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Dumb Ideas

Can Morality Be Evolutionized?
May 17, 2007
A psychologist at the University of Virginia is probing the evolutionary origins of morality: [Jonathan] Haidt shows how evolutionary, neurological and social-psychological insights are being synthesized in support of three principles: 1) Intuitive primacy, which says that human emotions and gut feelings generally drive our moral judgments; 2) Moral thinking if [sic] for social doing, […]
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Politics and Ethics

Nature Displays Leftist Ideology
May 9, 2007
For a British scientific journal ostensibly devoted to nature (think: horses, trees, cells, atoms, stars), Nature gets downright political sometimes.  Usually, a liberal position is presented without rebuttal or balance – often intruding into American politics.  Some recent examples: Military defense:  In the May 3 issue, a Nature editorial attacked the American missile defense system, […]
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Bible and Theology

Herod’s Tomb Found
May 8, 2007
The probable tomb of Herod the Great has been found, reported Haaretz a day before a scheduled press conference.  This is the King Herod who slaughtered the innocents of Bethlehem at the time of Christ’s birth after being visited by the wise men.  Scholars knew he was supposed to be buried at his fortress of […]
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Early Man

Passings: Howell Dies, of Time-Life Book Fame
May 3, 2007
Nature contained an obituary for F. Clark Howell, paleoanthropologist (1925-2007).  He knew and worked with most of the 20th century fossil-man hunters from Raymond Dart to the Leakeys.  Students will probably remember the Time-Life series he authored, Early Man, with its fold-out panorama by illustrator Jay Matternes of the march from furry monkey to naked […]
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Bible and Theology

Heat and Light: Jerusalem City of David Excavations Arouse Notoriety
May 3, 2007
Opinions about tangible archaeological evidence hinge on beliefs about the Bible and science.
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Politics and Ethics

Naturalism Extends Into All Realms of Scholarship
April 30, 2007
Defenders of evolutionary theory typically argue that their ideas are merely scientific approaches to explaining biological objects.  Why, then, are evolutionary approaches extended to intangible realms, like psychology, ethics, criminal law, politics, religion, character and morals?  Here are some recent examples to think about: Evolution and the Criminal Mind:  In a paper this month in […]
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Bible and Theology

Stupid Evolution Quote Prizes
April 27, 2007
The Stupid Evolution Quote of the Week goes to Mark Gladwin (04/25/2007) who said something the gentler sex will probably wince at: “Study the pregnant women, because that’s where you’ll see evolution in action.” No offense intended, we hope.  A runner-up goes to Deborah Charlesworth, who in Current Biology April 17 named Darwin as a […]
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Education

Human Adaptation Can Be Rapid
April 25, 2007
How long does it take for humans to adapt to environmental changes?  Some recent papers investigated this question. Paleface:  If it is assumed that humans started out medium or dark-skinned, how long did it take for Europeans to lose much of that original pigment?  An article in Science April 20 says maybe just 6,000 to […]
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Genetics

Evolution to the Rescue for Abused Ape
April 5, 2007
The UK Guardian reports that Austrian courts are being asked to grant human status to an ape to allow it to sue a company for importing it into Austria for medical research.  In 1999, New Zealand granted “non-human hominid” status to apes to protect them from maltreatment, but this case attempts to give full human […]
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Health

Adult Stem Cells Form Heart Valve
April 4, 2007
The BBC News reported that part of a heart valve was grown from stem cells.  The article did not state till halfway down the page that the feat was achieved with adult stem cells, not embryonic stem cells. Everybody knows that the big battle over stem cells revolves around the ethics of using human embryos […]
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Media

Two Films Fight the Consensus
March 31, 2007
Two film documentaries this month, though not on the subject of Darwinism, are contradicting scientific consensus. Global warming is man’s fault, right?:  A documentary by Martin Durkin called “The Great Global Warming Swindle” (see Channel 4.com) interviewed half a dozen notable climate scientists who dispute the human-caused global warming scare.  The entire documentary can be […]
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Education

Free Speech?  Not When Darwin Is at Stake
March 25, 2007
Radicals get away with saying or doing almost anything on campuses these days.  There’s one “radical” view, however, that even though believed by a majority of Americans, is sure to be met with outrage: creationism.  It doesn’t even have to be creationism.  Just to suggest that Darwin and his views might not be infallible is […]
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Bible and Theology

Have Scientists Found the Secret of Aging?
March 17, 2007
There’s a tragic disease that speeds up aging.  Known as progeria (Huntington-Gilford progeria syndrome, HGPS), it is caused by a single point mutation in exon 11 of the NMLA gene.  Children afflicted with this disease look old beyond their years and often die at 13 of heart attack and stroke – essentially, of old age. […]
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Bible and Theology

Can Science Determine if God Answers Prayer?
March 16, 2007
An Arizona State research team has found support for the theory that intercessory prayer works, says EurekAlert.  David R. Hodge averaged 17 studies on intercessory prayer, including some that measured no effect.  His overall result contradicts a Harvard study (2006) by Benson that prayer has no influence on a patient’s health.  Still, he could not […]
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Dumb Ideas

Were Australopithecines Violent?  Should Humans Not Be?
March 12, 2007
One wonders how a scientist could infer behavior from skeletal dimensions, but David Carrier (U of Utah) believes he can visualize that evolutionary ancestors of humans were good fighters.  A report on EurekAlert begins, “Ape-like human ancestors known as australopiths maintained short legs for 2 million years because a squat physique and stance helped the […]
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