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Astronomy

Plasma May Revamp Cosmology
November 15, 2010
A “diverse new field” of astrophysics is poised to revolutionize our understanding of stars, energetic galaxies, and perhaps the entire universe.  The properties and interactions of plasma, that hot, electrically-charged gas that makes up the sun and stars, have not been considered as often as matter and light have in astronomy.  A set of top […]
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Philosophy of Science

A Tale of Two Mavericks
November 12, 2010
Two men who recently died are now being honored for their willingness to have stood up to the majority and advanced views that were unpopular at the time.
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Philosophy of Science

People Doing Science, Sometimes Badly
November 2, 2010
Harvard historian of science Steven Shapin has a really long subtitle for his latest book, but it reveals all.  The title is very short: Never Pure.1  Here’s the long subtitle: “Historical Studies of Science as if It Was Produced by People with Bodies, Situated in Time, Space, Culture, and Society, and Struggling for Credibility and […]
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Philosophy of Science

Are Saturn Rings Like Galaxies?
November 1, 2010
Dramatic photos of dynamic processes in Saturn’s rings have been released by the Cassini mission at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  The photos, taken near Saturn’s equinox last year, show ruffled edges of the B ring made of particles lofted as high as 2 miles above the ring plane, casting long shadows across the rings.  By watching […]
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Bible and Theology

Mind Matters
October 22, 2010
The conundrum of how reasoning could have emerged by an undirected evolutionary process persists.  Atheists and materialists are convinced that natural selection is up to the task, while theists strongly disagree and use human rationality as evidence for creation by an intelligent source (usually God).  Perhaps a few recent findings can illuminate on the options. […]
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Bible and Theology

Darwinism in Chaos, but Gave Us Morals
October 19, 2010
Two papers on evolutionary theory create a strong tension.  One says that there is no law of evolution – just chaos.  The other claims that morality evolved out of the mess. Evolution is a theory in chaos…:  If you thought Charles Darwin brought biological evolution under natural laws, think again.  Keith Bennett on New Scientist […]
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Amazing Facts

Babbage’s Computer May Be Built
October 15, 2010
The “Analytical Engine,” a 19th-century computer conceived by Charles Babbage, may finally be built 140 years after his death.  The remarkable contraption was to be powered by steam and would fill a warehouse, but the eccentric old man could not get the Royal Society to back it.  His idea, 100 years ahead of its time, […]
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Media

Institutional Science as a Leftist Cabal
October 14, 2010
Something strange happens in scientific journals and reports.  Whenever they talk politics, it is almost always from a leftist point of view.  Why is that?  Did they arrive at that position by the scientific method?  Is there something about the need for government funding that drives institutions to a leftist position?  Whatever the reason, it’s […]
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Cell Biology

Cosmic Accidents Are Not Scientific Explanations
October 3, 2010
Sunday Meditation Oct 3, 2010 — The classic understanding of science is that it explains things with reference to natural laws, makes predictions, is testable, quantifiable, and falsifiable.  Depending on the branch of science, many researchers still attempt to hold to those ideals.  Eugenie Scott put it this way: “modern science operates under a rule […]
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Bible and Theology

Galileo Affair: Plenty of Blame to Go Around
October 2, 2010
What is the true account of Galileo Galilei’s troubles with the Catholic church?  We may never know.  Complex historical events are often difficult to interpret, and new details sometimes shed different light on commonly-accepted views.  One thing does seem certain, according to Thomas Mayer, historian at Augustana College, Illinois: “The notion that Galileo’s trial was […]
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Human Body

China Suffers 30 Years of Misguided Malthusian Idea
September 18, 2010
China has had a “one-child policy” for 30 years this week.  This policy has caused untold grief for many families desiring children, and has resulted in unexpected demographic problems – such as aging of the population, not enough brides for young men, and enormous numbers of abortions.  Two articles in Science this week explored the […]
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Education

No Consensus on Scientific Consensus
September 15, 2010
How much do you trust scientific experts?  Most of the scientific experts expect us to trust them.  They are appalled when lay people express doubts about matters the consensus of experts take for granted.  Yet others tell us we should doubt.  There seems to be no consensus about whether to trust the scientific consensus.   […]
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Bible and Theology

Who Invited the Scientist in Here?
August 25, 2010
If you envision science in terms of white-coated lab chemists holding flasks, field biologists gathering bird eggs, astronomers peering through a telescope or geologists chipping rocks with hand picks, think again.  Today’s science sweeps everything into its domain, including the human mind, intellect, emotions, will, creativity, and our most sincere beliefs and actions.  When not […]
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Mt. St. Helens, Washington
Geology

Mt. St. Helens Recalls Overturned Paradigms
May 18, 2010
The eruption of Mt. St. Helens in May 1980 not only eroded mountains and canyons, it caused earthquake shifts in geological paradigms.
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Human Body

Can Darwin Be Rescued from a New Eye Discovery?
May 7, 2010
Darwinists have claimed for years that the human eye is an example of bad design, because it is wired backwards – the photoreceptors are located behind a tangle of blood vessels and other material.  But then in 2007, German scientists found that cone-shaped cells called Müller cells act like waveguides that transmit the light through […]
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