Creationists are turning from science to philosophy class. Last month, a judge struck "intelligent design" from the science curriculum in Dover, Pa., calling it "an interesting theological argument, but … not science." A California school board responded by approving a course called "Philosophy of Design." The course description says it "will discuss the scientific, biological and biblical aspects that suggest why Darwin's philosophy is not rock solid," and "evidence will be presented suggesting the earth is thousands of years old." Critics have sued, saying 1) the course is "designed to advance religious theories" rather than open-minded debate, and 2) it's taught by a fundamentalist minister's wife. The district says it's legal "to explore cultural phenomena, including history, religion or creation myths."

Lions are hunting humans in southern Africa. In Tanzania, annual attacks are up from 40 a decade ago to 100 today; 70 percent are lethal. One lion purportedly ate 40 people. Reasons: 1) People are sleeping outdoors to guard their crops against bushpigs. 2) Lions following the bushpigs find the humans and discover they're tasty. 3) "Once they discover that they can eat people they get quite bold. They are even breaking into people's houses and pulling them out." Experts' advice to locals: Build your outhouses closer to your homes. Lesson to Americans and Australians: Stop whining about shark attacks.

All reports of stem cells from cloned human embryos are fraudulent. Investigators had already debunked South Korean scientist Hwang Woo Suk's 2005 report that he got stem-cell lines from 11 patients. Now they've discredited the world's only other such report, issued by Hwang in 2004. However, the panel says 1) Hwang did clone a dog, as he claimed, and 2) there's evidence that he did clone human embryos. American researchers say they'll now derive stem cells from human clones to prove that Hwang's failure to do it doesn't mean it can't be done.

Brain scientists want high schools to start later so teens can sleep. Research shows that body clocks run later in teens than in adults and younger kids: In teens, a sleep-inducing hormone doesn't start rising till 10 or 11 p.m. and doesn't let up till 8 a.m. Some high schools are starting later; others are considering it. Skeptical parents say adjusting the school day would 1) interfere with after-school jobs and 2) give in to teens who stay up late playing video games or chatting on the phone. But some scientists say 1) we should respect kids' sleep needs the way we respect their nutritional needs, and 2) sending them to school at 7 a.m. just teaches them to dope themselves with coffee.

About 500,000 fetuses are aborted in India each year because they're girls. The more daughters a couple has without bearing a son, the more lopsided the odds become that the next baby they allow to be born will be male. Couples whose last child was male are as likely to bear a daughter as a son; couples whose last child was female are only 76 percent as likely to bear a daughter as a son; couples whose last two children were female are only 72 percent as likely to bear a daughter as a son. Bonus finding: Educated women are more likely than illiterate women to make sure their second child is a boy.

Smoking during pregnancy boosts the odds that your baby will have the wrong number of fingers. Smoking 10 or fewer cigarettes a day increases the risk of too many, too few, or webbed fingers by 29 percent. Smoking a pack a day almost doubles the risk. Question: Will grossness make this warning more effective than previous cigarette warnings?

New York City is urging Jewish parents to stop letting mohels suck blood from circumcision wounds. The sucking, which is supposed to clean the wound, reportedly happens 2,000 to 4,000 times a year in the city. The city acted after several sucked boys got herpes infections, one of which led to brain damage. Some Orthodox Jews hold the practice sacred and accuse the city of violating religious freedom. Others say it's about time the city did something to protect kids from zealots. The city says a ban would be unenforceable and beyond government's authority, and education is the next best thing.

Pat Robertson implied that God caused Ariel Sharon's stroke. While experts debated biological causes and prognoses, Robertson proposed a theory of intelligent revenge: "The prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who, quote, 'divide my land.' God considers this land to be his. You read the Bible, he says, 'This is my land.' And for any prime minister of Israel who decides he going carve it up and give it away, God says, 'No. This is mine.' ... [Sharon] was dividing God's land, and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course."

You can now buy an instant male fertility test kit over the counter. Within an hour, a man and woman can get estimates (supposedly 95 percent accurate) of their respective abilities to conceive that night. A developer of the test says, "All the man has to do is produce a sample, push a button and twist a switch and he will be able to assess that he has enough sperm that can swim to fertilize an egg." Unexplained: How a man old enough to worry about his fertility produces both a "sample" and a performance.


William Saletan is Slate's national correspondent and author of Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War.



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