New research: People differ in their genetic makeup more in big ways than small ones
David Tyler on rewriting the textbooks on Archaeopteryx – that dinobird, no longer First Bird, downgraded to dinosaur
Remember “Drowning polar bears? Or drowning in images? Update
The selfish gene: Darwinism is so self-referential now that it sheds light only on itself.
Dinobird flap: Why do they care so much how creationists take it?
You should have had more faith in cod.
Neanderthals: Sadly, there were too many of us. We crowded them out.
Drowning polar bears? Or drowning in images?
In “Evolution of Human Generosity,” we hear from Science Daily (July 25, 2011) the “evolutionary psychology” reason we tip waiters
Infinite Probabilistic Resources Makes ID Detection Easier (Part 2)
Previously [1], I argued that not only may a universe with infinite probabilistic resources undermine ID, it will definitely undermines science. Science operates by fitting models to data using statistical hypothesis testing with an assumption of regularity between the past, present, and future. However, given the possible permutations of physical histories, the majority are mostly random. Thus, a priori, the most rational position is that all detection of order cannot imply anything beyond the bare detection, and most certainly implies nothing about continued order in the future or that order existed in the past.
Furthermore, since such detections of order encompass any observations we may make, we have no other means of determining a posteriori whether science’s assumption of regularity is valid to any degree whatsoever. And, as the probabilistic resources increase the problem only gets worse. This is the mathematical basis for Hume’s problem of induction. Fortunately, ID provides a way out of this conundrum. Read More ›
Current coverage interrupted: Global climate disaster averted
Here.
NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth’s atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.
Study co-author Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and U.S. Science Team Leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite, reports that real-world data from NASA’s Terra satellite contradict multiple assumptions fed into alarmist computer models. (Has NASA decided to stop co-operating with the US government because the data cannot fit the “you gotta give up light bulbs,but we don’t” narrative? File to watch.) Read More ›
Wikipedia provides means to draw attention to bigoted entries?
Look at the stuff about our list founder Bill Dembski: Here. You can vote on this page Trustworthy? Or [crap][filth][garbage/[author knows nothing of consequence] I am highly knowledgeable about this topic (optional) Submit ratings
Remember the Icon of the First Bird, Archaeopteryx? Word is, it’s not a bird
After analysing the traits present in Xiaotingia and its relations, Xu and his colleagues are suggesting that the creatures bear more resemblance to the dinosaurs Velociraptor and Microraptor than to early birds, and so belong in the dinosaur group Deinonychosauria rather than in the bird group, Avialae. Many features led the team to this decision, but the most immediately noticeable are that Xiaotingia, Archaeopteryx and Anchiornis have shallow snouts and expanded regions behind their eye sockets. Microraptor has similar traits, but the early birds in Avialae have very different skulls.
But what if they find a fossil that looks like those ones, but has a bird-like skull? Can they say why they are sure they won’t? Is that a prediction? Read More ›
Princeton scientists: No reason to assume life on other planets
In “Are We Alone In the Universe? New Analysis Says Maybe” (LiveScience, 25 July 2011) Natalie Wolchover reports Scientists engaged in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) work under the assumption that there is, in fact, intelligent life out there to be found. A new analysis may crush their optimism. Hey, Wolchover, have faith! they’ve been breathing optimism for decades. It’s all they’ve got and it’s all they know. Their optimism relies on one factor in particular: In the equation, the probability of life arising on suitably habitable planets (ones with water, rocky surfaces and atmospheres) is almost always taken to be 100 percent. As the reasoning goes, the same fundamental laws apply to the entire universe, and because those Read More ›