Politics and Ethics – Page 88

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Peer Review Goes Public

October 3, 2006

A scientific revolution for the internet age is taking place: peer review is coming out of its secrecy into public light. Tired of the dominance of big-name journals and their editorial policies, independent-minded researchers are taking their publications to the web. The revolution is explained by AP reporter Alicia Chang (see Yahoo News), and by […]

Politics and Ethics

Patients in Vegetative State May Be Aware

September 11, 2006

Remember the arguments put forth for why Terry Schiavo should be allowed to die? They revolved around the awareness of those said to be in a persistent vegetative state. Now, researchers reported in Science1 that a patient diagnosed in a vegetative state was aware of what was going on: We used functional magnetic resonance imaging […]

Bible and Theology

Historian Reveals Isaac Newton as Biblical Economist

September 11, 2006

The image of Isaac Newton as pure mathematician and physicist ignores a big part of his persona, said Georgia Tech Professor Kenneth Knoespel in a press release reported by EurekAlert. Living in an era when alchemy was still considered a serious subject for natural philosophers, Newton viewed alchemical research as part of his Biblical vision […]

Politics and Ethics

Nature Backpedals Over Stem-Cell Hype

September 10, 2006

After Nature printed an upbeat press release last month that stem cells could be extracted without killing an embryo (see 08/25/2006), critics found that the experiment did indeed kill the embryos. Also, it turns out none of the stem cell lines survived, and that more than one cell had been extracted from the embryos, contrary […]

Health

Embryonic Stem Cells No Longer Needed?

August 25, 2006

Two announcements this week may make harvesting embryonic stem cells obsolete. First, it’s not necessary to kill an embryo to get a stem cell, reported Associated Press (see Fox News) and Live Science. While this does not solve all the ethical problems, a White House spokeswoman called it “encouraging to see scientists at least making […]

Media

Film Under Fire That Links Darwin to Hitler

August 23, 2006

Even before being aired, the documentary Darwin’s Deadly Legacy from Coral Ridge Ministries is taking heat, reported World Net Daily. The criticisms, coming from Darwinists on Pharyngula and from the Anti-Defamation League, are two-fold: (1) that it trivializes the Holocaust, because “Hitler did not need Darwin to devise his heinous plan to exterminate the Jewish […]

Politics and Ethics

Nature Praises Iran President, Criticizes Religious West

August 16, 2006

The lead Editorial in Nature this week,1 “Revival in Iran,” had mostly praise for the repressive regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran for his alleged support of “science”: Perhaps the rise of science relates to the importance that Iran’s government attaches to the development of nuclear technology. Many regard Iran’s interest in these technologies with […]

Bible and Theology

Crossing the Line for Looks That Could Kill

August 13, 2006

President Bush may have vetoed one stem-cell bill for moral reasons (see Brad Harrub’s report on Apologetics Press), but in other countries where Judeo-Christian values are less prevalent, morality seems a low hurdle in the race to exploit biological resources that promise health, youth, beauty – and money. With embryonic stem cell research […]

Bible and Theology

National Crisis: USA Ranks Nearly Last in Evolution Belief!

August 11, 2006

Eugenie Scott and colleagues at the National Center for Science Education presented findings of a survey on acceptance of evolution, and found that the USA trails far behind European countries – second from last only to Turkey. In 20 years, acceptance of evolution dropped from 45 to 40 percent, but firm rejection of evolution also […]

Politics and Ethics

Journals Consistently Tout Embryonic Stem Cells, Criticize Bush

July 31, 2006

This is not news. It just bears repeating that the Big Science journals continue to push embryonic stem cell research and criticize Republicans. The latest case in point was President Bush’s veto of the stem cell bill July 19, that led to a flurry of articles and editorials in the leading British and American science […]

Education

Education & Political News

July 22, 2006

What’s been happening in school boards about evolution and intelligent design? Here are some recent stories about politicians, reporters and ordinary citizens: Kansas Grass Roots: Candidates vying for school board seats in Liberal, Kansas squared off over the evolution issue: see Hutchinson News. Ohio Rematch: Despite an earlier loss, Darwin critics in Ohio are hoping […]

Intelligent Design

How Atheistic Is Darwinism?

July 12, 2006

Many evolutionary biologists argue that the theory of evolution is religiously neutral. Why then, does Nature, arguably the most widely read pro-evolution journal in the world, seem to go out of its way to glorify atheism and present religion as an evolutionary artifact? Clearly, whatever evolved as an adaptation by an unguided process cannot have […]

Politics and Ethics

Science Attacked by Mother Nature of the Spiritual Left

July 10, 2006

“Think only the religious right is anti-science? How about the spiritual left?” asks Lee M. Silver in The Scientist. His article details the holistic thinking invading much of popular culture and university student minds, that pictures nature as a benevolent super-organism (with usually feminine characteristics). The article is an excerpt from his book […]

Education

Darwinists Foment Civil Disobedience Against Questioning Darwinism

July 8, 2006

The new science standards in Kansas require students to learn more about evolution, including evidence for and against it (see Discovery Institute press release). The standards specifically exclude the teaching of intelligent design theory. To some activist groups, however, this requirement is so intolerable, they want teachers to disobey it. According to Evolution News, there […]

Politics and Ethics

Nature of Peer Review Undergoing Review at Nature

June 13, 2006

The science cops are on trial. Peer review, the process that many are led to believe enforces objectivity and validity in scientific papers, has come under fire lately (see 03/17/2006, 02/05/2006, 01/31/2006, 01/09/2006). In response to scandals and criticisms that the peer review as practiced is no guarantee against fraud, Nature is stepping out into […]

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