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Bible and Theology

Biblical History News
August 20, 2002
Little by little, the archaeologist’s spade helps shed light on Biblical history – that is, when not hindered by wars and conflicts.  Biblical Archaeology Society published some interesting news on its website and in the Sept-Oct issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. Royal portrait:  The magazine contains a report by renowned Israeli archaeologist Gabriel Barkay of […]
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Bible and Theology

Only Atheists Need Apply
July 20, 2002
51; He’s a Christian, yes, but he is also a leading American scientist and a harsh critic of intelligent design.  He supports research on embryonic stem cells and upholds Darwin’s theory of evolution completely.  That’s not enough to get Francis Collins off the hook with the scientific establishment.  Both Nature and Science expressed “serious misgivings” […]
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Intelligent Design

Depressed Kerry Supporters Find New Cause: Fight Creationism
July 20, 2002
A grass-roots group of Virginia liberal Democrats has found a new cause to lift them out of their depression after John Kerry’s defeat last fall, according to a Washington Post article reprinted by MSNBC News: “Keep Virginia evolving.”  Their chosen mission is to defend evolution from intrusions by the intelligent design movement and conservative Republicans […]
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Cell Biology

Adult Stem Cells Lead Health Progress
July 20, 2002
51; Adult stem cells (AS) and induced pluripotent stem cells from adult tissues (iPS) continue to rack up tallies over embryonic stem cells (ESA).  Do we really need the embryonic variety?  Some continue to say yes, even though the practice of harvesting human embryos creates serious ethical questions for many. Controlling fate:  If you’d rather […]
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Darwin and Evolution

Peppered Moths Are Back
May 20, 2002
51; One might think that past embarrassments about the peppered moth as evidence for evolution would keep evolutionists reluctant to mention them.  A team from the University of Liverpool either didn’t get the message, or shed all reluctance anyway.  They published a new paper about Biston betularia in Science,1 calling the moth story “a textbook […]
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Mind and Brain

A Bad Kind of Sexual Selection
March 20, 2002
51; Darwin taught a kind of sexual selection that presumed mate choice can lead to extravagant sexual differences.  There is a kind of sexual selection going on among humans that is by intelligent design – with bad consequences.  In this case, the selections are not being made by potential mates, but by parents.     […]
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Dumb Ideas

Florida Wises Up and Teaches Evolution Uncritically
February 20, 2002
The Florida State Board of Education adopted, by a vote of 4 to 3, science standards that require the teaching of evolution as “the fundamental concept underlying all of biology” without critical analysis or alternatives.  Evolution News said that calling evolution a “scientific theory” instead of a scientific fact represented a meaningless compromise with the […]
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Bible and Theology

Define Pseudoscience
February 20, 2002
A couple of articles lately have lumped creationism in with astrology, ESP, space aliens and lucky numbers.  How valid is this grouping?     Randolph E. Schmid (Associated Press; see Live Science) conveyed statistics presented by Jon Miller (Michigan State U) and a panel of researchers at an AAAS meeting in San Francisco this past […]
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Bible and Theology

Alliance for Science – or for Silence?
February 20, 2002
The American Association for the Advancement of Science had an unusual item on their agenda for their annual meeting in St. Louis: fight intelligent design.  The St. Louis Dispatch reported that while churches were preaching the gospel Sunday morning, the AAAS was preaching battle tactics.  According to the article, though, they were preaching to the […]
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Politics and Ethics

Scientists Yank Obama’s Chain
January 20, 2002
51; As President Obama takes office today, having said he will restore science to its rightful place, he will have the scientific community anxious to get their agenda on his table.  Nature News said, “Scientific groups are actively pushing their argument that modernizing the nation’s scientific infrastructure could help create the skilled workforce needed to […]
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Politics and Ethics

The Evolution of Morality
January 20, 2002
Can morality evolve in Darwin’s universe?  Steven Pinker, evolutionary psychologist at Harvard, is just the man to ask.  He wrote an 8-page article for the New York Times about it, facing the issues with frankness and forthrightness.     To Pinker, as with other evolutionary psychologists, the “moral” behind morality is an evolutionary artifact of […]
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Astronomy

Reality or Hubris in Scientific Claims?
January 20, 2002
51; The amount of trust the public puts in scientific claims stems partly from their incomprehensibility.  The claims presented in scientific papers are often so dense and abstruse as to be unapproachable by all but specialists.  Undoubtedly many people trust scientists because of their specialized education, their knowledge of mathematics, their special equipment, and their […]
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