News

Recently, we were hearing about how most Neanderthal DNA got deleted from our genome by natural selection. Now, from Anna Azolinsky at The Scientist: The interbreeding of Neanderthals and Denisovans with Homo sapiens resulted in advantageous Neanderthal-inherited alleles in the genomes of a diverse range of modern humans, according to genomicists. The team’s analysis, published today (November 10) in Current Biology, expands the number of loci in the human genome attributed to these ancient hominins. The results suggest that these alleles—mostly within immune and skin pigmentation genes—likely helped modern humans adapt to life outside of Africa. “The study expands our knowledge of the extent to which Neanderthals and Denisovans contributed functionally relevant genetic variation to modern humans,” Svante Pääbo, an evolutionary geneticist Read More ›

From ScienceDaily: In a study on two groups of parasites, the team detected differences in DNA sequences that could be attributed to the composition of their food. … ‘We found that different levels of nitrogen in a parasite’s diet contributed to changes in its DNA. Specifically, parasites with low-nitrogen, high-sugar diets had DNA sequences that used less nitrogen than parasites with nitrogen-rich, high-protein diets.’ The study involved groups of eukaryotic parasites (Kinetoplastida) and bacterial parasites (Mollicutes) that infect different plant or animal hosts. The results, based on novel mathematical models developed by the researchers, reveal a previously hidden relationship between cellular metabolism and evolution. They provide new insights into how DNA sequences can be influenced by adaptation to different diets. Read More ›

From Ian Johnston at Independent: Mars is almost devoid of surface water with areas that are drier than the driest deserts on Earth – so any life would have to be “far below the surface” to survive, scientists have said. An international team of researchers looked for evidence of rust on metals in meteorites that have hit the Red Planet as a way to gauge the level of moisture. A previous study found evidence that very salty water might be able to condense on the Martian surface. But the new research, led by Stirling University academics, suggests only a tiny amount of liquid is being produced in this way. More. See also: Don’t let Mars fool you. Those exoplanets teem Read More ›

From Ann Reid, Executive Director, National Center for Science Education, at Huffington Post: Dear NCSE members and friends of science, I’m writing in a profound state of shock, as I’m sure you’ll understand. You are no doubt in the same state. For the National Center for Science Education, of course, the election of someone who thinks climate change is a hoax and whose running mate once denounced evolution from the floor of the House of Representatives, is frightening and deeply depressing. Okay. Next time, try reading something other than your own media releases or dying mainstream media about what is going on around you. Note: In another context, one might have told Reid to read mainstream media. But on these Read More ›

Because it is the usual Darwinian just-so story that we have heard all our lives, we accept it without thinking. Further to: Cats as unintelligent design (The cat parasitizes the human mind; how unintelligent is that?), in the Atlantic story, Britt Peterson wrote “A passion arose for cats,” according to the log of a ship that landed in Samoa, “and they were obtained by all possible means.” Tucker takes an intriguing stab at accounting for that still-thriving passion. “Cats look uncannily like us,” she proposes, and locates their appeal not in their alien aura but in the spell their familiarity exerts and the protective fascination it elicits. “Even better, they look like our infants.” Given their baby-size bodies; large, front-facing Read More ›

Dan Rather? Yes, at Scientific American: The political press treats science as a niche issue. But I would argue that it is central to America’s military and economic might, that it shapes the health and welfare of our citizenry, and that our governmental support of the pure pursuit of knowledge through basic research is one of the defining symbols of American excellence. Science bolsters our global stature by its institutionalized respect for the truth, its evidence-based decision-making, and its willingness to accept differing opinions when the facts dictate them. Wow. Like, wow. Dan Rather perpetrated one of the biggest scandals in the history of modern American journalism when he knowingly accepted documents that were probable fakes (Rathergate), damaging his network, Read More ›

Commentator Metaxas’s Breakpoint commentary discusses ID theorist and biochemist Michael Behe’s 1996 book, Darwin’s Black Box, and the new DI video, Revolutionary, here: To make Behe’s meticulous arguments more accessible to the public, the folks at the Discovery Institute have just produced a documentary summarizing “Darwin’s Black Box.” It’s called “Revolutionary,” a tribute to the fact that Behe’s book forever changed the way we think about evolution. It also documents how, as David Klinghoffer writes at Evolution News and Views, “Black Box” sparked a public debate that rages to this day. Why is it so critical to understand this stuff? Well, as Ben Stein documented in his 2008 film, “Expelled,” it’s not scientific reasoning that’s keeping intelligent design on the fringe. Read More ›

From Andrea Gawrylewski at Scientific American: Richard Dawkins, we are informed, wants all prominent scientists to move to New Zealand: The two largest nations in the English-speaking world have just suffered catastrophes at the hands of voters—in both cases the uneducated, anti-intellectual portion of voters. Science in both countries will be hit extremely hard: In the one case, by the xenophobically inspired severing of painstakingly built-up relationships with European partners; in the other case by the election of an unqualified, narcissistic, misogynistic sick joke as president. In neither case is the disaster going to be short-lived: in America because of the nonretirement rule of the Supreme Court; in Britain because Brexit is irreversible. No, we are not making this up Read More ›

So news aggregator Digg labelled a story by Britt Peterson at Atlantic. Curious are the cultural assumptions around design in nature. Anyway, The animal so many dote on is among the world’s most destructive predators. New Zealand’s recent announcement of a plan to eradicate all invasive predators, including feral cats, sparked an immediate response—and not in defense of the stoat, up there with cats among the top 100 on the Global Invasive Species list. “Cat murdering New Zealand[ers] are for the birds,” one commenter vented on The Washington Post’s website. “Removing cats from an area is a futile effort—one that cannot succeed,” another warned. When Australia announced a plan in 2015 to cull 2 million feral cats, the singer Morrissey Read More ›

Scooby-Doo and the Case of the Silly Skeptic (David Wood) In “Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island,” the gang encounters real zombies and ghosts for the first time. But Fred explains away the evidence by appealing to increasingly absurd naturalistic explanations. In the end, even Fred recognizes that his explanations simply can’t account for the facts. Atheists often call themselves “skeptics.” But when we consider the methodology they apply when questioning God’s existence, we find that the atheist’s methodology rules out all evidence for God’s existence even before considering what the evidence is. In this video, David Wood uses some clips from “Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island” and some clips from his recent debate with Dr. Michael Shermer to show why it’s becoming Read More ›

Supersymmetry predicts a partner particle for each particle in the Standard Model, to help explain why particles have mass – CERN From Economist: Strictly speaking, Susy can never be formally disproved. It can always be tweaked so that sparticles appear only at energies that are just out of reach of the best existing colliders. Yet the more such tweaks are applied, the more they erode the elegance for which the theory is admired. In light of the LHC’s failure to find evidence for Susy, more physicists are arguing that the field’s obsession with the theory is a waste of time and effort. Scientists at the LHC filter the data they record by looking first for particles predicted by favoured theories, Read More ›

From ScienceDaily: At UMC Utrecht, a brain implant has been placed in a patient enabling her to operate a speech computer with her mind. The researchers and the patient worked intensively to get the settings right. She can now communicate at home with her family and caregivers via the implant. That a patient can use this technique at home is unique in the world. This research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. … The patient operates the speech computer by moving her fingers in her mind. This changes the brain signal under the electrodes. That change is converted into a mouse click. On a screen in front of her she can see the alphabet, plus some additional Read More ›

From Emily Conover at Science News, reviewing philosopher James Owen Weatherall’s Void: The strange physics of nothing: In Void: The Strange Physics of Nothing, physicist and philosopher James Owen Weatherall explores how physicists’ beliefs about nothingness have changed over several revolutionary periods. The void, Weatherall argues, is physics distilled to its bare essence. If physicists can’t agree on the properties of empty space, they won’t be able to explain the physics of planets or particles either. Well, they haven’t so far. Under the modern view of quantum physics, various fields pervade all of space, and particles are simply excitations, or waves, in these fields. Even in a vacuum, experiments show, fluctuating fields produce a background of transient particles and antiparticles. Read More ›

From ScienceDaily: A new study suggests probable scientific misconduct in at least some of 33 bone health trials published in various medical journals. The study used statistical methods to detect scientific misconduct or research fraud and calls into question the validity of a body of research work led mainly by one researcher in Japan. The study is published in the November 9, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. … For the analysis of the 33 trials, 26 of which Sato was lead author, Bolland’s team conducted a rigorous review and found reported results that differed markedly from what could be expected statistically; further, the results were remarkably positive. The characteristics of the Read More ›

  From Elizabeth Howell at Space.com: November’s full moon on Monday (Nov. 14) will be the biggest and brightest one since 1948, making it a great time to get outside and marvel at the lunar sight for stargazers around the world. But if it happens to be cloudy in your area, don’t despair. You can still watch the so-called “supermoon” online in several live webcasts, starting tonight (Nov. 13). More.