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For daring to question evolution, an astronomer who was the best qualified candidate to become director of a new observatory lost out.  “No one denies that astronomer Martin Gaskell was the leading candidate for the founding director of a new observatory at the University of Kentucky in 2007 – until his writings on evolution came […]

Scientists want to copy animal skills.  The new science of biomimetics is on a roll (11/30/2010), looking to living things for design inspiration.  Here are a few of the latest organisms giving inventors and engineers goose bumps. Bird gloss:  Ravens have what scientists at the University of Akron in Ohio want: glossy materials.  Nevermore shall […]

There’s a gold rush on: a rush to copy living technology.  Scientists have found that plants, animals and cells have the solutions to problems that will help us all, if we will just study them, imitate them, or harness them. Jellyfish pumps:  Need a flexible pump for medical use?  Look no further than the aquarium […]

Animals and plants have what scientists want.  They continue to pursue the technology inherent in some of the common organisms around us, hoping to lead to inventions to improve human life.  Certain champions keep showing up in reports over the years, but other new ones are joining the ranks. Spider power:  Several reports continued to […]

Science reporters are creating sensationalist headlines about Stephen Hawking claiming there is no God.  His new book has a title, The Grand Design, that sounds theistic but in fact claims that God is not necessary because our existence is a consequence of the law of gravity.     The headlines like PhysOrg’s “God did not […]

Evolution takes credit for a lot of things other scientists might think say nothing about evolution.  Are the statements in these articles about evolution warranted by the observations? Do the RNA:  Scientists at Yale University found an RNA complex that helps proteins to infect cells.  That’s interesting as far as it goes, but Science Daily […]

Evolutionary theory tends to make certain predictions about cells, tissues and organs.  A long history of evolutionary errors, twists, turns and dead ends would lead to a build-up of junk.  Recent examples show instances where nothing could be further from the truth.  Other reports show complexity being pushed farther down the tree of life. Primary […]

Butterflies do it better, but at least they provided the inspiration, and thanks to them, we may have cash that is more secure.  PhysOrg headlined, “From butterflies’ wings to bank notes – how nature’s colors could cut bank fraud.”     Scientists at the University of Cambridge were intrigued by the Indonesian Peacock or Swallowtail […]

Fossils continue to turn up surprises.  Some of them appear in the wrong place, in the wrong time, or in the wrong order.  Darwinian theory never seems to have a problem, though.  Evolutionary paleontologists always find a way to stretch or shrink their phylogenetic trees to accommodate the new discoveries, or make up new imaginary […]

Some research centers appear to be on the verge of a golden age – the age of biomimetics (the imitation of biological design).  Products that will change our lives are springing from designs inspired by studying how plants, animals and cells have solved real-world problems.  Although some of the research mentions evolution, the real power […]

Imagine being able to grow a new limb or jaw.  Adult stem cells may one day make possible something almost unimaginable in hospitals today: the regeneration of new limbs or organs.  There’s growing evidence, too, that mammals once had a regenerative potential that has been lost.     Hydras do it.  Salamanders do it.  Why […]

To find great ideas, look to nature.  Many plants and animals are as useful as they are ornamental.  They can show the way to solve problems of great interest to humans. Mussel power:  Want an abrasion-resistant, highly-extensible coating?  PhysOrg reported that mussels are providing inspiration to materials scientists.  They build a byssus, or network of […]