According to John Horgan, who hates ID types:

In A Dubitable Darwin? Why Some Smart, Nonreligious People Doubt the Theory of Evolution, John Horgan writes (Jul 6, 2010),

The philosopher Daniel Dennett once called the theory of evolution by natural selection “the single best idea anyone has ever had.” I’m inclined to agree. But Darwinism sticks in the craw of some really smart people I don’t mean intelligent-designers (aka IDiots) and other religious ignorami but knowledgeable scientists and scholars.

Horgan goes on to trash knowledgeable scientists and scholars, then notes Read More ›

From ScienceDaily, we learn: “Enzymes for Cell Wall Synthesis Conserved Across Species Barriers” (July 14, 2011):

Due to its short lifecycle and biological simplicity, Arabidopsis is extremely useful for research, but lacks economic potential. Persson and his colleagues would therefore like to apply the knowledge gained from the research on this plant to other more economically important plant species. Read More ›

… give a chimp a gun:

Or so we learn from “Out-Of-Body Experiences Linked to Neural Instability and Biases in Body Representation” (ScienceDaily, July 11, 2011) The way Mario and I told it in The The Spiritual Brain, OBEs simply show that the mind is not as tied to the brain as is commonly supposed. There is a huge move to discredit them for that reason, not because they underscore a specific religious doctrine. (They don’t, actually. Consider the case of lifelong atheist Freddie Ayer. ) These researchers are not really demonstrating much, except for one thing: If OBEs are associated with neural confusion, it’s interesting indeed, because the actual content is surprisingly lucid, and OBE’s often have a life-changing effect. – d.

An insect every gardener hates, the female scale insect carries her own sperm—harbored in tissue passed down through the generations—so she doesn’t need a male to have her babies. – Natalie Villacorta, “ScienceShot: Sex and the Single Insect,” Science, 15 July 2011 Scientists differ as to whether this is a good strategy, but a recent finding is that males may be going extinct as a result. If so, there is no more recruitment for the gene pool, in which case …

Over at Design Matrix, Mike Gene defends the view that “Complex LECA [Last Eukaryoic Common Ancestor] is no tautology”:

Someone with the moniker DrREC replied to my posting about the complexity of the last eukaryotic ancestor as follows:

This is almost a tautology. The last Eukaryotic common ancestor had the defining features of a Eukaryote….which happen to be more complex than prokaryotic life.

He replies:
Read More ›

Over on his Evolution Blog, Professor Jason Rosenhouse has written a post (which has been highly praised by Professor Jerry Coyne) entitled, Where can I find the really good theology? Part one. Apparently he really believes there isn’t any to be found:

We New Atheist types are often lectured about the need for studying theology. The idea is that if we tuned out the distressingly popular and highly vocal forms of religious extremism and pondered instead “the best religion has to offer,” then we would not be so hostile to religion.

…I have read a fair amount of highbrow theology. I have read my share of Augustine and Aquinas, Barth and Tillich, Kierkegaard and Kuhn, just to pick a few names. I have read quite a lot of Haught and Ward and Swinburne. I did not go into this expecting to be disappointed. Conversion seemed unlikely, but I expected at least to find a lot of food for thought. Instead, with each book and essay I read I found myself ever more horrified by the sheer vacuity of what these folks were doing. I came to despise their endlessly vague and convoluted arguments, their relentless smugness towards nonbelievers, and, most seriously, the complete lack of any solid reason for thinking they weren’t just making it up as they went along. I thought perhaps I was just reading the wrong writers, and that I would eventually come to the really good theology. But I never did.

Well, Professor Rosenhouse, I’ve been reading theology for over three decades myself, and I’ve compiled a collection of the “best of the best”: a dozen or so online articles which, when taken together, constitute a very strong philosophical case for belief in God. Read More ›

Here (7/15/2011).

For nearly a decade Democrats have sought a religious wedge issue that could separate big chunks of white evangelical voters from their Republican home. Now they’ve found it, and are thrusting at the Social Darwinist/Ayn Rand underbelly of American conservatism.

Read More ›

At Genomes Unzipped: Personal Public Genomics, Joe Pickrell starts another round of “What’s wrong with peer review,” raising the stakes: He asks, “Why publish science in peer-reviewed journals?” (13/07/2011), arguing

In this post, I will argue that cutting journals out of scientific publishing to a large extent would be unconditionally a good thing, and that the only thing keeping this from happening is the absence of a “killer app”.

For one thing, Read More ›