Nature
BBC News - ‘Artificial life’ breakthrough announced by scientists
Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first living cell to be controlled entirely by synthetic DNA.
The researchers constructed a bacterium’s “genetic software” and transplanted it into a host cell.
The resulting microbe then looked and behaved like the species “dictated” by the synthetic DNA.
The advance, published in Science, has been hailed as a [...]
Liberals and atheists smarter? Intelligent people have values novel in human evolutionary history, study finds
ScienceDaily Feb. 24, 2010 — More intelligent people are statistically significantly more likely to exhibit social values and religious and political preferences that are novel to the human species in evolutionary history. Specifically, liberalism and atheism, and for men but not women, preference for sexual exclusivity correlate with higher intelligence, a new study finds.
Read [...]
Mysterious whale die-off is largest on record - LiveScience- msnbc.com
Mass death among baby right whales has experts scrambling to figure out the puzzle behind the largest great whale die-off on record.
Observers have found 308 dead whales in the waters around Peninsula Valdes along Argentina’s Patagonian Coast since 2005. Almost 90 percent of those deaths represent whale calves less than 3 months old, and the [...]
Evolution to be compulsory subject in primary schools - Times Online
Evolution is to become a compulsory subject for study in all state primary schools. The Government announced yesterday that Darwin’s theory of how life evolved through natural selection would be a legal requirement in science teaching from September 2011, although it will be left to schools to decide how this is done.
The move, which was [...]
Why We Talk and Chimps Don’t | Psychology Today
Why We Talk and Chimps Don’t
As much as I love science, I love science fiction more. Science tells us what is; science fiction tells us what might be. I recently read a unique and revealing science fiction story, “Immersion,” written by U-Cal-Irvine physics professor Gregory Benford. In his story, Benford invents the technophile’s brand of [...]
BBC - Earth News - Chimps born to appreciate music
BBC - Earth News - Chimps born to appreciate music
Chimpanzees are biologically programmed to appreciate pleasant music.
The discovery comes from experiments showing that an infant chimpanzee prefers to listen to consonant music over dissonant music.
That suggests the apes are born with an innate appreciation of pleasant sounds, say scientists in the journal Primates.
Until now, this [...]
Ancient termite spilled its guts in amber - Science- msnbc.com
Ancient termite spilled its guts in amber - Science- msnbc.com
One hundred million years ago a termite was wounded and its abdomen split open. The resin of a pine tree slowly enveloped its body and the contents of its gut.
In what is now the Hukawng Valley in Myanmar, the resin fossilized and was buried until it [...]
Hubble’s new superpowers
When astronauts from the shuttle Atlantis open up the Hubble Space Telescope for its final extreme makeover, much of the work will be aimed at fixing what’s been ailing the world’s premier orbiting observatory. It’ll get fresh batteries and brand-new gyros, and if all goes well, Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Space Telescope [...]
9May2009 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
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 [...]
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 [...]
‘Star Wars’ scientists create laser gun to kill mosquitoes
LONDON, England — Scientists in the U.S. are developing a laser gun that could kill millions of mosquitoes in minutes.
The laser, which has been dubbed a “weapon of mosquito destruction” fires at mosquitoes once it detects the audio frequency created by the beating of its wings.
The laser beam then destroys the mosquito, burning it on [...]
Mysterious Moon Flashes Signs of Geologic Activity?
Richard Lovett
for National Geographic magazine
March 2, 2009
Astronomer Arlin Crotts is trying to solve a 400-year-old puzzle.
Ever since the invention of the telescope, said the Columbia University astrophysicist, observers around the world have occasionally watched small areas of the moon brighten or “turn fuzzy.” Sometimes they even turn reddish.
Because the bright patches are ephemeral, lasting [...]
Sea rise ‘to exceed projections’
The global sea level looks set to rise far higher than forecast because of changes in the polar ice-sheets, a team of researchers has suggested.
Scientists at a climate change summit in Copenhagen said earlier UN estimates were too low and that sea levels could rise by a metre or more by 2100.
The projections did not [...]
Space-Time “Ripples” Created by Merging Black Holes?
Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News
March 4, 2009
Two newfound black holes on the verge of crashing into each other could be creating “ripples” in the fabric of space-time, astronomers suggest.
The two supermassive black holes orbit each other about once a century, separated by just a third of a light-year—and they seem to be getting closer, a [...]
Zoo chimp ‘planned’ stone attacks
A male chimpanzee in a Swedish zoo planned hundreds of stone-throwing attacks on zoo visitors, according to researchers.
Keepers at Furuvik Zoo found that the chimp collected and stored stones that he would later use as missiles.
Further, the chimp learned to recognise how and when parts of his concrete enclosure could be pulled apart to fashion [...]
Fossil Handprints Show Birdlike Dino
March 4, 2009—Nearly 200 million years ago, a meat-eating dinosaur plopped down on the edge of a lake and rested its arms, palms slightly facing inward, in an almost yoga-like pose (seen above right in an artist’s conception).
The fossil handprints of this “crouching dinosaur” (above left, shown with white arrows) were discovered in 2004 in [...]
New Stem Cell Breakthrough for Replacing Brain Tissue
Previous research in injecting stem cells into rats with stroke damage has had some success but, because they lack structural support, the cells end up migrating into surrounding healthy tissue, the researchers said.
To try to overcome this problem, the researchers developed tiny polymer balls, a tenth of a millimetre across, and loaded them with neural [...]
Home Invaded at Night by Kangaroo
A man in Australia suffered scratched buttocks and shredded underpants wrestling with a kangaroo after it smashed through his bedroom window.
Beat Ettlin, his wife and daughter cowered beneath their blankets as it jumped on their bed.
But it then bounded into the room of the Ettlins’ young son, who screamed, and Mr Ettlin was forced to [...]
Evil Gays, Atheists Force Scouts into Unethical Logging
The Boy Scouts of America are supposed to teach boys the virtues of understanding and properly caring for nature. They may not be quite an “environmentalist” organization, but they have portrayed themselves as generally “conservationist” for promoting a better appreciation for nature. All the while, though, Boy Scout troops have been making lots of money [...]
27Feb2009 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Galaxy may be full of ‘Earths,’ alien life
(CNN) — As NASA prepares to hunt for Earth-like planets in our corner of the Milky Way galaxy, there’s new buzz that “Star Trek’s” vision of a universe full of life may not be that far-fetched.
Pointy-eared aliens traveling at light speed are staying firmly in science fiction, but scientists are offering fresh insights into the [...]
Readings in evolution - Cosmic Log - msnbc.com
Readings in evolution - Cosmic Log - msnbc.com
Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday may now be history, but the story behind the origins of species continues to be told. In fact, you might be hearing more about “The Origin of Species” at church this weekend, right after the scriptural readings: More than 1,000 religious congregations around the [...]
Mother of Octuplets Already Has 6 at Home - Lives With Her Parents
(BELLFLOWER, Calif.) The woman who gave birth to octuplets this week has six other children and never expected to have eight more when she took fertility treatment, her mother said.
Angela Suleman said her daughter expects a big challenge raising 14 children. The good news, she said, is all the babies appear healthy.
“I looked at those [...]
Roger Ebert Watches Ben Stein’s “Expelled” So You Don’t Have To
And there is worse, much worse. Toward the end of the film, we find that Stein actually did want to title it “From Darwin to Hitler.” He finds a Creationist who informs him, “Darwinism inspired and advanced Nazism.” He refers to advocates of eugenics as liberal. I would not call Hitler liberal. Arbitrary [...]
15Jan2009 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Learn Resilience and Endurance from Nature
Pantheism, unlike many other belief systems, provides its practitioners
with an earthly understanding of how species cope with
crisis. As humans we sometimes separate ourselves from the
natural world, believing that the rules of nature do not apply to
us. Fact of the matter is that what we require to survive are the
very same things that other species require [...]
First flight of algae-fuelled jet
A US airline has completed the first test flight of a plane partly powered by biofuel derived from algae.
The 90-minute flight by a Continental Boeing 737-800 went better than expected, a spokesperson said.
One of its engines was powered by a 50-50 blend of biofuel and normal aircraft fuel.
Wednesday’s test is the latest in a series [...]
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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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