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New Word Means Green Living: Bioplastics

November 17, 2009

Did you know that 10% of America’s oil consumption goes into making plastic? The plastic products from oil pollute our landfills and harm the environment. Next month, a company founded by a biology professor from MIT is going to make plastic from something green: corn. Anthony Siskey and Oliver Peoples, according to PhysOrg, […]

Early Man

Darwinizing Everything

November 16, 2009

150 years after The Origin of Species, it’s clear that Darwin succeeded in one thing: granting biologists free rein to speculate about how everything under the sun evolved. Anything not understood, or seemingly contrary to the law of natural selection, or to previous speculations, can be shuttled off to future research. Noble amoebas: You may […]

Amazing Facts

Insect Wing Photocopied for Good

November 15, 2009

Biomimetics is the new science of imitating nature – but why not save a step, and just copy the design directly? That’s what Aussie and British researchers did. They wanted a self-cleaning surface that could repel moisture and dust, so they made a template of an insect wing. And why not? “Insects are incredible nanotechnologists,” […]

Astronomy

Is the Universe Evolving Upward?

November 13, 2009

It’s intuitively obvious that to get from a big bang to intelligent astronomers looking for evidence of the bang through telescopes, the amount of organization in the universe must increase over time dramatically. Lately, astronomy has uncovered much more dynamism in space than previously recognized – but much of it seems destructive, not creative. Orion […]

Bible and Theology

Where Chairman Mao and Teenage Nihilists Got Their Motivation

November 12, 2009

What propelled Mao Zhedong to become the biggest mass murderer in world history? Let a professor of Chinese history answer the question. James Pusey (Bucknell U), writing in Nature this week for a series on “Global Darwin,”1 was explaining the vacuum left by the collapse of the reform movement in the early 20th century. A […]

Uncategorized

Leaping to Evolutionary Conclusions

November 11, 2009

In classical science, researchers were reluctant to announce bold conclusions without sufficient data. These days, it seems that science reporters are quick to announce sweeping conclusions that go far beyond the evidence – especially if they appear to support some sort of evolution. Planet magic crystal: Where to find intelligent life? Look for stars depleted […]

Dumb Ideas

Darwin Marketed to Kids

November 10, 2009

There’s a move on to get Darwin’s ideas taught to tots. Britain is giving a “birthday present to Darwin,” wrote Andrew Copson for The Guardian, in the form of national curriculum for primary schools that will mention evolution for the first time – and prohibit teaching of creationism or intelligent design in science lessons. […]

Politics and Ethics

How a Christian Family Stood Up to Tyranny

November 10, 2009

Faithfulness to principle doesn't always win, but it allows one to live with a clear conscience.

Early Man

Darwinizing of Religion Continues

November 9, 2009

In an ongoing series for the Year of Darwin in Science magazine,1 Elizabeth Culotta wrote an article with the Darwinesque title, “On the Origin of Religion.”2 The editor’s summary acknowledges that “No consensus yet exists among scientists,” but sought the only answer in Darwinian terms: “in the past 15 years, a growing number of researchers […]

Fossils

Soft Muscle Tissue Found in Fossil Salamander

November 6, 2009

More soft tissue has been found in a fossil – this time in a salamander said to be 18 million years old. The article on PhysOrg called it “the highest quality soft tissue preservation ever documented in the fossil record.” Unlike the previous discoveries of fossil tissue inside bone or amber, the recognizable […]

Darwin and Evolution

What Is Man?

November 5, 2009

Science often makes pronouncements about the human species. We should be mindful of the worldview behind them. Live Science published an article with the confident-sounding title, “Human Evolution: Where We Came From,” accompanied by the iconic sketch of Ardi (see 10/02/2009) and an obligatory reference to Darwin. Even though reporter Charles Q. Choi, […]

Genetics

Polar Bears and Grizzlies Hybridize

November 4, 2009

What do you get when you cross a polar bear with a grizzly bear? It’s not a joke; look at the BBC News and see. You get bears with mixed shades of fur and a blend of characteristics. Live Science also commented on the BBC report. Scientists have known that these species can […]

Uncategorized

Ferocity of Geological Change Stuns Scientists

November 4, 2009

A crack in Ethiopia 500 meters long took just days to form. New Scientist reported about a team of scientists who used seismic sensors to reconstruct the event. “They found that a 60-kilometre-long, 8-metre-wide dike of solidified magma formed in the rift, causing the crack, in a matter of days.” They believe the crack will […]

Dumb Ideas

Inefficiency Made You Complex

November 3, 2009

Remember the old Darwinian story? Slight variations that prove beneficial are naturally selected when they help an organism adapt to its environment. Wrong. According to Ariel Fernandez of Rice University, we humans are complex because natural selection is inefficient. He said, “the origins of some key aspects of the evolution of complexity may have their […]

Solar System

Comets Didnt Bring Earths Oceans