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From Bartlett Publishing, New Book: Apes as ancestors

Publisher: They describe the fossils, where they found them, what others have to say about them, and what can be realistically and reliably determined from the fossils. They focus on the evidence – what does it actually tell us? The results may surprise you. Read More ›

An engineering perspective on the bacterial flagellum

A new paper at Bio-Complexity: This study examines the bacterial flagellum from an engineering viewpoint. This examination concentrates on the structure, proteins, control, and assembly of a typical flagellum, which is the organelle imparting motility to common bacteria. Two very different, independent approaches are applied and then compared in three separate papers: Parts 1, 2, and 3. The first approach is a constructive or top-down approach, covered in this Part 1. It considers the purpose of a bacterial motility system, its typical environment, new and existing required resources, and its physiology. It sets forth the logically necessary functional requirements, constraints, assembly, and relationships. The functionality includes a motility control subsystem and provision for self-assembly. The specification of these requirements is Read More ›

Can information be used as a form of energy?

Researchers: Significance: Around 100 y ago, Szilard imagined how to raise a weight without doing any work, just using the information gained by “looking” at a single gas molecule bouncing inside a box. Here, we designed an engine that stores energy by raising a bead against gravity, driven purely by information about the bead position. No work is done directly on the bead; instead, all dissipation occurs in the measuring apparatus. Read More ›

From Eric Holloway: COVID-19’s Origins: Uses and Misuses of the Explanatory Filter

Holloway: … “I should mention that after discussions earlier today, Eddie, Bob, Mike, and myself all find the genome inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory,” the expert added. “But we have to look at this much more closely and there are still further analyses to be done, so those opinions could still change.” Read More ›

Well some life forms, it turns out, benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic

This is a cougar on Vancouver Island off the coast of North America, where your UD news is produced. Please also enjoy Snagglepuss, a North American cougar (animated cartoon) with all the virtues (sorry, faults) of a feline. Read More ›

Haeckel’s biased, manipulative, dishonest drawings

It is strange that Haeckel has come up again, so let us first understand just how manipulative and dishonest he was in his books that popularised Evolutionism in Germany and elsewhere. As a start, here is his infamous drawing of heads of men and other primates: This was a time when photography was not ubiquitous, where trips to Zoos and Museums were relatively rare and so “heavy artillery” “facts” in drawings like this from respected scientists, scholars and publishers would have powerful impact. I just say, failed duty to truth, right reason, prudence [including warrant] and fairness. Likely, though, Haeckel did not see where this sort of racist propaganda would end, in the 1930’s and 40’s. It is in this Read More ›