Science and Religious Dogma

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ACA, altruism, animals, beliefs, birds, brain, cosmos, creationists, DNA, doctors, evolution, fossil, future, genetic mutation, god, godless, health, history, humanity, intelligence, judgments, law, letter, NDE, near death, obama, origins, personhood usa, religion, religious, right to life, sarah jelbert, science, segmentation, south carolina, TV, values, violence

Segmentation and Evolution 

I’m re blogging this video because I found it clear and interesting. Its 13 minutes long and worth watching. For anyone who has studied evolution, it is unlikely to present anything new, what it does do is explain the basics of body segments in a simply and easy to understand way.

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10 Surprising Facts About Animal Intelligence

Crows continue to demonstrate that they are very brainy birds. In fact, their intelligence can rival that of 7-year-olds. For example, a recent study published in PLoS ONE reported that crows completed an “Aesop’s fable paradigm” task, which required crows to drop stones into water to rise the water level so the hungry birds could obtain an out-of-reach reward. “Understanding causal regularities in the world is a key feature of human cognition,” lead author Sarah Jelbert, a researcher at Auckland University, and her team point out. Based on their findings then, crows share a sophisticated awareness of cause (not to mention caws) and effect possibilities that are on par with human skills. [Read more]

Transcending Our Origins – Violence, Humanity, and the Future

Some very special events are happening at Arizona State University this week starring several of your favorite scientists! On April 4, Arizona State University’s Origins Project, led by Lawrence Krauss of The Unbelievers fame, will celebrate it’s 5^th birthday with a party! Some of the most famous scientists in the works will be in attendance, including Richard Dawkins (the other Unbeliever), Steven Pinker, and many more. The gala will be held at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix and tickets are still available. [Read more]

A Short History of Evolution, Chapter 3: Deconstructing the Promethean Spark (Part 3)

Last week we discussed language, that revolutionary adaptation that most distinctively separates us from the rest of life on our planet. Today we discuss altruism, the quality of doing good for others even at some personal cost. Our remote ancestors learned to talk and learned to be altruistic toward other members of their group at about the same time, and it is doubtful that either could have succeeded without the other. [Read more]

Patients Can Now Choose Not to Know Their Own DNA Secrets

In 2030, Joe Johnson goes to the doctor with vision problems. The doctor does what doctors in 2030 do for almost any ailment: she runs a full scan of the patient’s genome. The test gives the doctor crucial information she needs to understand Joe’s troubles—and then some. When Joe gets his lab report back his doctor discovers Joe has about an 80 percent chance of developing colorectal cancer. She advises him to receive regular colonoscopies, since the screenings could catch polyps that would be the precursor to the cancer. But Joe does not relish facing years of colonoscopies, nor is it a sure thing that his genetic mutation will lead to cancer. [Read more]

Values of Godless Science: Modern Science Needs No Religion or Gods for Values

It is commonly claimed by both critics and supporters that modern science is value-free. This is false, though it is true that science lacks many of the values traditionally ascribed to religion and doesn’t make any value judgments about the use of scientific knowledge. On the other hand, the very ability of science to function as it does, and so successfully, is dependent upon a set of very important values. Some of those values are explained here. [Read more]

Near Death, Explained

In 1991, Atlanta-based singer and songwriter Pam Reynolds felt extremely dizzy, lost her ability to speak, and had difficulty moving her body. A CAT scan showed that she had a giant artery aneurysm—a grossly swollen blood vessel in the wall of her basilar artery, close to the brain stem. If it burst, which could happen at any moment, it would kill her. But the standard surgery to drain and repair it might kill her too. [Read more]

Health Law Undermines Religious Beliefs

President Barack Obama and Pope Francis stuck to mostly safe, common ground — primarily concern for the poor — when the two met last week. But the president did not escape the Vatican without being challenged about his Affordable Car Act’s affront to faith. [Read more]

Keeping Up With the Creationists Vol. I Issue 6: Cross About Cosmos

Yes, it’s been a while since Cosmos premiered, but the outraged cries of the creationists are always fun to revisit, or just savor for the first time. Make yourselves comfy: it’s going to be an awesome journey into the worlds of those who are really very upset that broadcast television had the audacity to feature real, unabashed science. [Read more]

The Little Girl and the Creationists

We wish this were a fable, but it’s not. It’s is a very revealing tale of how maniacal creationist legislators deal with the dream of a sweet 8 year-old girl. First we’ll give you some background from about a week ago. A Fox television station in Greenville, South Carolina reported SC 8-year-old girl pushes for official state fossil. They said that 8-year-old Olivia McConnell thought South Carolina should have a state fossil. She wrote letters to her state representative and state senator and gave them her reasons. [Read more]

A Time to Decide: Personhood USA’s Open Letter to National Right to Life

Contact: Keith Mason, President, Personhood USA, 202-595-3500; www.personhoodusa.com/press  

DENVER, March 31, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ — Keith Mason, President of Personhood USA
Personhood USA, releases the following letter and is available for comment:

“National Right to Life, What does it mean to be pro-life? Is it about protecting every innocent human being or about getting good marks on the NRLC scorecard?” [Read more]