Monthly Archives: September 2008
Scientists Evolved to be Ignorant
| September 11, 2008 | Posted by Dave S. under Intelligent Design |
I can’t make stuff like this up. New Scientist reports: Superstitions evolved to help us survive Darwin never warned against crossing black cats, walking under ladders or stepping on cracks in the pavement, but his theory of natural selection explains why people believe in such nonsense. Typical chance worshipper bore-me-to-tears opening. But this gets really… more
Cosmological Evolution: Spatial Relativity and the Speed of Life
| September 11, 2008 | Posted by Dave S. under Intelligent Design |
I found this paper fascinating and well worth reading. Particularly interesting for me was the idea that phages (viruses that infect bacteria) are like a postal delivery system for biotic information. This is something I’ve proposed before except I’ve also included retroviruses that infect higher orders of life. I proposed it as an answer for… more
Bad Science; Lack of Expert Peer Review
| September 10, 2008 | Posted by Dave S. under Culture, Science |
This isn’t intelligent design, per se, but just something that popped up on the Drudge Report and caught my attention. It’s about a research article that appeared in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry where the researchers conclude that marijuana use causes earlier onset of psychosis. more
David Deamer’s “Poof” Theory of Information
| September 10, 2008 | Posted by Dave S. under Biology, Eyes Rolling, Self-Org. Theory |
David Deamer, a distinguished professor of zoology at UCSC, in an interview with Susan Mazur gives us his theory of information as it relates to genetics. Deamer: I think genetic information more or less came out of nowhere by chance assemblages of short polymers. Am I being unfair in interpreting the phrase “more or less… more
The God Gene
| September 10, 2008 | Posted by Dave S. under Biology, Humor, Poe's Law |
HT to irrepressible UD member/author “Jerry” more
Pre-Game Coin Toss
| September 8, 2008 | Posted by Dave S. under Atheism, Humor, Poe's Law |
Pre-Game Coin Toss Makes Jacksonville Jaguars Realize Randomness Of Life more
Trinity College Dublin Debate on Evolution, Creation, & Materialism: October 16, 2008
| September 8, 2008 | Posted by Paul Nelson under Intelligent Design |
On Thursday, 16 October 2008, the University Philosophical Society of Trinity College, Dublin — the world’s oldest debating society (founded 1684) — will sponsor a debate on evolution, creation, and materialism. The debate will occur at 7:30 pm in the Debating Room of the Graduates’ Memorial Building (that’s the building in the photograph above), just… more
US Election 2008: Barack Obama vs. Trig Palin?
| September 7, 2008 | Posted by O'Leary under Intelligent Design |
People who have been following the upcoming American election will know that last week featured a sustained media hit on Republican Veep nominee Sarah Palin’s family. Some of the visceral hatred of Sarah Palin is, of course, completely understandable. As commentator Bill Whittle perceptively noted, Sarah Palin has done more than unify and electrify the… more
The Faithful Gather to Worship Saint Charles
| September 5, 2008 | Posted by Barry Arrington under Poe's Law |
See the coverage at the Onion. more
Spin Flagellum, Spin
| September 5, 2008 | Posted by idnet.com.au under Intelligent Design |
This month in Current Biology Vol 18 No 16, Howard C. Berg writes a “Quick guide” to the Bacterial Flagellar motor. In it he outlines what is currently known of these amazing structures. “The flagellar motor is a remarkably small rotary electric motor that includes a stator, drive shaft, bushings, mounting plate, and a switch… more
Alife XI Conference Videos
| September 5, 2008 | Posted by Dave S. under Intelligent Design |
Videos of Kauffman in ALife XI, kind regards AMir Parts 2 and 3 more
Massimo Pigliucci a worrisome character from the POV of science education.
| September 2, 2008 | Posted by Dave S. under Intelligent Design |
Massimo with an as yet undetermined appendage writes Education is not about having “kids debate both sides,” since most kids would probably conclude that the earth is flat and at the center of the universe (after all, the sensorial evidence is overwhelming in favor of the flat-earth, Ptolemaic system). If Massimo doubts that the science… more
ASA’s Executive Director to Visit Baylor September 9th
| September 1, 2008 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Randy Isaac, the executive director of the ASA (i.e., the American Scientific Affiliation — an organization of evangelical Christians largely committed to theistic evolution) will give a talk titled “Science: A Misused Weapon in a Religious War” at Baylor on September 9th. I’m fifteen minutes from the school, so I’ll probably be there. For details,… more
Pedigree dogs – or mutant monsters?
| September 1, 2008 | Posted by Steno under Intelligent Design |
A very interesting programme on the problem of inbreeding with pedigree dogs has recently been shown on BBC 1 in the UK; “Pedigree dogs exposed,” Tuesday 19th August 2008 21.00 BST. Although this programme didn’t set out to be anti Darwinian, there are some very interesting observations that come out of it that are really… more
Agnostic Pro-ID vs. Theistic Anti-ID
| September 1, 2008 | Posted by William Dembski under Education, Intelligent Design |
This from the Faraday Institute Newsletter (No 32 | September 2008): The Faraday Course entitled “Science and Religion for Church Leaders”, also intended for those training for ministry, will take place Nov 4-6th . As usual full details are up on the Faraday web-site (www.faraday-institute.org). . . . Those in the Birmingham UK area might… more
Why should the search for Darwin’s warm little puddle – the supposed origin of life – be publicly funded?
| September 1, 2008 | Posted by O'Leary under Intelligent Design |
I have no objection to origin of life research, but then I have no objection to the search for the Lost Atlantis either. To the extent, however, that a quest seems primarily religious in character, the case for public funding must be constructed on public grounds. And that must begin with an examination of the… more