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Back to School, Front to Darwinism Debate
August 30, 2005
The national debate about how to teach origins in public schools continues to roil. Here are some recent developments: Poll: A new Pew Research Poll reported on MSNBC News found that 64% of Americans want creationism taught alongside evolutionism, and 38% favor teaching creation only. For details see the Pew Research press release which includes […]
Do You Belong in the Zoo?
August 29, 2005
People are gawking at people in the London Zoo, each probably wondering what side of the cage they belong on. In one of the primate exhibits, eight scantily clad white people are on display, reports AP (see MSNBC and Yahoo). Wearing fig leaves pinned onto their swimsuits, they play, they scratch, they groom each other, […]
Molecular Motors Galore: How Did They Evolve?
August 26, 2005
Myosin is one of the cell’s little monorail motors that trucks cargo around the cell, pushes false feet into the surrounding environment, forces packages out the cell membrane, makes muscles move and wiggles hairlike cilia. Scientists reporting in Nature1 found twice as many varieties of myosin (37) than were previously known (17) and decided to […]
Do Fossil Counts Match Sediment Counts?
August 25, 2005
If evolution is true, the number of species coming and going should track the number of rock layers in which they are fossilized, at least roughly. The more sediments per unit time, the more new genera should arise within them. Shanan E. Peters (U of Michigan) decided to test this “novel” approach with marine fossils […]
Looking for Ethical Alternatives to Embryonic Stem Cells
August 24, 2005
Pro-life advocates perked up their ears at the announcement of a new method that can produce stem cells without destroying embryos. National Geographic News and MSNBC News talked about the method, which uses skin cells and “reprograms” them to act like embryonic stem cells. Religion Journal thinks the ethical debate over stem cells may be […]
Darwins Finches Evolve Back and Forth
August 24, 2005
What’s new on the Galápagos? For those needing an update on Darwin’s famous finches, the researchers who have spent the most time studying them – Peter and Mary Grant (Princeton) – wrote a Quick Guide in Current Biology1 in question-and-answer format. We’ll skip the introductory material about how the birds got named after Darwin, and […]
Your Brain Has Perfect Pitch
August 23, 2005
Scientists have a knack for asking questions about things most of us take for granted. “The whole orchestra tunes up to an A note from the oboe – but how do our brains tell that all the different sounds are the same pitch?” asks Robert J. Zatorre in Nature.1 This is a puzzling question to […]
Origin of Life: How Dry I Am?
August 23, 2005
Stephen Benner (U of Florida) has stopped looking for life in water. A researcher into the evolutionary origin of life, he understands that “water is a terrible solvent for life” – not life as we know it today, he means, but life at the beginning. This sounds strange, considering most astrobiologists believe in a “follow […]
Paleoanthropology: Start Over?
August 22, 2005
The September issue of National Geographic, featuring the African continent, has arrived in homes. On page 1, Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post wrote about the quest for early man, asking, “Are we looking for bones in all the right places?” The bulk of the article describes the “messy” story of human origins. It used […]
I.D. vs. Evolution Rhetoric Continues Unabated
August 22, 2005
The surge in articles and editorials about intelligent design vs. evolution, prompted by President Bush’s remarks (08/13/2005) often seems to track the political philosophy of the person or group: Republican vs. Democrat, conservative vs. liberal – but not always. Recent salvos: Irish Scream: Bill O’Reilly had Dr. Richard Sternberg on his O’Reilly Factor show on […]
You Otter Hair How Otters Keep Warm
August 22, 2005
While on a sabbatical exploring Isle Royale National Park, John Weisel (U of Pennsylvania) decided to collect hair from various mammals. He found otter fur to be particularly interesting, says a press release from U of Penn Health System. Since otters don’t have a layer of fat, he wondered, how do they keep warm in […]
Why Mathematical Formalism Eludes Evolutionary Theory
August 19, 2005
An important mathematical tool used by evolutionists has been discredited. To study life history evolution (i.e., the changes over time in a population’s reproductive age, maximum size, age at death, etc.) evolutionists have relied on Charnov’s concept of life history invariants. These invariants, which are “dimensionless ratios of two life history traits—for instance, age at […]
Saddle Up Your Algae: Scientists Harness Flagellar Motors
August 19, 2005
1805: Beast of burden of choice: oxen. 2005: Beast of burden of choice: algae. Science Now reported an unusual item: scientists have learned how to hitch their loads to a single-celled green alga named Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (see Yale description). Researchers are actually calling their little teams “micro-oxen.” Scientists are increasingly interested in harnessing biological motors […]
Do Emperor Penguins Know the Meaning of True Love?
August 19, 2005
The nature film sensation March of the Penguins is capturing the public imagination because of its portrayal of emperor penguins in almost anthropomorphic visions. Strutting upright in their feathery tuxedos, these Antarctic seabirds seem almost human: they love, they walk, they sacrifice, they grieve over the loss of a chick, they endure hardship bravely, they […]
From Emperors to Monarchs….
August 19, 2005
If lion is king, and penguin is emperor, who would have thought a dainty insect would be monarch? EurekAlert posted a story earlier this month too good to pass up: monarch butterflies follow the light – ultraviolet light – to their breeding grounds. Scientists at Hebrew University, working with monarchs in a specially-designed flight simulator […]
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