VIEW HEADLINES ONLY
Dumb Ideas

How to Tell an Evolutionary Story
July 4, 2008
Thanks to Science Daily, we now know that “Evolutionary Origin Of Mammalian Gene Regulation Is Over 150 Million Years Old.”  The proof is easy.  It is so easy, in fact, that no proof is necessary.  One can merely assume it is true.  Trust them; they are scientists, after all. Here is how the E word […]
CONTINUE READING
Amazing Facts

Leaf Vein Patterns Are Not in Vain
July 3, 2008
The vein patterns in a leaf approach perfection.  If the requirement is to reach every cell with the shortest and most efficient paths, leaves do it just right.  A team of scientists at Cornell, “inspired by plant leaves,” tried to build a network in a polymer substrate that would maximize distribution of fluid with evaporation-driven […]
CONTINUE READING
Solar System

Saturn Rings: F is for Flamboyant
July 2, 2008
Cassini provides additional evidence that Saturn's F-ring is young.
CONTINUE READING
Health

Can Psychology Figure Out Humans?
July 1, 2008
Psychology is often considered a soft science.  Anything they pronounce one year is likely to be modified or overturned the next.     A few years ago (and still in some quarters), self-esteem was all the rage (now fading, though; see 05/12/2003).  We should be assertive and confident, we were told, and make our feelings […]
CONTINUE READING
Cosmology

Cosmology at the Outer Limits
June 30, 2008
Those who think cosmology could not get any weirder than it already is (01/15/2008) may want to take note of recent pronouncements by the gurus of universal physics.  Physics teachers in particular may feel an obligation to state Bob Berman’s disclaimer (10/06/2004) before class: viz, “Warning: The following contains contemporary cosmology.  Reading it can produce […]
CONTINUE READING
Media

Yellow Journalism Invades Science
June 28, 2008
James Kerian, a mechanical engineer, has a colorful term for science reporting these days: “yellow science.”  Writing for the Wall Street Journal June 25, he accused scientists of the same kind of sensationalism that disgraced journalism in the days of William Randolph Hearst.     The occasion for Kerian’s criticism was reporting about man-made global […]
CONTINUE READING
Bible and Theology

Public Views on Darwin Not Evolving
June 27, 2008
A new Gallup Poll shows that American views on evolution have changed little for 26 years.  Since 1982, the Gallup organization has periodically polled a random sample of adults to see if they believe humans evolved millions of years ago (with or without God’s help) or were created by God in their present form within […]
CONTINUE READING
Birds

Birds of Different Feathers Evolve Together
June 26, 2008
Are pigeons like parrots?  Are hummingbirds like hawks?  And are falcons unlike eagles?  Scientists are all a-flutter after results of a massive genetic comparison of birds has put some members in unlikely pigeonholes.  “The largest ever study of bird genetics has not only shaken up but completely redrawn the avian evolutionary tree,” said Science Daily.  […]
CONTINUE READING
Fossils

Not Another Tetrapod Missing Link
June 25, 2008
Fossils don’t contain light bulbs, but almost every time a new one is found, scientists claim it sheds light on evolution.  The BBC News kept that tradition going with this line, “Scientists say a fossil of a four-legged fish sheds new light on the process of evolution.”  What, exactly, was found?  Whatever Ventastega curonica was, […]
CONTINUE READING
Amazing Facts

Bacterial Flagellar Motor Has a Protein Clutch
June 24, 2008
The bacterial flagellum, the whiplike outboard motor that has become an icon of intelligent design, has another artificial-looking part: a clutch.  Science reported this in “machine language” as follows:1 The bacterial flagellum, powered by a motor that generates 1400 pN-nm of torque, can rotate at a frequency of greater than 100 Hz.  EpsE [the clutch […]
CONTINUE READING
Biomimetics

Animal Patterning Keeps Scientists Puzzle-Solving
June 23, 2008
Here’s a fascinating area of research for a budding young scientist: the development of animal patterns.  Look at the dazzling wing patterns on butterflies in an illustration on Science Daily or consider a zebra’s stripes.  How do such patterns emerge from a single fertilized egg?  “Although this has been studied for years,” said a researcher […]
CONTINUE READING
Health

Love Your Heart: Look at Nature
June 22, 2008
Heart patients can get instant relief from stress by simply looking out at nature through a window, reported Science Daily.  It worked better if the patient looked at the real thing, not just a picture on TV.     In a study funded by the National Science Foundation, scientists tested the heart rates of patients […]
CONTINUE READING
Bible and Theology

Evolutionist Learns from “Neo-Creationists”
June 21, 2008
Neo-creationists: the Intelligent Design (ID) people as well as the active old creationists, are still to be despised and expelled, thinks an evolutionist.  That doesn’t mean, though, that they aren’t making some good points.     The evolutionist is Gordy Slack, a science writer from Oakland, California, who previously wrote a book about the Dover […]
CONTINUE READING
Physics

Hopes Die for Enceladus Longevity
June 19, 2008
Ever since Enceladus, the little 300-mile-across moon of Saturn was found in 2005 to be erupting out its south pole, scientists have tried to explain how it could be possible.  They have looked high and low for an energy source to power the geysers of the little moon dubbed “Cold Faithful” for billions of years.  […]
CONTINUE READING
Amazing Facts

Long Live the Seed
June 18, 2008
A seed buried under the rubble of Herod the Great’s fortress took root and is now growing into a palm tree.  Science Now reported this as verification of claims that ancient seeds can still grow.  See also the National Geographic News report that added this record beats out the previous verifiable claim of ancient seed […]
CONTINUE READING
Posts by Date
[archives type="yearly"]