The remarkable expansion of the proteome across the history of life
Professional skeptic Michael Shermer takes on Stephen C. Meyer and his Return of God Hypothesis
Is there a hole at the bottom of math?
At The Scientist: Trofim Lysenko and “stamping out science” Yes… yesterday. Sure. But what about today?
At last! Computer-generated sci babble papers to be “retracted”
L&FP, 42a: The limit on Mathematical knowledge
Here, a video series explores Godel’s incompleteness results: The core point is that Hilbert’s scheme collapsed, nicely summarised. The Godel incompleteness results and the Turing machine halting challenge made Mathematics irreducibly complex. So, Mathematics, too, is a venture of knowledge as warranted, credibly true (so reliable) belief, which must be open to correction. An exercise of rational, responsible faith, not utter certainty on the whole, once a sufficiently complex system is on the table. (Yes, first duties of reason obtain . . . here, there be dragons that love chick peas [Cicero . . .].) The defeasible [= defeat-able] framework for understanding knowledge extends to Mathematics. A fortiori to Computer Science and Physics, then onward across the spectrum of disciplines Read More ›
A unified theory of physics is within reach?
At Mind Matters News: More on the COVID-19 lab leak theory
Wuhan ID Research Funded by Feds
See story here. A government probe last year into the origins of the coronavirus found practically no evidence COVID-19 originated from nature, former State Department official David Asher told Fox News on Thursday. “We were finding that despite the claims of our scientific community, including the National Institutes of Health and Dr. Fauci’s NIAID organization, there was almost no evidence that supported a natural, zoonotic evolution or source of COVID-19,” he told “America Reports.” . . . Asher, the lead contractor on the subject, said the team investigated the two chief hypotheses for the virus’ origins, the other being the lab-leak theory that has gained credence after widespread media dismissal over the past year. . . . “The data disproportionately stacked up Read More ›