04.30.07
GW and two planets
Earth sits between two worlds that have been devastated by climate catastrophes. In the effort to combat global warming, our neighbours can provide valuable insights into the way climate catastrophes affect planets.
Bacterial microevolution
Arming The Fight Against Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
Science Daily — In 1928, Alexander Fleming opened the door to treating bacterial infections when he stumbled upon the first known antibiotic in a Penicillium mold growing in a discarded experiment.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070427122508.htm
Researchers in Helen Blackwell’s lab in the department of chemistry at the University of WisconsinMadison demonstrated the potent antibiotic effect of a new compound by applying it in a “motion W” pattern to a dish of live Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Bacteria killed by the germ-fighting “W” appear white, while the surrounding live bacteria appear red. (Credit: Courtesy Helen Blackwell)Ads by Google
Nearly eight decades later, chemist Helen Blackwell and her research team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have devised a more deliberate method to tackle a newer bacterial conundrum - resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Early tests of their tool, called a “small-molecule macroarray,” have already identified four promising new compounds with preliminary antibacterial activity comparable to that of some of the most potent antibiotics currently available.Recent rapid development of bacterial resistance against antibiotics has brought bacterial infection back into the limelight as a serious concern, Blackwell says. Virulent strains like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, often known as MRSA (pronounced “mir-sa”) and once found only in hospitals, have become more common even as the available arsenal of useful drugs against them dwindles.
“Strains are emerging that are resistant to all known antibiotics,” she says. “This is not a problem that’s going to go away - and actually it’s just going to get worse. There’s a sense of urgency.”
Such urgency is compounded by the speed at which some strains are capable of developing resistance, she adds. For example, bacteria resistant to one of the newest antibiotics, linezolid, appeared within one year of the drug’s approval for use.
Since bacteria can adapt to new drugs so quickly, Blackwell says the best approach is to try to stay several steps ahead of the bugs. “No one agent is going to solve this problem,” she says. “We need to continue to develop new molecules all the time.”
State of the universe
From Rad-Green
Swami Beyondananda’s
2007 State of the Universe Address
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Against all gods
Against All Gods, by A C Grayling
by Cal McCrystal
Reposted from: dawkins site
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/books/reviews/article2494615.ece
Wallace and Darwin
Wallace came up with two great and related ideas from his observation of the distribution of species on the different islands. One is the origin of species by natural selection; the second is that the islands of Sumatra, Borneo, Java and Bali were once connected to India, and Lombok and those to the east were connected to Australia. The straits between Lombok and Bali are narrow, but many Australian species, even birds such as cockatoos, are only found to the east of this line, and Indian species are exclusive to the west of the line – and none cross the line
So why is Darwin, not Wallace, credited with the theory of natural selection? The great scientist Darwin had been writing his own ideas in private papers dating from the 1840s onwards, when in 1958 the scientific amateur Wallace sent him a bombshell.
In Ternate (in the Moluccas), Wallace had written an elegant paper expounding the theory of natural selection, which he sent to Darwin for his views. The scientific establishment closed around Darwin, and Wallace’s paper was presented to the Linnean Society (hugely influential biology society, still extant), without Wallace’s knowledge and in Darwin’s absence at his son’s funeral. But it was cleverly preceded by Darwin’s own unpublished essay. Darwin then produced his book, On the Origin of Species, in a much shorter version than he had first planned.
Darwin was an honourable man; he was not sure he was doing the right thing in gazumping Wallace, but his friends did it for him. Wallace, amazingly, bore no resentment and dedicated The Malay Archipelago to Darwin!
Harris on Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens, whose book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything becomes available tomorrow, will be on The Daily Show tonight.
Here’s Sam Harris had to say about the book:
“If God intended reasonable men and women to worship Him without embarrassment, why did He create Christopher Hitchens? It was a fatal miscalculation. In God Is Not Great, Hitchens not only demonstrates that religion is man-made–and made badly–he laughs the whole monstrosity to rubble. This is a profoundly clever book, addressing the most pressing social issue of our time, by one of the finest writers in the land.”
Actually the plumetting in quality from Hitchens’ other books says something about this new genre of ’science/religion’ books from Darwin oriented science defenders.
Face it, Hitchens’ ‘god is not Great’ is a pretty wretched piece. Do scientists seriously expect the broader public to take them seriously on religion?
Dawkins’ sleight of hand
No scientist would argue that evolution is the result of “chance.” To the contrary, natural selection acts on natural variation to select progressively more reproductively fit individuals. See Richard Dawkins’ book “Climbing Mount Improbable” for a lucid explanation of the process.
Actually Dawkins completely confused the issue here. Darwinism has its back to the wall on this point, and the need to make natural selection ‘non-random’ shows the hidden desperation of what is obviously a flawed theory.
At least Gilder is not a coward
This post by Pharyngula is effective in one way: anyone who dissents from totalitarian Darwinism run by the Darwin liberals (! sic) gets it. It’s an effective way to keep everyone braindead on evolution.
Whatever the case with Gilder, at least he is one technogeek who figured out there’s a problem with Darwin’s theory?
Anyone else?
Cowards.
Where Are The Half-Evolved Chipmunks?
Where Are The Half-Evolved Chipmunks?
Millions of people are taught that the fossil record furnishes proof of evolution. But, where are there fossils of half-evolved chipmunks, dinosaurs and other creatures?
Moderate vs orthodox Islam
Why I Am Not a Moderate Muslim
By Asma Khalid, Christian Science Monitor. Posted April 28, 2007
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Is religion safe?
Comparison with Japan is misleading. The Buddhist history of Japan is concealed in the background, and its modern manifestations, while they have the appearance of ‘ahimsa’, hide a completely unaccountable dark side. I should note that the suicide bomber and the kamikaze show a definite kinship.
From Lebanon Daily News…
——————————————————————————–
Book on atheism worth a look
Editor:
Lebanon Daily News
With genuine sincerity, I ask that everybody read “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins, published in 2006. While Dawkins uses extensive vocabulary, which makes some of the text difficult to read, you will find it deeply fulfilling if you simply read the preface and the first two chapters of the book.
New from Talk.reason
Project Steve: n > 800
By NCSE Staff
http://www.talkreason.org/articles/?http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/news/2007/ZZ/201_project_steve_n__800_4_26_2007.asp
The National Center of Science Education reports that Project Steve’s pronouncement (see Project Steve and the Appeal to Authority [http://www.talkreason.org/articles/Steve.cfm]) has acquired its 800th signature. (Off site link.)
published: Apr 28, 2007
04.28.07
Remaining mysteries: 3 humdingers
Strange loops and self-conscious marbles
Uriah Kriegel
Douglas R. Hofstadter
I AM A STRANGE LOOP
348pp. Basic Books. £14.99
978 0 46503 078 1
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Dawkins in Arkansas
Atheism’s Big Night In Little Rock
by John Brummett, The Morning News
Reposted from: Dawkins site
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2007/04/27/columns/john_brummett/042807brummett.txt
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Has scientism wrecked the Enlightenment?
The dangers of Militant atheism.
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Bush’s ID
from The Spoof.com
Blacksburg, VA, 4/28/07: Gnostics and agnostics alike are now finally in total agreement there is no such thing as ‘Intelligent Design’. “No more shall we fight over this issue.” said a tearful very Reverend Jerry Falwell. “For we have recognized a fatal flaw in any argument in support of that theory. And, that is namely and frankly, George W. Bush, President of the United States of America.
Darwin’s dangerous economic ideology
DARWIN’S DANGEROUS IDEA
The Disturbing Legacy of America’s Eugenics Crusade
A lecture by Dr. John G. West, Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute
I applaud the expose of eugenics. But it would be appropriate to also expose the strong link between Darwinism and classical liberalism, or is that too much to expect from these conservative ID-ists (and, er–classical liberals).
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