Talk.origins

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'''talk.origins''' is a [[Usenet]] newsgroup (discussion group) which provides defenses for the evolutionary perspective against the creationist perspective. Its purpose is to be a place about the discussion of issues that relate to the origins of the universe, life on Earth, and civilization, with [[evolutionary biology]], [[creationism]], [[geology]], and [[Immanuel Velikovsky|Velikovsky]]anism being the most commonly discussed subjects. The related TalkOrigins FAQ archive is a huge repository of information and discussion about two topics: the [[Big bang|origins of the universe]], and the [[abiogenesis|origins]] [[evolution|and development of life]].

It dates almost to the beginning of Usenet — before the 1986 Great Renaming, it was known as net.origins.

One useful feature of the site is their voluminous list of FAQ files, where creationist and other [[Creationist claims|pseudoscientific claims]] are carefully debunked. The sheer quantity of quality scientific information has led to the Talk.Origins archives being considered the Net's most significant clearinghouse of origins information out there, even being cited from time to time in science textbooks for further reading purposes. The TO archive also makes a point to link back to pages with opposing viewpoints, something not as common among creationist pages. The site is maintained by the TalkOrigins Archive Foundation.

While activity has tailed off somewhat since 2006, the archive maintains a blog presence at [http://www.pandasthumb.org The Panda's Thumb], a collaborative blog that aggregates articles on evolution from the science blogosphere as well as some original material.

==Getting the stuff direct==
If you're willing to get a news reader, TO's still there at [news:talk.origins news:talk.origins]. News readers include [https://www.thunderbird.net/ Mozilla Thunderbird] and [http://pan.rebelbase.com/ Pan]. You will need to have access to a '''news server''' to get the newsgroup. In the past, Internet service providers used to run them for their customers, but nowadays you will likely need to use a third-party server. Free alternatives include [https://www.eternal-september.org/ Eternal September] and [https://www.aioe.org/ Aioe.org].

If you're 
a wimp
 not blessed with a news reader, it's available on the web through [http://groups.google.com/group/talk.origins/ Google Groups].

==See also==
*[[true.origin]], the ironically-named creationist response
*[[EvoWiki]], its ''de facto'' successor

==External links==
*[http://www.talkorigins.org/ The TalkOrigins Archive home page].
**[http://talkorigins.org/indexcc/index.html An Index to Creationist Claims], a massive and well-organized collection of refutations.
**[http://talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/ 29+ Evidences for Macroevolution: ''The Scientific Case for Common Descent''], a massive compilation of evidences for [[common descent]].
**[http://www.talkdesign.org/ Talk.Design] Sister site to the T.O. Archive.
**[http://talkorigins.org/origins/postmonth/ PoTM] The Post of The Month, a monthly collection of the best post of the post voted by t.o. posters.
*[http://www.pandasthumb.org The Panda's Thumb], the official TalkOrigins blog.
*[http://www.ediacara.org/other.html Another Talk.origins site. The Virtual University of Ediacara].
*[http://www.antievolution.org/features/ Antievolution.org] Affiliated with talk.origins (and even paid for by the TO Archive Foundation). 
*[http://scholar.chem.nyu.edu/talkorigins/talkorigins.html "Random Thoughts on talk.origins"] A few "random thoughts" from t.o. poster Paul J. Gans.
*[http://www.ediacara.org/~to/ The Talk.Origins homepage] Includes the robot source code, and unofficial charter.
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20130517232211/http://www.geo.ucalgary.ca/~macrae/talk_origins.html Andrew Macrae's talk.origins page] WARNING: Includes [[Ted Holden]] and Ed Conrad.
*[http://quasar.as.utexas.edu/BillInfo/Howlerfest/howlerfest.html 1995 Howlerfest] A gathering for t.o. posters.
*[http://home.comcast.net/~ferrous.patella/Howler/howlerfest.html 2003 Howlerfest] The second gathering for t.o. posters.
*[http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/team_display.php?teamid=101855 University of Ediacara Howler Monkers SETI group]

[[ru:Talk.origins]]
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[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Creationism]]
[[Category:Evolution]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Skeptics]]
[[Category:Websites]]
[[Category:Articles needing updates]]

Categories: Biology, Creationism, Evolution, Internet, Skeptics, Websites, Articles needing updates