Matheson now blogs at (but, of course) Peaceful Science where he describes himself as a “secular humanist” (August 3, 2020). All of which raises a question: Do people embrace Darwinism and then lose their faith? Or is it more like this: Darwinism is a convenient and socially acceptable explanation for loss of faith, which may also have other roots?
Author: News
Denyse O'Leary is the News blogger for Uncommon Descent
Researchers: Only “luck” prevented Earth from being wiped out
But they think so for the strangest reason: “Scientists found that only nine out of 8,700 planets could survive for as long as the Earth has”
A science writer offers some interesting thoughts on free will
It’s interesting that a science writer sees through the most fundamental materialist rot. Unfortunately, it sounds as though he hopes to replace it with a different one.
Michael Egnor on why we don’t live in a multiverse
Egnor: The problem is, to make their claim credible, [Novella and Goff] must show that there actually are localities in the universe in which the laws of physics differ in a way that would make fine tuning likely by chance.
Would specified complexity help us find extraterrestrial intelligences?
Specified complexity is what we should be looking for in signals from intelligent beings — orderly patterns that hold meanings not found in inanimate nature.
One theory about why we don’t see extraterrestrials provides support for Earth as a privileged planet
If intelligent life forms are trapped in the interior oceans of rocky moons and planets, Earth is a special planet—much better suited to space exploration.
Astrophysicist: If there really are extraterrestrials, what difference would it make?
Scharf: “Eventually it might all just be a bit of a relief. We’ll neither be alone, nor surrounded by anything particularly extraordinary. Copernican mediocrity will be somewhat restored, and we can go back to worrying about everything else that can go wrong on our speck of rock and water as it sails through the cosmos.”
Science writer: Multiverse is based on zero empirical evidence
Jim Baggott doesn’t like ID either but he also doesn’t appear to understand it.
Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel tells us why a multiverse must exist
Siegel: “… if the theory of inflation is a good one, and the data says it is, a multiverse is all but inevitable.” Our physics color commentator Rob Sheldon writes to offer a response.
Of 70,000 hitherto unknown viruses in the human gut, over 40% of proteins had no clear function
The reader comments that viruses cannot afford to carry around much non-functioning nucleic acid. More likely, the 43% that are mystery proteins do have a function. If even viruses are much more complex than we expect, what chance that all these complex systems arose by natural selection acting on random mutations (Darwinism)?
Asteroid hit dino extinction theory strengthened by asteroid dust found in crater
The asteroid theory replaced any number of folk Darwinian theories about why the dinosaurs died out. You know the sort of thing: They were too big; they were too stupid to look after their eggs; mammals ate their eggs… Etc. Many non-dinos went extinct too. Small mammals may have found it easier to hide.
Jonathan Bartlett: Antiracism in Math Promotes Racism and Bad Math
Bartlett: … one thing that is helpful for parents, students, and teachers is for students to show their work. I know it can be hard to get students to do this. My own children hate to do it. However, being explicit about the steps in their reasoning is important for a number of reasons. First, showing their work helps students with harder problems… So, what does Equitable Math say about this practice? According to their published guide, “White supremacy culture shows up in math class when students are required to show their work”
Caterpillars stifle plants’ chemical warning cries
Findings: “We have discovered a new strategy whereby an insect uses saliva to inhibit the release of airborne plant defenses through direct manipulation of plant stomata,” said Gary Felton, professor and head of the Department of Entomology at Penn State, noting that stomata are tiny pores on plant leaves that regulate gas exchange”
At American Thinker: Science reporting is one of the saddest casualties of the schools of journalism
Okay, but many papers can’t be replicated and many journals have gone Woke too. So it may not matter as much as Arvay thinks. Maybe it doesn’t matter much that the reporting is just as bad as the studies.
At Oscillations: Suzan Mazur wonders what’s got into Eugene Koonin and Dieter Braun
Readers may recall Eugene Koonin as not particularly a Darwinian. As of 2018, Dieter Braun was more ambivalent. But Mazur notes that something has changed. Is it some light they have seen or has someone warned them to be more submissive?