…the creationists are coming!

Of course, all of you loyal Nature readers already knew that (https://www.nature.com/news/2006/061120/full/444406a.html), but the AAAS has taken the threat seriously enough to organize a symposium about the spread of anti-evolutionism in Europe.

The trend was largely portrayed as another cultural import from the US. And despite the session’s indecisive title (“Anti-Evolutionism in Europe: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid, or Not?”), the panelists at yesterday’s press briefing largely settled on “be afraid”.

Towards the end of the briefing, Eugenie Scott of the Oakland, California-based National Center for Science Education ran through a laundry list of proposed legislation across the US that could limit the teaching of evolution in public schools. She finished with a significant glance at her European co-panelists. “Maybe this is a preview of coming attractions for you all,” she said.