Monthly Archives: November 2010
Just up at MercatorNet: Are men’s and women’s brains really different?
| November 18, 2010 | Posted by O'Leary under Culture, Evolution, Science |
My review of Cordelia Fine‘s new book, Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference: The gender wars take no prisoners. In 2005, suggesting that there might indeed be innate differences between men and women derailed the career of Harvard president Larry Summers. He reemerged, years later, as President Obama’s sometime finance… more
Evolutionary psychology: Pink for a girl, blue for a … girl?
| November 18, 2010 | Posted by O'Leary under Culture, Evolution |
Philosopher Cordelia Fine, who wrote a book on the neuroscience and other studies of the differences between men’s and women’s brains – and found most of them flawed – pauses to target a classic in evolutionary psychology: Why girls prefer pink. … psychologists and journalists now speculate on the genetic and evolutionary origins of gendered… more
Neuroscience: Philosopher rips “drivel” – pop science media ‘s bread and butter
| November 18, 2010 | Posted by O'Leary under Culture, Science |
Once upon a time there was this bright philosopher and Fine writer who immersed herself in the pop culture sludge of the breathless (this just in!) latest findings of neuroscience on human nature, in this case the supposed differences between the way men and women think. Differences that, Fine argues, are poorly supported. What I… more
More Switches Than the Internet
| November 17, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
Array tomography, yet another new biological imaging technology is yielding early results. Click here, for example, to see a video rendition of a mouse cortex. Here’s how one writer described the new results: Read more more
William Dembski Debates Cristopher Hitchens Nov. 18th
| November 17, 2010 | Posted by Clive Hayden under Biology, Culture, Darwinism, Education, Evolution, Intelligent Design, Religion, Science |
Dr. William Dembski will be debating Christopher Hitchens at the Prestonwood Baptist Church Nov. 18th, 2010. “Does a Good God Exist?” will be the topic debated. The debate will be held from 8:40 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. There will be a live webcast of the debate. Dr. William Dembski, Research Professor in Philosophy at Southwestern… more
The Earth: Not our mother, not our sister, not a living thing, but our treasure trove, our observatory, our library, our spaceship and our home
| November 16, 2010 | Posted by vjtorley under Intelligent Design |
Five quick questions: (1) What is your favorite metaphor for our Earth? Is your favorite metaphor an animate one (e.g. the Earth is our mother / our sister / a super-organism), or an inanimate one (e.g. the Earth is our home / a jewel / our spaceship / our way-station)? (2) In the course of… more
The Darwinian Basis of the Prokaryote-to-Eukaryote Transition Collapses
| November 16, 2010 | Posted by Jonathan M under Intelligent Design |
The question of the evolution of eukaryotic cells from prokaryotic ones has long been a topic of heated discussion in the scientific literature. It is generally thought that eukaryotes arose by some prokaryotic cells being engulfed and assimilated by other prokaryotic cells. Called endosymbiotic theory, there is some empirical basis for this. For example, mitochondria… more
Excerpt from Firewall, exposing social Darwinist eugenics in Canada
| November 16, 2010 | Posted by O'Leary under Culture, Darwinism |
Recently, I advised readers here of Jane Harris Szovan’s new book on the shameful secrets of social Darwinist eugenics in Canada. The Alberta-based author tells me, People have been asking me what Eugenics and the Firewall is about. Basically, it is about the history of eugenics in the Western countries. But it looks specifically at… more
How the Eukaryote Got its Mitochondria
| November 16, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
If someone tossed an important part onto their car’s engine, and slammed down the hood, you wouldn’t expect it to work. And if it did work you’d be suspicious. The claim is either absurd or rigged. Read more more
Tropical rainforests and Climate Change
| November 15, 2010 | Posted by David Tyler under Intelligent Design |
One only has to visit a tropical rainforest to discover a world filled with abundant treasures. It is entirely natural for people to want to protect these regions from any threat. Climate change has been perceived as a threat: cooler climates do not support tropical ecozones – but what about warmer climates? Concerns have been… more
Insects Compute Optimal Flight Plans
| November 15, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
Anyone who travels much by air knows that pilots try to ride the wind. Flights may even deviate substantially from the shortest-distance route if the wind is strong enough elsewhere. But of course the wind is not likely moving exactly toward your destination. Add to this the fact that the wind also varies with altitude,… more
Off Topic: Random Acts of Culture — Handel’s Messiah in a Mall
| November 14, 2010 | Posted by GilDodgen under Culture, Off Topic |
As many UD readers know, I am a classical pianist by training since the age of seven. The piano and classical music have been a tremendous inspiration all my life, and this was my refuge during four decades in the hideous darkness of atheism. After 2.5 centuries, great, uplifting works of musical art such as… more
Lee Spetner responds to Tom Schneider
| November 14, 2010 | Posted by William Dembski under Darwinism, Intelligent Design |
Lee Spetner, author of NOT BY CHANCE (a critique of neo-Darwinism), asked me to post this response to Tom Schneider: I just became aware of Tom Schneider’s “response” to my objection to his criticism of my calculation of probability (go here for Schneider). I don’t know whether he can’t read or if he has a mental… more
Social Darwinism: Canada’s firewall of silence on eugenics human rights abuses has been breached
| November 13, 2010 | Posted by O'Leary under Culture, Darwinism |
Jane Harris-Zsovan’s book, Eugenics and the Firewall: Canada`s Nasty Little Secret is now (J. Gordon Shillingford, 2010) in print. It details the surprising reach of the compulsory sterilization movement in early twentieth century Canada. Many across the political spectrum participated, until the practice was finally derailed by informed public opinion and the courts. The book’s national… more
When Social Darwinism found Africa …
| November 13, 2010 | Posted by O'Leary under Culture, Darwinism |
Well, the Social Darwinists did not find Africa as it was. But they sure found the Africa they were looking for.
more
Coffee!: But then cats have a more subtle method for everything, don’t they?
| November 13, 2010 | Posted by O'Leary under Biology |
This from the Beeb: How cats lap water: … cats use their tongues to delicately draw up water without breaking the surface of the liquid. The scientists, who published their study in the journal Science, say this differs from dogs, who employ a messy scooping action to quench their thirst. [ ... ] While humans… more
Allele-Specific DNA Methylation and the World of Epigenetics
| November 12, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
The ability of species to adapt to changing and challenging conditions is remarkable and due to a wide variety of molecular mechanisms. Many of these mechanisms fall into the broad category of epigenetics of which we are still learning the details. Read more more
Angiosperm diversity not explained by Darwinism
| November 11, 2010 | Posted by David Tyler under Intelligent Design |
A key concept for Darwinism is adaptation. Traits are identified that confer survival and reproduction advantages to an organism. These traits are supposed to experience selection pressures that drive adaptive change and speciation. Consequently, traits are of central importance for theories of evoplutionary transformation, as is also time. However, when contemplating the flowering plants, even… more
Hawking’s Grand Design – but is it science?
| November 11, 2010 | Posted by David Tyler under Intelligent Design |
Stephen Hawking has achieved the status of ‘celebrity scientist’. He writes books that sell well and has both presented and performed in television series. His latest book, The Grand Design, co-authored with Leonard Mlodinow, has been reviewed widely by both popular press and scientific journals. According to Michael Turner, who wrote the Nature review, these… more
Did Horizontal Gene Transfer Create Evolution?
| November 11, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
It is common knowledge that evolution is supposed to be caused by random biological variation that helps with reproductive success. By definition such biological variation is more likely to be passed on to later generations and eventually to become established in a population. And, according to the theory, if such variation accumulates it leads to… more