Be careful not to frighten them. They’ll run back into the burning building.
Intelligent Design
Gunter Bechly on the decadence of evolutionary science
He sees it exemplified in the recent “oldest scorpion” paper (the scorpion is from 437 mya).
Large and giant virus proteins not linked to any known virus lineage
So giant viruses often boost host metabolism instead of destroying it and “the team was still unable to link 20,000 major capsid proteins of large and giant viruses to any known virus lineage”? Creation ex nihilo? Hey, don’t laugh.. Look, these days, they can’t even get mouse or human sperm to buy into Darwinism. Why would giant viruses care?
Quote of the Day
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.” ― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism Think about this the next Read More…
Rob Sheldon on whether information can be the missing dark matter
Rob Sheldon: The location of the mass has to be “outside” the galaxy in order to account for the dark matter attraction. How does information occupy empty space? Landauer would have said it couldn’t.
Could information be—at long last—the missing “dark matter”?
One physicist now suggests that this “fifth state” of matter (the other four non-dark states are solid, liquid, gas, and plasma) might be information. But then information must be a physical thing…
Even sperm are “fine-tuned”? What now, Darwin?
Look, if they can’t even sell Darwinism to sperm, they need PR 911 pronto.
Jordan Peterson and cultural Darwinism
On these types of topics, University of Toronto psychologist Peterson often sounds as though his approach is very much in the midst of formation and he is or feels forced to say something now, on account of his celebrity for other reasons. But he is worth keeping an eye on, so a bit of background.
French administration tries to subject scientists to “Darwinism”; revolt follows
Rob Sheldon: On the whole, Darwinism looks like it makes short-term gains at the cost of long-term stagnation. It clearly sacrifices the group for the sake of a few aggressive individuals.
David Klinghoffer: Evolutionary thinking in a “state of decadence”
He quotes from a post by paleontologist Gunter Bechly on everyone’s favorite cuddly pet, prehistoric scorpions.
New Brit video examines biology after Darwin
There’s lots going on in Britain that isn’t covered by Times Higher. Look at this item, flagged by a kind reader, from IAI: Philosophy for Our Times.
At Times Higher: Is Defending Expertise Worthwhile These Days?
Taking issue: Persecution stories are only a small part of the picture. The insistence that anyone be allowed to have whatever they are doing, saying, or thinking regarded as science in order to do justice to wronged groups doesn’t in fact arise from scientists who are on the outs with their colleagues about an ingroup issue like Vit C injections or HPV vaccines. It arises from a social justice demand that the professional and academic spoils of science be shared among a host of new claimants, making a variety of claims.
NOW what? Another walking shark discovered in the tropics
One wonders, is it possible that a number of other species of shark could convert to “walking” if they had to? That is, they don’t need to evolve the trait from scratch; they need the circumstances that makes it a useful behavior.
Another sally against the Big Bang
Look at it like this: If the multiverse prevails instead, science can be opened up to a vast variety of viewpoints and interests. Because facts really won’t matter any more.
Ediacaran life contrasted with Cambrian life to shape Darwinian tale
In reality, we don’t know that earlier Ediacarans didn’t “evolve” the ability to form shells or skeletons. True, we haven’t found any yet. But some of us can’t help remembering the “bombshell” of Neanderthal art. Why was it a bombshell? Because Darwinians had staked a claim on the idea that Neanderthals couldn’t “do” art. This is likely just an another attempt to shape the history of life as a Darwinian fairytale.