Humanity – Page 118

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Is Our World Natural?

July 27, 2010

At first glance, the headline sounds absurd: is our world natural? Of course the world is natural. Nature is natural, isn’t it? Often, though, we picture what humans do as unnatural – oil spills, landfills, pollution, nuclear waste, crime, war. But if humans are a part of nature, then whatever they do is natural. Some […]

Darwin and Evolution

Recapitulation Theory Gets Recap

July 26, 2010

The long-discounted “recapitulation theory” of Ernst Haeckel, the idea that the development of an embryo replays its evolutionary history, pops up every once in awhile in evolutionary explanations. Evolutionary biologists (most notably the late Stephen Jay Gould) have long since disparaged the idea that evolutionary history would be preserved in embryos. In addition, photos of […]

Bible and Theology

Exorcising Nazi Ghosts Continues

July 18, 2010

With so many books and documentaries on the Nazi era and World War II, one would think the subject has been worked over to death by historians, and nothing else needs to be said. Surprisingly, new documents keep coming to light. Some new ones reported by Science magazine are especially disturbing: they show a willing […]

Bible and Theology

Spinning Webs of Belief: Accounting for George Price

July 16, 2010

It’s instructive to take a story and compare how evolutionists and creationists report it. A recent example can be found in the story of George Price: an ex-atheist scientist who, as a creationist, contributed original ideas to evolutionary theory. How did reviewers from both sides of the origins aisle characterize his creationist beliefs? […]

Darwin and Evolution

Darwin Caught Out of Bounds

July 11, 2010

What business does Darwin have in quantum mechanics or engineering? Wasn’t his a theory on the origin of species – that is, plants, animals and living things? Some scientists seem intent on extrapolating his views to all of reality, including areas commonly thought to be in the domain of intelligent design. Let’s get physical: An […]

Bible and Theology

Is Psychology Adding Scientific Knowledge?

July 8, 2010

Psychologists have a knack for proving the obvious. It leads to a question, though: do we really need their help? Broken relationships are bad: A press release on PhysOrg about a study at the University of Queensland reported that “Separation has an enormous impact on both men and women.” Rudeness at work is bad: According […]

Biomimetics

Productive Science Imitates Nature

July 7, 2010

Examples continue to accumulate that some of the most interesting and fruitful science projects involve copying design principles found in nature. This “biomimetics” approach not only pleases the consumers who can look forward to greener, cheaper, better products, but leads to deeper understandings of nature’s workings. Gecko adhesives: PhysOrg published a story on the ongoing […]

Cell Biology

Heal the Blind with Stem Cells

June 30, 2010

Have you heard that some cases of corneal blindness can be cured by stem cells #– from the person’s own eyes? New Scientist recounted some recent successes for victims blinded in one eye by burns or acid. Stem cells taken from the limbus, a disk surrounding the iris, and transplanted onto the damaged cornea, were […]

Amazing Facts

The RNA Code: Pseudogenes Functional, Help Prevent Cancer

June 24, 2010

A surprising function has been discovered for a “pseudogene” – an apparently mutated copy of a regular gene that till recently was thought to be genetic junk. This pseudogene, reported in Nature today,1 not only has a function unrelated to the production of proteins, but a function that could save your life. It is part […]

Bible and Theology

Evolution Tries to Figure Out Dads

June 19, 2010

Why did evolution produce fathers? After male adult humans deliver their genetic component of the zygote, what are they good for? This is a subject in which the Darwinian and the Judeo-Christian concepts of fatherhood begin at opposite poles. But they have to converge on the practical observations of what fathers do best when they […]

Health

Get a Life with Nature

June 6, 2010

Feeling bored, low on energy, exhausted? Don’t reach for a cup of coffee. Get out into nature. Researchers at the University of Rochester ran some controlled experiments on college students and found that those who spent a little time outdoors felt happier and more energetic. “Spending time in nature makes people feel more alive,” the […]

Amazing Facts

Your Nerves and Heart Depend on Cellular Pulleys, Latches and Switches

June 4, 2010

Biologists continue to peer closer and closer at cellular machines that work just like man-made ones, only at scales so tiny, they control individual atoms. Of particular interest have been the gates in the membranes of cells that allow certain atoms in but keep others out. A recent paper in Cell by an Australian team […]

Amazing Facts

Fooling Around with OOL

May 31, 2010

Origin of Life (OOL) research is one of those areas in science where one doesn’t have to make any real progress, as long as he or she looks busy. Anything the scientist says, no matter how speculative, or even foolish, is likely to be taken seriously, because the alternative – creation – has already been […]

Cell Biology

Stem Cells: Hope, Politics, Charity, and Clarity

May 30, 2010

Those promising little cells that can differentiate into almost any tissue continue to make news – but they also continue to generate controversy. Actually, only some of them generate controversy: the embryonic stem cells. Not all of the articles about stem cells make that clear. Defining life: With the stroke of a pen, South Korea […]

Bible and Theology

Could This Protein Delay Aging?

May 24, 2010

It’s called Heat Shock Protein 10. It responds to stress, and might just slow the aging process, scientists are finding. Science Daily reported, “Scientists in the UK and the U.S. have discovered that a protein which responds to stress can halt the degeneration of muscle mass caused during the body’s aging process.” Why […]

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