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Outer Limits Not Lively
September 29, 2009
One of the “cosmic coincidences” cited in the intelligent-design treatise The Privileged Planet1 is the “galactic habitable zone” – a fairly narrow region of the galaxy where planets can form and exist safely. The outer regions of the galaxy were described as lacking the heavy elements necessary for planet formation. Score one for […]
Cosmology: Crossroads or Crosswinds?
September 28, 2009
Earlier this month in Science, Charles L. Bennett (Johns Hopkins) wrote a status report called “Cosmology at a Crossroads.”1 It included a brief survey of how cosmology got to its current paradigm and how future instruments should narrow down the unknowns. The “standard model” as it has become known hangs together if one allows for […]
Evangelist Takes On Darwin
September 27, 2009
What would Darwin do? Just in time for the 150th anniversary of The Origin of Species, his magnum opus has been reprinted with an introduction not by a scientist or historian, but by a Christian evangelist. He and a Christian movie actor are trying to get their special edition to students at major universities. Talk […]
Ho-Hum, Another Feathered Dinosaur
September 25, 2009
Another Chinese fossil its discoverers are calling a “feathered dinosaur” has been announced by Nature News. It is ostensibly a more complete specimen of Anchiornis huxleyii that was announced last January (see 01/21/2009). The full paper on this specimen is to be published in Nature next week. The fossil is said to have […]
Human Evolution Celebration Exposed
September 24, 2009
The evolutionary story of human origins is often told like a cultural myth that is intuitively obvious. Humans emerged in Africa after their ancestors came down from the trees and walked upright. They began to hunt with stone tools and used fire. They migrated north out of Africa and populated Europe, overtaking the Neanderthals who […]
Lotus Glass Repels Water, Dirt, Bacteria
September 23, 2009
Imagine never having to wash your windows again. That would be a huge boon not only for window washers on skyscrapers, but for astronauts on the space shuttle or space station. It may become a reality, thanks to the lotus plant. Science Daily reported on work by a company in Atlanta that has […]
Evolutionists Answer ‘Why’ Questions With ‘Stuff Happens’
September 22, 2009
Why do ants walk single file? Why are goldfish gold? Why do worms come up on the sidewalk in the rain? Exasperated parents sometimes answer the incessant questions of their young children with “It’s just the way things are!” Presumably science does a better job of explanation, but one might wonder if the following evolutionary […]
Mars Red-Faced Without Water
September 21, 2009
The Martians are singing How dry I am. Scientists have a new explanation for how Mars turned red without water: it’s just dry dust tumbling in the wind. This new hypothesis was announced by Live Science, Science Daily, New Scientist, and Space.com, based on a presentation at the European Planetary Science Congress last week.1 […]
Stone Tools May Be Crocodile Stomach Stones
September 21, 2009
“Were crocodiles responsible for the stones we call tools?” is the title of a surprising letter to the editor in Nature last week.1 Patrick Dempsey (the archaeologist, not the actor) raised a possibility that paleoanthropologists and the journals have been making a big mistake for a long time. He asked, “Could Nature have been unknowingly […]
Crusty Salt Incubates Raw Ingredients for Life
September 21, 2009
Science Daily asked, “Could salt crusts be key ingredient in cooking up prebiotic molecules?” What if the answer is “No”? Just asking the question must be newsworthy. It invokes the power of suggestion. Stefan Fox told members of the European Planetary Science Congress last week that his team cooked up a new idea […]
Natures Designs Are Engineers Finds
September 18, 2009
Nature is a treasure trove of technology. Though engineers have garnered inspiration from nature since the Wright brothers and before, it seems that in recent years there has been a gold rush to follow nature’s lead. Wet glue: Worms may not be very inspiring to most people, but Science News reported that scientists at the […]
Intelligent Design Found in DNA
September 17, 2009
Readers of this headline may say it is not news to say that intelligent design has been found in DNA. Others may be ready for a fight on that issue. But in this case, the design has been verified beyond any shadow of doubt. The designers are not who you may be suspecting. They are […]
Trio of Darwin Films Released
September 16, 2009
This month finds us two thirds of the way between Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of his Origin of Species. Taking advantage of the extra attention Darwin is getting this year (as if he needed more), three films on his life and ideas are being released from three different companies. The Voyage that […]
Science: Knowing vs. Crowing
September 15, 2009
Every week, it seems, some new discovery casts doubt on common scientific knowledge. News reports about embarrassing finds contrast sharply with confident claims about less observable things – like evolution. Mystery illness: Science reported last week that the Veterans Administration has pulled the plug on research about “Gulf War Syndrome.”1 Why? The suite of ailments […]
I.D. Defeated by Triumphant Press Release
September 14, 2009
As if having withstood a terrorist attack, “Evolution [is] still scientifically stable,” announced a Monash university press release. After a threat from a non-Darwinian explanation, “An international team of researchers, including Monash University biochemists, has discovered evidence at the molecular level in support of one of the key tenets of Darwin’s theory of evolution.” […]
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