Archive for April, 2009
More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Two months after the local atheist organization here put up a billboard saying “Don’t Believe in God? You Are Not Alone,” the group’s 13 board members met in Laura and Alex Kasman’s living room to grapple with the fallout.
The problem was not that the group, the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, had [...]
Sensed Presences in Extreme Contexts
John Geiger’s book is a highly readable compendium of anecdotes about the remarkably common experience of feeling the presence of a companion for whom there is no objective evidence. The companion is seldom seen but strongly sensed and hence is often referred to as a “sensed presence.” The presence is usually taken to be a [...]
23Apr2009 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Simulated brain closer to thought
A detailed simulation of a small region of a brain built molecule by molecule has been constructed and has recreated experimental results from real brains.
The “Blue Brain” has been put in a virtual body, and observing it gives the first indications of the molecular and neural basis of thought and memory.
Scaling the simulation to the [...]
Giant mystery blob found near dawn of time
By Seth Borenstein
updated 6:39 p.m. ET, Wed., April 22, 2009
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WASHINGTON - A strange giant space “blob” spotted when the universe was relatively young has got astronomers puzzled.
Using space and ground telescopes, astronomers looked [...]
Georgetown University Hid Religious Symbols at White House Request
Georgetown University, a Catholic institution, covered up religious insignia symbolizing the name of Jesus during President Obama’s address there Tuesday after the White House requested the change.
Georgetown University hid a religious inscription representing the name of Jesus during President Obama’s address there Tuesday, [...]
An Amazon tribe converts the missionary
By Lynn Harnett
April 12, 2009 6:00 AM
Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle
Daniel L. Everett
Pantheon
The Pirahã are the “Show me!” tribe of the Brazilian Amazon. They don’t bother with fiction or tall tales or even oral history. They have little art. They don’t have a creation myth and don’t want [...]
23Apr2009 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Inventor turns cardboard boxes into eco-friendly oven
(CNN) — When Jon Bohmer sat down with his two little girls for a simple project they could work on together, he didn’t realize they’d hit upon a solution to one of the world’s biggest problems for just $5: A solar-powered oven.
The ingeniously simple design uses two cardboard boxes, one inside the other, and an [...]
Bruce Sterling - Prophet and loss
Author Bruce Sterling is one of the most respected writers of science fiction. He is also a web activist, columnist, teacher and one of the most anticipated speakers at the South by South West Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas, at which he will give a talk entitled: The state of the Cybersphere.
The difficulty with interviewing [...]
Should We Respect Religion? Does Religion Deserve Respect?
By Austin Cline, About.com
An increasing source of conflict in the world today is centered around religious believers’ demands for respect. Muslims demand “respect” that would forbid criticism, satire, or mocking of their religion. Christians demand “respect” that would amount to something very similar. Nonbelievers are caught in a bind when it’s not clear what “respect” [...]
Atheist author Hitchens, apologists debate topic of God at Dallas’ Christian Book Expo
By SAM HODGES / The Dallas Morning News
samhodges@dallasnews.com Best-selling atheist author Christopher Hitchens took on four Christian apologists Saturday in a civil but spirited two-hour discussion as part of the Christian Book Expo.
Photos by REX C. CURRY/Special Contributor
Hitchens challenged Christianity on a number of fronts, including questioning how a [...]
7Apr2009 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Virus battery could ‘power cars’
Viruses have been used to help build batteries that may one day power cars and all types of electronic devices.
The speed and relatively cheap cost of manufacturing virus batteries could prove attractive to industry.
Professor Angela Belcher, who led the research team, said: “Our material is powerful enough to be able to be used in a [...]
How scientists really feel about God
WASHINGTON - Scientists hate God. Or find God very disturbing. In fact, modern science has found no evidence of God and so it’s stupid anymore to think God exists.
The above statements are often presented as conventional wisdom, but are they true?
A new collection of short essays, discussed here Thursday at an event at the American [...]
Big questions, short answers
How did the universe begin? How did life arise? How did evolution make us the way we are today? How would you answer these big questions. Oh, and by the way, keep your answers shorter than 140 characters.
That’s the kind of experiment I’ll be conducting this weekend at the Origins Symposium, presented by Arizona State [...]
Afghan President Backtracks on Law Legalizing Rape in Marriage
KABUL — Responding to criticism from around the world, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that a new law that critics say makes it legal for men to rape their wives will be studied and possibly sent back to parliament for review.
Karzai said he ordered the Justice Ministry to review the law, and if [...]
Judge dismisses attempt to remove ‘one state under God’ from Texas pledge
By KATHERINE LEAL UNMUTH / The Dallas Morning News
kunmuth@dallasnews.com A judge has dismissed the claims of an atheist parent who sought to remove the words “one state under God” from the Texas pledge of allegiance.
Parent David Wallace Croft had argued that the insertion of the words in 2007 by legislators was unconstitutional [...]
Texas education board approves science standards
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — State education leaders forged a compromise Friday on the teaching of evolution in Texas, adopting a new science curriculum that no longer requires educators to teach the weaknesses of all scientific theories.
The State Board of Education voted 13-2 to put in place a plan that would instead require teachers to encourage [...]
Following atheist trend, Britons seek ‘de-baptism’
LONDON (AFP) — More than 100,000 people have recently downloaded “certificates of de-baptism” from the Internet to renounce their Christian faith.
The initiative launched by a group called the National Secular Society (NSS) follows atheist campaigns here and elsewhere, including a controversial advert displayed on London buses which declared: “There’s probably no God.”
“We now produce a [...]
Mom’s plea deal includes ‘resurrection clause’
(CNN) — A Maryland woman involved with a group described as a religious cult pleaded guilty in the starvation death of her son, but insisted that the charges be dropped when he is resurrected.
The condition was made a part of Ria Ramkissoon’s plea agreement, officials said. She entered the plea Monday in Baltimore, Maryland, to [...]
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The Center for Naturalism
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Earl and Fiona
This image from the GOES-13 satellite, taken at 10:32 a.m. EDT on Sept. 3, shows a huge Hurricane Earl northeast of North Carolina with cloud cover stretching over the northeastern U.S. A disorganized Tropical Storm Fiona is located in the bottom right of this image. Image Credit: NASA/NOAA Goes Project
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