Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

Ten years of fossil research could be wrong … and you tell us NOW?

No, but seriously, from Phys.org: Years of research on the evolution of ancient life including the dinosaurs have been questioned after a fatal flaw in the way fossil data is analysed was exposed. Studies based on the apparently flawed method have suggested Earth’s biodiversity remained relatively stable – close to maximum carrying capacity – and hinted many signs of species becoming rapidly extinct are merely reflections on the poor quality of the fossil record at that time. However, new research by scientists at the University of Reading suggests the history of the planet’s biodiversity may have been more dynamic than recently suggested, with bursts of new species appearing, along with crashes and more stable periods. … The researchers ran thousands Read More ›

Forbes regrets to inform us that there is no evidence for a multiverse yet.

From Sabine Hossenfelder at Forbes: … the LHC found the Higgs but no evidence for anything new besides that. No supersymmetry, no extra-dimensions, no black holes, no fourth generation, nothing. This means that the Higgs-mass just sits there, boldly unnatural. Enter the multiverse. The multiverse idea states that there are infinite numbers of Universes like our own, and infinite ones with differences. Not only would anything that could happen actually happen in some universe within the multiverse, but anything that can happen would happen infinitely many times. Therefore, the multiverse also contains infinitely many universes that are almost exactly like our own, including our planet, and me, and you. But in some of these other universes, a dark matter particle Read More ›

First ever dino brain fossil found: Iguanodon

Can it tell us about dinosaur intelligence? From Brian Resnick at Vox: Closer analysis revealed a few-millimeter-thick layer of structures that looked like blood vessels. There were also traces of meninges, the tough outer layer that protects the brain, preserved in mineral form. … More dinosaur brain specimens could help solve a big mystery about dinosaur intelligence: Were their brains more like modern-day reptiles or more like modern-day birds? In modern reptiles, the brain typically does not take up all the space in the skull. It’s much smaller than the skull, supported by tissue that pads it. In birds, however, the brain does typically take up most of the skull. A more birdlike brain would suggest dinosaurs were more intelligent Read More ›

SciAm: Astronomers are NOT dismissing dark matter!

From Dan Scolnic and Adam G. Riess at Scientific American: You might have read otherwise in some headlines lately, but don’t be misled … The recent paper that has generated headlines used a catalog of Type Ia supernovae collected by the community (including us) which has been analyzed numerous times before. But the authors used a different method of implementing the corrections—and we believe this undercuts the accuracy of their results. They assume that the mean properties of supernovae from each of the samples used to measure the expansion history are the same, even though they have been shown to be different and past analyses have accounted for these differences. However, even ignoring these differences, the authors still find that Read More ›

Why microbiologist Scott Minnich decided to openly acknowledge design in nature

From David Klinghoffer at Evolution News & Views, in connection with the documentary Revolutionary, about biochemist and design theorist Michael Behe, recounts: As one paleontologist recounts here, after his own mind was opened to the cogency of design arguments, he met ID scientists and scholars and was surprised to find they bore little resemblance to what he expected based on media caricatures. The shy (as he describes himself), self-effacing, yet stubborn Dr. Behe may also come as a revelation to those who don’t know him but assume he must be a cartoon “creationist.” Revolutionary is unlike other ID films I’m familiar with in the way it offers personal stories. One of the most startling concerns University of Idaho microbiologist Scott Read More ›

Most of the “facts” we have been told, often piously and pompously, about human evolution are just factoids

The story is way more complex, geneticists’ association admits. From ScienceDaily: Relationships between the ancestors of modern humans and other archaic populations such as Neanderthals and Denisovans were likely more complex than previously thought, involving interbreeding within and outside Africa, according to a new estimator developed by geneticists. Findings were reported at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2016 Annual Meeting in Vancouver, B.C. … “Overall, our findings confirm the human family tree is more complicated than we think it is,” Dr. Bohlender said. “For example, other archaic populations are likely to have existed, like the Denisovans, who we didn’t know about except through genetics.” They plan to try out simulations with multiple other populations, to see if this Read More ›

Horizontal gene transfer: Researchers believe any two major groups of organisms can share genetic codes

This is not the “evolution” your high school textbook set forth. That stuff was Darwinism, plain and simple. From Kelly Robinson and Julie Dunning Hotopp at The Scientist Scientists now recognize that microbes transfer DNA to the plants, fungi, and animals they infect or reside in, and conversely, human long interspersed elements (LINEs) have been found in bacterial genomes. Moreover, researchers have documented LGT [lateral gene transfer, synonymous with HGT – ed.] from fungi to insects and from algae to sea slugs. There is reason to believe that any two major groups of organisms—including humans—can share their genetic codes. People have long been intrigued by the prospect of foreign DNA within our own genomes. Human genomes harbor evidence of beneficial Read More ›

Rob Sheldon: The universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. Or IS it?

From ScienceDaily: Five years ago, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three astronomers for their discovery, in the late 1990s, that the universe is expanding at an accelerating pace. Their conclusions were based on analysis of Type Ia supernovae — the spectacular thermonuclear explosion of dying stars — picked up by the Hubble space telescope and large ground-based telescopes. It led to the widespread acceptance of the idea that the universe is dominated by a mysterious substance named ‘dark energy’ that drives this accelerating expansion. Now, a team of scientists led by Professor Subir Sarkar of Oxford University’s Department of Physics has cast doubt on this standard cosmological concept. Making use of a vastly increased data set — a Read More ›

Darwiniana slams “virulent and prejudiced regime” of Dawkins cult in biology

In Public Evolution Summit, Suzan Mazur quotes John Landon at Darwinana.com on the decades-long Darwin debate, now erupting at the Royal Society. One might have expected, given the name of the site, that Landon felt himself in somewhat the same position as the turkey who discovers the true meaning of Thanksgiving… But it is encouraging to hear him say, Watching the Darwin debate go on and on unreasonably with no resolution from scientific or academic bodies allowing the religious right to dominate critique is a strange experience. I am impressed by the inability of most of the public to think clearly on the subject, the failure of the biological community to handle even the most elementary discussion of the problems, Read More ›

Did Viking discover life on Mars forty years ago?

From Phys.org: In 1976, two Viking landers became the first US spacecraft from Earth to touch down on Mars. They took the first high-resolution images of the planet, surveyed the planet’s geographical features, and analyzed the geological composition of the atmosphere and surface. Perhaps most intriguingly, they also performed experiments that searched for signs of microbial life in Martian soil. Overall, these life-detection experiments produced surprising and contradictory results. One experiment, the Labeled Release (LR) experiment, showed that the Martian soil tested positive for metabolism—a sign that, on Earth, would almost certainly suggest the presence of life. However, a related experiment found no trace of organic material, suggesting the absence of life. With no organic substances, what could be, or Read More ›

Magnetic field enabled surface life during Cambrian explosion?

From ScienceDirect: Life was limited for most of Earth’s history, remaining at a primitive stage and mostly marine until about 0.55 Ga. In the Paleozoic, life eventually exploded and colonized the continental realm. Why had there been such a long period of delayed evolution of life? Early life was dominated by Archaea and Bacteria, which can survive ionizing radiation better than other organisms. The magnetic field preserves the atmosphere, which is the main shield of UV radiation. We explore the hypothesis that the Cambrian explosion of life could have been enabled by the increase of the magnetic field dipole intensity due to the solidification of the inner core, caused by the cooling of the Earth, and the concomitant decrease with Read More ›

Classical naturalist tale about genes

From ecosystem scientist Sean Nee at The Conversation: [Contention 1:] We humans like to think of ourselves as on the top of the heap compared to all the other living things on our planet. Life has evolved over three billion years from simple one-celled creatures through to multicellular plants and animals coming in all shapes and sizes and abilities. In addition to growing ecological complexity, over the history of life we’ve also seen the evolution of intelligence, complex societies and technological invention, until we arrive today at people flying around the world at 35,000 feet discussing the in-flight movie. Yes. It’s almost like we are in charge of the planet, at least morally and intellectually. Researchers assumed that that meant Read More ›

How mom whiptail lizards have broods with no dads

From Patricia Edmonds at National Geographic: The lizards are all female and parthenogenetic, meaning their eggs develop into embryos without fertilization. But before the eggs form, Baumann’s team discovered, the females’ cells gain twice the usual number of chromosomes—so the eggs get a full chromosome count and genetic variety and breadth (known as heterozygosity) rivaling that of a sexually reproducing lizard. Why does this occur? Because long ago, Baumann says, lizards of the genus Aspidoscelis had “a hybridization event”—that is, females of one species broke form and mated with males of another species. More. It’s still not clear how this closed system would not lead to genetic degradation over time. But we shall see. See also: Red wolf not endangered, Read More ›

The Trolley Problem and the Problem of Moral Progress: The Case of Pontius Pilate

We started by assuming that Pilate made a mistake of world-historic proportions when he condemned Jesus to death. However, as Pilate in Purgatory explores the alternative histories that would result in a better world, he may come to discover that each of those alternatives would have resulted in a worse world because they would have also prevented the Resurrection of Jesus, which is the cornerstone of the Christian faith Read More ›

Why is Wonder Alien to Social Psychology?

A recent article tries to tackle some important and often-missed points of social psychology. [Unbridled skepticism] has given rise to a belief that what we think about ourselves and our lives together cannot be held with any confidence until objective, scientific insight into these problems is obtained. The result of taking such a stance on our knowledge in this realm is that we become thoroughly unsure of the only seat of experience available to us: ourselves. Doubt penetrates to the deepest level such that we begin to wonder if we are merely mirages, and the scientific method is seen as the sole means of reassurance that this is not the case. In consequence, the prospect of making genuine discoveries, ones Read More ›