watson says, but enhancement means making better.… Read the rest
Human Genome Cracked (again!)
Apr 14th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Three years ago a first draft, this time with 99.999% accuracy.… Read the rest
Lunch With Cosmides and Tooby
Apr 14th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Louis Wolpert talks to the pair who have helped to make the blank slate model obsolete.… Read the rest
What Is It Like to Be a Black Nerd?
Apr 13th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Especially a female black nerd. One boyfriend tried to get her pregnant to solve the problem…… Read the rest
National Museum of Iraq Emptied
Apr 13th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Nothing of value left, say tearful officials.… Read the rest
‘Conservation Support’
Apr 13th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Let us help you loosen your ‘retentionist’ export policies! That’s a nice statue there, for instance…… Read the rest
Gloomy Reality
Apr 12th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Azar Nafisi and her students escaped the ‘relentless fictions’ of the mullahs by reading Lolita.… Read the rest
Yank Troops Baffle British Colleagues
Apr 12th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
How US soldiers behave, Daddy’s popsicle stand, and other views from world newspapers.… Read the rest
Don’t Panic
Apr 12th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
SARS is not another 1918 flu, and breathing through a piece of cloth is a drag.… Read the rest
Tom Paulin on Hazlitt
Apr 11th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Paulin considers the mystery of Hazlitt’s neglect.… Read the rest
