• "two places of mind"

    as i post many times and see/find few who connect/adjacentize image with my posts...

    anyway i have come to the conclusion of "two places of the mind"and for us to agree or walk or talk a time together we must be in the same place...

    now i know, i am not a brilliantly educated person, but i lean upon visions an dreams i see coupled to words ...

    my point is, as i read and watch "the happenin's" in the world i see this great division!...

    an ta cop some words from some guy name henry davie thoreau who said something as "there are a thousand hacking at the branches to one striking the root!"...

    now i wonder where the minds of this board will go when reading this!... i know where mine is!... image

  • Darwin Film (Creation) distributed in US


    A certain Forum which fancies itself competent to discuss Darwin, Bowler and Osborn is still prattling on and on about the film "Creation", which initially had no US distributor.  But two months ago it was announced that Newmarket had signed a deal and is distributing the film in the US.  This was an attempt by the producer to manufacture controversy over a mediocre film in an attempt to boost sales.

    As usual, Science and Religion brings you the up-to-date, accurate information on the world of science and relgion.


    http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/09/24/newmarket-to-distribute-creation/


  • Quietest sun, and yet best propagation!

    Hi,

    I run a school radio club, and we call on 14 MHz at around 13:30z every Wednesday, on an indoor dipole.

    Since September, conditions have been quite poor for us, but this week we heard some great S9 signals from Europe and even managed to work a few.

    What's happened to the link between solar activity and F2 propagation?!

    73,
    Dan GD0VIK / MT0GLK

  • Latest Update


    Hello All.

    The solar disc as been spotless for the last 5 days. The two plage regions are rotating over the west limb.
    Other than a sunspot group emeraging on the solar disc the Sun looks set to be spotless for some days. There is no activity on or near the east limb.

    73s de Neil, G0CAS.


  • movies

    aa

  • Bio's


    What happened to my bio and the pic you used on it?

    Catherine

  • Science and Art

    It has always been my contention that there is a strong connection, at times, between Art and Science.  It is clear that at times the canvas is to the artist what the laboratory is to the scientist.  So I was delighted to see an oblique reference to this in btwgf's eSkeptic.  Here is Michael Shermer:

    The Starry Night is awe-inspiring art, but it is the product of centuries of scientific discovery, coming after Nicolaus Copernicus displaced us from the center of the cosmos; after Johannes Kepler discovered the laws of planetary motion; after Galileo Galilei discovered the moons of Jupiter, mountains on the moon, and sunspots; after Isaac Newton united celestial and terrestrial physics; and after Charles Darwin put us in our proper place in nature’s ancestry. No one, especially an emotionally volatile impressionist painter like Van Gogh, could look up at the night sky and not be daunted by the vastness of the minuscule portion of the galaxy we can observe from Earth (about 2,500 out of the approximately 100 billion stars in the Milky Way).

    Van Gogh painted the conflict between body and soul, between objective and subjective, and between outer and inner experiences. As he told his brother Theo: “I retain from nature a certain sequence and a certain correctness in placing my tones. I study nature so as not to do foolish things — however, I don’t mind so much whether my color corresponds exactly, as long as it looks beautiful on the canvas.” In fact, Van Gogh described The Starry Night to his brother “as an attempt to reach a religious viewpoint without God.” Read spiritual for religious.

    As magical as The Starry Night is, Van Gogh painted it decades before astronomer Edwin Hubble expanded our universe by orders of magnitude through his observations from the 100-inch telescope atop Mount Wilson in Southern California. On October 6, 1923, Hubble first realized that the fuzzy patches he was observing were not “nebulae” within the Milky Way galaxy, but were, in fact, separate galaxies, and that the universe is bigger than anyone imagined. He subsequently discovered through this same telescope that those galaxies are all red-shifted — their light is receding from us, and thus stretched toward the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum — meaning that all galaxies are expanding away from one another, the result of a spectacular explosion that marked the birth of the universe. It was the first empirical data indicating that the universe has a beginning, and thus is not eternal. What could be more awe-inspiring — more numinous, magical, spiritual — than this cosmic visage? Darwin and the geologists gave us deep time. Hubble and the astronomers gave us deep space.


    Michael Shermer



    http://www.michaelshermer.com/2005/06/why-i-am-an-atheist/

  • What's That Sound

    Your Score : 85 credits
    You're an extreme sci-fi geek! You're probably wearing your very own homemade TRON costume right now!

    Take the Sci fi sounds quiz I received 85 credits on the
    The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz

    How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you?

  • Evolution of Things

    Some are funny, some are unfunny, some are just ok.
     
     
     
     

    Pictures illustrating how humans, technology, and all sorts of things -- progress by their next generation...

    http://www.dailycognition.com/index.php/2009/10/24/evolution-of-things.html

  • Darwin in popular culture

    So as to clean up Anthropal's thread, where he is trying to develop an argument, I'm moving some of my posts here.

    Interestingly enough, some of our misconceptions about Charles Darwin were corrected when he was encountered in the Galapagos Islands by Dr. Who:


    SOURCE

     

  • Misconceptions on Darwin.

    For reasons strange and unknown, this was addressed to me personally on a forum I cannot join. It appears that the gentleman in question wants a debate, but doesn't know how to join this forum, but here is his premise. The topic of course is exactly what this forum is about; showing people misconceptions about evolution, and the one most famous for developing the theory of the majore mechanism whereby it is driven.

    Here is what is being addressed to me elsewhere:-
    Rona I am bumping this for AP to read, he is under the illusional misconception that you and all of us didn`t know what Darwin was about. We can read that you pointed out he only turned Atheist when his daughter died.  You never said on this board anywhere, that I can read, that he never originally believed in a creator at any point, but those fundy militant neo darwinists under their new leader Dawkins and hard boiled like AP they have to misrepresent us here as being (wait for it..) Fundamentalist`s Creationists , stone the crows! devil
     
    Sol

  • Really really cheap lift bags

    Instead of huge lift bladders, I propose using 150 smaller lift bags. The food industry has some gas-resistant product bags that are awesome at keeping oxygen and moisture in or out of a package.

      Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day and I noticed the bag for my StoveTop Stuffing had kept the contents exceedingly dry and flavorful. It was a three-layer bag; paper, aluminum foil and plastic film.

       Makers of food packaging film can probably supply this film retail. Maybe in bag form with three sides already closed, in which case we can insert a filling valve and seal the other end.  Faster, easier and cheaper than sewing big lift bladders.

    Also safer against leaks and blowouts, since you've got a hundred and fifty bags supporting you rather than just two or four. The ship could never go too far above pressure ceiling because one by one, the bags would start popping and lowering the ship to below pressure altitude so it could safely fly away.

    Pack your bags. Your lift bags, that is.

  • hydrogen

    hydrogen is the litest gas in the universe

     


    science boy

  • reg-medicine prescription.

    As we all know that we don't have any council to regulate our independent practice, in this situation, up to what extent we can prescribe medicine to patient who  needs a urgent treaatment. or we should ask the patient to consult a opthalmologist for the  pharmacological treatment which may leads to worsening of eye condition, even in a simple bacterial infection.
                                         this is a very common problem what i am facing in my practice,  the nearest hospital is about 250 km away, rural people usually avoid to spending two hundred rupees for transpotation  & consultation charges to get a antibiotic or antiviral medicine or worth rs. 50 or 60.  Let the people to loose his eye shight, this is how optometrist is serving the people....


  • Philosophy and Paleontology: Lack of a Critique


    Rona started a thread on her Forum, begining with a couple of quotations, the main one of which was this:

    ******************************* 

    Peter Bowler states the problem in his book The Eclipse of Darwinism on paleontologists and the followers of Darwinism showing their interpretations of findings being bias[ed] and influenced by indeed their own philisophical darwinian idealisms which led Bowler to ask

    "what motivation could have led them to ignore the possiblility of concealed irregularites and to arrange the limited number of specimens in their possession into neat regular patterns? "
     
    ******************************* 
     
    I replied to Rona, critical of her citation of Henry Fairfield Osborn as somehow representing mainstream evolutionary thought, but apparently she couldn't follow that discussion, likely because she didn't understand who Osborn was, and where he fit into the history of evolutionary biology and paleontology. Once she realized that she had a member on her Forum who knew paleontology and the philosophy of science, she quickly banned me so that I would't confuse her or her clients with facts.  And then she and Tunisia, especially, continued the discussion, berating me for not addressing this, or ignoring that, as though I were still a member, but knowing all the while that the reason I could neither reply nor respond was that she had banned me.

    So now I turn to her first quotation, and the topic of her OP.
     
    That, of course is no critique, but as quoted and used by Rona, is simply an assertion.  As a working paleontologist, I certainly do not ignore any irregularities, although one has to wonder how one would recognize a concealed irregularity of it were concealed?  Concealed by whom?  God?  Or by the paleontologists?  And the regular patterns into which I arrange my specimens, called a phylogeny,  are anything but neat.  They are bushy and filled with the irrecularities of fossilization, discovery, recovery, identification, preparation and analysis.  But Rona doesn't provide an example, so we don't know what she (or Bowler) meant by "concealed irregularities.

    Our sample of specimens is certainly limited, since it is not infinite.  But, as an example, the group I work on, the North American fossil pronghorn, is represented by tens of thousands, perhaps as much as 100,000 fossil specimens including hundreds of complete skulls, dozens of complete skeletons and tens of thousands of isolated bones and teeth.

    Over the 10 or 15 years which I have been participating in Internet discussions, I have offered dozens of times to discuss the fossil record in detail with any Creationist who wanted to.  This offer always followed a claim that the fossil evidence was inadequate, non-existent or misinterpreted.  I have offered to let the Creationist pick the group of animals we discuss.  In all that time, I have never had a single Creationist accept the offer.  Not one.  But I will make it again:  Rona, Tunisia, Sol or Poseidon, if you'd like to make the claim that there is something wrong with paleontology, then give an example, and let's discuss it.

    The discussion can happen either here in Science and Religion (not Science or Relgion as you've called it), or it can happen on your own Forum.  But not on both.  You either join here, and receive the civil greeting that I already demonstrated you would receive by joining the faux-Poseidon, or you allow us to join your website, provided that you can create the same atmosphere there.

    Are you up to the task?

    Rich

  • Inheritance: Chromosomes - how they fit together with DNA

    Chromosomes

    Cells, whether through meiosis or mitosis, share genetic information through chromosomes. Chromosomes are the package for DNA and genes. A living organism has roughly 5 feet or 1.5 meters of compacted DNA within it's nucleus. To contain the DNA within the nucleus of a cell, the genetic information is wound up into strands like coiled rope. These strands take the shape of X's. Each place on a chromosome holds genetic information which pertains to the expression of a trait. The genetic information a chromosome holds, or one piece of genetic information a chromosome can hold, is known as a gene. An allele is a point or place on a chromosome. The locus is a place on a specific chromosome where a gene is found.


    http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/biology/evolution/genetics/dna.html



  • how

    how do you send videos

  • Combating Energy Deficit



    The World energy research was set up to promote the energy sector and enable the investors to discover the prospects in the sector. It has a wide network of clients, working together in taking the world towards energy independence. The organization partners with the leading energy companies to bring to the market productive projects that can lead to a future that is free from energy problems.










    There is a huge energy deficit the world is undergoing presently. The energy sources like fossil fuels are getting scarce with every minute. This has led to sky-rocketing prices of these energy sources. There is also an urgent need for renewable energy sources.











    Investment in the sector has risen in recent times. Last year, it was whopping 155 billion dollars, indicating that people are awakening to the current energy crisis. This investment is further expected to grow as the need for the energy grows, which is predicted to grow by 40% in the coming years. As this energy demand further grows, the investments are also increasing fast.




  • M1

    Hola,

    Aquesta és la segona foto que vaig fer el divendres passat. Sembla que aquest és un objecte molt agrait, doncs a les hores que la vaig fer el cel ja s'havia apagat bastant per l'entrada de núbols alts i tot i així he pogut rescatar una bona porció de senyal. Suposo que amb millors condicions es pot arribar a treure molt mes detall.

    39x5' a ISO 800 amb el Newton 200/1000
    El camb està retallat per donar-li mes protagonisme a l'objecte.

    Cliqueu la foto per veure mes gran.

    Salut,
    Sergi


  • Четвъртък, 3 декември


    Четвъртък, 03 декември, от 19 пак до когато издържим.

  • Репетицийка


    В понеделник, 30.11, от 19 часа до когато издържим.

  • The Modern Entomologist

    I got a big kick out of this.  I found it on Mark Isaak’s homepage (he’s the author of The Counter-Creationism Handbook).  I think it’s supposed to be sung to the tune of "The Pirates of Penzance."  Let me know if I’m wrong.
     

          The Modern Entomologist
                                             by Mark Isaak
                        with apologies to Gilbert & Sullivan



    I am the very model of a modern entomologist.
    I've information useful to a tropical biologist.
    I've studied which antennal parts of silverfish are muscular
    And know quite well exactly which mosquitoes are crepuscular.
    I scan the forest canopy in search of lepidoptera
    And burrow beneath rotting logs for certain coleoptera.
    I've mapped the complex passageways that termites always scurry in
    And studied insect evolution back to the Silurian.
    I know the economic consequences of herbivory
    And all the different methods used for pesticide delivery.
    In short, in matters vital to a tropical biologist,
    I am the very model of a modern entomologist.

    I watch as ants patrol the tunnels of their nests incessantly;
    Some fireflies I have seen conversing bioluminescently.
    I'll tell you gruesome stories of Mantodea ferocity
    And quote you the statistics of Neuroptera velocity.
    And then I've catalogued the major vectors of malaria
    And listed all the earwigs in the Indonesian area.
    I've analyzed the noises of the cricket and the katydid.
    (The ones from Costa Rica made a sound like those from Haiti did.)
    I've checked how mayfly populations vary with humidity
    And double-checked all E. O. Wilson's theories for validity.
    In short, in matters vital to a tropical biologist,
    I am the very model of a modern entomologist.

    In fact, when I know dragonflies from abdomen to mandible;
    When I find aphids, fleas, and lice completely understandable;
    When I have skill with killing jars and nets and other gimmickry;
    And when I know minutiae of camouflage and mimicry;
    When I have very detailed observations of a myriad
    Of locusts reproducing in a seventeen year period;
    When I know how cockroaches grow from instar to maturity--
    My papers (when I write them) won't be destined for obscurity.
    Although I've studied insects, and in all their great diversity,
    I've yet to get my tenure at a major university,
    But still, in matters vital to a tropical biologist,
    I am the very model of a modern entomologist.

    Back to Mark Isaak's home page


  • Should Creationism/Intelligent design be taught in schools

    Why not?  I doubt if anyone would object to is being taught in the history of religion as an option somewhere.  I would not care and I doubt if anyone would care.  Evolutionists (neo -Darwinian or otherwise) would be unlikely to object.  Can't imagine Atheists objecting as long as they got their share as well.

    What you cannot do is teach Creationism or Intelligent design in the Science Classroom.  

  • eSkeptic - November 25th, 2009

    And now, a word from our sponsor.
     
     

    Wednesday, November 25th, 2009  |  ISSN 1556-5696 

    Read this eSkeptic in full splendor at
    www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/09-11-25 


    ON NOW THRU SUNDAY!

    From now thru Sunday, we are having our  best sale of the year  centered around the national BLACK FRIDAY sale. For  5 days only, everyone will save  25% off everything in the store including: books, DVDs, CDs, subscriptions, swag, and back issues of Skeptic.

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    All orders placed between Wednesday, November 25 and Sunday, November 29, 2009 will be discounted by 25%. Sale ends at midnight Pacific Standard Time, November 29, 2009.


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    Spread a little skeptic cheer this year! Giving gifts on December 25, Sir Isaac Newton’s birthday, has long been a tradition amongst skeptics, so here are a few gems we’ve hand-selected from our catalogue that we think your friends and family will enjoy receiving (it’s okay to buy yourself a gift too!).

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  • New PIRG forum

    Any takers on this one?

  • HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL...

    Hopefully everyone has a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving and gets all stuffed with goodies and then hit those Black Friday Sales Carefully and Safely Please!
    Though I won't be out in force on Black Friday I plan to be in Bed most of the holiday Weekend after I have made the Thanksgiving meal.. :)
    Relaxing and recuperating from all the cooking! LOL
    So everyone have a great one! And hopefully soon the forum will be booming again I miss everyone on here :)

  • Thanksgiving Dinner At My House

    Thanksgiving Dinner


    Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving. I'm telling you in advance, so don't act surprised. Since Ms. Stewart won't be coming, I've made a few small changes:

    - Our sidewalk will not be lined with homemade, paper bag luminaries.

    - After a trial run, it was decided that no matter how cleverly done, rows of flaming lunch sacks do not have the desired welcoming effect.

    - Once inside, our guests will note that the entry hall is not decorated with the swags of Indian corn and fall foliage I had planned to make.

    - Instead, I've gotten the kids involved in the decorating by having them track in colorful autumn leaves from the front yard. The mud was their idea.

    - The dining table will not be covered with expensive linens, fancy china, or crystal goblets. If possible, we will use dishes that match and everyone will get a fork. Since this IS thanksgiving, we will refrain from using the plastic Peter Rabbit plate and the Santa napkins from last Christmas.

    - Our centerpiece will not be the tower of fresh fruit and flowers that I promised. Instead we will be displaying a hedgehog-like decoration hand-crafted from the finest construction paper. The artist assures me it is a turkey.

    - We will be dining fashionably late. The children will entertain you while you wait. I'm sure they will be happy to share every choice comment I have made regarding Thanksgiving, pilgrims and the turkey hotline.

    - Please remember that most of these comments were made at 5:00 a.m. upon discovering that the turkey was still hard enough to cut diamonds.

    - As accompaniment to the children's recital, I will play a recording of tribal drumming. If the children should mention that I don't own a recording of tribal drumming, or that tribal drumming sounds suspiciously like a frozen turkey in a clothes dryer, ignore them. They are lying.

    - We toyed with the idea of ringing a dainty silver bell to announce the start of our feast. In the end, we chose to keep our traditional method.

    - We've also decided against a formal seating arrangement. When the smoke alarm sounds, please gather around the table and sit where you like. In the spirit of harmony, we will ask the children to sit at a separate table. In a separate room. Next door.

    - Now, I know you have all seen pictures of one person carving a turkey in front of a crowd of appreciative onlookers. This will not be happening at our dinner. For safety reasons, the turkey will be carved in a private ceremony. I stress "private" meaning: Do not, under any circumstances, enter the kitchen to laugh at me. Do not send small, unsuspecting children to check on my progress. I have an electric knife. The turkey is unarmed.

    - It stands to reason that I will eventually win. When I do, we will eat.

    - I would like to take this opportunity to remind my young diners that "passing the rolls" is not a football play. Nor is it a request to bean your sister in the head with warm tasty bread. Oh, and one reminder for the adults: For the duration of the meal, and especially while in the presence of young diners, we will refer to the giblet gravy by its lesser-known name: Cheese Sauce. If a young diner questions you regarding the origins or type of Cheese Sauce, plead ignorance.

    - Before I forget, there is one last change. Instead of offering a choice between 12 different scrumptious desserts, we will be serving the traditional pumpkin pie, garnished with whipped cream and small fingerprints. You will still have a choice; take it or leave it. Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving. She probably won't come next year either. I am thankful.

  • Sea roach zapper ......making dinner humane

    The Crustastun – World’s first Humane Electronic Crustacean Stunner

    A revolutionary system
    For the first time ever a humane, simple and effective way to stun and kill shellfish prior to cooking.

     
     
       http://crustastun.com/



    Ps: I know the two are not related.

  • i stepping into deep waters

    cause i only have a little knowledge in this parallal dimension stuff start with, "if there are infinite dimensions of our dimension and the they do not play out the same scenario" it would seem to me that truth must be an entity and really has nothing to do with natural born people, places, things, answers or actions?...  neutral
    'n please if possible "KISS"


  • A question for EVERYONE

    A very hot, hot button topic lately, among members of the group, has been orbs. We're still really trying to decide if they are in fact paranormal in nature or not. So, my question to all of you is this. What is your thoughts on the orb phenomenon? Are they really spiritual in nature, or are they in fact nothing more than dust and moisture in the air? Everyone PLEASE feel free to voice whatever opinion you have on the subject. Remember, in this field, no one is right, and no one is wrong.


    Unless you disagree with me grin

    Just kidding.

  • Sagrada Lluna

    Avui la Lluna estava molt maca amb Júpiter a la vora:

    Un detall:

    I un intent d'HDR que mai em queda massa be:

    Amb la 350D i el 70-200 des del terrat de casa evitant a la veïna
    devil

  • Community Announcement from hashim

    You should join me on this website earth1.lafora.com but no www.- this is a kids facebook.i need lots of science and i need you to help me make all that science i only have my famly on it how much 4

    famly members so please join this kids facebook

  • МАНГИЗИ !!!

    Трябва да съберем мангизите за този месец. Всяакви финансови дарения са добредошли за Бездната, помнете че Дяволът има нужда от вашите пари !!!

  • NGC7331 i quintet d'Stephan

    Hola,

    Aquesta foto és del divendres passat a Rasos. De 20:00 a 2:00h del matí va estar raonablement bé, amb bandes de núbols alts però no eran molt densos.
    Quan muntava la càmara vaig trencar una aleta del ventilador del refrigerador i introduia una vibració molt gran a partir d'aquell moment, així que vaig treballar amb la refrigeració a mitja potència per baixar la vibració. Dades de la foto:

    57x5' a ISO 800 amb la 350D a -5ºC i el Newton 200/1000
    calibrades amb darks, flats i darkflats

    Cliqueu a la foto per veure-la mes gran.

    Salut,
    Sergi

  • Judgements about Science


    On another thread Rich has raised an interesting  point when he writes:


    "Usher's work was anything but nonsense - in fact it was among the finest science of its day.  The good Bishop attempted to use the Bible to provide a date by meticulously following the "begats" backward in time."


    The point to be remembered here is that as a work Science  the analysis of Bishop Ussher  (1581- 1656) should be judged in the context of its times.  He was writing in the early 17th century, before Darwin (1809 -1882) and before Lyell (1797 - 1875), and was trying to see what the Bible had to say about the age of the Earth.  There is no question that this piece of analysis is meticulously carried out with the best Science of its day.  Nevertheless it is utter and glorious nonsense.   But that is no reflection on either Ussher or the work itself.

    The point to be made here a very important one.  In all Science you cannot judge the work itself outside the context of its time.  You cannot judge Ussher in terms of what we know now, any more than you can judge Newton and his laws of motion in terms of what we know now of Einsteinian relativity.

  • Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails)

    Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails)

    Price: $21.95  

    Authors: Matt Young and Paul K Strode
    Subject: Science
    Paper
    ISBN: 978-0-8135-4550-9
    Cloth
    ISBN: 978-0-8135-4549-3
    Pages: 224 pages
    Publication Date: June 2009


    Praise for Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails)

    "Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails) delivers on the promise of its title. Deploying a host of fascinating examples, Young and Strode provide a lucid and lively introduction to the successes of evolution and the failures of creationism." —Glenn Branch, National Center for Science Education

    "Of similar books I have seen on this subject, this one is the best. Its discussions of evolution and refutation of creationism are clear, concise, and powerful. Matt Young and Paul Strode offer a unique, introductory-level book for students, scientists, or anyone who is open to thinking about the topic."—Alan D. Gishlick, Gustavus Adolphus College

    “In this superb overview, Young and Strode tackle the most vexing issues in the public’s understanding of biological evolution and earth history. With clear, readable text, Young and Strode detail requisite concepts while providing a conversational response to creationists’ objections to evolution, which are frequently based on profound misunderstandings of how science works. Young and Strode provide a thorough explanation of the concept of biological fitness, showing that evolution, hardly random, is a process of interaction between organisms and the environment. They also take a good look at creationism, using the publications of prominent believers to show that it’s a movement divided against itself. Much of this work developed from Strode’s teaching experience, and it may be the best book yet written for teaching citizens what science really does, and what religion really is in relation."Publishers Weekly, starred review



    Description: Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails) is an impassioned argument in favor of science—primarily the theory of evolution—and against creationism. Why impassioned? Should not scientists be dispassionate in their work? “Perhaps,” write the authors, “but it is impossible to remain neutral when our most successful scientific theories are under attack, for religious and other reasons, by laypeople and even some scientists who willfully distort scientific findings and use them for their own purposes.”

    Focusing on what other books omit, how science works and how pseudoscience works, Matt Young and Paul K. Strode demonstrate the futility of “scientific” creationism. They debunk the notion of intelligent design and other arguments that show evolution could not have produced life in its present form.

    Concluding with a frank discussion of science and religion, Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails) argues that science by no means excludes religion, though it ought tocast doubt on certain religious claims that are contrary to known scientific fact.


    About the Authors: Matt Young is a senior lecturer in the department of physics at the Colorado School of Mines. A prolific writer, he is the coauthor of Why Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientific Critique of the New Creationism (Rutgers University Press).

    Paul K. Strode is a biology teacher in Boulder, Colorado, and an instructor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, with a doctoral degree in ecology and environmental science.




    Price:
     $21.95 

  • ORGANizing the Project ;-]

    Collaborating over the web is like herding cats. But let's try, even cats know when to come to dinner!

    Let's get a chat thing hapnin!

    I will be online, waiting to chat, on the 15th and 30th of every month, at 6 p.m. ESTime, SHARP! using using the free Yahoo Messenger chat program. http://messenger.yahoo.com/

    My contact name is allen_meece. Put me on your chat contact now, so we'll know when another "small blimper" is online at the same time other than the 15 and 30th.

    Everybody, sign in and put your Yahoo contact name in this topic now, so We can organize the chat circle.

    Pack your bags, we're flyin'

  • Понеделник

    23.11 
    От 16:30 часа - Vox Populi или Вселенски враг... 
    ...~3 часа.

  • Did Darwin Kill God?

    Not really.   The main stream religions welcomed evolution and never took Genesis literally.  It was the American Fundamentalists who did, and it was they who objected to evolution.  And from this side of the world it is very puzzling.  Here is the blurb of a Sydney TV programme just shown a few minutes ago:

    2 November 2009 22:10

    Did Darwin Kill God?

    150 years after the publication of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” British philosopher and theologian Dr Conor Cunningham argues it’s possible to be a Christian and accept the theory of evolution… He says when Darwin’s theory was first published in Britain it was welcomed by both the Anglican and Catholic Churches. He claims the conflict between Darwin and God was manufactured by American creationists in the 20th century for political and moral reasons. Finally, he talks to some of the world’s eminent evolutionary biologists, geneticists and philosophers to examine whether the latest advances in evolutionary theory do in fact kill God

  • condensed thoughts on demonic "evolution"

    I feel the need to add a disclaimer before this post, since some people may interpret this thesis as slightly controversial. In no way is this meant to be confrontational, inflammatory, or insulting. This is just a matter of my having studied certain aspects in the paranormal field, and drawing my own conclusions. In no way does this paper necessarily reflect the views on the Maine Ghost Hunters Society, or any other members.

    Most people are familiar with the story of Lucifer and his expulsion from Heaven; many people are unaware that there is a book, which was at one point included in the Bible, which tells an alternative story about fallen Angels. The Book of Enoch tells the story of Azazael, and a different set of fallen angels. There are quite a few parallels between the two stories, but quite a few differences, which will be examined, as well as the similarities.

                In a nutshell, because of limited space, Lucifer led a rebellion against God, because of his disdain for the human race. He refused to bow down to a species that he felt was inferior to that of his own, and began a war to overthrow God. Azazael on the other hand, led a much more subtle and almost tragic dissent. Azazael was the leader of a group of rebel angels, numbered at a third of all the angels in Heaven, who were called watchers. It was their primary function to watch the goings on upon the earth, and not interfere with what they saw. But, this is not a happy story. Azazael and many of the other angels became infatuated with the “daughters of man”, and began to lust for them. So, they descended upon the earth, and made a pact, that they would willingly forsake their creator, and home in paradise, to “possess” these women. In fact, there has been a tradition of women wearing hats in church, so that the “power they shall not possess over the angels.”

    It was in fact, according to Enoch, that these “fallen” were the creatures who began teaching mankind about war, greed, astrology, and other practices frowned upon by the Catholic Church. So, these “angels” came to earth, and had relations with women, who, of course, had offspring. These offspring were known as the Nephilim, and can be paralleled with the Titans in Greek theology. The rough translation form the Hebrew means giant. As the hybrid offspring of humans and the “fallen”, they were violent, and greedy. At some point, they even turned to cannibalism to sustain their voracious appetites. In fact, many cryptozoologists theorize that many creatures today, such as the Yeti, Bigfoot, Mothman, etc. are descendants of the Nephilim.

    So, if both these books happen to be taken as true history, is it possible that there are two species of “fallen angels”, and each demonic case can be analyzed by both modus operandi, and certain signatures (much like an F.B.I. profiler would when dealing with crime scenes), to deduce what species of demon is being dealt with.

    It would seem that “fallen angels” associated with Lucifer, would be of a more violent and spiteful case. Possession may not occur as often, given their hatred for the species. While “fallen angels” associated with Azazael would be more “adult” in nature, given the nature of their expulsion from Heaven, and I believe possession to be more likely because of their "fascination", if you will, with our species. Although, it would more likely be just as violent, since it's quite possible that the "watchers" have become bitter because of their banishment, although willing, and have come to blame us.

    Just a few random thoughts, their may be more to follow.

  • Evolution: Can it be both a fact and a theory?


    Here is a comment made on another Forum:


    "Sol I love (not) richw ....... answers.  One minute he  say`s evolution is a proven fact for the basis of his theory. But when it suits him...It's just a theory"
      In spite of being written almost unintelligibly, the basic objection seems to be that I referred to evolution as both a fact and a theory.  One would have thought that by now, even Creationiss would have "gotten" it - would have understood the difference between what is a fact, and what is a theory.  Almost every biologist who has written about evolution has had to carefully explain this, and you can find succinct explanations in the writtings of Gould, Mayr, Simpson, Collins, Dawkins, or almost anyone you care to read.  A quick google of "Evolution fact and theory" gives more than 2 million results.

    Willful ignorance, intellectual dishonesty, or perhaps just simple stupidity - thoase are the only sorts of explanations I can think of for such dullness.

    Evolution is a Fact and a Theory

    Evolution: Fact and Theory

    Evolution as Theory and Fact

    Fact and Theory

    Evolution: Fact or Theory?

    Evolution as Fact and Theory, by Stephen Jay Gould

    Not Just a Theory