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Documentary Ties Darwin to Disastrous Social Consequences

September 27, 2010

Todd Friel’s new documentary, What Hath Darwin Wrought (see trailer at WhatHathDarwinWrought.com), harps on the proverb, “Ideas have consequences.” The twentieth century, “Darwin’s century,” saw some of the most horrendous ethical abuses the world has ever seen. The documentary includes lengthy interviews with David Berlinski (mathematician, author), John West (ethicist and legal analyst) and Richard […]

Cell Biology

Ethics Shmethics: Scientists Obsessed with Embryonic Stem Cells

September 26, 2010

With non-controversial adult stem cell research zooming along, like finding ways to prevent adult stem cells (ASC) from aging (PhysOrg), providing hope for leukemia patients (Science Daily) and giving mastectomy patients a chance for beauty once again (Science Daily), why are so many scientists adamant about keeping embryonic stem cell research on the public dole? […]

Amazing Facts

Mere Biochemistry: Cell Division Involves Thousands of Complex, Interacting Parts

September 25, 2010

In biochemistry, the stem -mere means “part” (as in centromere, telomere) and -some means “body” (as in chromosome, ribosome). Biochemists are learning that these cell organelles are not -mere bit parts, but -some fit bodies. Telomeres and chromosomes: PhysOrg reported that the chemical “caps” on the end of chromosomes, called telomeres, have a special code […]

Uncategorized

Scientists Pursue Natural Champions

September 24, 2010

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 […]

Darwin and Evolution

The Evolution of Speech, and v.v.

September 23, 2010

The brain just got more complex – that is, the part that helps us speak. “Complex brain landscape controls speech,” reported PhysOrg, discussing findings by German researchers that show Broca’s region, implicated in speech disorders when damaged, appears to be “a much more complexly structured centre of language than was previously believed.” Not just a […]

Birds

Evolutionists Promise Without Delivering

September 22, 2010

Some science news reports lead the reader to think that some major new understanding into evolution is under the headline, but they often fail to deliver. Darwinian abomination: Science Daily promised, “Toward Resolving Darwin’s ‘Abominable Mystery’: Patterns of Flower Biodiversity Point to the Importance of Having ‘Room to Grow’.” The article was accompanied by a […]

Darwin and Evolution

More Neanderthal Promotion

September 22, 2010

It’s a good time to be a Neanderthal. You’ll get more respect than ever before from paleoanthropologists. The latest example, published in PhysOrg, is headlined, “Neanderthals more advanced than previously thought.” Julien Riel-Salvatore [U of Colorado at Denver] says he is “rehabilitating Neanderthals” by challenging a half-century of “conventional wisdom” that portrayed them as numbskulls. […]

Amazing Facts

Piston Engine Joins Rotary Engine in Cells

September 22, 2010

The rotary engine ATP synthase has been discussed frequently in these pages (e.g., 12/22/2003, 08/10/2004, 08/04/2010) as an exquisite “molecular machine” that produces the cell’s energy pellets (ATP) with a rotary, turbine-like mechanism. Now, a piston-driven engine has been found at work in every cell’s energy factory. ATP synthase operates at the end […]

Bible and Theology

Exodus Theory Inherits the Wind

September 21, 2010

An old theory that the Exodus story occurred because of natural winds has surfaced again. It seeks to provide a purely natural explanation for what the Old Testament records as a miracle. Two atmospheric scientists from Boulder, Colorado, Carl Drews and Weiqing Han, referenced a theory by Doron Nof (see his website) that […]

Amazing Facts

Synonymous Codons: Another Gene Expression Regulation Mechanism

September 19, 2010

Some words in English have alternate spellings, but sound the same. If the sound is the same, how would a recording device tell them apart? Would it make any difference? It shouldn’t, but now scientists are realizing that genetic codons spelled differently can influence the protein formed – even when the spellings, called “synonymous codons”, […]

Human Body

China Suffers 30 Years of Misguided Malthusian Idea

September 18, 2010

China has had a “one-child policy” for 30 years this week. This policy has caused untold grief for many families desiring children, and has resulted in unexpected demographic problems – such as aging of the population, not enough brides for young men, and enormous numbers of abortions. Two articles in Science this week explored the […]

Solar System

Lunar Complexity Challenges Simple Theories

September 17, 2010

Tomorrow is “International Observe the Moon Night” according to Space.com, stimulating laypeople and astronomy neophytes to get outdoors to look at the moon with telescopes, binoculars, and the naked eye while the last-quarter moon is in convenient position for evening viewing. Humans have contemplated the moon for millennia on such evenings and imagined all sorts […]

Physics

Many Stars Are Planet Destroyers

September 16, 2010

A NASA study is being called “Bad news for planet hunters.” A survey of stars in globular clusters has not turned up the number of planets expected. Astronomers conclude that stars in these presumably ancient clusters have long since devoured their planets or sent them careening out into oblivion. The leading popular science […]

Education

No Consensus on Scientific Consensus

September 15, 2010

How much do you trust scientific experts? Most of the scientific experts expect us to trust them. They are appalled when lay people express doubts about matters the consensus of experts take for granted. Yet others tell us we should doubt. There seems to be no consensus about whether to trust the scientific consensus. […]

Bible and Theology

Did a Global Flood Move Rocks Across Continents? No, uh…

September 14, 2010

Paper View Sept 14, 2010 — Geologists were baffled. Something moved rocks up to 3,000 miles across whole continents. They found evidence in Asia and also in America. How on earth could that happen? Their list of explanations omitted one possibility: the transporting power of water. Maybe it’s because it would have implied a global […]

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