Bo Gardiner is an environmental analyst, naturalist, writer, and humanist/skeptic organizer. She's a former research hydrologist, EPA consultant, wildlife program director for a national NGO, and TV writer/producer. She holds a B.A. in communications and M.S. in environmental engineering sciences.
Bo writes on humanism, nature, science, skepticism and politics at her blog Under the Greenwood Tree. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter, and check out her videos on YouTube.
A Qur’an that may be the world’s oldest made a splash in July, when carbon dating at the University of Oxford placed it at about 1,370 years old — the era of Muhammad. The “Birmingham Qur’an,” named after the English university where it resides, was heralded as proof that modern texts have remained true to Muhammad’s original words. But Houston, we have a problem. That’s not only very, very old, it’s quite possibly too old. This Qur’an may be older than Muhammad. Read more
By now, you’ve probably heard about (and seen) the horrific shooting of reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward (below). The WDBJ-TV journalists were in the middle of conducting a live interview this morning when former employee Vester Lee Flanagan, who went by “Bryce Williams” on air, shot and killed them both. ABC is reporting that it received a 23-page fax from the shooter before he killed himself, in which he gives as his motivation the racism and homophobia he experienced as a gay black man and a directive to act from Jehovah (Flanagan was a Jehovah’s Witness): Read more
You’ve probably heard of the small conspiracy theory group that’s dedicated to spreading the news of an unimaginably elaborate hoax — supposedly the largest conspiracy ever perpetuated on humanity. The group, known as Electricists, claims that electricity is an invention of the government that doesn’t occur in nature and isn’t what “they” tell us. Read more
I’ve disagreed with Richard Dawkins before on his insensitivity to women, feminism, and majority privilege. Some of it he’s apologized for, so I’d like to think we’re starting to be heard. I know all too well from environmental campaigns the importance of acknowledging our successes. And thus, I part with my fellow Friendly Atheist contributor Lauren Nelson in her recent post, which struck out scathingly at Dawkins for the following single tweet: There is nothing wrong with those words. The question deserves answers, not attacks. Read more
