03.31.11
Posted in General at 12:11 pm by nemo
Fast-Recharge, Lithium-Ion Battery Could Be Perfect for Electric Cars
ScienceDaily (Mar. 30, 2011) — The next-generation battery, like next-generation TV, may be 3-D, scientists reported on March 31 at the 241st National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Anaheim, California. They described a new lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, already available in a prototype version, with a three-dimensional interior architecture that could be perfect for the electric cars now appearing in auto dealer showrooms.
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Posted in Evolution at 12:09 pm by nemo
Astrophysicist: White Dwarfs Could Be Fertile Ground for Other EarthsScienceDaily (Mar. 31, 2011) — Planet hunters have found hundreds of planets outside the solar system in the last decade, though it is unclear whether even one might be habitable. But it could be that the best place to look for planets that can support life is around dim, dying stars called white dwarfs.
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Posted in Evolution at 12:08 pm by nemo
The Great Explosion
The evolution of man is nearly a complete mystery, yet Darwinism never change their story, proof of the mendacity of the whole game. All bets are off as to ‘science’ in that case.
As Chomsky noted, the issue of language alone is almost insuperable.
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Posted in General at 12:04 pm by nemo
http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/when-theology-does-cosmology/
It is obvious that many issues of cosmology are abused by attempts to inject theology, but the fine-tuning argument, freed of such abuse, is a potential help for sorting our evolutionary confusions.
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Posted in Evolution at 12:01 pm by nemo
A Positive, Testable Case for Intelligent Design
Well, it would be nice if natural selection were testable!
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Posted in General at 11:59 am by nemo
http://richarddawkins.net/discussions/609525-how-to-debate-theology-jonathan-miller-vs-denys-turner#comments
How to debate theology: Jonathan Miller vs. Denys Turner
By STEVE ZARA
Added: Wednesday, 30 March 2011 at 11:57 PM
It’s hard to deal with theologians in debate. They aren’t using the same kind of language as scientists. They are using outdated philosophy combined with appeals to emotion. Again and again we can watch debates that get nowhere. Atkins vs. Lane Craig is one example. What is needed to effectively counter their views is philosophical skills and an ability to debate with the same language.
I thought this discussion from a few years ago would be interesting to people here.
This is a masterpiece of debate: Jonathan Miller vs Denys Turner, from “The Atheism Tapes”. Watch Miller slowly and politely push Turner into a corner where he has to admit that his views are based only on faith. I think this also emphasizes the strength of the moderator-free discussion format that Richard has been increasingly using.
Enjoy:
Part 1 http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSTAagcaFN0
Part 2 http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIxWcVXRxjU&feature=related
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Posted in Evolution at 11:58 am by nemo
Some chicken. Some neck…
Why certain birds are partly featherless
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Posted in General at 11:47 am by nemo
Sensory Wiring for Smells Varies Among IndividualsScienceDaily (Mar. 30, 2011) — If, as Shakespeare’s Juliet declared, a rose by any other name smells as sweet — to you and to me and to anyone else who sniffs it — then one might assume that our odor-sensing nerve cells are all wired in the same way. Alas, they are not, according to a new study from scientists at The Scripps Research Institute.
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Posted in Evolution at 11:46 am by nemo
Butterflies That Explore and Colonize New Habitats Are Genetically Different from Cautious CousinsScienceDaily (Mar. 30, 2011) — A team of scientists has discovered that descendants of “exploratory” butterflies that colonized new habitats differ genetically from their more cautious cousins. The team, led by James Marden, a professor of biology at Penn State University, and Christopher Wheat, a post-doctoral scholar working at both Penn State and the University of Helsinki, has revealed some of the genetic bases for faster egg maturation, a higher rate of energy metabolism, and superior flight ability — traits that provide an advantage to butterflies that stray from familiar territory to found new populations in previously unoccupied habitat patches. The results have potentially broad importance because they show how natural selection may act in species that occupy spatially distinct habitat patches.
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Posted in Evolution at 11:44 am by nemo
Spiders Target Mate-Luring Signals from ‘Vibrating’ InsectsScienceDaily (Mar. 30, 2011) — Insects using vibration to attract a mate are at risk of being eaten alive by killer spiders, Cardiff University scientists have discovered.
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Posted in General at 11:41 am by nemo
Published on Thursday, March 31, 2011 by CommonDreams.org
A Primer on Class Struggleby Michael Schwalbe
When we study Marx in my graduate social theory course, it never fails that at least one student will say (approximately), “Class struggle didn’t escalate in the way Marx expected. In modern capitalist societies class struggle has disappeared. So isn’t it clear that Marx was wrong and his ideas are of little value today?”
I respond by challenging the premise that class struggle has disappeared. On the contrary, I say that class struggle is going on all the time in every major institution of society. One just has to learn how to recognize it.
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Posted in General at 11:39 am by nemo
http://www.marxreloaded.com/
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:38 am by nemo
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS): Hundreds of Scientists Denounce Congress’ Attempt to Undermine Endangered Species Act
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/03/30-9
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:37 am by nemo
Friends of the Earth: Obama Doubles Down on Dirty Energy, Continues to Call Nukes ‘Clean,’ Ignores Clean Air Act
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/03/30-7
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:36 am by nemo
Tim Karr: Censorship: Made in the USA
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/30-1
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:35 am by nemo
Celia Chazelle: How to Waste Money and Lives: The American Prison System
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/30-9
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:34 am by nemo
Malalai Joya: Kill Teams in Afghanistan: The Truth
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/30-3
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:34 am by nemo
Robert Scheer: Obama’s Fatal Corporate Addiction
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/30
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:33 am by nemo
Hilda Solis: Defending Working People in 2011
http://www.commondreams.org/video/2011/03/30
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:33 am by nemo
Radiation Rises in Seawater Near Fukushima Plant
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/03/30-0
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:32 am by nemo
Appeals Court Makes It Easier for Gov’t to Hold Gitmo Detainees
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/03/30
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:31 am by nemo
BP Gulf Disaster Impact Could Be Much Worse Than Expected
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/03/30-1
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:30 am by nemo
Libya: Barack Obama ‘Signed Secret Order Allowing Covert Operations’
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/03/30-4
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03.30.11
Posted in General at 12:42 pm by nemo
The question of evolution has been so confused by bad theory that it can help to forget theory and look only at evolutionary sequences. It will become obvious that natural selection theory is a crutch used to avoid those observations.
In fact, really observing evolution is very hard, perhaps almost impossible. We can see enough to conclude that evolution occurred, but not always, or ever, enough to figure out how it really happened and why.
Here the study of history can be a reality check: it is the only real chronicle/record we have.
What does it tell us about evolution?
History and Evolution
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Posted in General at 12:37 pm by nemo
Why is resistance to evolution so strong among science teachers?
I am not eager to jump to conclusions about such sociological questions, but let me guess that in general the public is fed up with reductionist Darwinism. Now it may be that the center of gravity of this feeling is religion, and the induced efforts to promote religious tradition. But, whatever the case, the confusion created by Darwinism makes people resist.
I am a science fan, but a Darwin critic who thinks Darwinism isn’t science. If I were a high school science teacher I would therefore have a dilemma. I wouldn’t want to teach Darwinism. I would be eager to teach the general facts of evolution. But the influence of Darwinism on young scientists would be something I would resist.
Given the current environment of science idiots and Darwinian worse than idiots I might well despair and advise students to study literature and the humanities. There are plenty of smart idiots who can handle the tech questions. The science brainwashing is an ugly personality trait, but as techno-morons we can live with it.
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Posted in General at 12:18 pm by nemo
Catching Cancer With Carbon Nanotubes: New Device to Test Blood Can Spot Cancer Cells, HIV on the Fly
ScienceDaily (Mar. 30, 2011) — A Harvard bioengineer and an MIT aeronautical engineer have created a new device that can detect single cancer cells in a blood sample, potentially allowing doctors to quickly determine whether cancer has spread from its original site.
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Posted in Evolution at 12:17 pm by nemo
Like Products, Plants Wait for Optimal Configuration Before Market SuccessScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2011) — An international research team led by Brown University has amassed the largest evolutionary tree (phylogeny) for plants. It has learned that major groups of plants tinker with their design and performance before rapidly spinning off new species. The finding upends long-held thinking that plants’ speciation rates are tied to the first development of a new physical trait or mechanism.
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Posted in General at 12:15 pm by nemo
Deciphering Hidden Code Reveals Brain ActivityScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2011) — By combining sophisticated mathematical techniques more commonly used by spies instead of scientists with the power and versatility of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a Penn neurologist has developed a new approach for studying the inner workings of the brain. A hidden pattern is encoded in the seemingly random order of things presented to a human subject, which the brain reveals when observed with fMRI.
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