Marcos Eberlin: Maybe one could grant the evolutionary miracle a single time, but six times?
Intelligent Design
Guardian axed science blog, spreads sciencey rumors instead
It’s difficult for popular science media to be more interested in facts than the public or the science establishment is. If the Guardian readers would really rather hear about “toxic America,” the paper doesn’t need a science section.
Research into Neanderthal toolmaking suggests that most were right-handed
And customized their tools to the user. These are not the Neanderthals of the late twentieth century. Those were incredibly stupid brutes. Funny how much Neanderthals have learned in only a couple of decades…
A black hole that just shouldn’t exist
Researcher: “We cannot understand the data unless we include the theories of relativity.” …
Is human cloning possible? Neurosurgeon and philosopher spar
Human cloning: It can’t happen vs. It can but wouldn’t matter much.
New Scientist: Our understanding of the cosmos is “seriously wrong”
But don’t fret that a better understanding of the universe will leave entertaining crackpots out in the cold. Won’t happen. Can’t. Ethan Siegel explains why, in part.
Could “quasiparticles” reveal dark matter?
One group of physicists proposes an experiment to try to trick dark matter into revealing itself, involving a unit of energy called a “magnon.”
Researchers: Humans are much more sensitive to pitch than monkeys are
“This finding suggests that speech and music may have fundamentally changed the way our brain processes pitch,” said Dr. Conway. “It may also help explain why it has been so hard for scientists to train monkeys to perform auditory tasks that humans find relatively effortless.”
Yet another new type of intercellular communication discovered
Amazing how often so many life forms have just gotten lucky and tumbled into exactly what they needed via pure randomness.
Computer sim universe: An escape from the facts of fine-tuning?
Walter Bradley Center fellows weigh in: The idea that we are a simulation by space aliens is a staple of science fiction, of course (think The Matrix, 1999). But some scientists take this simulation hypothesis seriously. Serious discussion started with a paper by philosopher Nick Bostrom in 2003, “Are you living in a computer simulation?” […]
Jeff Epstein’s cultural dumpster fire spreads to ID vs. evo controversies
Just because people are in the news doesn’t mean they did anything. It rather shows how a bad actor can change the news picture.
Mike Behe’s book party for Darwin Devolves live-streamed from Seattle tonight
Darwin Devolves is currently #8 in Developmental Biology at Amazon.
Controlling the waves of dynamic, far from equilibrium states: the NF-kB system of transcription regulation.
I have recently commented on another thread: about a paper that (very correctly) describes cells as dynamic, far from equilibrium systems, rather than as “traditional” machines. That is true. But, of course, the cell implements the same functions as complex machines do, and much more. My simple point is that, to do that, you need […]
Are our political views coded in DNA? Jerry Coyne is not really convinced
As well he shouldn’t be. An op-ed in the Deep Statesville Intelligence claims, Given how natural selection works, it’s entirely possible that an aversion to evolutionary explanations is in itself a product of evolution. In a hostile environment, wouldn’t a belief in selfdetermination be adaptive? But no matter, the point is that anti-evolutionary bias makes […]
The multiverse is just religion, theoretical physicist charges
Of course she’s right about the religion part. Much that is going wrong with science today is the tendency to use various science ideas as secular religions. The multiverse happens to be a particularly devastating one because it strikes at the very idea of evidence.