According to the Pew Center around 16% of Americans classify as non-religious. That includes atheists, agnostics, and the largest category: "nothing in particular". (You could argue the inclusion of the ~5% in the category "religious unaffiliated".) So I'm not that surprised by 13% thinking that a deity had no part. See: http://religions.pewforum.org/reports#

I have to say that I'm really impressed by Prof. Lenski's work. Not only is it a substantial amount of work, but he disproved a big (philosophically) hypothesis: deterministic evolution.

Some have imagined that despite the random nature of mutation and selection that evolution is deterministic. Roughly, the idea is if you replay evolution from the beginning, you will end at the same place. This relates to the anthropic principle. (a semi-religious idea in itself)

Prof. Lenski's experiment showed that evolution does not proceed so linearly. He showed that earlier mutations which provide no benefit or harm can determine which future mutations will beneficial.

There are more than just the two choices of immigration and no immigration of youth. There is also emigration of the aged. You could always send those British pensioners down to India to live out their days. The pound will still go a lot farther down in India than in London.

This sort of thing happens within nations already. Think of the relationship NYC has with south Florida.

Not getting robo-calls is one of the definite advantages to having a cellphone only. For this reason alone, I'm surprised at the number of people who still have land lines.

It's true that we have heard this idea in earlier election. However, most young people are going cellphone only and don't see the point of getting a land line as they age. That gives you a steadily enlarging and aging group that isn't counted in these polls. (I, for example, am 30 and have only paid for a land line once, briefly, for dial-up internet.)

"as defined by those on incomes of between $6,000 and $30,000."

If you've just moved into this range, you are probably at the lower end of the span. So it would seem that a large part of the global middle class lives below the American poverty line.

Part of a market strategy is that consumers constantly pay attention to prices from various providers. Who does that for their utilities? You look up prices possibly once, when you first get them hooked up. Even if you kept track and switched to the lowest as things changed, can you imagine the pain in the butt that it would be to get your utilities switched on a regular basis? Ugh.

It seems like every time there is a women & math article we get statements like this:

Math has never been my strong suit.

I'm a newly minted assistant professor in Mathematics. Whenever I hear it, it feels like you are saying this:

I've always been moderately illiterate.

In fairness to Nathalie Gorman, she might mean that she doesn't quite get toplogical quantum field theory or is having an issue understanding Hilbert's Nullstellensatz. Even still most people will take her statement as saying that she had trouble with Algebra 2 or Trig.

How is Broadsheet supposed to be promoting women in mathematics when even it's writers are brushing off their lack of math skills as no big deal?

Obama's economic program would bankrupt the country

Don't you mean rebankrupt the country? Maybe double-bankrupt? I'm pretty sure we've been bankrupt for a while now.

The rhetoric that says that spending money is the same as losing money is deeply flawed. Almost any health care plan that gets people into the system before the point where they are in critical condition will ultimately save money. Preventative care costs more only in the near term.

Anyway, Obama is definitely not sable-rattling with Iran. It's an awfully strange comment to make considering that Obama caught flak for his willingness to negotiate with Iran.

I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a Victorian wife there! Of course, those tend to be steampunk and go more for Lady Ada Lovelace than Stepford wives.

Until we can point to another country which globalization has helped, the title stands. Further, has globalization really helped China's economic migrants?

These must be fairly rich people that Sandra Tsing Loh has been hanging out with. By no means was I raised poor but I can't possibly imagine how my parents would have been able to afford today's $14K prices - even in 1980's dollars.

Also, I sincerely doubt the value of private schools. I've seen the results in my own generation (I'm 30); it's burn-out and malaise for many and it's an ill developed sense of how the world works for all. Why would you raise your kids in this kind of comfort and privilege when you know what twits these people usually turn out to be?

Perhaps drinking while bird watching just isn't very effective? Kind of like deer hunters who bring a case of Bud - they come home drunk, happy, and empty-handed. It might be good to compare the ornithologists to a kind of scientist whose subjects aren't likely to be scared off by drunks.

3 out of 4 of the "he"s are obviously referencing Cheney. Putting in a "he or she" in for the remaining "he":

branch, he won't

would make the sentence uncomfortable at best. I really, really don't think that this means anything other than the well known fact that Obama likes sentences that sound good.

no one will be interested in reading about your sex life. Unless it's really, really weird.

It's an anti-Obama campaign drawn straight from a Chick tract.

Ok, I don't get it. Why was an environmental review required? The link to the plan makes it look like the bulk of the bike project is repainting lines on the street and some alterations to curbs.

Let's face it, being both pro-life and pro-war is inherently hypocritical.