01.27.09
Posted in Science & Religion at 4:20 pm by nemo
Elevating Science, Elevating Democracy
by Dennis Overbye, NY Times
Reposted from: Dawkins site
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/science/27essa.html?_r=1
All right, I was weeping too.
To be honest, the restoration of science was the least of it, but when Barack Obama proclaimed during his Inaugural Address that he would “restore science to its rightful place,†you could feel a dark cloud lifting like a sigh from the shoulders of the scientific community in this country.
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Posted in Booknotes, Evolution at 4:16 pm by nemo
The Sacred
Over at Reality Base, Melissa has invited Adam Frank to contribute a series of guest posts related to his new book: The Constant Fire: Beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Evolution at 4:11 pm by nemo
January 26, 2009–Birds from the family Zosteropidae—also called “white eyes”—could be poster children for rapid evolution.
They form new species faster than any other known bird, according to new research.
DNA analysis reveals that all 80 species of white eyes emerged in the last 2 million years.
A handful of other birds and mammals have been known to adapt to new environments in such short order, but white eyes are unique because their speciation isn’t a simple reaction to shifts in local habitats, said study author Christopher Filardi.
“White-eyes evolved into dozens of new species extremely fast while simultaneously spreading across much of [the southern] hemisphere,” he said. “At this geographic scale, there is no one thing from the outside that could have made this happen; there is something special about those birds.”
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Posted in Evolution at 4:07 pm by nemo
Darwin’s Tree of Life May Be More Like a Thicket
– In On The Origin of Species, Darwin used the image of a tree of life to illustrate how species evolve, one from another. Even today, branches sprouting from lower branches (representing ancestors) is how many people view the evolution of species. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Evolution at 4:00 pm by nemo
Darwin evolves into anti-slavery advocate
Philip Ball
It sounds glib to say every age moulds Charles Darwin to its own preoccupations but the temptation is hard to resist.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Evolution at 3:56 pm by nemo
Montalvo: Evolution theory
Monday, January 26, 2009
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in environment at 3:50 pm by nemo
Offshore wind could power every home in the UK by 2020, says government
Another 5,000-7,000 wind turbines could generate enough electricity by next decade, concludes energy department study
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Posted in you've got mail at 3:46 pm by nemo
World Economic Forum: Kofi Annan Warns Against Blinkers in Crisis
by Laura MacInnis
GENEVA – The world’s economic woes cannot be allowed to eclipse other key priorities, including protecting people from climate change and feeding the hungry, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday.
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Posted in you've got mail at 3:03 pm by nemo
RG mail
www.counterpunch.com/finkelstein01132009.html
CounterPunch January 13, 2009
Seeing Through the Lies The Facts About Hamas and the War on Gaza
Mr. Obama has to level with the American people. He has to be honest about what is the main obstacle to resolving the conflict. It’s not Palestinian rejectionism. It’s the refusal of Israel, backed by the United States government, to abide by international law, to abide by the opinion of the international community.
By Norman Finkelstein
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Posted in you've got mail at 3:02 pm by nemo
RG mail
http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/3752
Z Net – The Spirit Of Resistance Lives
ZSpace January 23, 2009
The Obamathon Has Begun: How Long Will The Honeymoon Last?
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Posted in you've got mail at 2:58 pm by nemo
sciftp
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7852628.stm
Published: 2009/01/27 02:04:41 GMT
Global warming is ‘irreversible’
A team of environmental researchers in the US has warned many effects of climate change are irreversible. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 2:54 pm by nemo
RG mail
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=590f21b0eb809fd4026a93d41db298d8
New America Media, News Analysis January 25, 2009
Winds of Change Blow Across Cuba
By Roger Burbach Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 2:52 pm by nemo
RG mail
www.time.com/time/specials/packages/printout/0,29239,1873191_1873190_1873188,00.html
Time Europe January 22, 2009
Rethinking Marx
By Peter Gumbel
The book has been on the best-seller lists in Germany for nine weeks, and in the provincial town of Trier it has special resonance, especially in tough economic times. It’s Marx’s Das Kapital , and dozens of copies of it are laid out in the bookshop in Trier’s pedestrian-only town center. But no, this is not the seminal 19th century work on political economy by Karl Marx, who was born in Trier in 1818. It’s a book by Reinhard Marx, the former Roman Catholic Bishop of Trier who is now Archbishop of Munich and Freising. He cheekily borrowed the title for his own thesis, namely that today ‘s troubled economy needs to reconnect with fundamental Christian values if it is to be restored to health. The book’s introduction is a letter to Reinhard’s celebrated namesake in which he rejects revolutionary Marxist solutions. Nonetheless, as he surveys the wreckage of the global financial system and the growing insecurity of ordinary people, the Archbishop wonders: Was Marx’s critique of capitalism right after all? “It lasted longer than you expected back in the 19th century,” he writes, “but could it be that capitalism is just an episode of history that will end at some point because the system will collapse as a result of its internal contradictions?” ( See pictures of the Bolshevik October Revolution .)
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Posted in you've got mail at 2:50 pm by nemo
RG mail
http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/20364
ZNet January 26, 2009
Obama on Israel-Palestine
By Noam Chomsky Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 2:48 pm by nemo
RG mail
The Province January 26, 2009
Hamas offers year’s truce
Total opening of all borders necessary
GAZA CITY — Hamas officials yesterday offered Israel a one-year truce in Gaza. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 2:46 pm by nemo
RG mail
The Independent
Fatah fears Gaza conflict has put Hamas in the ascendancy
Palestinian party created by Yasser Arafat suffers sharp decline in support
By Patrick Cockburn in Nablus Read the rest of this entry »
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01.26.09
Posted in Booknotes at 8:09 pm by nemo
Time to tackle Quantum Enigma:
Enigma in a Nutshell
Quantum mechanics is the most battle-tested theory in all of science. It is also practical. (One third of our economy depends on things designed with it.) But, with the advent of quantum mechanics, physicists, unexpectedly, felt the need to talk of reality, connectedness, and even “consciousness.â€
Reality: Undisputed experimental results challenge any common-sense view of physical reality. By your free choice you can establish either of two contradictory prior physical realities. What existed before your observation? Experts in the foundations of quantum mechanics still puzzle about and argue about this.
While the creation of physical reality can be demonstrated only for small things, like molecules, or “simple†situations, only technology sets the limit. Quantum theory is seamless. It presumably applies to everything (including us?). Cosmologists apply quantum mechanics to black holes and the Big Bang.
Click here for a compact description of experiments demonstrating reality creation.
Connectedness: Quantum theory tells that all things that have ever interacted are forever connected. For example, your friend’s freely made decision of what to do in Moscow (or on Mars) can instantaneously influence what you find in Manhattan. And this happens without any physical force being involved. Einstein called such influences “spooky actions.†They have now been demonstrated to exist. So far just for small things, but they are no less spooky.
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Posted in Evolution, selections, World History and The Eonic Effect at 4:37 pm by nemo
The question of a science of history has been never been answered, for reasons a study of the eonic effect makes clear; consider this selection from WHEE here, which just came online this week: 4.6 Critique Of Historical Reason
It is remarkable that just at the modern divide appears German classical philosophy. Its philosophies of freedom are themselves a part of the discrete freedom sequence! Furthermore we see that the eonic effect contains an expression of Kant’s Third Antinomy in its actual structure, a remarkable discovery. Kant’s system is quite difficult, but his essay expresses the crux of the philosophy of history, and the problems of almost all methodologies. Kant performs a kind of duet with Newton, and makes sense especially to a modeler, as the progression from mechanical to ethical, then esthetic/teleological modes arises from dealing with our data.
A Science of History? What is the relation of our method to Kant’s actual system? There is a direct one in his so-called Third Antinomy.
“Causality according to laws of nature is not the only kind of causality from which the phenomenon of the world can be derived. It is necessary, in order to explain them, to assume a causality through freedom.†Its antithesis is: “There is no freedom: everything in the world takes place solely in accordance with laws of nature.â€
We confront the enigma of the thesis, that freedom generation and physical causality somehow are both the case. The dilemma is immediate from the periodization of our model, remembering that this is only an empirical discovery, not a deduction.
Kant’s Third Antinomy is reflected in our pattern, but on such a large scale, and such a different mode, that we must proceed with caution. From the way we set up our model (for another purpose) we can see how the stream of history seems interrupted by a second different ‘causal initialization’ that has no continuous lead up or antecedents. Our transitions are formally analogous to the noumenon, but quite different. They stand in conjunction to the limits of historical representation.
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Posted in Evolution at 3:25 pm by nemo
Reconciling science and religion?
James said,
January 26, 2009 at 2:25 pm ·
Miller and Ayala are simply perplexing. I get the sense that they are probably closet Gnostics rather than Catholics. They seem troubled that the ID crowd wants to associate God with the “design†that we see in nature. I’m guessing that they consider “natural selection†to be the demiurge.
Defending a view that doesn’t make any sense is perhaps their ticket to being public spokesmen on these questions.
You are absolutely right: their stance is frustrating because it is not amenable to any intelligent challenge, and yet vitiates the very religion they claim to be members of.
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Posted in Evolution at 3:18 pm by nemo
Evolution war still rages 200 years after Darwin’s birth
By Robert S. Boyd | McClatchy Newspapers.
WASHINGTON — Two centuries after Charles Darwin’s birth on Feb. 12, 1809, people still argue passionately about his theory of evolution.
Was Darwin right? Should schoolchildren be exposed to contrary views in science class? These two controversies continue to rage, partly because both sides are evenly matched.
Most scientists and courts that have ruled on the matter say that overwhelming evidence backs Darwin’s explanation of the origin and evolution of species, including humans, by natural selection.
Many people, especially religious and social conservatives, strongly disagree.
That the debate won’t go away should be telling Darwin defenders, especially journalistic ones, something about the intractable nature of the issue, that is, the obvious fact that something is wrong with Darwin’s theory. The left/right polarization is simply a distraction, and the left ought to be the source of an intelligent critique of the Darwinian ideology. Toward A Postdarwinian liberalism.
The overwhelming evidence referred to is bogus. As a matter of fact the Darwin paradigm is undergoing challenge even now, witness the new synthesis emerging from the Altenberg conference of last year.
An endless debate is a sign that something is wrong somewhere.
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Posted in Evolution at 2:53 pm by nemo
Texas Two-Step
As usual The Times is biased/confused on the subject of evolution/Darwinism (despite a good article the other day). The views of The Times might as well be written by the NCSE.
The question of the Texas standards is not so simple. We can criticize creationists, but we ought to criticize mainstream sciene all the more because of its brazen disregard of the difficulties in its evolution position, difficulties the critics in Texas have long since discovered.
The cynicism in these editorial pronouncements is based on the realization that media control on the issue is good enough, science be damned. And the maintenance of the basic line is achieved by disregard for the realities of the Darwin debate and dogmatic consistency.
All that journalistic talent at The Times, and no chance of any critical journalism. A sad state of affairs.
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Posted in Evolution at 2:41 pm by nemo
New Insight Into How Bees See Could Improve Artificial Intelligence Systems
ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2009) — New research from Monash University bee researcher Adrian Dyer could lead to improved artificial intelligence systems and computer programs for facial recognition.
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Posted in Science at 2:39 pm by nemo
Secrets Of Stradivarius’ Unique Violin Sound Revealed, Professor Says
ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2009) — For centuries, violin makers have tried and failed to reproduce the pristine sound of Stradivarius and Guarneri violins, but after 33 years of work put into the project, a Texas A&M University professor is confident the veil of mystery has now been lifted.
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Posted in global warming at 2:36 pm by nemo
97% of climatologists say global warming is occurringand caused by humans
mongabay.com
January 22, 2009
A new poll among 3,146 earth scientists found that 90 percent believe global warming is real, while 82 percent agree that human activity been a significant factor in changing mean global temperatures.
The survey, conducted among researchers listed in the American Geological Institute’s Directory of Geoscience Departments*, “found that climatologists who are active in research showed the strongest consensus on the causes of global warming, with 97 percent agreeing humans play a role”. The biggest doubters were petroleum geologists (47 percent) and meteorologists (64 percent). A recent poll suggests that 58 percent of Americans believe that human activity contributes to climate change.
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Posted in In the News at 2:31 pm by nemo
Where Principles Go to Die
In America, Speaking the Truth is a Career-Ending Event
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
We see such acts of personal cowardice every day. Recently we had the case of Jewish scholar and Israel critic Norman Finkelstein, whose tenure was blocked by the cowardly president of DePaul University, a man afraid to stand up for his own faculty against the Israel Lobby, which successfully imposed on a Catholic university the principle that no critic of Israel can gain academic tenure.
The same calculation of self-interest causes American journalists to serve as shills for Israeli and US government propaganda and the US Congress to endorse Israeli war crimes that the rest of the world condemns.
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Posted in you've got mail at 2:26 pm by nemo
With Gaza, Journalists Fail Again
A rainbow, as if projected by the American media, is seen over the northern Gaza Strip, from the Israel-Gaza Border.
By Chris Hedges
The assault on Gaza exposed not only Israel’s callous disregard for international law but the gutlessness of the American press. There were no major newspapers, television networks or radio stations that challenged Israel’s fabricated version of events that led to the Gaza attack or the daily lies Israel used to justify the unjustifiable. Nearly all reporters were, as during the buildup to the Iraq war, pliant stenographers and echo chambers. If we as journalists have a product to sell, it is credibility. Take that credibility away and we become little more than propagandists and advertisers. By refusing to expose lies we destroy, in the end, ourselves.
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Posted in you've got mail at 2:23 pm by nemo
mxmIL
http://leninology.blogspot.com/2009/01/cbs-on-israel-palestine.html
Last night I rubbed my eyes in amazement at the segment on the
Palestinians that appeared on CBS television’s most prestigious news
shows. Before I had a chance to track down a video clip this morning, I
discovered that Lenin’s Tomb had a link to it already.
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Posted in you've got mail at 2:21 pm by nemo
RG mail
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/20364
Obama on Israel-Palestine
January 26, 2009 By Noam Chomsky
Barack Obama is recognized to be a person of acute intelligence, a legal
scholar, careful with his choice of words. He deserves to be taken
seriously – both what he says, and what he omits. Particularly
significant is his first substantive statement on foreign affairs, on
January 22, at the State Department, when introducing George Mitchell to
serve as his special envoy for Middle East peace.
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