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Biomimetics

Purpose-Driven Science Ignores Darwin
October 30, 2010
While some Darwinists feel that the Intelligent Design (ID) movement is a major threat to science, many scientists unconnected to ID are acting as if it provides for them a more fruitful approach to research.  Several recent examples illustrated what might be called a silent “de facto” intelligent design movement. Purposeful proteins:  PhysOrg reported work […]
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Dumb Ideas

The Blue and Red States of OOL
October 29, 2010
When it comes to the origin of life (OOL), some scientists color it blue; some color it red.  New Scientist votes for the blue state.  “LIFE may really have been created by a spark, one that came as a bolt from the deep blue.”  Inspired by visions sent from Ryuhei Nakamura at the University of […]
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Early Man

Early Man in Trouble
October 28, 2010
New findings (or claims) are throwing long-held beliefs about human ancestors into disarray.  Early people were smarter, and traveled farther, than paleoanthropologists thought.     One report summarized by PhysOrg says, “A highly skillful and delicate method of sharpening and retouching stone artifacts by prehistoric people appears to have been developed at least 75,000 years […]
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Amazing Facts

Cells Know Their Physics
October 27, 2010
At the microscopic level of cells, forces come into play that are unfamiliar to us at the macro level: quantum mechanics, Brownian motion, and subtle elastic forces that we might overlook.  Two recent papers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explored physical mechanisms cells use to good advantage.  Good thing cells know […]
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Amazing Facts

Amazing Insects Defy Evolution
October 26, 2010
Two recent articles about insects call for the ring buoy on the H.M.S. Darwin.  The first is about fossil amber from India, reported by the BBC News.  “We have complete, three-dimensionally preserved specimens that are 52 million years old,” one of the discoverers announced with astonishment, “and you can handle them almost like living ones.”  […]
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Amazing Facts

Automatic Turnstiles Found in the Cell
October 25, 2010
One of the things students learn about in high school biology classes is active transport: the ability to control flow through a semi-permeable membrane.  Contrary to osmosis, in which the flow goes naturally from high concentration to low concentration, cell membranes employ active mechanisms to push or pull the molecules through their membranes according to […]
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Biomimetics

Biomimetics: Does It Flatter Darwin?
October 24, 2010
The imitation of natural design (biomimetics) is a cutting-edge approach to engineering these days.  Many times, the reports on attempts to mimic the amazing properties of cells, plants, and animals have no time to discuss evolution (e.g., 09/24/2010).  Once in awhile, though, scientists or reporters go out of their way to tell their readers that […]
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Amazing Facts

Weekend Grab Bag
October 23, 2010
Here’s another unclassified assortment of news stories readers can follow and evaluate on their own (cf. 10/18/2010).  Take your Baloney Detector along and discern the Amazing from the Dumb. Fast Lane: Nick Lane explains how life became complex: cells invented mitochondria (Science Daily).  Gem from his paper in Nature:1 “If evolution works like a tinkerer, […]
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Bible and Theology

Mind Matters
October 22, 2010
The conundrum of how reasoning could have emerged by an undirected evolutionary process persists.  Atheists and materialists are convinced that natural selection is up to the task, while theists strongly disagree and use human rationality as evidence for creation by an intelligent source (usually God).  Perhaps a few recent findings can illuminate on the options. […]
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Darwin and Evolution

Creationism Won’t Die
October 21, 2010
To ardent evolutionists, creationism should have died a long time ago.  Some of them are confounded, if not dumbfounded, that they cannot get rid of it.  They think (many of them) that the Dover case in Pennsylvania should have settled the issue once for all.  Well, it didn’t.  It keeps coming back like a cat […]
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Bible and Theology

Darwinism in Chaos, but Gave Us Morals
October 19, 2010
Two papers on evolutionary theory create a strong tension.  One says that there is no law of evolution – just chaos.  The other claims that morality evolved out of the mess. Evolution is a theory in chaos…:  If you thought Charles Darwin brought biological evolution under natural laws, think again.  Keith Bennett on New Scientist […]
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Amazing Facts

A Dozen Leftovers
October 18, 2010
Here’s a rapid-fire list of links to science stories that looked interesting, but were filling up our backlog.  Thinkers, bloggers and reporters might want to do what they want with them. Baby born after 20 years as a frozen embryo: PhysOrg. Where dinosaurs died reveals how they lived: Live Science. Clues included in diamonds: PhysOrg; […]
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Amazing Facts

Biomimetics Frontier: The Wild Wet
October 18, 2010
Some animals have figured out how to turn wetness into an ally instead of a nuisance, and some research teams are hard on their heels trying to learn how to settle that frontier. Wet feet:  Geckos cling to walls and ceilings even when their feet are wet.  How do they do it?  It would be […]
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Intelligent Design

SETI: To the Unknown, Full Speed Ahead
October 16, 2010
This year marks the 50th year of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).  Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute and one of its most outspoken spokesmen, made the cover of Sky and Telescope’s November 2010 issue.  He stands proudly over his Allen Telescope Array in his feature story, “Closing in on E.T.” celebrating […]
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Amazing Facts

Babbage’s Computer May Be Built
October 15, 2010
The “Analytical Engine,” a 19th-century computer conceived by Charles Babbage, may finally be built 140 years after his death.  The remarkable contraption was to be powered by steam and would fill a warehouse, but the eccentric old man could not get the Royal Society to back it.  His idea, 100 years ahead of its time, […]
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