http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0600591103v1
“We analyzed a very large set of molecular interactions that had been derived automatically from biological texts. We found that published statements, regardless of their verity, tend to interfere with interpretation of the subsequent experiments and, therefore, can act as scientific “microparadigms,†similar to dominant scientific theories. Read More ›
Quantum information science is an arcane field that delves into the role of information in the physical world. Among the questions it asks are: What are the ultimate capabilities for storing, transmitting and manipulating information? Can radically new computers be developed by drawing upon quantum mechanics, the physics of the extremely small? And, is the universe itself some kind of computer, and if so what does this mean? The field’s cosmic implications are explored by two new books with similar titles. Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos gives the perspective of Seth Lloyd, an MIT professor of mechanical engineering who has been a pioneer of quantum computing. Decoding the Universe: How the New Science of Read More ›
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/311/5764/1068b
Mesozoic mammals have been thought to have been small, nocturnal, and confined to a few niches on land until the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Most are recorded by isolated jaw fragments or teeth. Ji et al. (p. 1123; see the cover and the Perspective by Martin) now describe a Jurassic mammal from China that breaks this mold. The fossil is well preserved, and impressions of fur can be seen on its body and scales on a broad tail (similar to a beaver overall). The animal was fairly large, approaching not quite half a meter in length, and the shape of its limbs suggest that it was adapted for swimming and burrowing. The combination of both primitive and derived features in this early mammal, and the demonstration that mammals had occupied aquatic habitats by this time, expands the evolutionary innovations of early mammals.
I started on a new hobby several months ago. I’m trying to grow Chinese Paddy Straw mushrooms (volvariella volvacea) in semi-sterile laboratory conditions. These mushrooms are delicious fresh in the button stage tasting like olive oil and cashews to me. For various reasons they are not available fresh in the United States and only a compatively tasteless canned mushroom is for sale here. Read More ›
http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/filesDB-download.php?command=download&id=697
Behe covers several sections in detail but here is the overall summary at the end:
The Court’s reasoning in section E-4 is premised on: a cramped view of science; the conflation of intelligent design with creationism; the incapacity to distinguish the implications of a theory from the theory itself; a failure to differentiate evolution from Darwinism; and strawman arguments against ID. The Court has accepted the most tendentious and shopworn excuses for Darwinism with great charity and impatiently dismissed arguments for design. Read More ›
As long as I’m on the subject of overwhelming points of similarity vs. underwhelming points of difference, a few points of similarity between man and chimp in no particular order, off the top of my head: Read More ›
It has come to my attention that because the genetic code isn’t quite universal some people think that is grounds for calling into question how many more than one common ancestor there might be. Read More ›
By popular demand…
Julian Huxley’s Confession
by John A. Davison
How much do most of us really know about the other mammals we have so much in common with? Or perhaps I should ask how little do most of us really know. Here’s a thought provoking article from naturalist Dr. Daphne Sheldrick who spent 30 years working with elephants in the wild and in captivity.
Elephant Emotion By Daphne Sheldrick Read More ›
Interview
The Outsiders
New Scientist, 21 January 2006, 44-46.Most of them have no formal scientific training. Often scorned by professionals. they
endure a constant battle to find funding. Yet amateur scientists continue to make a
significant contribution in just about every field. Caroline Williams asked three of the
most successful about their work: Forrest Mims III, who has taught NASA a thing or two
about ozone monitoring. Jerry MacDonald, discoverer of some of the most important
Palaeozoic fossils ever found, and Pierre Morvan, a world expert on ground beetles. They
all share a passion for exploration, an unusual route to academia -and the need for a day
job.Forrest Mims III
Forrest Mims III set up a network to monitor ultraviolet radiation and ozone levels,
first in his home state of Texas and then across the world, using a hand-held device he
invented himself. He also proved that NASA’s ozone- monitoring satellite was giving false
readings, after which NASA and other climate scientists started taking him more seriously.
Most recently, he has been looking at the effects of smoke, dust and haze on sunlight and
ecology. He makes a living writing books about science, lasers, computers and electronics.Q: Your hand-held ozone monitor became a crucial tool in monitoring stratospheric ozone
levels, which protect life on the Earth’s surface from damaging ultraviolet radiation. How
did you come to invent it?A: I became interested in measuring levels of UV radiation when I learned that the US
government had closed down its UV-monitoring network in the late 1980s. I then realised
that you could measure the ozone layer by looking at UV light at two different wavelengths
where it is absorbed by the ozone. So I built some ultraviolet detectors at home and in
1990 I began making daily measurements. I now have almost 16 years’ worth of data and I
have published many scientific papers about my findings. Read More ›
This is a preview of a paper by John A. Davison that will be appearing in Rivista di Biologia and ISCID Brainstorms.
Do We Have an Evolutionary Theory?
Steve Reuland over on Panda’s Thumb is babbling about whether some ID strawman du jour can be falsified. Let’s examine the real issue.
Read More ›
John A Davison
A Prescribed Evolutionary Hypothesis
1. Introduction
2. The Prescribed Evolutionary Hypothesis
3. The Indirect Evidence
4. The Direct Evidence
5. Conclusion
Abstract. I propose that phylogeny took place in a manner similar to that of ontogeny by the derepression of preformed genomic information which was expressed through release from latency (derepression) by the restructuring of existing chromosomal information (position effects). Both indirect and direct evidence is presented in support of the Prescribed Evolutionary Hypothesis.
The details of the lawsuit:
http://www.au.org/site/DocServer/Final_Complaint.pdf?docID=541 Read More ›
THE SPECTATOR
Thursday 12 January 2006
Dawkins is wrong about God
Roger Scrutonhttp://www.spectator.co.uk/article_pfv.php?id=7185
Faced with the spectacle of the cruelties perpetrated in the name of faith, Voltaire famously cried ‘Ecrasez l’infâme!’ Scores of enlightened thinkers have followed him, declaring organised religion to be the enemy of mankind, the force that divides the believer from the infidel and thereby both excites and authorises murder. Richard Dawkins, whose TV series The Root of all Evil? concludes next Monday, is the most influential living example of this tradition. And he has embellished it with a striking theory of his own  the theory of the religious ‘meme’. A meme is a mental entity that colonises the brains of people, much as a virus colonises a cell. The meme exploits its host in order to reproduce itself, spreading from brain to brain like meningitis, and killing off the competing powers of rational argument. Like genes and species, memes are Darwinian individuals, whose success or failure depends upon their ability to find the ecological niche that enables reproduction. Such is the nature of ‘gerin oil’, as Dawkins contemptuously describes religion. Read More ›