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Genetics

More Evidence the Molecular Clock is Broken
July 15, 2005
“We live in interesting times,” grinned David Penny in Nature,1 reporting on how estimates of evolutionary past based on comparative genomics (the molecular clock) is producing confusing results.  Apparently, evolutionary geneticists are going to have to make use of the theory of relativity – i.e., that how fast the clock ticks depends on the viewpoint […]
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Astronomy

Planet Orbiting Triple Star Tightens Noose on Planet Formation Theories
July 15, 2005
The discovery of a planet orbiting a triple star system (see JPL Press Release), described by Maciej Konacki in Nature,1 has delivered a severe challenge to theorists.  In short, the environment is “particularly prohibitive” for planet formation.  This Jupiter-size planet should not be there.     Planet-formation theories have taken a triple whammy lately.  The […]
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Genetics

The Death of the Concept of “Junk DNA”
July 15, 2005
“God don’t make no junk” has been a slogan for the self-esteem movement, and now no less than Science Now is providing support at the genetic level.  “Don’t call it junk” the article announces, indicating that stretches of non-coding DNA are apparently not useless regions of material as previously believed, but vital to the regulation […]
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Solar System

Cassini Skimmed Over Enceladus at Close Range
July 14, 2005
The Cassini spacecraft made its closest-yet flyby of Enceladus July 14, skimming just 109 miles above the surface.  This was the closest approach to any object thus far in the four-year mission.  It was nearly three times closer than the earlier record, the March 9 Enceladus flyby (see encounter map).     Enceladus has long […]
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Uncategorized

Mountain-Building Time Cut by Two Thirds
July 13, 2005
How long does it take to build mountains?  The conventional wisdom is that mountain building (orogeny) is a slow, gradual process that takes many millions of years.  A story on Live Science doesn’t deny some millions, but reduces the estimated age of a range in Norway from 40 million to 13 million, and claims the […]
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Origin of Life

Astrobiologists Search for Lefty Life in Chile
July 13, 2005
The title isn’t meant to imply Chile is dead or devoid of left-handers.  Instead, it announces that astrobiologists are practicing life detection strategies in the high deserts of that South American country, according to Astrobiology Magazine.  Chile’s Atacama desert is one of the driest places on earth, with almost no signs of life.  NASA scientists […]
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Uncategorized

How Identical Are Identical Twins?
July 12, 2005
Identical twins look identical, and the assumption is that their genes are, too.  Not necessarily, found a team of European scientists publishing in PNAS.1  Their studies of genes from identical twins found that even when indistinguishable at birth, divergence over time in the expression of genes became evidence due to epigenetic (above-gene) factors: MZ [monozygotic] […]
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Education

AAAS President Rails Against ID
July 11, 2005
Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and executive publisher of Science, wrote an editorial asking “Why are scientists so upset about the growing movement to bring ‘intelligent design’ (ID) into science classrooms and public education venues such as science museums, zoos, and theme parks?”  He took the occasion of […]
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Politics and Ethics

Scientists Own Up to the Need for Ethics
July 11, 2005
The image of a scientist free to follow his quest wherever it goes is changing.  In an age of international terrorism, governments are becoming more wary of the potential downsides of scientific investigations, and scientific organizations are beginning to fall in line, reluctantly but understandingly.  “Biologists may soon have little option but to sign up […]
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Education

Battle for Creation Makes Cover of New Scientist Magazine
July 10, 2005
Another indication of the notice the scientific community is giving to creation and intelligent design can be seen on the cover of New Scientist, in a report entitled, “Creationism special: A battle for science’s soul.”  With battle-laden lingo, Debora McKenzie surveys creationism and intelligent-design skirmishes not only among American school boards, but in Holland, Turkey, […]
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Intelligent Design

Sponge Bobs Upward in Respect
July 8, 2005
The simplest group of multicellular animals, the sponges, is not so simple.  “Researchers have long regarded sponges as the most primitive form of animal life,” wrote Helen Pilcher in Nature;1 “At first glance, sponges seem simple.  They have no gut, no brain, no obvious front or back, left or right.  Adults pump water through a […]
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Uncategorized

Rock Formation Built in Millions of Years, Lost in Seconds?
July 5, 2005
To the surprise of tourists, one of Australia’s seacoast rock formations called the “Twelve Apostles” collapsed into a pile of rubble before their eyes, reported CNN, ABC and other news sources.  The fall of the 150-foot high sedimentary formation was caught in before-and-after snapshots by a teenager.  Even though standard geology claims the rocks began […]
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Solar System

Deep Impact Strikes Comet in Tempel
July 4, 2005
Cheers and hugs erupted at JPL again last night when the Deep Impact spacecraft successfully sent its washing-machine size copper probe plunging into Comet Tempel 1.  A somewhat unexpected plume of powdery material was ejected, so opaque it was difficult to image the crater.  Speaking of craters, the camera aboard the probe revealed a surface […]
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Fossils

Horse Evolution Tale Gets Hairier
June 30, 2005
If you thought the story of horse evolution was well understood as a poster child of Darwinism at work, consider what Weinstock et al. say in a preprint in PLoS Biology:1 The rich fossil record of horses has made them a classic example of evolutionary processes.  However, while the overall picture of equid evolution is […]
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Uncategorized

Did Old Metamorphic Rocks Form in Just 10 Years?
June 30, 2005
A discovery in Norway may collapse a geological process by five or six orders of magnitude.  A paper by Camacho et al. announced in Nature,1 yielded this comment by Simon Kelley (Open University, UK) in the same issue,2 “Conventional wisdom says that changes to crustal rocks pushed down deep when continents collide develop over millions […]
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