Issues

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Do You Need a Darwinian Doctor?

September 8, 2009

Visualize a cartoon of Charles Darwin as Hippocrates. It accompanies a book review in Science by Peter T. Ellison (Harvard).1 Ellison realizes that the mass of material doctors need to master is formidable, but thinks that “Evolutionary biology, however, is no longer an expendable topic in medical education.” The book is Principles of […]

Mind and Brain

What Darwin Does to Psychology – And Humanity

September 6, 2009

“Traits that we may find unsavory are nevertheless also products of our evolutionary history.” This quote stands out boldly in a call-out from an article by psychologist Jerome H. Barkow (Dalhousie University) in a review of evo-psych (evolutionary psychology) in PNAS.1 Barkow acknowledged controversy about the premise that the evolutionary history of our psyches produces […]

Education

Appendix to The Origin: Darwin Was Wrong

August 21, 2009

The appendix, that lowly dollop of tissue relegated to vestigial organ status by the Darwinians, is alive and well with new respect. Science Daily announced results of the “first-ever study of the appendix through the ages.” Conclusion: “Charles Darwin was wrong: The appendix is a whole lot more than an evolutionary remnant. Not only does […]

Education

Is It OK When Astronomers Sell Stars?

August 17, 2009

Most people have heard the ads for companies that sell you a certificate for a star they will name after you. Professional astronomers have usually been quick to discourage people from falling for the schemes that have no professional or international authority for naming stars (for instance, see this article on Wired.com). But now, according […]

Darwin and Evolution

Selfish Gene Mutates, Dies a Metaphorical Death

July 24, 2009

Richard Dawkins proposed in his book The Selfish Gene that a gene, being the target of natural selection and unit of replication, is the entity most likely to get passed on to posterity; as such, it is “selfish” in that the rest of the organism is really only incidental to its immortality. Dawkins expanded this […]

Cell Biology

More Going On in the Brain Than We Realize

July 22, 2009

The news story about a girl who can see in both eyes with half a brain has stunned neurophysiologists (see New Scientist and Live Science). Somehow, the remaining parts of her brain underwent a massive reorganization of the circuits involved in vision. “It was quite a surprise to see that something like this is possible,” […]

Bible and Theology

Evolutions Guiding Hand Is Far From Obvious

July 17, 2009

A recent example of applying evolutionism to everything was seen on Science Daily and PhysOrg last week. Some psychologists are telling us that evolution taught us to take turns. “It’s not just good manners to wait your turn — it’s actually down to evolution, according to new research by University of Leicester psychologists.” […]

Darwin and Evolution

Bio-Darwinist Beats Up On Psycho-Darwinists

June 26, 2009

Evolution of rape? No way. Sharon Begley won’t let the evolutionary psychologists get away with their tales about how rapists, molesters, and cheaters can’t help themselves because evolution made them that way. The Science Magazine blog Origins seems to be cheering her on. Science writer Sharon Begley, who in 2007 returned to her old job […]

Media

Science Reporters Need to Bark More

June 25, 2009

“Cheerleader or watchdog?” That’s the title of this week’s editorial in Nature1 opening a feature on science journalism. Science reporters are an aid to scientists, the editors said, but not just when they convey their findings to the public or help shape public understanding on matters of policy. They are also an aid when they […]

Media

Salting News with the L Word Life

June 25, 2009

Small amounts of sodium were detected in ice particles erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Deduction: this might lower the melting point of underground ice, forming subsurface pockets of liquid water – perhaps an ocean. Conclusion: Life! It doesn’t matter that Enceladus has no other factors conducive to life than water, or that salt is generally […]

Cosmology

We Know Less Than We Think

June 23, 2009

Strange reports come from science news outlets on occasion that call into question facts we thought we understood. These raise a question: do we really know what we think we know? Cutting dinosaurs down to size: Dinosaurs may have been half as heavy as thought, said Science Daily. Some paleontologists are claiming that widely-used methods […]

Politics and Ethics

White Supremacist Murderer Was a Social Darwinist

June 14, 2009

David Klinghoffer on Evolution News and Views has pointed out that James von Brunn, the man who murdered guard Tyrone Johns at Washington’s Holocaust Museum on June 10, was motivated by ideas of natural selection and eugenics. Klinghoffer provided additional information on Belief.Net with quotes from Brunn’s writings. He also found hundreds of references to […]

Bible and Theology

Darwin-Only Advisors Hunker Down to Re-Strategize

June 12, 2009

Strict Darwinian materialists are a minority in the United States, yet they enjoy autocracy in educational policy, complete control of scientific institutions, and nearly complete unquestioned support from the mainstream media. Nevertheless, they have to face living in a country that is predominantly religious. Once in awhile they suffer setbacks, like the recent changes in […]

Biomimetics

Discovering Health and Technology in the Human Body

June 7, 2009

Why invent technology from scratch, when the body contains substances that point the way to high tech, and can heal almost like magic? Several articles show that harnessing the body’s own resources is the wave of the future. Umbilical cords were usually tossed into the maternity ward biowaste can, but now they are […]