When the cell makes a copy of a segment of DNA the result is called RNA. This long, thin molecule has many roles, including transmitting information, regulating the cell’s activities and helping molecular machines perform various tasks. But when its job is done, an RNA molecule must be broken apart. The job of destroying RNA is crucial for without it the cell’s RNA would rapidly build up and kill the cell. So cells are equipped with an intricate machine that chops up RNA molecules when they no longer are needed. This RNA degradation machine is called the exosome and it is comprised of ten finely-tuned proteins, nine of which form a cylinder through which the spent RNA is threaded. The Read More ›

Go here for further details. Featured speakers at this year’s conference (5th & 6th of April) include John Lennox, Stephen Meyer, Douglas Axe and Paul Nelson. I (Jonathan M.) hope to attend — anyone else going?

BBC News reports on an atheist church in North London: An “atheist church” in North London is proving a big hit with non-believers. Does it feel a bit like a new religion? Not many sermons include the message that we are all going to die and there is no afterlife. But the Sunday Assembly is no ordinary church service. Launched last month, as a gathering for non-believers, it is, in the words of master of ceremonies Sanderson Jones, “part foot-stomping show, part atheist church, all celebration of life”. A congregation of more than 300 crowded into the shell of a deconsecrated church to join the celebration on Sunday morning. Instead of hymns, the non-faithful get to their feet to sing Read More ›

The Huffington Post carries an article concerning a recent academic freedom bill in Colorado. It opens by asserting that, A Republican bill that would have paved the way for creationism to be taught in Colorado schools as well as encouraged teachers to deny the science of climate change was killed in committee on Monday, as expected. As anyone who knows anything about this academic freedom bill knows full well, however, it explicitly does NOT protect the teaching of creationism (which is unconstitutional). Nor for that matter does the bill protect the teaching of intelligent design. The bill only covers those subjects which are already part of the science curriculum. In the case of creationism, the Colorado bill states that “This bill only Read More ›

It is often said that the timescales for evolution are too long to allow speciation to be studied experimentally. Consequently, researchers look to the fossil record to provide the evidence base. However, this also has its limitations. With fossils, molecular analyses are not possible because soft tissues decay rapidly. Furthermore, the drivers of speciation are often a matter of speculation. Nevertheless, by selecting a depositional environment that provides a sequence of stratigraphical horizons that allow analysis of environmental factors, some informative studies are possible. “Long-lived lakes are virtually predetermined for these studies, because of their duration and relative stability, being therefore often called ‘islands of evolution’. Many studies have proven this fact repeatedly, including the papers on the impressive morphological Read More ›

You probably never wondered how plants know which direction to grow. In the soil the roots grow downward and above ground the plant grows upward. This vertical motion seems as natural as Aristotle’s physics. Doesn’t it just happen? But as one researcherexplained, …  Read more

HT: sagebrush gardener (and UD News), we have the second video, of Dawkins vs Williams on Thursday, Jan 31 2012: (Of course, we know that the vote went against Dawkins in that debate, too.) Posted for completeness. END

The UK Guardian reports on Richard Dawkins’ debate last week with Rowan Williams, which you can read about here.

BBC News Magazine carries an interesting article today about so-called “atheist churches”. It’s an insightful read: An “atheist church” in North London is proving a big hit with non-believers. Does it feel a bit like a new religion? Not many sermons include the message that we are all going to die and there is no afterlife. But the Sunday Assembly is no ordinary church service. Launched last month, as a gathering for non-believers, it is, in the words of master of ceremonies Sanderson Jones, “part foot-stomping show, part atheist church, all celebration of life”. A congregation of more than 300 crowded into the shell of a deconsecrated church to join the celebration on Sunday morning. Instead of hymns, the non-faithful Read More ›

We’ve discussed epigenetics, those incredible genetic regulation mechanisms such as molecular barcodes stamped onto DNA,histones, those incredible DNA packaging proteins that also have their own barcodes, the different kinds of barcodes, and how these marvels have falsified so many evolutionary predictions. If it all went by too fast then maybe tonight’s Feature Presentation will help tell a thousand words. You may need to view it a few times to follow the details, but the underlying plot should be clear.  Read more

Frauke Gräter’s latest paper on how the speed of protein folding evolved begins by stating that the disparity in protein folding times (from microseconds to hours) is the result of roughly 3.8 billion years of evolution during which new protein structures were created and optimized. No citation is given because no citation is available. As usual, evolutionists begin their work with non scientific premises. As if sensing a problem the paper next offers a partial concession: “The evolutionary processes driving the discovery and optimization of protein topologies is complex and remains to be fully understood.” In fact …  Read more

Because when William Friedman admitsthat “Altruism only evolves if the benefactor is a close relative of the beneficiary,” then its game over and evolutionists everywhere may as well hang it up. Or at least …  Read more

Thanks to Bornagain 77’s diligence, we are able to bring to UD’s readership, this important debate on the reasonableness (or otherwise) of theistic faith in an era dominated by Science, with Scientism an influential worldview rooted in the prestige of science: (NB: The debate proper begins at 4 10 mins 27 48 seconds in, with the moderator’s introduction.) Let us watch, let us reflect, let us discuss. END PS: I have also put up the Dawkins-Williams Jan 31st 2013 debate here. (HT: SG.) PPS: I think it worthwhile to add this David Wood video on the argument from reason: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKX-QtEo2fI

Over at his Debunking Christianity Website, secular philosopher John Loftus has put up a post entitled, There Isn’t a Bad Reason to Reject the Christian Faith. Now, I happen to believe that there are good and bad reasons to reject all sorts of intellectual positions, including theism, atheism and Intelligent Design. So as someone who cares about truth, I was shocked by the sheer effrontery of Loftus’ statement. If he can convince me of that, I thought to myself, he can convince me of anything. What does Loftus actually claim? It turns out that Loftus’ post didn’t quite live up to the claim made in its title. Loftus doesn’t really claim that there isn’t a bad reason to reject Christianity; Read More ›

In the phys.org news “Researchers solve biological mystery and boost artificial intelligence” is cited a research about “The Evolutionary Origins of Modularity” (in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Jan. 30, 2013). The researchers have simulated “25,000 generations of evolution within computers” and believe to have discovered why biological systems show modularity. They say: “Researchers have discovered why biological networks tend to be organized as modules – a finding that will lead to a deeper understanding of the evolution of complexity. […] As it turned out, it was enough to include a “cost of wiring” to make evolution favor modular architectures. […] Once you add a cost for network connections, modules immediately appear. Without a cost, modules never form.” What Read More ›