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News:
2001 Archive

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December 30, 2001

Religion in the News

Life After Christmas
Quotations to stir the heart and mind after the Christmas season.
Compiled by Richard A. Kauffman. See http://christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/015/38.66.html

Is Islam a Religion of Peace?
The controversy reveals a struggle for the soul of Islam.
By James A. Beverley. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/001/1.32.html

A Many Splintered Thing
Though Muslims shared allegiance to Muhammad and to the Qur'an, Islam faced division as
soon as the prophet died. By James A. Beverley. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/001/43.38.html

Dead Sea Scrolls reveal real origins of Christianity
http://www.inq7.net/lif/2001/dec/25/text/lif_5-1-p.htm

The Search for the Biblical Jesus: The hard, technical, theological work on Christ was essentially a 400-year Bible study. A Christian History Interview with Thomas Oden. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ch/51h/51h042.html

Science in the News

Science's Top Ten: nanoscale computing circuits named top scientific advance of 2001
December 21, 2001 The journal Science, along with its publisher, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) named this year’s top scientific achievements in the December 21st issue. The big winner is molecular-scale circuits that link together tiny transistors, wires, and switches to carry out basic computing operations. The nanocircuits, named the Breakthrough of the Year by Science's editors, leads their list of the top ten scientific developments in 2001. See http://www.cosmiverse.com/science12210101.html

Best Bets for Hot News in 2002: As in the past, Science has chosen six hot topics to watch in 2002. This year, their choices include: U.S. stem cell research in private industry and abroad, the field of proteomics, the maiden voyage of several new telescopes, multifactorial diseases, optical clocks and fundamental constants, and visualizing complex molecules and biological interactions.

Creation/Evolution

PRIMITIVE MICROBE OFFERS MODEL FOR EVOLUTION OF ANIMALS
A microorganism whose evolutionary roots can be traced to the era of the first multicellular animals may provide a glimpse of how single-celled organisms made a critical evolutionary leap. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011218072534.htm

New Book: No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without
Intelligence. By William A. Dembski published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc

Anthropology/Archaeology

The Lost Ark of the Covenant. See http://tlc.discovery.com/tlcpages/ark/ark.html

The Bible Unearthed
http://www.middleeastwire.com/commentary/stories/20011227_1_meno.shtml

Astronomy

ALL-TERRAIN ROVERS MAY SCALE MARS' CLIFFS
NASA researchers are developing new prototype robots that can drive up steep hills and descend almost-vertical cliffs. Working alone or as a team, these autonomous robotic explorers may go where no rover has gone before -- the cliffs of Mars. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011220081817.htm

Quick-look data from our Mars Odyssey spacecraft reveals big hydrogen
deposits, possibly indicating extensive water ice. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011212/sc/space_mars_dc_2.html

HOT GALACTIC ARMS POINT TO VICIOUS CYCLE TRIGGERED BY BLACK HOLE
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has revealed the aftermath of a titanic explosion that wracked the elliptical galaxy known as NGC 4636. This eruption could be the latest episode in a cycle of violence triggered by gas falling into a central massive black hole. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011221082136.htm

Last Friday NASA selected two new Discovery missions: Dawn, which will orbit
the two largest asteroids in our solar system, and Kepler, a spaceborne telescope, which will search for Earth-like planets around nearby stars. There's an announcement at ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2001/01-254.txt , or you might like to check out Dawn at http://www-ssc.igpp.ucla.edu/dawn/ and Kepler at http://www.kepler.arc.nasa.gov/

Biology

Scientists Discover DNA Master Switch in Protein
December 24, 2001. Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found a new cellular protein that seems to be a crucial molecular component of a master switch that turns genes on and off. See http://www.cosmiverse.com/science12240104.html

JEFFERSON SCIENTISTS SUGGEST POTENTIAL MECHANISM UNDERLYING THE ORIGIN OF COLON CANCER
Researchers at Jefferson Medical College may have figured out one way in which a mutation in a gene thought to be responsible for colon cancer may actually cause the disease in the first place. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011217082450.htm

NEW PICTURE OF INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS THE OVERLOOKED ROLE OF VISUOSPATIAL ABILITIES
When we say that people know their way around, we really mean theyre smart. Now, psychologists have evidence that strong visuospatial skills and working memory may be at least as good as verbal skills and working memory as indicators of general intelligence. New research correlates visuospatial abilities, less extensively explored than verbal abilities in intelligence research, with the brains executive function, the central cognitive command and control that may lie at the heart of smarts. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011217082547.htm

PROTEIN STUDY SUGGESTS WAYS TO HELP HUMANS THWART VIRUSES
Scientists have unraveled a genetic anomaly that protects some mice from a common cancer-causing virus. The findings may help develop gene therapies that can be used to help humans defeat similar viruses, such as the human T-cell leukemia virus and the AIDS virus, says David A. Sanders, associate professor of biological sciences at Purdue University and lead author of the study. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011219062000.htm

BREAST CANCER RESEARCH MAY LEAD TO FEWER MASTECTOMIES
Women with breast cancer which fails to show up in routine scanning do not necessarily need a mastectomy to maximise their chances of survival, according to research by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011219062240.htm

STANFORD SPINE EXPERT OFFERS RELIEF FROM COMMON BACK PAIN
Indigestion isn't the only thing that may prevent Americans from enjoying holiday cheer during the next few weeks. According to the American Physical Therapy Association, the holiday season - and the over-eating, traveling and gift lugging that come with it - leads to a substantial jump in the number of people with back and neck pain. A procedure called nucleoplasty being performed at Stanford University Medical Center, however, may offer relief. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011219061901.htm

IBUPROFEN BLOCKS ASPIRINS ABILITY TO PROTECT AGAINST HEART ATTACKS; COMMON ARTHRITIS DRUGS CAN STOP ASPIRIN FROM THINNING THE BLOOD
The ibuprofen that you take to ease arthritis pain can counteract the aspirin that you take to protect your heart, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The researchers studied how aspirin, taken to prevent second heart attacks, interacts with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), a group of drugs that includes ibuprofen, commonly taken to treat rheumatoid arthritis. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011220081520.htm

STUDY FINDS DASH DIET AND REDUCED SODIUM LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE FOR ALL
The DASH diet plus reduced dietary sodium lowers blood pressure for all persons, according to the first detailed subgroup analysis of the DASH study results. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011220082349.htm

Earth Science

NEW STUDY SHOWS EARLY SIGNALS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN EARTH'S COLD REGIONS
Global mean temperatures have risen one degree Fahrenheit over the past 100 years, with more than half of the increase occurring in the last 25 years, according to University of Colorado at Boulder Senior Researcher Richard Armstrong. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011210163124.htm

GEOPHYSICIST STUDIES LIFE IN THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM
The early Earth may have been an interrupted Eden - a planet where life repeatedly evolved and diversified, only to be sent back to square one by asteroids 10 or 20 times wider than the one that hastened the dinosaurs' demise. When the surface of the Earth finally became inhabitable again, thousands of years after each asteroid impact, the survivors would have emerged from their hiding places and spread across the planet - until another asteroid struck and the whole cycle was repeated. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011217082959.htm

ANTARCTIC MUD REVEALS ANCIENT EVIDENCE OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
Scientists concerned about global warming are especially troubled by dramatic signs of climate change in Antarctica - from rapidly melting glaciers to unexplained declines in penguin populations. Records show that average winter temperatures are 10 degrees higher in parts of Antarctica today than they were 50 years ago. If that warming trend continues, say many climate experts, the vast Antarctic ice sheets could melt, causing catastrophic coastal flooding as the world`s oceans rise. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011219062844.htm

ON CALIFORNIA'S CHANNEL ISLANDS, NATIVE PREDATORS BECAME PREY WHEN FERAL PIGS REARRANGED THE FOOD WEB
Feral pigs have created ecological havoc in many parts of California, uprooting native plants and turning meadows into mudholes. But nowhere have their effects been as dramatic as on the Channel Islands, where they have caused a complete restructuring of the food web, threatening the native island fox with extinction. A team of biologists has now documented the remarkable extent to which the introduced pigs have disrupted the island ecosystem. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011219062351.htm

Physics

RELATIVISTIC HEAVY ION COLLIDER BEGINS COLLIDING HIGH-ENERGY POLARIZED PROTONS; EXPERIMENTS WILL PROBE SPIN STRUCTURE OF PROTONS AND THE NATURE OF THE STRONG FORCE
The newest and largest particle accelerator at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory is taking a break from recreating the conditions of the early universe to investigate another fundamental question that has puzzled physicists: Where do protons get their spin, a property of elementary particles as basic as mass and electrical charge? To begin to answer the question, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) has accelerated beams of polarized protons to the highest energy ever, and will begin colliding the beams this week. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011218073117.htm

WORLD'S SMALLEST ATOM STORAGE RING IS FIRST TO GUIDE ULTRA-COLD NEUTRAL ATOMS; A STEP TOWARD "ATOM FIBER OPTICS"
In a development that could lead to dramatic improvements in aircraft guidance systems and open new areas of study in basic physics, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated the first storage ring able to confine and guide the flow of ultra-cold neutral atoms in a circular path. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011219062506.htm

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON RESEARCH BOOSTS UNDERSTANDING OF HOW HYDROGEN TRANSFER WORKS
During the last 40 years, chemists have developed an understanding of how an electron transfers from one group to another to create new compounds. Now a team of University of Washington chemists has found that the same ideas apply to transferring a hydrogen atom an electron and a proton together. That understanding could prove important to scientists trying to devise new classes of chemical reactions. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011221081705.htm

IBM'S TEST-TUBE QUANTUM COMPUTER MAKES HISTORY; FIRST DEMONSTRATION OF SHOR'S HISTORIC FACTORING ALGORITHM
Scientists at IBM's Almaden Research Center have performed the world's most complicated quantum-computer calculation to date. They caused a billion billion custom-designed molecules in a test tube to become a seven-qubit quantum computer that solved a simple version of the mathematical problem at the heart of many of today's data-security cryptographic systems. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011220081620.htm

Zoology

RARE SQUID FOUND IN GULF OF MEXICO
Texas A&M University oceanographer William Sager spotted and photographed an unusual squid while investigating natural oil seeps deep in the Gulf of Mexico. The results of his serendipitous encounter will appear in the Dec. 21 edition of the prestigious research journal Science. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011221081841.htm

December 24, 2001

Religion in the News

Presidential Christmas Message
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011220-5.html

Books of the Year
The Top Ten: By John Wilson. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/151/11.0.html

Book Review: The Past as Legacy: Luke-Acts and Ancient Epic by Bonz, Marianne Palmer. See http://www.bookreviews.org/Reviews/0800632257.html

Are the Crouches thieves?
Christian apocalyptic fiction has been controversial for decades, but now it's spawning lawsuits. Tim LaHaye's lawsuit against the makers of Left Behind: The Movie is already old news. Now, reports the Los Angeles Times, Paul, Jan, and Matt Crouch and the whole Trinity Broadcasting Network are being sued for $40 million by the author of The Omega Syndrome. Sylvia Fleener, who the paper says "is on her deathbed and wants justice served before she passes," claims the Crouches stole from her book in the creation of their 1999 film The Omega Code. A settlement was reached out of court.

Religious reality TV? Oh, brother… Christian network plans "Big Brother" clone, only without prizes, evictions, and nudity (Sunday Times, South Africa).

Promise Keepers rally draws 14,000 Organization's first youth-oriented meeting designed to instill values in young men and culminate with their passage into manhood (Associated Press).

The Bible and the Lord of the Rings Compared
What makes 'The Lord of the Rings' such a great work? Both Tolkien and the Bible elude a reading that is historical or rigid, says one author. Both books ask not "What is real about this text?" but "What is true about this text?"

Poll: Are Near-Death Experiences for Real?
A new study of patients who flatlined before being resuscitated finds that biological factors can't explain why some report near-death experiences. Do NDEs prove anything?

Early Christians hid the origins of the Bethlehem star
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991713

Bill Gothard discussion group: See http://billgotharddiscussion.com/

Science in the News

Creation/Evolution

Old Earth or Young Earth?

Old Earth Evidences - by Hill Roberts
The Creation Date Controversy - by Dr. Hugh Ross - Addressing the "fears" of biblicists.
The Origins Solution - Some sound answers in the creation-evolution debate.
Christianity and Science Resource Center - Christianity is to be based on reality, facts and reason.
The "SCIENCE SPEAKS" newsletter - God speaks through His creation. Links from http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/8830/rewards.html

Darwinism Under Attack: View that 'intelligent force' shaped life attracts students and troubles scientists. By BETH MCMURTRIE. See http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i17/17a00801.htm

Stanford researchers develop system for field testing mechanisms of evolution. STANFORD, Calif. - Evolutionary biology has always faced a major hurdle - how to test a process that takes place over thousands, if not millions, of years. Researchers at Stanford University may have come up with a solution. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-12/sumc-srd122001.php

RESEARCHERS FIND CLOSEST LIVING RELATIVE OF FIRST LAND PLANTS
By studying gene sequences of common fresh water algae, a team of University of Maryland researchers, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) has identified a group of algae that are the closest living relatives of the first land plants. The scientists have moved a step closer to understanding how land plants evolved and came to dominate the terrestrial biosphere. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011214080951.htm

The Monkey in the Mirror: Essays on the Science of What Makes Us Human
by Ian Tattersall. New book at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0151005206/darwinanddarwini/

Anthropology/Archaeology

U.S. News: Biblical archaeology matters politically
Jeff Sheler, religion reporter for U.S. News & World Report, is no stranger to arguments over biblical archaeology. He's also the author of the 1999 book Is the Bible True? How Modern Debates and Discoveries Affirm the Essence of the Scriptures. Now, in this week's U.S. News cover story, Sheler gives an update on biblical archaeology, and examines how findings matter not just religiously, but politically. See http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/011224/ideas/24bible.htm

Archaeologists rewrite timeline of Bronze and Iron Ages, including
early appearance of alphabet: See http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Dec01/Carbon-14.bpf.html & Aegean Dendrochronology Project

Ancient civilizations shaken by quakes, say Stanford scientists
Stanford - Dec 17, 2001 - Archaeology sometimes raises more questions than it answers. How do you explain a city that bustled with activity one day only to be buried under feet of silt the next? Or walls that collapsed in an instant, crushing the people standing next to them? Or rows of heavy stone columns, all toppled in the same direction? See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earthquake-01g.html

Astronomy

Abiogenesis - Life on Earth may have got off to a sweet start nourished by sugar from space. The suggestion is based on the discovery of sugar in two meteorites that are billions of years old. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1719000/1719236.stm

JUPITER'S IO GENERATES POWER AND NOISE, BUT NO MAGNETIC FIELD
A great roar of acoustic waves near the north and south poles of Jupiter's moon Io shouts about the power of the volcanic moon. The wave data, new pictures and other information collected recently by NASA's Galileo spacecraft provide insight into what happens above Io's surface, at its colorful volcanoes and inside its hot belly. Scientists presented the findings Monday at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011211080022.htm

Biology

CHEMICAL ENGINEERS SUGGEST ALZHEIMER'S ONSET TIED TO CHOLESTEROL, BRAIN CHEMICALS
A group of unlikely Alzheimer's researchers -- chemical engineers in Texas A&M University's Dwight Look College of Engineering -- are developing new understanding of how the disease robs Alzheimer's sufferers of their memory and reason. They've also found hints of new ways to eventually prevent its onset. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011210072308.htm

STUDY IDENTIFIES NEW TREATMENT OPTION FOR HEART FAILURE PATIENTS
Final results of the Valsartan Heart Failure Trial (Val-HeFT) published in the Dec. 5 New England Journal of Medicine demonstrate that adding the angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) valsartan to prescribed therapy for patients with heart failure leads to significant, incremental improvements in symptoms and in outcomes. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011206073453.htm

NEW TECHNOLOGY TESTED AT STANFORD OFFERS UNIQUE VIEW INSIDE SMALL INTESTINES
Stanford researchers are the first in the Bay Area to test an ingestible, pill-sized camera that detects bleeding in the small intestine. The device, developed by Israel-based Given Imaging, Ltd., provides doctors their only glimpse inside this hard-to-view organ without invasive surgery. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011210072428.htm

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY SWITCH THAT CONTROLS AGING IN WORMS
Two University of Colorado at Boulder researchers working with GenoPlex Inc. in Denver have identified a biological switch that controls lifespan in tiny worms, a finding that could have applications for mammals, including people. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011210162845.htm

STUDY FINDS BRAIN'S REWARD AREAS ALSO ACTIVATED BY PAIN; IMAGING STUDY MAY LEAD TO IMPROVED DIAGNOSTIC, TREATMENT METHODS
The experiences of pain and pleasure have been described as the extreme ends of a continuum. Now a study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) supports that concept by finding that brain structures previously shown to react to rewarding experiences are also activated, although in distinctive ways, by pain. The result, which appears in the December 6 issue of Neuron, may lead to a better understanding of the effects of pain within the brain and eventually to new ways to diagnose and treat pain. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011206073539.htm

STUDY OF KEY ENZYME SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH AND MAY LEAD TO NEW DRUGS FOR REDUCING THE SEVERITY OF STROKE
Critical new data on a complex enzyme that lies at the crossroad between cell suicide and tumor suppression has opened a promising new front in the battle to find effective treatments for stroke and cancer. Scientists at Vanderbilt University and Northwestern University have determined the three-dimensional structure of a critical region of Death Associated Protein Kinase (DAPK) and created a quantitative assay capable of measuring its activity. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011210164654.htm

SCIENTISTS AWARDED PATENT FOR COAL-PURIFYING BACTERIA
Pushing the concept of "survival of the fittest" to the extreme, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed strains of bacteria able to live in harsh environments while chowing down on carbon-rich materials such as coal. The bacteria's digestive action removes potentially harmful pollutants, and could be used to yield more-efficient, cleaner-burning coal. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011213084238.htm

Earth Science

Geophysicist Studies Life In The Early Solar System
Stanford - Dec 17, 2001 - Between the cataclysmic impact that created the Moon around 4.5 billion years ago and the first evidence of life 3.8 billion years ago, there may have been long periods during which life repeatedly spread across the globe, only to be nearly annihilated by the impact of large asteroids. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01m.html

DROPLETS IN SALT CRYSTALS CONFIRM HISTORIC OCEAN CHANGES
Microscopic water droplets trapped inside ancient salt crystals have provided evidence supporting a radical theory that the chemical composition of Earth's oceans has changed over the past 500 million years. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011210163624.htm

METHANE EXPLOSION WARMED THE PREHISTORIC EARTH, POSSIBLE AGAIN
A tremendous release of methane gas frozen beneath the sea floor heated the Earth by up to 13 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius) 55 million years ago, a new NASA study confirms. NASA scientists used data from a computer simulation of the paleo-climate to better understand the role of methane in climate change. While most greenhouse gas studies focus on carbon dioxide, methane is 20 times more potent as a heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011210163439.htm

DEEPSEA CORES OFFER NEW CLUES TO EARTHQUAKE CYCLES
Off the country's Pacific coast, an undersea subduction zone stretches unseen from Canada's Vancouver Island to California's Cape Mendocino. This Cascadia subduction zone, long thought to be strangely dormant, presented an enigma to earthquake scientists. But now paleoseismologists - researchers who study ancient quakes - have put together clues that indicate the zone's fault was active as recently as 300 years ago. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011205065937.htm

RESEARCHERS INVESTIGATE MYSTERIES OF THE AFRICAN RIFT
The formation and evolution of the African Rift Valley are shaded in mystery, but geoscientists at Penn State are mapping the history of the Rift through space and time by analyzing the chemistry of ancient lava from Lake Turkana, northern Kenya. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011213084056.htm

Large Volcanic Eruptions Help Plants Absorb Co2
Greenbelt - Dec 17, 2001 - New NASA-funded research shows that when the atmosphere gets hazy, like it did after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines in June 1991, plants photosynthesize more efficiently, thereby absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/greenhouse-01za.html

THE SUN'S CHILLY IMPACT ON EARTH
A new NASA computer climate model reinforces the long-standing theory that low solar activity could have changed the atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere from the 1400's to the 1700's and triggered a "Little Ice Age" in several regions including North America and Europe. Changes in the sun's energy was one of the biggest factors influencing climate change during this period, but have since been superceded by greenhouse gases due to the industrial revolution. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011210164606.htm

Technology

Scientists Discover New Material That Expands Under Pressure
Upton - Dec 17, 2001 - Most materials get compacted or fall apart under pressure, but scientists working in an international collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and the School of Chemical Sciences at England's University of Birmingham have discovered some that expand. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-01t.html

ULTRACOLD PLASMAS ARE A CHILLING PUZZLE
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technologys Physics Laboratory have created ultracold plasmaswith the electrons about a degree above absolute zeroby cooling neutral atoms to within a hundred-thousandth of a degree of absolute zero and then zapping them with just enough laser energy to separate the electrons and ions to achieve the plasma state. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011210071925.htm

December 16, 2001

Religion in the News

The Kamikaze of God
Two enemies--one attacked Pearl Harbor; the other bombed Tokyo--find their lives eventually
woven together by a divine wind. By David Seamands. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/015/7.58.html

Behold, the saviors of Christian Web sites
LifeAudio.com, run by four Princeton grads in their mid-twenties, has announced it's taking over Pat Robertson's Christianity.com Web site. It has already pulled one Christian Web site out of the ashes: streaming-audio site Lightsource.com.

High court allows graduation prayers: Justices decline to review ruling that gives students final say on 'message' (USA Today). See http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20011211/3688933s.htm

21 Fun Ways to Celebrate Christmas
Don't let the season pass you by without trying some of these holiday heart warmers. From Campus Life. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/cl/2001/006/12.58.html

Area Baptists face cutoff over stand on issues: Southern Convention would sever ties (The Washington Post)

Chinese crack down on religion: President Jiang Zemin has demanded tighter control over religion, state press reported, in a clear indication strict state restrictions over worship in China are not about to be relaxed. (AFP)

God as a postmodern: John Milbank proposes "radical orthodoxy" (Time)

Ball, Edward, ed. In Search of True Wisdom: Essays in Old Testament
Interpretation in Honor of Ronald C. Clements. See Review at
http://www.bookreviews.org/Reviews/1841270717.html

Science solves more mysteries of the Bible: More "startling revelations" about the most impossible tales from the ancient Scriptures, including Jonah, manna, Jericho, and other stories (Popular Mechanics). See http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/2001/11/science_mysteries/

Science in the News

Creation/Evolution

Ken Ham's Creation Museum http://www.myinky.com/ecp/local_news/article/0,1626,ECP_745_903177,00.html

Dembski has designs for new organization
Last year, Dembski was fired as head of the Michael Polanyi Center for Complexity, Information, and Design at Baylor University, and the school had several battles over the center itself. Dembski is still a research professor at Baylor, but is now heading the new International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design based in Princeton, New Jersey. He tells UPI that "things have been patched up" at Baylor, but that he still works from home "because the environment is very hostile over there." The new center is launching with essay contests, offering young scholars prizes of $1,000 and $2,000. It will also conduct summer workshops and offer postdoctoral fellowships and research grants. All this, for now, is funded by Dembski, who UPI says "commands impressive fees on the lecture circuit."

Archaeology/Anthropology

Ark relic found in cupboard: The rediscovered tabot was looted by the British army when it captured the fortress of Magdala in 1868. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_1695000/1695102.stm

Bird Searches for Ark
World's highest-resolution commercial imaging satellite will investigate the "Ararat Anomaly." By Ted Olsen. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/015/33.16.html

Fascinating Insights into the Apostle Paul's Shipwreck
http://www.parsagard.com/shipwreck.htm

US News & World Reports: In the Holy Land, archaeology itself is a battleground. Will the Bible win out? Digging for the Truth: Archaeology and the Bible, premièring this week on the History Channel. See http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/011224/ideas/24bible.htm Also Biblical proportions: Where history is all too alive today

Biblical Archaeology in the News: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/usinfo/popunder1.htm

New Course on Biblical Archaeology
Beginning January 1, 2002, a web-based course entitled Archaeology and the Bible will be available through the Seventh-day Adventist Seminary. It is a 15-lesson course that introduces new students to the world of the Bible via archaeology. For information, go to http://www.andrews.edu/archaeology.

Ape-Human Difference? It's in the Teeth. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/reu/20011203/teeth.html

Astronomy

Fantastic Voyage Inside the Sun Reveals Hidden World of Surprising
Complexity - SOHO results at
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/news-release/releases/2001/01-112.htm SOHO at
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/

Slippery Surface of Europa Slides, Migrates around Moon - more evidence
that Europa has a subsurface ocean, with an icy crust that can't stay put. See
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/europa_icecrust_011130.html

Unveiling A Lack Of Dark Matter
Sydney - Dec 11, 2001 - The Universe's mysterious invisible Dark Matter is distributed on large scales in exactly the same way the galaxies are, according to scientists analysing data from the giant 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey done with the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope in eastern Australia. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/darkmatter-01c.html

Biology

Study, review and editorial focus on religion, spirituality and medicine:

ROCHESTER, MINN. -- A study that appears in the December issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings outlines the importance of religion and spirituality in medicine with many patients, but notes it is difficult to prove that the result is better health from intercessory prayer -- prayer by one or more people on behalf of another. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-12/mc-sra121001.php

Earth Science

Droplets in Salt Crystals Confirm Historic Ocean Changes
Baltimore - Dec 10, 2001 - Microscopic water droplets trapped inside ancient salt crystals have provided evidence supporting a radical theory that the chemical composition of Earth's oceans has changed over the past 500 million years. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01l.html

Methane Explosion Warmed The Prehistoric Earth, Possible Again
Greenbelt - Dec 10, 2001 - A tremendous release of methane gas frozen beneath the sea floor heated the Earth by up to 13 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius) 55 million years ago, a new NASA study confirms. NASA scientists used data from a computer simulation of the paleo-climate to better understand the role of methane in climate change. While most greenhouse gas studies focus on carbon dioxide, methane is 20 times more potent as a heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01k.html

December 9, 2001

Religion in the News

Tens of Thousands of Filipino Christians
Flee Homes as Muslims Attack
Plus: Burying the cloning ban in a big hole, rescuing the Burnhams, criticizing modern missions, and other stories. Compiled by Ted Olsen See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/149/21.0.html

The Art and Ethics of Fundraising
Evangelical relief agencies raise money to help hurting people. Critics say they manipulate donors. Agencies say they highlight the most telling truths. Who is right? By Ken Waters http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/015/5.50.html

Theologians divided over implications of free will: Open Theism dominates meeting of Evangelical Theological Society (The Colorado Springs Gazette).

Science in the News

Walking With Prehistoric Beasts: This Sunday at 7 PM on the Discovery channel. For other times see http://dsc.discovery.com/tuneins/beasts.html For a look at a Prehistoric Zoo see http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/beasts/zoo/zoo.html

Creation/Evolution

The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID)
herewith announces its formation and official launch. ISCID is a
cross-disciplinary professional society that investigates complex systems
apart from external programmatic constraints like materialism, naturalism,
or reductionism. The society is fully web-driven and can be reached via the
Internet at http://www.iscid.org. Announcement by WILLIAM A. DEMBSKI

"We Now Know" The boast of imperial science. By John Wilson
http://ChristianityToday.aol.com/ct/2001/149/11.0.html

Astronomy

Does Europa's Rosy Glow Betray A Flourishing Colony Of Bugs
London - Dec 5, 2001
for New Scientist - The red tinge of Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, could be caused by frozen bits of bacteria. Their presence would also help explain Europa's mysterious infrared signal. Europa is mostly frozen water, but it absorbs infrared radiation differently to how normal ice does. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-europa-01e.html & http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991647

Study Lifts Veil on Jupiter Moon Europa: Dec. 4 — Jupiter's moon Europa is covered by a thin ice sheet that slips and slides over a global ocean, according to a new study by a college student. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20011203/europa.html

A Giant Star Factory In NGC 6822
Baltimore - Dec 6, 2001 - Resembling curling flames from a campfire, this magnificent nebula in a neighboring galaxy is giving astronomers new insight into the fierce birth of stars as it may have more commonly happened in the early universe. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/stellar-01c.html

First Image and Spectrum of a Dark Matter Object
Paris (ESA) Dec 5, 2001 - Astronomers have observed a Dark Matter object directly for the first time. Images and spectra of a MACHO microlens - a nearby dwarf star that gravitationally focuses light from a star in another galaxy - were taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. The result is a strong confirmation of the theory that a large fraction of Dark Matter exists as small, faint stars in galaxies such as our Milky Way. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/darkmatter-01b.html

The Sun's Chilly Impact On Earth
A new NASA computer climate model reinforces the long-standing theory that low solar activity could have changed the atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere from the 1400's to the 1700's and triggered a "Little Ice Age" in several regions including North America and Europe. Changes in the sun's energy was one of the biggest factors influencing climate change during this period, but have since been superceded by greenhouse gases due to the industrial revolution. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iceage-01g.html

SOHO'S LATEST SURPRISE: GAS NEAR THE SUN HEADING THE WRONG WAY
Mysterious clouds of gas falling towards the Sun have been spotted with the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. They go against the fast-moving streams of gas that pour out continuously into space in the solar wind. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011128162617.htm

A recent image from our Galileo spacecraft adds evidence to a theory that
Callisto, the outermost of Jupiter's four large moons, may hold an
underground ocean. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2001/release_2001_230.html

More Galileo news: a slumping cliff, migrating eruptions and churning lava
lakes appear in new images of Jupiter's sizzling moon
Io. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2001/release_2001_228.html

Improved Earth telescope beats Hubble
Paris (AFP) Dec 04, 2001 - European scientists announced Tuesday they had boosted the accuracy of a ground-based telescope to surpass the picture resolution of the orbiting US Hubble space telescope but at just a fraction of the cost. See http://spacedaily.com/news/011204185633.oazku4wz.html

SIMULATION EXPLAINS MYSTERY OF GIANT PLANETS' TINY MOONS
In what could be the ultimate in fast-forward, Cornell University planetary scientists have used one of the world's most powerful computing clusters to simulate motions of the small moons of Jupiter over a one billion-year epoch. From this, the researchers have learned how the tugs and pulls of the sun and planets -- even from hundreds of millions of miles away -- shake out the permanent moons of the giant planets from those that get tossed away. In a three-month computing marathon, the Velocity I cluster at the Cornell Theory Center was able to mimic cosmic conditions over eons that would cause physical perturbations in the moons of Jupiter. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011203061301.htm

Biology

"GIFT OF THE MAGI" BEARS ANTI-CANCER AGENTS, RESEARCHERS SUGGEST
Researchers have identified a compound in myrrh, one of the gifts presented to Jesus by the Three Wise Men, that they believe could be developed into a potent anticancer agent. The compound, which kills cancer cells in the laboratory, shows particular promise for the prevention and treatment of breast and prostate cancer, according to the researchers. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011205070038.htm

Sediments in Ice-Bound Antarctic Lakes May Harbor Unique Lifeforms
Washington - Dec 5, 2001 - Liquid lakes buried thousands of meters below the Antarctic ice sheet are likely the home to unique habitats and creatures that thrive in them. Exploration of those lakes will therefore require extreme care and an international cooperative effort, according to a team of authors writing in the Dec. 6 issue of Nature. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01zu.html

STEROIDS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN ANTIHISTAMINES WHEN USED AS NEEDED FOR ALLERGIES
Researchers from the University of Chicago have demonstrated that corticosteroid nasal sprays are more effective than antihistamines when used "as needed" for treatment of seasonal allergies. This finding, published in the November 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, suggests that the current guidelines and prescribing patterns, which favor the use of antihistamines as the first-line treatment for mild or moderate allergies, need to be revised. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011127004650.htm

BRAINS OF DEAF PEOPLE REWIRE TO "HEAR" MUSIC
Deaf people sense vibration in the part of the brain that other people use for hearing which helps explain how deaf musicians can sense music, and how deaf people can enjoy concerts and other musical events. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011128035455.htm

DELAYED TREATMENT OF SPINAL CORD INJURY MAY IMPROVE RECOVERY
Rats given an experimental therapy several weeks after their spinal cords were severed showed dramatically greater regrowth of nerve fibers and recovery of function than rats treated immediately after injury, a new study shows. The report suggests that the window of opportunity for treating spinal cord injury may be wider than previously anticipated. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011203060542.htm

PACKARD, STANFORD RESEARCHERS UNCOVER GENE FAMILY CRITICAL TO ASTHMA DEVELOPMENT
A novel gene family that appears critical to the development of asthma in mice has been identified by researchers at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. The finding may revolutionize treatment and diagnosis of the more than 15 million people in the United States who suffer from asthma. It may also explain why incidence rates have climbed rapidly in industrialized countries over the past 20 years, say the researchers. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011130074127.htm

RADIO FREQUENCY ENERGY ZAPS TUMORS WITHOUT SURGERY
Interventional radiologists are using the same kind of energy that puts sound into your radio to heat and kill tumors, an approach that is proving to be an increasingly promising treatment for kidney cancer. Guided with pinpoint accuracy under magnetic resonance imaging, the tools that deliver radio frequency (RF) waves essentially boil tumors to death. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011129044739.htm

HEALY RESEARCHERS MAKE A SERIES OF STRIKING DISCOVERIES ABOUT ARCTIC OCEAN
Contrary to their expectations, scientists on a research cruise to the Arctic Ocean have found evidence that the Gakkel Ridge, the world's slowest spreading mid-ocean ridge, may be very volcanically active. They also believe that conditions in a field of undersea vents, known as "black smokers," could support previously unknown species of marine life. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011129050111.htm

LOW TAR CIGARETTES: EVIDENCE DOES NOT INDICATE BENEFIT TO PUBLIC HEALTH
Millions of Americans smoke low-tar, mild, or light cigarettes, believing those cigarettes to be less harmful than other cigarettes. In a new monograph from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) titled Risks Associated with Smoking Cigarettes with Low Machine-Measured Yields of Tar and Nicotine, national scientific experts conclude that evidence does not indicate a benefit to public health from changes in cigarette design and manufacturing over the last 50 years. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011130074838.htm

COMPREHENSIVE SET OF VISION GENES DISCOVERED: IDENTIFICATION COULD HELP IN DIAGNOSING AND TREATING BLINDING DISEASES
Harvard Medical School researchers have discovered nearly all the genes responsible for vision, which could help in diagnosing and treating blinding diseases. Macular degeneration alone affects twenty-five percent of people over age 75. The discovery of the full set of photoreceptor genes expressed in the retinal cells, which was made in mice, could also lead to new methods for preserving and restoring the vision of those affected. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011130075457.htm

Earth Science

Chicxulub Drilling Project Could Have Major Impact On Extinction Studies
Telegrafenberg - Dec 4, 2001 - On December 3, a scientific deep drilling projects starts on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico into the Chicxulub crater that was formed some 65 million years ago by the impact of an asteroid, which is believed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and other species. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deepimpact-01h.html

A Curve Ball into the Snowball Earth Hypothesis?
Boulder - Dec 3, 2001 - The idea that the Earth was encased in ice some 650 million years ago has sparked much scientific debate in recent years. In the ongoing Snowball Earth "fight," scientists continually uncover and report new evidence that supports their respective views. Martin Kennedy, from the University of California, Riverside, has just tossed a curveball into the Snowball Earth theory with new data he reports in the December issue of Geology. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iceage-01f.html

New Details Of Earth's Internal Structure Emerge From Seismic Data
Santa Cruz - Dec 3, 2001 - About 1,800 miles beneath the surface, Earth's internal structure changes abruptly where the solid rock of the mantle meets the swirling molten iron of the outer core. But the boundary between the core and the mantle may not be as sharply defined as scientists once thought. By analyzing earthquake waves that bounce off the core-mantle boundary, researchers have found evidence of a thin zone where the outermost core is more solid than fluid. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tectonics-01l.html

Physics

Higgs boson: are physicists spending billions on a wild goose chase?
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991649

Technology

High-Tech, Low-Cost Scooter Debuts: See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/reu/20011203/scooter.html

December 3, 2001

Religion in the News

Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry meet with Bush
"It's a wonderful story about prayer, about a faith that can sustain people in good times and in bad times," said President Bush Monday.

Martin and Gracia Burnham interviewed in captivity
One thing is clear from the videotaped interview of missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham: they're tired of being hostages.

Franklin Graham is no Billy, and that suits him just fine: Attacking Islam as "evil" and moving headquarters out of Minneapolis is just the beginning of the Franklin era (Associated Press).

AOL Time Warner buys Word Entertainment for $84.1 million
Gaylord Entertainment (Opryland) wanted out of the Christian music business and were looking to sell off Word Entertainment, the third-largest Christian music label. They found a buyer in AOL Time Warner, selling for $84.1 million.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia is offering to help the Baptist minister in his lawsuit against Virginia. The state won't let Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church expand into a new sanctuary because no church is allowed to own more than 15 acres in a city, though cities can make an exception for up to 50 acres.

Orlando's Holy Land Experience, a Christian theme park, just can't catch a break. Every two months or so, somebody's attacking it. First there were rumors that it was targeting Jews for conversion. Then Jews complained that it was putting Torah scrolls on display in its antiquities museum. Now it's fighting its county on taxes. The county says the park is "predominately a profit-making activity" and "is not being used for religious purposes." Thus, it can't claim nonprofit status and must pay property taxes. Park creator Marvin Rosenthal has enlisted the American Center for Law and Justice in his battle. "We find it terribly inconsistent that the Orlando Science Center charges approximately the same amount for admissions, charges for parking, has a gift shop and it has a tax-exempt status," he tells The New York Times. "If you teach science, you get a tax exemption, but if you teach about God, you don't. That's discrimination." Rosenthal also says the park may not break even this year, as attendance has been down since the September 11 attacks.

The Magi and the Star: What was the Star of Bethlehem? See
http://www.bib-arch.org/brd01/magi1.html

Bible Prophecy Sales Boom
Whether scholarship or fiction, prophetic books are top sellers after September 11.
By Mark A. Kellner. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/015/16.22.html

Science in the News

Creation/Evolution

The Evolutionists: The Struggle for Darwin's Soul. Need to register to see link.
http://news.bmn.com/hmsbeagle/115/reviews/review

The article "Evolution of biological complexity" is freely available on-line from PNAS at http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/97/9/4463

Astronomy

Hubble Makes First Direct Measurements of Atmosphere on World Around
Another Star - way cool. Ten years ago it was just a hope that we would be
able to detect extrasolar planets. Now there are over 70 of them known,
and for the first time an atmosphere has been detected around one. It's
not good air to breathe, but a heck of a story at
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2001/38/index.html

Shuttle Ready To Collide With Some Dust
Boulder - Nov 21, 2001 - A University of Colorado at Boulder experiment will ride into orbit on a NASA space shuttle to explore gentle collisions between particles of space dust -- a fundamental process in the formation of planets and the evolution of planetary ring systems. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/dust-01a.html ALSO students in schools worldwide are anticipating the next space shuttle mission as their experiments, including another disco-ball Starshine satellite, venture into space. 900 mirrors and more at ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2001/01-234.txt & Starshine at http://www.azinet.com/starshine/

GENESIS SPACECRAFT ENTERS ITS ORBIT TO BEGIN COLLECTING SOLAR WIND PARTICLES
NASA's Genesis spacecraft has entered perfectly into orbit around the balanced-gravity point Lagrange 1, where it will collect solar wind particles. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011120041713.htm

Water May Have Stayed On Mars Surface Longer
St. Louis - Nov 26, 2001 - An analysis of high-resolution topographic maps and photographs, as well as recent studies of Martian meteorites suggest the presence of water on the Red Planet for a longer time scale than scientists had previously believed. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-science-01q.html

NASA Spacecraft to Hunt for Elusive Gravity Ripples - Cassini isn't just
for Saturn anymore! While cruising towards the ringed planet, Cassini will
try its hand at astrophysics. A versatile voyager at
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2001/release_2001_227.html

Biology

Report Of Early-Stage Human Clone Changes Face Of Biotechnology
Washington (AFP) Nov 25, 2001 - US biotechnology researchers announced Sunday they had successfully created an early-stage human embryo, paving the way for future harvesting of stem cells to treat disease. The announcement is expected to spark another debate on the controversial medical procedure. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14231-2001Nov25.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01zr.html

WHAT PROTECTS US FROM RADIATION? SOME ANSWERS ARE FOUND IN MORE THAN 100 YEAST GENES
A novel search of 3,760 "nonessential" yeast genes has revealed 107 new genes that may determine how we resist, or are hurt by, radiation -- and whether we succumb to, or survive, cancer. More than tripling the number of mutant genes known to influence radiation damage, the work was carried out at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and reported in the journal Nature Genetics. Previously, fewer than 30 such genes were known. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011119071637.htm

RESEARCHERS DISCOVER NEW FAMILY OF NATURALLY OCCURRING ANTIBIOTICS
Two North Carolina State University researchers, Drs. Edward Noga and Umaporn Silphaduang, have isolated a previously undiscovered family of naturally occurring peptide antibiotics. The antibiotics were found in fish. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011116064744.htm

SIGNALS FROM NERVOUS SYSTEM INFLUENCE IMMUNE SYSTEM, STUDY SHOWS
In a discovery that demonstrates a clear link between the mind and body at a molecular level, scientists have shown that a chemical signal which normally allows nerve cells to communicate with each other to alter sleep cycles, for example -- can also re-direct actions of the immune system. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011116064459.htm

STANFORD RESEARCHERS MAKE LUNG CANCER FINDING THAT COULD VASTLY IMPROVE TREATMENT AND OUTCOME
Researchers at the Stanford University Medical Center have uncovered a group of genes that could distinguish between different forms of lung cancer. This finding may help doctors predict individual treatment strategies and may someday lead to better lung cancer drugs. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011119072349.htm

POTENTIAL OF TAILORING DRUGS TO GENETIC MAKEUP CONFIRMED, BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN
At a time when harmful drug reactions are thought to rank just after strokes as a leading cause of death in the U.S., the potential benefits of tailoring drugs to a patients genetic makeup have been confirmed in a systematic study led by University of California, San Francisco scientists. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011114071430.htm

NEW UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO ELECTRON MICROSCOPES PROVIDE CELL IMAGES NEVER SEEN BEFORE
The University of Colorado at Boulder has acquired two new state-of-the-art electron microscopes and a suite of complementing computers that are providing three-dimensional images of cellular structures that have never been seen before. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011120044036.htm

ANTHRAX GENOME MAY CONTAIN NEW CLUES TO FIGHT INFECTION, SAYS SCIENCE "FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS" ARTICLE
The completed anthrax genome--expected within the next few months--should provide new clues to help explain what makes the infection a killer, and perhaps how best to fight different strains, researcher Kathryn Beauregard reports on the Science Functional Genomics web site. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011120050509.htm

UT SOUTHWESTERN SCIENTISTS EXPLAIN HOW THE INJURED BRAIN REMODELS ITSELF
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have begun to reveal the cellular mechanisms critical for restoring brain functions after traumatic injuries - a step that could lead to effective treatments of paralysis and other brain and spinal-cord damage. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011120055541.htm

Earth Science

New Method Confirms Magnetic Field Switch 10 Million Years Ago
The Hague - Nov 26, 2001 - NWO researchers have developed an improved method of identifying the magnetic signals in old geological strata. The researchers used the new method to show that the earth's magnetic field really did reverse itself ten million years ago. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earth-magnetic-01d.html

Mount St. Helens: Disobeying the Rules of Recovery - scientists have
long studied the ways in which a forest recovers from a catastrophe
like a volcanic blast in the neighborhood - but at Mount St Helens
the expected recovery pattern was nowhere in evidence; nature was
instead revealing some surprising strategies. Need to register to see this link. See
http://news.bmn.com/hmsbeagle/115/notes/feature1

ALLIGATORS ON A TREADMILL HINT HOW DINOSAURS BREATHED; ROTATING BONE IN PELVIS HELPS GATORS WALK AND BREATHE SIMULTANEOUSLY
University of Utah biologists trained alligators to walk on a treadmill during studies that revealed new clues about how dinosaurs breathed. The researchers discovered that alligators, unlike lizards, are able to walk and breathe at the same time by using a rocking pubic bone - part of the pelvis - to help them inhale and exhale. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011119070351.htm

RINGS TELL TALE OF STRINGED HISTORIC INSTRUMENT'S ORIGIN
A University of Arkansas researcher and his colleagues used tree ring records to accurately date the wood used in a famous violin purported to be made by Stradivarius and showed that the wood was hewn during the violin maker's lifetime. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011119072029.htm

DARTMOUTH RESEARCHER USES COSMIC RAYS TO CALCULATE EROSION RATES
People build houses, plant fields and construct cities on the top layers of the planet's surface. These layers, however, are far from solid. They are flexible and mobile, some parts more than others. Arjun Heimsath, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth, measures this dynamic land movement by calculating erosion rates in different parts of the world. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011120052740.htm

GLOBAL WARMING PERIODS MORE COMMON THAN THOUGHT, DEEP-SEA DRILLING OFF JAPAN NOW DEMONSTRATES
Core samples from a deep-sea drilling expedition in the western Pacific clearly show multiple episodes of warming that date back as far as 135 million years, according to one of the projects lead scientists. Analysis of the samples indicates warming events on Earth were more common than researchers previously believed. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011120045859.htm

LARGEST FOSSIL COCKROACH FOUND; SITE PRESERVES INCREDIBLE DETAIL
Geologists at Ohio State University have found the largest-ever complete fossil of a cockroach, one that lived 55 million years before the first dinosaurs. The cockroach, along with hundreds of other fossil plants and animals from a coalmine in eastern Ohio, could help scientists better understand the diversity of ancient life and how the Earth's climate has changed throughout history. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011120053611.htm

Last Mid Ocean Ridge Explored
Washington - Nov 28, 2001 - Contrary to their expectations, scientists on a research cruise to the Arctic Ocean have found evidence that the Gakkel Ridge, the world's slowest spreading mid-ocean ridge, may be very volcanically active. They also believe that conditions in a field of undersea vents, known as "black smokers," could support previously unknown species of marine life. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tectonics-01k.html

CORNELL'S DIGITAL EARTH PROJECT OFFERS GLOBAL DATABASE AND MAPPING TOOL FOR GEOLOGISTS, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
An institute at Cornell University is building a "digital Earth" that will become an important resource for geoscience researchers and also will provide easy-to-use teaching tools for educators from elementary school through college. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011120045025.htm

Psychology

Holiday Depression
Holiday "blues" can be much more serious than you think. Take the Depression Assessment to see how you score. See http://health.discovery.com/tools/hra/depress/depress_pg1.html

Technology

Nebraska Chemists Create First Plastic Magnets
Lincoln - Nov. 25, 2001 - A team of chemists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have created the world's first plastic magnets. It took 13 years of painstaking investigation, but Andrzej Rajca, a professor of chemistry, Suchada Rajca, his wife and research partner as a research assistant professor at Nebraska, and doctoral candidate Jirawat Wongsriratanakul finally achieved success earlier this year. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011119071918.htm & http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-01r.html

A "Trillion" Computers In A Single Drop Of Water
Rehovot - Nov 26, 2001 - A group of scientists headed by Prof. Ehud Shapiro at the Weizmann Institute of Science has used biological molecules to create a tiny computer -- a programmable two-state, two-symbol finite automaton -- in a test tube. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-01o.html

PHOTON SWITCH ON LEADING EDGE OF MORE POWERFUL COMPUTERS
Researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered a "switch" involving the manipulation of a photon that may lead to the creation of an optical transistor and usher in a new era of more powerful computers. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011120045133.htm

Device Could Aid Production Of Electricity Without Moving Parts
Boston - Nov 27, 2001 - An MIT scientist and a colleague have invented a semiconductor technology that could allow efficient, affordable production of electricity from a variety of energy sources without a turbine or similar generator. The researchers presented their work at a poster session Tuesday during this week's Materials Research Society meeting in Boston. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/energy-tech-01a.html

Superconductors That Work At Room Temperature
London - Nov 28, 2001 - Tiny tubes of carbon may conduct electricity without any resistance, at temperatures stretching up past the boiling point of water. The tubes would be the first superconductors to work at room temperature. In a report to be published this week by New Scientist, two scientists at the University of Houston in Texas - Guo-meng Zhao and Yong Sheng Wang - say they have found subtle signs of superconductivity. "It wasn't zero resistance, but it's the closest anyone's got so far. "I think all the experimental results are consistent with superconductivity," Zhao says. "But we cannot rule out other explanations." See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/carbon-01h.html

November 25, 2001

Religion in the News

Bush: Thanksgiving reminds Americans to always trust in God
See http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/11/20011116-3.html

Graham stands by comments on Islam: While saying he is called to love people regardless of their faith, evangelist Franklin Graham on Sunday wouldn't back away from his recent statement on a national news program that Islam "is a very evil and wicked religion." By KEN GARFIELD. See http://www.charlotte.com/partners/news/briefs/news_briefs_1_Nov19.htm

Foreknowledge Debate Clouded by "Political Agenda"
Evangelical Theologians differ over excluding Open Theists.
By David Neff. http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/147/13.0.html

Dead Sea Scrolls Publication Complete: After more than half a century of research, bitter academic squabbles, and controversy, Israel has announced the publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls is complete. See http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/11/16/News/News.38257.html

The Buddhist equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls:
http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/96/0906/feat5.html

Science in the News

Creation/Evolution

Speeding up the Evolutionary Process
Biotech firm uses patented method to accelerate development. See http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2001/nov/cohen_p12_011126.html

Deciphering Protein Evolution
Actin shares a common ancestor with a bacterial protein. See http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2001/nov/palevitz_p18_011126.html

Just Decades for Evolution? Last year, scientists described how partial reproductive isolation between two sockeye salmon populations had evolved at the astonishingly rapid rate of about 13 generations. This was stunning to many biologists, who think of reproductive isolation as a process that evolves over tens of thousands, or even millions of years, but certainly not decades. http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2001/nov/pray_p8_011126.html

National Geographic November 2001: In this issue there is an article about the evolution of whales. There is also an article about who built the pyramids. See http://aol.nationalgeographic.com/index.html

Anthropology/Archaeology

Sidon dig unearths more questions than answers. See
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/features/19_11_01_a.htm

"Darkness in El Dorado" by Patrick Tierney: This book has stirred up a huge controversy in anthropological circles about the Yanomano Indians of the Amazon. Tierney claims that anthropologists deliberately infected the Indians with diseases to observe their reactions. See latest articles in Skeptic magazine. See the preliminary reports at http://www.aaanet.org/edtfpr.htm and http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/chagnon.html

Astronomy

Evidence Of Martian Life In Meteorite Dealt Critical Blow
Tempe - Nov 20, 2001 - There may have once been (and perhaps still is) life on Mars, but the evidence for it is barely stirring. When, in 1996, a group of NASA researchers presented several lines of evidence for fossil bacteria in a Martian meteorite, a wave of excitement passed through the public and the scientific community alike. Of course, that wave was followed by a storm of controversy. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life-01j.html

NASA'S HETE SPOTS RARE GAMMA-RAY BURST AFTERGLOW
A rare optical afterglow of a gamma-ray burst, the most powerful type of explosion in the universe, was recently discovered by NASA's High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE), the first satellite dedicated to spotting these frequent yet random explosions that last only for a few seconds. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011112074339.htm

RESEARCHERS THINK ELECTRONS CAN "SUPERNOVA SURF" AT NEAR LIGHTSPEED
Researchers have long been puzzled about the origins of cosmic rays high energy particles which move very close to the speed of light. Now a team of scientists from the UK and Sweden think that an idea for a particle accelerator first put forward twenty years ago might explain how high energy cosmic ray electrons are produced close to the remnants of exploded stars (supernovae). See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011114072057.htm

SUPERCOMPUTER SIMULATIONS PROVIDE DETAILS OF FORMATION OF THE FIRST STAR UNIVERSE
New cosmological simulations performed on a supercomputer have provided astrophysicists with the best indication to date of how the first star in the universe formed. The simulations, detailed in a paper in the November 16 issue of Science, suggest that the first star resulted from the gravitational collapse of a cloud of hydrogen and helium some 100 times more massive than the sun. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011116065005.htm

Biology

CRUCIAL GENETIC DIVERSITY ENZYME LONG SOUGHT BY BIOLOGISTS DISCOVERED BY SCIENTISTS AT THE SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Simultaneous reports by two teams at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), led by Professor Paul Russell, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Clare H. McGowan, Ph.D., identify the "resolvase" enzyme that may be responsible for generating genetic diversity during sexual reproduction and could be a target for improved anti-cancer therapy. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011112073641.htm

JEFFERSON RESEARCHERS HAVE EARLY EVIDENCE OF BONE MARROW STEM CELLS ABLE TO BECOME BRAIN CELLS
Using a potion of growth factors and other nutrients, scientists at Jefferson Medical College have shown in the laboratory they are able to convert adult human bone marrow stem cells into adult brain cells. While it's early in the research, the results suggest such stem cells may have potential use in someday treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011112073405.htm

USING A PATIENTS OWN BONE MARROW CELLS CAN HELP AN AILING HEART
In the first study of its kind, researchers have used a persons own bone marrow cells to improve blood flow in otherwise untreatable coronary arteries, according to research presented today at the American Heart Associations Scientific Sessions 2001 conference. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011114071845.htm

HUMAN BRAIN OPERATES DIFFERENTLY IN DECEPTION AND HONESTY, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA RESEARCHERS REPORT
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that telling a lie and telling the truth require different activities in the human brain. The findings will be presented Tuesday, Nov. 13, at the national meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, CA. By identifying the brain activity associated with deception and denial, the work paves the way for improvements in lie-detection techniques. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011112073302.htm

HIDDEN TOXIN GENE IN CHLAMYDIA LINKED TO CHRONIC ILLNESSES
After more than 50 years of searching, scientists have discovered a key gene that enables certain bacteria to cause blindness and debilitating genital tract infections. Using the recently completed genetic blueprint of the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have found a gene that encodes a cell-destroying toxin. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011113071231.htm

IMMUNE SYSTEM DISCOVERY MAY LEAD TO PREVENTIVE THERAPY FOR DIABETES
By manipulating a cell that controls the immune systems response to infections, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and their colleague have prevented the onset of diabetes in mice predisposed to the disease. The finding one day may lead to the development of a preventive therapy for people at risk for type 1 diabetes. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011114072145.htm

COMPOUNDS IN GARLIC FIGHT MALARIA AND CANCER
A group of compounds commonly found in garlic may not only an effective treatment for malaria, the mechanism by which they inhibit the infection appears to be similar to the mechanism they use to fight cancer cells. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011114071753.htm

STOPPING INTERNAL BLEEDING WITHOUT SURGERY
It may sound like something out of Star Trek, but researchers at the University of Washingtons Applied Physics Laboratory are working on a device that could find and stop internal bleeding, without surgery. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011115072310.htm

ARSENIC AND OLD TELOMERASE: HOPKINS RESEARCHERS UNRAVEL EFFECTS OF ARSENIC ON HUMAN CELLS
Researchers at Johns Hopkins report discovering a mechanism that may account for the paradoxical effects of arsenic, which is both a treatment for cancer and a carcinogen. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011114070613.htm

COMBINING ENERGY DRINKS WITH ALCOHOL POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS
The newest rage among college students and teens is mixing energy drinks with alcohol, a potentially dangerous combination, says a Ball State University researcher. Mixing powerful stimulants contained in some energy drinks with depressants in alcohol could cause cardiopulmonary or cardiovascular failures, said David Pearson, a researcher in the Human Performance Laboratory. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011116065754.htm

STUDY SHOWS THAT ASPIRIN AND WARFARIN ARE EQUALLY EFFECTIVE FOR STROKE PREVENTION
A study appearing in the November 15, 2001, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine* shows that aspirin works as well as warfarin in helping to prevent recurrent strokes in most patients. The Warfarin versus Aspirin Recurrent Stroke Study (WARSS) was a 7-year double-blind, randomized clinical trial involving 2,206 patients at 48 participating centersthe largest trial to date comparing aspirin to warfarin for recurrent stroke prevention. The study was sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011115073129.htm

Earth Science

PACIFIC RECYCLES LAST YEAR'S WINTER
If you liked last winter, you'll like this one. If not, you won't. The Pacific ocean continues to be dominated by the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, an above normal sea level pattern that is larger and stronger than any El Nino/La Nina event, according to the latest information from the U.S.-French Topex/Poseidon ocean-monitoring satellite. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011112074049.htm

EARTHQUAKE STUDIES: FAULT MOVING FASTER THAN BELIEVED
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and the University of California, Los Angeles, have concluded that earthquake fault zones in California's eastern Mojave Desert are moving in different ways than they expected. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011112074143.htm

MASSIVE MAGMA LAYER FEEDS MT. VESUVIUS, AND MAY HOLD CLUES TO ERUPTIONS, RESEARCHERS REPORT IN SCIENCE
Seismic data suggest the presence of a 400 kilometer square-wide reservoir of magma located eight kilometers below the famous Mt. Vesuvius volcano in Italy, according to a report by Italian and French researchers in the 16 November issue of the international journal, Science. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011116065452.htm

Ocean Circulation Shut Down by Melting Glaciers After Last Ice Age
Greenbelt - Nov 19, 2001 - At the end of the last Ice Age 13 to 11.5 thousand years ago, the North Atlantic Deep Water circulation system that drives the Gulf Stream may have shut down because of melting glaciers that added freshwater into the North Atlantic Ocean over several hundred years, NASA and university researchers confirm. Since the Gulf Stream brings warm tropical waters north, Western Europe cooled. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iceage-01e.html

November 18, 2001

Religion in the News

Free at Last!
All 24 Shelter Now aid workers are going home.
Compiled by Ted Olsen and Todd Hertz See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/146/41.0.html

Team Is Ready to Publish Full Set of Dead Sea Scrolls http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/15/international/15SCRO.html?=MOREOVER

Inside the mind of the prophet Ezekiel
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991565

'Harry Potter' themes anger Christians: A small legion of conservative Christians claim the boy wizard leads to sin, but other believers insist the stories are harmless fantasies about magic and morals. (Associated Press) see http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011109/us/religion_harry_potter_1.html

Mysteries of Faith: Exploring the Bible with new insights and discoveries. Special Edition of U.S. News & World Report now at newsstands.

Arguments we think creationists should NOT use http://www.answersingenesis.org/Home/Area/faq/dont_use.asp

Science in the News

Astronomy

Scientists Find Mother and Daughter Asteroids
Boulder - Nov 12, 2001 - There are asteroids and there are asteroids. Most were once part of larger "parent bodies" and some supply meteorites that plunge to Earth. But how do you trace the family line of asteroids? Scientists compare mineralogy of asteroids by analyzing their near-infrared spectra. They also compare asteroids' orbits around the sun. And recently they found a perfect match -- "uniting" in a scientific sense, mother and daughter asteroids. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/asteroid-01k.html

Europa's Ice Crust Is Deeper Than 3 Kilometers, U.Arizona Scientists Find
Tucson - Nov 12, 2001 - Impact craters on Europa -- the jovian satellite that scientists say may hide a subsurface liquid ocean -- show that the moon's brittle ice shell crust is more than 3 to 4 kilometers (1.8 to 2.4 miles) thick, two University of Arizona planetary scientists report in Science (Nov. 9 issue). See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-europa-01d.html

Buried Impact Craters on Mars Widens Possibility of an Ancient Martian Ocean
Boulder - Nov 8, 2001 - Soon after Mars was formed, it was bombarded by numerous large meteorites and asteroids. Scientists have discovered an unexpectedly large grouping of impact basins buried under Mars' northern plains that resulted from this pounding. They used Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) topographic data to find them, because they can't be seen in images of the Martian surface. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-surveyor-01e.html

More Evidence For Volcanism and Water Release On Mars
Boulder, Nov 12, 2001 - In their search for water and possible life on Mars, scientists are turning to new data generated by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images and Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) topography from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-volcano-01c.html

Soho Reveals How Sunspots Take A Stranglehold On The Sun
Paris (ESA) Nov 12, 2001 - A sunspot turns out to be a kind of whirlpool, where hot gas near the Sun's surface converges and dives into the interior at speeds of up to 4000 kilometres per hour. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/sunspots-01a.html

The brightening and dimming of the sun may account for a 1,500-year cycle
of cooling and warming on parts of the Earth. We're living in the Sun's
atmosphere at
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/11/16/solar.cycles.ap/index.html

First Estimate of the Formation Temperature of Ammonia Ice in a Comet -
suggesting at the comet was formed between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus
in the primordial Solar System nebula. A potential new tool for studying
comets at http://www.subaru.naoj.org/Science/press_release/2001/11/index.html

Biology

BIOCAPSULE CAN PROVIDE STEADY INSULIN SUPPLY; POTENTIAL BREAKTHROUGH FOR DIABETES PATIENTS
Pushing the frontiers of drug delivery technology, a biomedical engineer at the University of Illinois at Chicago has developed an implantable capsule that releases a steady supply of insulin to the bloodstream of people with diabetes. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011030225614.htm

WEALTH OF NEW SPECIES DISCOVERED FROM THE ABYSSAL PLAINS OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
Preliminary findings from an expedition last year to the deep-sea of the Angola Basin are revealing a wealth of new information on biodiversity in the poorly known depths of the south Atlantic Ocean. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011101060321.htm

A gene that protects against malaria is spreading in Africa
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991566

The Nature of Addiction
What is an Addiction? Why do so many people choose to smoke, drink, or take illegal drugs and misuse prescription medications? Read Dr. Pennington’s answer at http://chtah.com/a/hA777nBAFqpjxAHTDeDABqQyjTn/heal82b

Earth Science

Much Gold, Silver, Other Metals May Lie Undiscovered In Saudi Arabia
Columbus - Nov 12, 2001 - Oil may not be the only valuable commodity buried beneath the sands of Saudi Arabia. Ohio State University geologists have located new areas of potential metal deposits, based on the analysis of more than 2,100 known occurrences of gold, silver, copper, and other metals in the western third of the Saudi peninsula. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earth-01l.html

Superplumes Add Lift To Continents
Tucson - Nov 12, 2001 - A budding theory to describe Earth processes could help solve some martian mysteries as well, believes Victor Baker, Regents' Professor and head of the hydrology and water resources department at the University of Arizona, and a group of his colleagues. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tectonics-01j.html

Small, Mountain Rivers Play Big Role In Ocean Sediment
Columbus - Nov 12, 2001 - Shallow streams that wind through the mountains of New Zealand and Taiwan carry more sediment into the ocean than giant rivers like the Amazon or the Nile, according to Ohio State University geologists. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earth-01m.html

Mass Extinctions May Be A Myth, Claim Scientists
London - Nov 13, 2001 - Catastrophic mass extinctions, such as the one that saw the demise of the dinosaurs,could be a myth according to the findings of recent research into 100 million-year-old marine fossils. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01zp.html

Physics

PHYSICISTS ADVANCE THEORY FOR NEW CLASS OF QUANTUM PHASE TRANSITION
The complete workings of quantum mechanics and how it affects the universe is still a mystery, but Rice University-led physicists have made a key advancement in understanding how complex quantum fluctuations play a role in the transformation of metals from one electronic state to another. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011029073453.htm

FROM NUCLEAR FUSION TO WIGGLING ANTS: SPIN-OFF OF ENERGY RESEARCH PRODUCES HIGH-RESOLUTION X-RAY IMAGES OF MINUTE OBJECTS
Using powerful machinery originally developed in the hope of discovering a way to generate energy from hydrogen fusion, scientists in Cornell's Laboratory of Plasma Studies are creating high-resolution images of minute objects, like fly hairs or the fine filaments that keep dandelion seeds afloat in the air. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011030072703.htm

November 11,2001

Religion in the News

Christians Encouraged as 50,000 Dalits Leave Hinduism
Low-caste Hindus see conversion as their only escape from oppression.
By Manpreet Singh in New Delhi. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/145/13.0.html

Wake-up Call
If September 11 was a divine warning, it's God's people who are being warned.
By Charles Colson. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/014/32.112.html

Christianity.com Falls. Is Crosswalk.com Next?
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/145/32.0.html

Sales of Christian music praiseworthy: September 11 had effect, but sales increase can also be attributed to blockbuster releases by P.O.D. and Michael W. Smith (The Denver Post). See http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,78%257E204726,00.html

What Christians Believe
An atheist turned Christian answers some of the hardest
questions we could dig up. From Campus Life. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/cl/2001/006/3.40.html

What Teens Wish Parents Knew
Teens reveal what bothers them most and tell what they really
need. From Christian Parenting Today. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/cpt/2001/006/1.28.html

Science in the News

Anthropology

RESEARCHERS ZERO IN ON DATE OF EARLY HOMINIDS
Researchers using techniques of magnetostratigraphy have determined that a rock formation in Israel called Erk-el-Ahmar is between 1.7 million and 2.0 million years old, making the hominid tools and artifacts discovered there perhaps the oldest in the world outside of Africa. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011107072856.htm

LINK TO OUR ANCIENT PAST IS CONFIRMED IN POTASSIUM CHANNEL RESEARCH
Research on components of the brain's electrical signaling system has answered a basic question about our human evolution, confirming scientific belief that we two-legged, computer-using creatures are descended from prokaryotes -- cellular organisms so primitive and simple that they exist without nuclei or cell walls. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011109075413.htm

Astronomy

Leonid Meteor Shower Could Be One Of Best In History
San Francisco - Nov 6, 2001 - In the wee morning hours of Sunday, November 18, the Leonid meteor shower might intensify into a dazzling meteor storm, with "shooting stars" continuously blazing trails across the night sky. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/leonid-01b.html

World's Smallest Self-Propelled Satellite Set For Delivery To Air Force
Seattle - Nov. 2, 2001 - After three years of work, University of Washington students have nearly completed the world's smallest self-propelled satellite and are preparing to deliver it to the Air Force and NASA for launch. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanosat-01e.html

Internet-based National Virtual Observatory Taking Shape
Washington - Nov 2, 2001 - The Internet brings its users the world online. Astronomers from 17 research institutions have announced that they're starting an ambitious new project to put the universe online. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/telescopes-01b.html

Sky Survey Lowers Estimate Of Asteroid Impact Risk
Princeton - Nov 7, 2001 - The odds of earth suffering a catastrophic collision with an asteroid over the next century are about one in 5,000, which is less likely than previously believed, according to research published this month. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deepimpact-01g.html

IN POWERFUL GAMMA-RAY BURSTS, NEUTRINOS MAY FLY OUT FIRST, SCIENTISTS SAY
The most powerful explosions in the universe, gamma-ray bursts, may come with a 10-second warning: an equally violent burst of ultra-high-energy particles called neutrinos. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011106084012.htm

SCIENTISTS PRODUCE FIRST DETAILED IMAGE OF THE INSIDE OF A SUNSPOT
By analyzing sound waves ricocheting inside the sun, a team of Stanford-based scientists has produced the first detailed image of the inner core of a sunspot. Their findings reveal fast-moving streams of hot plasma - flows of electrically charged gas converging into a gigantic vortex that penetrates the solar surface. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011107073422.htm

VOLCANOES STILL ACTIVE ON MARS? NEW EVIDENCE FOR ONGOING VOLCANISM AND WATER RELEASE
The Elysium and Amazonis Planitia regions of Mars have come under particularly intensive study because of their recently proposed young ages (10-100 million years ago or less). Several different recent studies have respectively shown that: some of the volcanic flows were likely emplaced over ice-rich ground; at least one flow originated from the long rift-type vents of the Cerberus Fossae; and recent floods also originated from the vent system, perhaps depositing water in the shallow subsurface for later volcanic flows to interact with. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011109075016.htm

Biology

Anti-aging drugs quadruple life span
Anti-oxidant drugs have quadrupled the life span of mice genetically engineered to live only a week, according to a new study that researchers say may represent a step toward unlocking the secrets of aging. See http://health.discovery.com/news/reu/20011029/lifespan.html

UCLA TEAM MAPS HOW GENES AFFECT BRAIN STRUCTURE, INTELLIGENCE; DRAMATIC IMAGES SHED LIGHT ON BRAIN DISEASES, PERSONALITY DIFFERENCES
UCLA brain mapping researchers have created the first images to show how an individuals genes influence their brain structure and intelligence. The findings, published in the Nov. 5 issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience, offer exciting new insight about how parents pass on personality traits and cognitive abilities, and how brain diseases run in families. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/01.htm

MUTANT PROTEINS MAY BE KEY TO DEFEAT CHEMICAL WARFARE
Enzymes - proteins commonly used to speed up chemical reactions - can render chemical warfare agents and insecticides harmless by breaking them apart. A group of chemists at Texas A&M University is now genetically modifying one of these enzymes, phosphotriesterase, to make it both faster and more selective. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011109074730.htm

THERAPEUTIC DRUG BLOCKS NICOTINE'S EFFECTS ON BRAIN CHEMISTRY; STUDY IN RATS MAY LEAD TO TREATMENT FOR NICOTINE ADDICTION IN HUMANS
Nicotine is widely believed to trigger dependence by elevating certain brain chemicals associated with pleasure and reward. Now, a study in rats at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory shows that topiramate -- a new anticonvulsant drug sold under the brand name Topomax, currently used for the treatment of epilepsy -- can block some of the nicotine-triggered changes in brain chemistry, and may have potential for the treatment of nicotine addiction in humans. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011109075124.htm

Earth Science

Prehistoric Cockroach Biggest On Record: Nov. 7 — Geologists excavating an old mine in eastern Ohio have found a 300-million-year old cockroach that measures nearly 3.5 inches long, making it the largest complete fossil of a cockroach on record. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20011105/roach.html

RESEARCHERS USE TINY BUBBLES TO DETERMINE FORMATION TEMPERATURES FOR 300 MILLION YEAR OLD ROCKS
The central Appalachian basin in West Virginia and western Maryland has been exploited for oil, natural gas, and coal over many years. Now, a Virginia Tech doctoral student is searching for tiny pockets of fluid that will provide information about ancient times and how sandstones associated with these natural resources formed in this basin. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011105072913.htm

Maine and Nova Scotia Coastlines Show Evidence Of Rising Seas
Boulder - Nov 7, 2001 - Global warming impacts various conditions on our Earth, one result being changes in sea level. Scientists have recently discovered that the sea level along the coast of Maine has risen 30-50 cm since 1750 A.D. and along the coast of Nova Scotia as much as 60 cm. They were able to go back in time, so to speak, by studying the evidence of change by using high-resolution sea-level records based on foraminiferal and chronological analyses of salt marsh peat sequences. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/greenhouse-01u.html

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI GEOLOGIST FINDS SURVIVAL BENEFIT TO EVOLVING AFTER MASS EXTINCTIONS
An evolutionary group has a significantly better chance of surviving for a long time in the geologic record if it first appears right after a mass extinction. University of Cincinnati geologist Arnold Miller will present his findings Tuesday morning Nov. 6 during the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Boston. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011107073104.htm

TINIEST PALEOZOIC SEA CREATURES WERE LUNCH OF CHOICE
Shelled sea creatures were relatively free of predators 250 million years ago. But geological scientists have discovered a tiny ancient brachiopod that was drilled by predators at rates similar to that seen in modern mollusks. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011107072409.htm

November 4, 2001

Religion in the News

Christians Fear Muslim Backlash: Anti-Christian sentiments in Pakistan run high, culminate in protests and church shooting. (Oct. 30, 2001) See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/014/15.30.html

Dayna Curry Will Celebrate Her 30th Birthday in a Taliban Prison
With trial indefinitely postponed, the future is murky for Shelter Now hostages.
By Jeff M. Sellers. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/144/53.0.html

The Strange Decade of the Promise Keepers
The revealing story of the rise and fall but continued existence of Coach Mac's Christian men's movement. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/bc/2001/005/13.36.html

The New Girls of Christian Music
Meet five teens who are fast making a name for themselves. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/cl/2001/006/1.22.html

A New World of Religion?
Pluralism and evangelicalism collide in contemporary France. See
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ch/2001/003/10.43.html

School Violence
How teaching your child empathy can make a difference. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/cpt/2001/005/1.28.html

Mary Midgley: A talk with Britain's most visible moral philosopher
http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinterview.jsp?id=ns23155

Where Was God on 9/11?
Reflections from Ground Zero and beyond, by Philip Yancey. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/143/21.0.html

NEW HEBREW LEXICON: The English translation of the 3rd edition of the Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon (hereafter HAL) by Koehler, Baumgartner, Baumgartner, and Stamm is outstanding. The lexicon expands greatly on the earlier standard lexicon by Brown-Driver-Briggs, and it also provides substantial improvements over the other recent English-language lexicon of biblical Hebrew—The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (Sheffield, 1993– ). Briefly stated, the volumes provide the most comprehensive lexical treatment of biblical Hebrew in any language. HAL is the most authoritative and complete Hebrew lexicon to date. See http://www.bookreviews.org/Reviews/9004100768.html

Science in the News

Anthropology

BLAME NORTH AMERICA MEGAFAUNA EXTINCTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE, NOT HUMAN ANCESTORS
Even such mythical detectives as Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot would have difficulty trying to find the culprit that killed the mammoths, mastodons and other megafauna that once roamed North America. Now, in two new papers, a University of Washington archaeologist disputes the so-called overkill hypothesis that pins the crime on the New World's first humans, calling it a "faith-based credo" that bows to Green politics. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011025072315.htm

Unidentified human hair dating back to the last Ice Age ten to twelve thousand years ago was discovered in 1999 at an archaeological dig in Woodburn, Oregon between Salem and Portland. See http://www.earthfiles.com/earth298.htm

A group of British explorers claim to have found irrefutable proof of a "Yeti-like" creature on an Indonesian island. Is it the link between man and ape? See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_437043.htm=news.scienceanddiscovery

SCIENTISTS have found the first evidence that a devastating meteor impact in the Middle East might have triggered the mysterious collapse of civilizations more than 4,000 years ago. See http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/11/04/homef.html

Astronomy

DISCOVERY OF EXTRA ENERGY ESCAPING FROM SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE A FIRST, SAY SCIENTISTS
For the first time ever, astrophysicists have observed extra energy escaping from the supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011023072208.htm

NEW ENERGY SOURCE "WRINGS" POWER FROM BLACK HOLE SPIN
Scientists for the first time have seen energy being extracted from a black hole. Like an electric dynamo, this black hole spins and pumps energy out through cable-like magnetic field lines into the chaotic gas whipping around it, making the gas -- already infernally hot from the sheer force of crushing gravity -- even hotter. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011023073203.htm

X-RAY EMISSIONS DETECTED FROM ELUSIVE COSMIC OBJECTS
A type of celestial object that has long stumped astronomers has been found to emit X-rays, thus proving a theory of how the objects form. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011023072956.htm

ASTRONOMERS DISCOVER PROBABLE PULSAR IN SUPERNOVA
A team of astronomers led by Rutgers Professor John P. Hughes has made an important new discovery using NASA's orbital Chandra X-ray Observatory. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011023071716.htm

ISO finds 30 'failed stars' in nearby stellar nursery - a big bounty of
brown dwarfs at
http://sci.esa.int/content/news/photorelease_caption.cfm?oid=&o&cid=41&aid=18

Mars Odyssey 2001 probe takes first space pictures of red planet
Washington - Nov 1, 2001 - NASA on Wednesday revealed its first thermal picture of the red planet taken by the Mars Odyssey space probe, data which officials hope will yield information about the planet's climate zones. See http://spacedaily.com/news/011031235934.qzoyb4sf.html

Observations Reveal Curiosities On The Surface Of Asteroid Ceres
Boulder - Nov 2, 2001 - An international team led by scientists at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has discovered some curious properties of the largest asteroid, Ceres. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/asteroid-01b.html

See Movie of the Auroras: The Earth's twin auroras have been caught dancing in unison at both poles in an unprecedented movie shot by NASA's Polar spacecraft. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20011029/aurora.html

Leonid meteor shower on November 17/18 may just put on a stunning show this
year. See http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/

Biology

RESEARCHERS DISCOVER SECRETS OF ANTHRAX'S KILLER TOXIN
Two groups of researchers announced today key features of how anthrax toxin destroys cells. In back-to-back papers in the journal Nature, investigators identify how one part of the toxin gets into cells and how another part turns off one of the cell's major internal switches. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011024073122.htm

AIR CLEANING SYSTEM DESTROYS ANTHRAX, OTHER PATHOGENS, SAYS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA PROFESSOR
An indoor air cleaning system originally developed to zap dust mites and mold spores also destroys airborne anthrax and other pathogenic microbes, says the University of Florida engineering professor who pioneered the technology. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011025071910.htm

HORMONAL CHANGES DURING PHYSIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT CAN ALTER IMMUNE RESPONSE TO VIRUSES AND INFECTIONS
Why men and women respond differently to infections caused by viruses or other parasites remains a mystery. How the immune system adopts certain strategies towards particular illnesses has not been determined. Examining gender characteristics, hormones and genes, and how they interact with immunology could provide answers to these questions. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011022030942.htm

THE BRAIN'S HALVES COOPERATE TO HELP US REMEMBER EVENTS, GIVING "LEFTY FAMILY" MEMBERS BETTER EPISODIC MEMORY
Does coming from a family full of lefties tend to make a person better at remembering events? The data from two recent experiments answer in the affirmative. Whats more, psychologists may finally be able to explain why kids dont remember events until they are about four years old. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011022025919.htm

RESEARCHERS PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER TO UNDERSTAND COMPLEX WORLD OF WILD PLANTS AND ANIMALS
What can abstract mathematical equations tell about animals and plants living in the wild? A lot, contend Texas A&M University scientists who are collaborating to better understand how wildlife animals and plants live and interact. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011022030309.htm

SCIENTISTS REPORT FIRST TRANSGENIC ANIMAL DEVELOPED VIA RETROVIRAL DNA INSERTION INTO MALE GERM-LINE STEM CELLS
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have successfully used a retrovirus to modify genes in spermatogonial stem cells in a mouse the first instance, in any species, of a transgenic animal created by inserting a gene into male germ-line stem cells. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011023072036.htm

FRESH EVIDENCE POINTS TO MARINE BACTERIA AS A SOURCE OF ANTI-CANCER DRUG
Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), have produced evidence that bacteria living inside a small marine animal may be the source of a new drug compound being developed to fight cancer. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011024073043.htm

GENETIC PROFILING MAY PLAY A GREATER ROLE IN IDENTIFYING WOMEN AT RISK FROM BREAST CANCER
A team of Cambridge University scientists has identified variants in six genes that may help to identify women at risk from breast cancer, ECCO 11 - the European Cancer Conference in Lisbon heard this week. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011024073000.htm

CAFFEINE INTAKE INCREASES THE RATE OF BONE LOSS IN ELDERLY WOMEN
Nutrition, lifestyle, and genetics may all contribute to the decrease in bone mineral density (BMD) that comes with aging and leads to osteoporosis, a major cause of fractures in the elderly. Previous research implicated caffeine in increased risk for hip fracture and poor calcium retention. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011024073604.htm

COCOA AND DARK CHOCOLATE SHOW POSITIVE EFFECTS ON LDLS BUT DON'T SHUN VEGGIES
A Penn State-led study has found that a diet high in flavonoid-rich cocoa powder and dark chocolate had favorable effects on LDL ("bad" cholesterol) when compared with a diet that limited or excluded other flavonoid sources such as tea, coffee, wine, onions, apples, beans, soybeans, and orange and grape juices. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011024073452.htm

STUDY POINTS TO MYSTERIES BEHIND TYPE 2 DIABETES IN YOUTH; RESEARCHERS FIND CHANGES OF PUBERTY INITIATE A PERIOD OF INSULIN RESISTANCE AMONG HEALTHY TEEN-AGERS
What do healthy adolescents and people with type 2 diabetes have in common? Both grow resistant to insulin, according to a new study by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011025071810.htm

SCIENTISTS UNCOVER THE EXACT MODE OF ACTION OF FIVE ANTIBIOTIC DRUGS
Researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science and Germanys Max-Planck Society have discovered how five antibiotic drugs function by binding to the bacterial ribosome the cells "protein factory" and shutting off all protein production. Proteins are the cells primary component and the basis of all enzymatic reactions. Blocking their production kills the bacterium. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011025072539.htm

ANTIOXIDANT VITAMINS AND ZINC REDUCE RISK OF VISION LOSS FROM AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION
High levels of antioxidants and zinc significantly reduce the risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and its associated vision loss. These same nutrients had no significant effect on the development or progression of cataract. These findings from a nationwide clinical trial are reported in the October 2001 issue of Archives of Ophthalmology. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011025072911.htm

SMART" CARRIERS AND TINY SKIN-DEEP "MEDICINE CABINETS" IMPROVE DRUG EFFECTIVENESS AGAINST CANCER, AIDS, OTHER DISEASES
An oral or injected "smart" drug carrier that seeks out targeted diseased cells in the body and a tiny gel "medicine cabinet" injected under the skin to supply drugs as needed on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis have been developed by a team of scientists from Rutgers, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ). See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011025072104.htm

Earth Science

ATLANTIC FLOOR DESTINED TO SLIP UNDER NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT
It won't happen overnight, but eventually, the floor of the Atlantic Ocean will plunge beneath the North American continent, forming a deep trench about 2,000 miles long and possibly generating volcanoes, according to research at the University of Minnesota and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011019074950.htm

EARLIEST EVIDENCE OF LEMURS DISCOVERED IN PAKISTAN, FAR FROM THEIR CURRENT HOME, SCIENCE REPORTS
A handful of tiny teeth collected in the Bugti Hills of Pakistan represent the fossil remains of the earliest known lemur, say an international team of researchers in the 19 October issue of the journal Science. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011019075135.htm

SCIENTISTS FIND THAT FLUID-LIKE FLOW OF ROCK OCCURS BELOW FAULTS FOLLOWING BIG QUAKES
New technologies in the form of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and the Global Positioning System (GPS) have helped scientists determine that fluid-like flow occurred just below the earths crust in the first few months following two recent large California earthquakes. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011023073312.htm

GEOLOGIST FINDS LOST ISLAND IN SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL
An island submerged for more than 13,000 years has been discovered beneath the ocean's surface about halfway between the Santa Barbara Harbor and one of the existing Santa Barbara Channel Islands by Edward A. Keller, professor of geological sciences and environmental studies at UC Santa Barbara. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011024073154.htm

SCIENTISTS EXAMINE THE SEAS OUR ANCESTORS FISHED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND TODAY'S CHANGING OCEANS
Imagine the world's oceans teeming with whales, sea turtles and fishes, with shellfish so abundant they posed a hazard to navigation. Only in a Jules Verne classic fantasy? Not so. A group of scientists from several research institutions has recently depicted that such rich ocean life existed in the not-so-distant past. Writing in the journal Science, the scientists have documented long-term effects of fishing and provided a framework for repairing coastal marine ecosystems that have collapsed from centuries of overfishing. The information comes none too soon for those who study and manage marine resources. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011023073627.htm

SATELLITES MEASURE "BOUNCING" LANDSCAPES
Life really does have its ups and downs. Some parts of Europe and America, for example, can rise and fall by as much as 10 cm every day. Now, scientists at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in England are using satellite technology to produce the first national map of bounce to help civil engineers make ends meet when they build bridges, dams and tunnels. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011024073341.htm

Astrobiologists to Launch Mission to Early Earth
Rochester - Nov 2, 2001 - In what seems a cross between Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth and H. G. Wells' The Time Machine, researchers from the University of Rochester are burrowing deep underground into the most ancient regions of the globe to find the lost world where life began. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01zk.html

Physics

PHYSICISTS COUNT SUBATOMIC PARTICLES RELEASED BY THE SUN
The sun not only radiates light all over the place, but it also emits millions of tiny invisible particles called neutrinos. A team of Texas A&M University physicists has reported in the journal Physical Review C one of the most precise results about the number of solar neutrinos by using an original approach starting a new sub-discipline within nuclear astrophysics. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011022030224.htm

ULTRAFAST X-RAY PULSES COULD REVEAL ATOMS IN MOTION
X-rays are already being used in many fields, from biology to materials science, to study the microscopic structure of matter. Now a group of researchers from the University of Michigan Department of Physics and its new Center for Optical Coherent and Ultrafast Science (FOCUS) have demonstrated an ultrafast switch for X-rays. The switch will enable the researchers to follow the movement of constituent atoms, and actually obtain information about the dynamics of molecular motion. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011025072007.htm

IN A SHOW OF ENTROPY'S BENEFITS, SCIENTISTS FIND "FUZZY" MOLECULES CAN ASSEMBLE PRECISELY INTO DISTINCT LATTICES
Physicists at the University of Pennsylvania have determined that adding a "fuzz" of chemical chains to colloidal molecules can lead them to form a predictable array of lattices. The entropy-driven phenomenon represents a way in which the power of entropy might be harnessed by scientists for constructive purposes. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011026075321.htm

Scientists Expect To "See" Miniature Black Holes
Santa Barbara - Nov 2, 2001 - An article soon to be published in the conference proceedings of Snowmass 2001, The Future of Particle Physics," fuels excitement that scientists will be able to see the traces of miniature black holes created in an accelerator. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/blackhole-01b.html

Psychology

The latest news in psychiatry. See http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/vol36/issue21/index.shtml

The latest news in psychology. See http://www.apa.org/monitor/toc.html

Engaging in stressful tasks like trying to meet a deadline may strengthen the immune system while exposure to stress that must be endured passively - like watching violence on TV - may weaken it, a researcher at the Ohio State University says. See http://www.osu.edu/researchnews/archive/acustrs.htm

Neurotheology is the belief that religion is all in the mind: See http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,74-2001373571,00.html

October 27, 2001

Religion in the News

A History of Halloween: Halloween has its roots in Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/143/53.0.html

Families of fallen postal workers seek solace in faith: Anthrax quickly kills Md. men (USA Today) See http://cgi.usatoday.com/usatonline/20011024/3563536s.htm

Amy Schwartz is the winner of the updated version of C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/143/52.0.html Her essay is at http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp?pageLoc=/story/90/html&boardID=27198

Praying Like Jesus, Not Jabez
The prayer of Jabez may be popular, but it's not a good model for prayer, says author James Mulholland. Join him for a free minicourse about the Lord's Prayer, how it can correct tendencies to abuse prayer, and how it transforms lives. See http://beliefnet.com/index/index_10002.html (must register)

Televangelist Report Card
A recent study reveals how religious broadcasters actually use their airtime.
By Steven Winzenburg. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/013/10.88.html

The Washington Post reports that Christian missionaries around the world have evacuated predominantly Muslim countries since the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Dangers of New Testament Greek: A little knowledge of New Testament Greek
can be a dangerous, or edifying, thing. By Gary M. Burge See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/013/7.73.html

The King James Version: A Translation Fit For A King
In the beginning, the King James Version was an
attempt to thwart liberty. In the end, it promoted liberty.
By David Neff. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/013/6.36.html

Karl Barth: "Karl Barth was one of the most famous theologians of the 20th century. Once, when on a tour of the United States, someone asked him to state the most profound theological truth he knew. The old man thought for a few moments, and then he said
something I find to be truly amazing. Rather than quote from Aquinas or Bonhoeffer, he instead quoted a child's song: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."
Why something so simple? It was because Barth knew that to be loved of God, to be God's friend, is something that truly can be called awesome. Everything else -- even the profundities of theology -- pales by comparison." by Matt Donnelly, for the ChristianityToday.com staff

Science and the Spiritual Quest: Meeting at Harvard sponsored by the Templeton Foundation. "The truly intelligent man evolves "beyond belief," beyond the distinctive claims of any religion to a "universal civilization" that takes the best from all the world's streams of thought." See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/143/11.0.html

Science in the News

Archaeology

King Midas' Tomb: Oct. 23 — Meat, not gold, may have led to the destruction of the tomb of King Midas, according to a new study that suggests wood rot in the king's tomb was fueled by nitrogen from meat contained in pots, bowls and inside Midas himself. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20011021/midas.html

Secrets of Mummification: Oct. 26 — British researchers have unwrapped the secrets of mummification by discovering which preservatives the ancient Egyptians used in their funerary rites. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20011021/mummy.html

Astronomy

Odyssey Set To Provide Comm Link For 2003 Rover
Ithaca - Oct. 24, 2001 - A collective sigh of relief could be heard around the corridors of Cornell University's Space Sciences Building late Tuesday night when the Mars Odyssey spacecraft went into orbit around Mars. The main reason for the jubilation: The small robotic spacecraft will be the key communications link for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission in 2003. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars2003-01b.html

Mars Without Liquid Water
Melbourne - Oct 23, 2001 - The main evidence for liquid water on Mars is the past development of giant flood channels that have been seen for the last 25 years as proof of the escape of water from the subsurface. All the models for modern and ancient Mars are based on the premise that there was once liquid water available, and perhaps even an ocean. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-science-01o.html

Chandra X-ray Observatory: Astronomers using our Chandra X-ray Observatory have found a pulsar at the center of the exploded remains of a 1,600-year-old supernova. It looks like a good laboratory to study how massive stars explode.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/pulsar_supernova_011023.html

X-Ray Emissions Detected from Elusive Cosmic Objects
Chandra confirms that Herbig-Haro objects result from high-speed collisions
of gas near newborn stars. Hot jets at http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/01_releases/press_101901.html

Black Hole Energy: Scientists using XMM have, for the first time, seen energy being extracted from a black hole. This one is a supermassive black hole with a mass of
about 100 million suns. ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2001/01-200.txt

GENETIC ALGORITHMS "NATURALLY SELECT" BETTER SATELLITE ORBITS
Some Earth-orbiting satellites will be able to keep in touch longer with controllers on the planet's surface thanks to computer programs that mimic Darwin's evolutionary model of survival-of-the-fittest. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011016070234.htm

LUNAR SOIL YIELDS EVIDENCE ABOUT SUN'S DYNAMIC WORKINGS
Soil collected on the moon by Purdue University alumnus Eugene Cernan nearly 30 years ago has helped researchers at his alma mater and the University of California uncover new details about the workings of the sun. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011012073750.htm

Biology

NEW DNA-BASED VACCINE APPROACH PROTECTS MICE AGAINST ANTHRAX
Researchers here have shown that mice injected with fragments of DNA from anthrax bacteria can be immunized against the disease. In traditional vaccine approaches, researchers have used live, weakened or dead pathogens - or proteins produced by the organisms - to produce an immune response. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011016070319.htm

Ten things you should know about Anthrax: See http://health.discovery.com/expert/qa/general/anthraxtop10.html

YALE RESEARCHERS DEVELOP PROMISING AIDS VACCINE
Yale researchers have developed an AIDS vaccine that has proved effective in animal studies and holds promise for humans. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011016070122.htm

How Many Human Genes? Consolidation of transcript and protein databases suggests humans may have more than 70,000 genes. See (E-mail address required) http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2001/oct/hollon_p1_011015.html

SPACE RESEARCH PROVIDES NEW EVIDENCE ON THE ROLE OF GRAVITY IN FERTILIZATION
NASA researchers have uncovered evidence that gravity, or the lack thereof, may play an important role in the development and evolution of life. The study suggests fertilization is gravity-sensitive and works differently in the near-weightless environment of space than it does here on Earth. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011015060351.htm

HERBAL OILS MAY ENHANCE INSULIN SENSITIVITY AND LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE IN DIABETIC RATS
Research at Georgetown University Medical Center has found that a combination of naturally occurring edible oils may be effective in treating Type II diabetes. These findings were presented at the American College of Nutritions annual meeting October 6 and 7 in Orlando, Fla. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011011070346.htm

VITAMIN E AND ASPIRIN DELAY HEART DISEASE IN MICE EVEN WITH HIGH CHOLESTEROL LEVELS
A combination of the anti-oxidant Vitamin E and a cox inhibitor such as aspirin significantly delays the development of atherosclerosis in mice even when their cholesterol levels remain high, according to research by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011019074431.htm

Peer Review: Do Studies Prove Its Effectiveness? http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2001/oct/opin_011029.html

Earth Science

Huge Crocodile Snacked on Dinosaurs: Oct. 26th. Paleontologists said on Thursday they had discovered the fossilized remains of a gargantuan cousin of modern crocodiles during digs in the Tenere Desert of Niger in west Africa. The river-dwelling giant crocodile, whose scientific name Sarcosuchus imperator means "flesh crocodile emperor", measured at least 40 feet long and weighed up to 10 tons. It was 10 to 15 times more massive than the largest existing crocodilians. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/reu/20011021/croc.html

STUDENT DISCOVERS WELL-PRESERVED EMBRYO IN DINOSAUR EGG
A North Carolina State University graduate student has discovered that a dinosaur egg unearthed more than 30 years ago in Alabama contains well-preserved and incredibly detailed remains of a nearly hatched dinosaur embryo. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011016065958.htm

Radiocarbon Locks in History of El Nino in Coral Reefs
Tucson - Oct 22, 2001 - University of Arizona Earth scientist Warren Beck is using radiocarbon levels in corals to derive long records of El Nino variability in the equatorial Pacific. He also suggests these results are useful for tracking variations in carbon dioxide emissions from the equatorial Pacific, an important region for controlling releases of this potent greenhouse gas. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/pacific-01e.html

Atlantic floor destined to slip under North American continent
Minneapolis - Oct 22, 2001 - It won't happen overnight, but eventually, the floor of the Atlantic Ocean will plunge beneath the North American continent, forming a deep trench about 2,000 miles long and possibly generating volcanoes, according to research at the University of Minnesota and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tectonics-01h.html

ANTARCTIC SEAFLOOR CORE SUGGESTS EARTH'S ORBITAL OSCILLATIONS MAY BE THE KEY TO WHAT CONTROLLED ICE AGES
An international team of scientists reported this week that a rock core drilled from the seafloor off the coast of Antarctica is the first to show cyclic climate changes in polar regions that are linked to cores taken from the ocean bottom in both temperate and tropical zones. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011018071615.htm

Physics

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA PROFESSOR WINS AGAIN, SOLVES 40-YEAR-OLD MATHEMATICS PROBLEM
A University of Iowa researcher has helped solve an applied mathematics problem that had challenged computer scientists for 40 years, just one year after he helped find the solution to a 32-year-old problem. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011015055814.htm

Psychology

The Science of Love. See http://health.discovery.com/convergence/scienceoflove/scienceoflove.html

AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR IN BOYS AND MEN MAY NOT BE A LEARNED BEHAVIOR; REDUCED LEVELS OF A VASCOCONSTRICTOR TRIGGERS PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES LEADING TO FIGHTING, BITING, AND SCRATCHING
Poets and writers of great literature may be disappointed to learn that the aggressive male passions that have caused duels, skirmishes, and wars are the result of reduced levels of serotonin in the brain. Why men? A group of researchers from the University of Akron state the Y chromosome that determines "maleness" (as opposed to the XX in females) governs serotonin levels. When stimulated, serotonin decreases, testosterone increases, and aggression results. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011019074815.htm

Technology

BELL LABS SCIENTISTS USHER IN NEW ERA OF MOLECULAR-SCALE ELECTRONICS; TINY ORGANIC TRANSISTORS MAY LEAD TO LESS EXPENSIVE AND MORE POWERFUL CHIPS
Scientists from Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs have created organic transistors with a single-molecule channel length, setting the stage for a new class of inexpensive and easily assembled molecular electronics based on compounds of carbon. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011018071534.htm

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA ENGINEER, STUDENTS CREATE GLOW-IN-THE-DARK BICYCLE
Nighttime cyclists may soon have a dramatic safety improvement thats sure to get glowing reviews: a bike that glows from stem to stern, wheels included. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011019074352.htm

October 20, 2001

Religion in the News

Is the End Coming soon? "These would-be prophets could be right, but history is
definitely not on their side." The History of the Second Coming. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ch/61h/

Vatican Allows Dead Sea Scrolls Change: The Vatican is to abandon decades of secrecy and obstruction to allow changes in the Bible based on revelations in the Dead Sea Scrolls, more than half a century after they were discovered. See http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-2001313912,00.html

Free 'Understanding Islam' Mini-Course
Does Islam really condone violence? Or is it a peaceful religion that's been hijacked by terrorists? In this course, a respected Islamic scholar will help you explore both the basics of Islam and the hot-button issues. Or, if you'd like to take a broader look at religion in America today, join an interfaith dialogue group. See http://beliefnet.com/index/index_40118.html

S.C. Lewis on War and Peace: "Neither Patriot nor Pacifist, but 'Patient' See http://users.etown.edu/d/DOWNINDC/war.htm

We Really Do Need Another Bible Translation
As good as many modern versions are, they often do not allow us to hear what the Holy Spirit actually said. By Raymond C. Van Leeuwen. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/013/5.28.html

Dan Rather: Coming home 9/11, I read the Bible

Beamer's Faith, Competitive Streak
Set Scene for Flight 93 Heroism
Friends say Wheaton grad's determination made him a hero.
By LaTonya Taylor. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/142/43.0.html

A ministry via modem New cyberchurch 777live.com boasts 40,000 congregants (The Washington Post)

Tune in to the Science and the Spiritual Quest Boston Conference live audio
webcast, October 22nd, 3pm - 9pm (eastern) at http://www.GraceCathedral.org

Science in the News

Archaeology

Qumran nails and fruit-pits sharpen settlement debate: Archeologists are finding increasing evidence the caves were the Western world's first monastery. http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?=5&sbSubContrassIY&iNo=81259

Did Noah's flood really happen?: Scientific discoveries deepen suspicions that Bible stories are as much history as legend (Gregg Easterbrook, Beliefnet) See http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp?pageLoc=/story/89/story_8934_1.ID=26082

DNA Identifies Body of Bible's Luke
By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
Oct. 16 — DNA extracted from the teeth of a corpse thought to be that of the well-known biblical figure Luke suggests that the body likely is the evangelist's. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20011015/luke.html

The Jerusalem Archaeological Park
http://www.archpark.org.il/index.asp

Archaeology Magazine-The Japanese Archaeological Association reported that archaeologist Shinichi Fujimura fabricated finds at a minimum of 42 sites.
-In Egypt, an ancient limestone quarry was found near Akoris, a 2,000-year-old temple was discovered at Kharga Oasis, and pharaonic statues were excavated at Abu Sir.
-Archaeologists also believe they have found the ancient city of Helike in Greece, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 373 B.C. From http://www.archaeology.org

Anthropology

Fossil discovery revises thinking: A 200,000-year-old jawbone found in France may push back ideas of early social care. See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/10/14/national/JAWBONE14.htm

Astronomy

Moon and Earth Formed out of Identical Material
Zurich - Oct 14, 2001 - According to the "Giant Impact" theory the moon was formed by a collision between a proto-earth and a smaller planet. In the October 12 issue of Science, ETH researchers present results showing that the composition of the oxygen isotopes of the moon and the earth are identical. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/lunar-01g.html

"GOOD VIBRATIONS" MAY PREVENT BONE LOSS IN SPACE
New NASA research suggests bones that are slightly shaken may help astronauts stay healthier during long spaceflights, and could be used to help people suffering from bone loss here on Earth. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011003065112.htm

An international team of astronomers (partly funded by us) has discovered
eight new extrasolar planets, bringing to nearly 80 the number of planets
found orbiting nearby stars. The latest discoveries uncovered more evidence
of planets with circular orbits, similar to the orbits of planets in our
solar system. Planets popping out all over at
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2001/01-197.txt , and you can visit
the science team's page at http://exoplanets.org/

Solar Wind Discoveries At Solar Max
San Antonio - Oct 15, 2001 - The newest observations from the Ulysses spacecraft suggest the heliospheric chaos of solar maximum occupies a unique and rather short-lived portion of the solar cycle; the majority of the cycle is dominated by large polar coronal holes and a relatively simple solar wind structure, according to Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) space scientists. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ulysses-01d.html

Dan Goldin Resigns From NASA
Washington - Oct 17, 2001 - After nearly ten years as the head of America's space program, NASA's longest-serving Administrator, Daniel S. Goldin, today announced his resignation, effective November 17. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nasa-01f.html

Biology

Scientists crack DNA riddle of the Black Death: By David Derbyshire. The riddle of the Black Death, the disease that has killed 200 million people across the world, may have been solved. British scientists have decoded the genetic map of the plague bacterium in a discovery that could lead to the development of new vaccines and help prevent its use in biological warfare. By studying the DNA sequence they found that the bacterium evolved from a relatively benign stomach bug only a few thousand years ago. See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=005131100627914&rtmo=pUNeMecndna11.html

UCSD BIOENGINEERS FABRICATE JOINT CARTILAGE WHICH MIMICS STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF NATURAL TISSUE
University of California, San Diego (UCSD) bioengineers have fabricated cartilage tissue which for the first time mimics the multi-layered structure and cellular functions of natural articular cartilage. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011008070024.htm

CHANGES IN NUTRITION CAN ALLEVIATE EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM STRESS
As the United States prepares militarily to fight terrorism, Americans can more successfully deal with the long-term stress that may become a part of our lives by making slight adjustments in what we eat, according to an internationally known nutrition scientist. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011009071401.htm

DISCOVERY OF A MOLECULAR SWITCH -- PROGRESS IN THE RESEARCH ON ANXIETY
In the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (September 25, 2001, Vol. 98) scientists of the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Goettingen, report about their discovery of an amino acid-switch of the stress hormone corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF): by replacing a single amino acid, they were able to change selectively the binding properties of CRF. On the basis of this observation, the development of selective CRF-like agonists and antagonists should be facilitated. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011009070408.htm

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA BIOCHEMIST DISCOVERS VITAL INFORMATION ON CANCER-FIGHTING GENE
A University of Alberta biochemist has recreated the three-dimensional structure of a critical portion of the BRCA1 protein, which if mutated, causes hereditary breast cancer.
See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011009070851.htm

HIGH-PROTEIN DIETS NOT PROVEN EFFECTIVE AND MAY POSE HEALTH RISKS
High-protein diets have no proven effectiveness in long-term weight reduction and pose potential health threats for those who adhere to them for more than a short time, according to an advisory from the American Heart Associations Nutrition Committee in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011010074524.htm

FIRST AIDS VACCINE MADE AT NIAID'S VACCINE RESEARCH CENTER ENTERS CLINICAL TRIAL
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) researchers at the Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center (VRC) today announced the start of a clinical trial testing the first AIDS vaccine invented at the new facility. The VRC, described as a cross between a biotechnology company and an academic organization, is the first facility at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) dedicated solely to vaccine research and production. The vaccine was produced only one year after the building housing the new center opened in September 2000. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011010074121.htm

AUTISTIC BEHAVIOR LINKED TO SEVERAL BRAIN AREAS IN CHILDREN WITH TUBEROUS SCLEROSIS
More than one area of the brain is responsible for autistic behavior in children with tuberous sclerosis and brain lesions, according to an article published in the October 9 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011009070738.htm

MINIMALLY INVASIVE CURE FOR ABNORMAL HEART RHYTHM ON THE HORIZON
There may be a safer and easier way to treat patients with the most common form of irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011010074251.htm

OREGANO OIL MAY PROTECT AGAINST DRUG-RESISTANT BACTERIA, GEORGETOWN RESEARCHER FINDS
Oil from the common herb oregano may be an effective treatment against dangerous, and sometimes drug-resistant bacteria, a Georgetown researcher has found. Two studies have shown that oregano oiland, in particular, carvacrol, one of oreganos chemical componentsappear to reduce infection as effectively as traditional antibiotics. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011011065609.htm

TAKE LESS MEDICINE AND HAVE FEWER TENSION HEADACHES
Tension headaches send most people to the medicine cabinet in search of relief, but many of the drugs they grab provide only a brief respite from the pain. A new study by researchers at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, however, suggests that long-term relief is now possible with small doses of botulinum toxin (botox). See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011012072951.htm

RESEARCHERS REVEAL NEW CLUES ABOUT SPREAD OF COLON CANCER
Researchers have discovered a gene that appears to allow colon tumors to spread to other parts of the body, a process called metastasis. The gene codes for an enzyme that may be central to the metastatic process, suggesting the possibility that the enzyme could targeted by drugs to block the spread of colon cancers. Metastasis is the primary cause of death from colon cancer. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011012073703.htm

Earth Science

Large dinosaur fossil is unearthed in Australia : BRISBANE, Australia - Scientists announced yesterday that they had uncovered fossilized fragments of a large dinosaur that may be unique to Australia. See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/10/11/national/DINO11.htm

NASA RADAR GIVES FRESH LOOK AT ALASKA'S UNIQUE TERRAIN
A NASA mission to study Alaska's unique terrain is providing scientists with their first detailed look at the changing topography of one of Earth's most active volcanic regions. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011009071543.htm

NASA TECHNOLOGY EYES BETTER HURRICANE FORECASTS
Two NASA scientists have for the first time taken simultaneous high-altitude radar, temperature, and wind measurements that reveal the anatomy of hurricanes and shed light on what makes them intensify. The results could lead to better forecasting in the future. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011011070708.htm

Physics

NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS GOES TO DISCOVERS OF NEW STATE OF MATTER: BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATE
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2001 jointly to Eric A. Cornell, of JILA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colorado; Wolfgang Ketterle, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Carl E. Wieman, of JILA and the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado, "for the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates." See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011009070037.htm

MATTER WAVES ON A MICROCHIP: MUNICH MAX-PLANCK RESEARCHERS REACHED "QUANTUM LEAP" TO MINIATURIZE ATOM LASERS
A few years ago, the first atom lasers were built, devices that produce a beam of atoms with many of the properties of a laser beam. Now physicists at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich have demonstrated that atom lasers can be integrated on a microchip (Nature, 4 Oct. 2001). See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011010074437.htm

Technology

Exotic form of carbon could revolutionize computer memory
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991443

October 13, 2001

Religion in the News

Arthur Peacocke, winner of the 2001 Templeton Prize for
Progress in Religion, will make several appearances in the Philadelphia area
on Sunday, October 28 and Monday, October 29. On Sunday, he will give
sermons at St. David's Episcopal Church in Wayne. On Monday he will give two
talks, one at International House on the campus of the University of
Pennsylvania and the other at the Swarthmore Friends Meeting on the campus
of Swarthmore College. These events are sponsored by PCRS/Metanexus in
association with the groups and are open to the public.
Contact: Julia Loving at 610.486.1176 or loving@pc4rs.org

Science in the News

Astronomy

Gravitational Lens Helps Hubble And Keck Discover Galaxy Building Block
 Washington - Oct. 5, 2001 - A very small, faint galaxy - possibly one of the long sought `building blocks' of present-day galaxies - has been discovered by a collaboration between the Hubble Space Telescope and the Keck Telescopes at a tremendous distance of 13.4 billion light- years (based on the estimate of 14 billion years as the age of the Universe). See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gravity-lense-01a.html

STRANGE TRAIL SUGGESTS PRESENCE OF GALACTIC INTERLOPER
Scientists have discovered what looks like a jet contrail, possibly left behind by a dwarf star traveling through interstellar space. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011001072354.htm

Biology

LOSS OF NEW CELL GROWTH GENE LINKED TO CERTAIN HUMAN CANCERS
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have found that the loss of a recently discovered gene involved in cell growth may play an important role in the progression of some human cancers. The gene, called Cables, was discovered by the MGH team last year, and the latest results are published in the October 1 issue of Cancer Research. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011001072058.htm

DRUG USE "SENSITIZES" THE BRAIN
For recovering alcoholics and ex-smokers, as well as former users of illicit drugs, the mundane trappings of their addictions---ice cubes, ashtrays, straws, needles---exert a strong, long-lasting power to trigger relapse. A new University of Michigan study, published in the current (October 2001) issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, provides experimental evidence supporting a neurological explanation for why cues as innocent as the sound of ice cubes tinkling in a glass can cause "recovered" addicts to experience dangerous drug cravings. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011001071942.htm

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS IMPLICATED IN DEVELOPMENT OF ASTHMA
As asthma rates have surged in recent decades, scientists have searched hard for causes of the disease. Genetics, exposure to allergens, and infectious diseases are all suspects. Researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center have now added another risk factor for the development of asthmathe early psychological environment of the child. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011001071905.htm

KETOGENIC DIET REDUCES SEIZURES IN MANY CHILDREN, HOPKINS RESEARCHERS FIND
Johns Hopkins neurologists report that a rigorously high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet not only reduces the number of seizures in children with severe seizure disorders, but also keeps the frequency of attacks lower years after the diet is stopped. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011001071818.htm

TREATING ADHD IN PRESCHOOLERS -- WITHOUT MEDICATION
Children with ADHD often are given medication such as Ritalin to control the inattention, hyperactivity and poor behavior that characterizes the disorder. A Lehigh University research team will introduce alternative strategies with the goal of reducing the use of medication and preventing more serious problems among children 3- to 5-years-old. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011002065045.htm

ANTIBIOTIC LINKED TO NEWBORNS' INTESTINAL DISORDER
An Indiana University School of Medicine study has confirmed a linkage between erythromycin, one of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics, and the subsequent development of pyloric stenosis, a condition that affects one in 500 newborns. The study appears in the current issue of the Journal of Pediatrics. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011002065223.htm

SCIENTISTS FIND NEW APPROACH TO DEVELOPING MEDICATIONS TO PREVENT RELAPSE TO COCAINE USE
Research teams from the Drug Abuse Program of the VU Medical Center in the Netherlands and the intramural laboratories of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) have identified a process in the brain that may lead to a new generation of medications to prevent relapse to cocaine use. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011003064621.htm

NEW STUDY SHOWS TARGETED LIFESTYLE CHANGES COULD TURN THE TIDE AGANST DIABETES AND HEART DISEASE; RESULTS SHOW A 20% IMPROVEMENT IN THE BODY'S ABILITY TO USE INSULIN
World-first research at the University of Otago in New Zealand could help reverse the world-wide epidemic of diabetes and significantly reduce heart disease. The study of 79 people aged 35-60 suggests a combination of intensive exercise and specific changes to diet could prevent or dramatically reduce the risk of adult-onset diabetes (type 2 diabetes) and heart disease. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011003064536.htm

ACE-INHIBITOR REVERSES HEART ENLARGEMENT, CUTS CARDIOVASCULAR RISK
For the first time a drug used to treat high blood pressure has been shown to prevent and gradually reverse enlargement of the heart, reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke and congestive heart failure, researchers report in the Oct. 1 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011003063402.htm

COLUMBIA PRESBYTERIAN RESEARCHERS SHOW PROSTATE CANCER DRUG SIGNIFICANTLY ARRESTS TUMOR GROWTH WITH MINIMAL SIDE EFFECTS
The results of a clinical study of the effects of Exisulind, a new drug that has been shown to slow tumor growth in men with advanced prostate cancer, are being published in the September issue of The Journal of Urology. The study is the first of its kind to show a significant effect of a new class of drugs that may stabilize progressive, recurrent disease in patients with advanced prostate cancer. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011003064106.htm

STRUCTURE OF VIRUS THAT INFECTS BACTERIA OFFERS INSIGHTS INTO EVOLUTION, THERAPIES
By combining two techniques, an international team of scientists led by researchers at The Wistar Institute has derived the "quasi-atomic" structure of a common bacteriophage, a type of virus that infects bacteria. The results, reported in the October issue of the journal Structure, offer fresh insights into the ancient evolution of viruses and may help inform innovative strategies for countering infections by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011003063209.htm

GEORGETOWN RESEARCH UNCOVERS NEW MECHANISM FOR SUPPRESSING HIV
Laboratory studies at Georgetown University Medical Center have shown that Peptide-T -- a synthetic compound of amino acids -- can suppress the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by preventing the virus from entering healthy human cells. Whether the same result can be achieved outside the laboratory in human beings will not be known until some time next year, at the conclusion of an ongoing Phase II clinical trial, which is under way at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011004064841.htm

October 7, 2001

Religion in the News

Christian Scholarship ... For What?
Academic speakers affirm the value of beholding God's creation.
By John Wilson. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/140/13.0.html

The Genome Doctor
An interview with Francis Collins. By Agnieszka Tennant. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/012/2.42.html

Manipulating the Linguistic Code
Religious language falling into the hands of scientists can be a fearful thing.
By John Wilson See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/012/4.51.html

Religious Riots in Nigeria Leave Hundreds Dead
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/140/23.0.html

Changing spirit of America as it faces terrorism inspires parody of Dr. Seuss: http://www.tennessean.com/local/palm/archives/01/08/091Element_ID=9113243

Studies: Religion kills, heals, and gets you pregnant
The ongoing debate over how religion influences medical patients continues with a slew of recent studies. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/140/42.0.html

Outlaw miracles, says Kenyan columnist
Here's an idea from Nairobi's The Nation newspaper: hold faith healers to truth-in-advertising laws. Columnist Wycliffe Muga argues it's the only way "to put an end to the evangelical conmanship which has been a thriving industry in Kenya for so many years now." He also calls for "a Miracle Verification Centre established by an Act of Parliament and operating under the independent control of the Kenya Medical Association." Those whose miracles cannot be regularly authenticated "could thereafter continue to preach the gospel if they so wish; but they should not be allowed to advertise miracle crusades or to publicise their claims to being able to perform miracles." After all, Muga argues, Jesus told a healed leper to show himself to the priest for authentication and he and his apostles never hung "Come and receive your miracle" banners around Jerusalem.

PBC: Evolution Series:

Darwin's public defender. See http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=24710 also http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=24713

Reconciling Science and Religion: The debate in early twentieth-century Britain
Peter Bowler

Science in the News

Ark-aeology

Scholars find further signs of big flood evoking Noah: Traces of shoreline found 500 feet under Black Sea (The New York Times) See http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/science/social/01FLOO.html

The adventures of a would-be raider of the lost ark: The collection of intrepid explorer, lecturer and evangelist Antonia Frederick Futterer is still on display (Los Angeles Times) See http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000078281sep30.headlines%2Dcalifornia

Anthropology

Lost City By Jack McClintock
For 30 years, archaeologist Mark Lehner has labored to answer a perplexing question: Where did the 20,000 people who built Egypt's pyramids live? Now he believes he has unearthed a palace that anchored their city in 2500 B.C. See http://www.discover.com/oct_01/featlost.html

Cave Art: A new dating of spectacular prehistoric cave paintings in France reveals them to be much older than previously thought. Carbon isotope analysis of charcoal used in pictures of horses at Chauvet, south-central France, show that they are 30,000 years old, a discovery that should prompt a rethink about the development of art. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1577000/1577421.stm

Astronomy

SEARCH OF GALACTIC HALO YIELDS A TREASURE TROVE OF VARIABLE STARS
A project supported by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to determine the nature of dark matter in the halo of the Milky Way has yielded a treasure trove of data on 73 million stars, many of them variable. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010927071834.htm

Map Ready To Take Photographic Trip Back In Time
Greenbelt - Oct. 2, 2001 - After its three-month journey in space, NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) moved into its new home a million miles from Earth and is ready to chart the oldest light in the cosmos. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/map-01e.html

Chandra Sheds Light on the Knotty Problem of the M87 Jet - an x-ray image
of the jet emanating from a black hole with a mass equal to 3 billion
suns. See http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cycle1/0134/index.html

Scientists Toast the Discovery of Vinyl Alcohol in Interstellar Space
Kitt Peak - October 1, 2001 - Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's 12 Meter Telescope at Kitt Peak, AZ, have discovered the complex organic molecule vinyl alcohol in an interstellar cloud of dust and gas near the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. The discovery of this long-sought compound could reveal tantalizing clues to the mysterious origin of complex organic molecules in space. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01zi.html

Spacecraft At Io Sees And Sniffs Tallest Volcanic Plume
Pasadena - Oct 4, 2001 - Jupiter's moon Io has pulled a surprise on NASA's Galileo spacecraft, hurling up the tallest volcanic plume ever seen, which arose from a previously unknown volcano. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-io-01a.html

Top 25 TES Science Results From Mars Global Surveyor
Tempe - Oct 4, 2001 - Using a technique called thermal emission spectroscopy planetary scientists at Arizone State have been able to study in great detail the geology and atmosphere of Mars and have recently presented some 25 specific results that are helping to reshape our views on Mars and its slow evolution over billions of years. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-surveyor-01d.html

World Space Week: A Celebration of Space Exploration
Pasadena - Oct 2, 2001 - It's time once again to celebrate space exploration. In 1999, the United Nations declared the week of October 4 through 10 "World Space Week". This particular week was chosen because October 4 marks the beginning of the space era. On that day in 1957, Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite, was launched by the now former Soviet Union. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/worldspace-01c.html

Biology

RESEARCHERS FIND ENZYME CRUCIAL TO PRESERVATION OF MEMORIES
Using a technique to eliminate the function of one enzyme in a restricted memory-related region in the brains of mice, researchers have shown that the enzyme is important in consolidating long-term memories. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010924062455.htm

TELEVISION CAN ENHANCE CHILDREN'S INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT, STUDY FINDS
Television is so commonly criticized as being bad for children that an important fact sometimes gets overlooked: some types of television viewing may actually enhance children's intellectual development, according to a study. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010924061623.htm

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO RESEARCHERS FIND "FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH" GENE
The body's inability to grow new tissue as it ages might be overcome by increasing the activity of a gene known as FoxM1B, according to a study published in the Sept. 25 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010925070413.htm

RUTGERS SCIENTISTS MAPPING DNA LINKS TO COMPLEX DISEASES
A Rutgers computer research team is developing a genetic linkage map that may help scientists eventually pinpoint the DNA differences that predispose people toward heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, alcoholism, osteoporosis and other complex diseases. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010925070252.htm

ALZHEIMER'S AND PARKINSON'S PROTEINS CREATE A DESTRUCTIVE TEAM
The proteins associated with Alzheimers disease and Parkinsons disease interact to enhance each others distinct degenerative effects, indicating that therapies blocking the production or accumulation of either protein may have broader benefits than previously thought, researchers report in the September 25 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010926071037.htm

SPINACH PROTEIN COULD OFFER NEW HOPE FOR THE BLIND
Spinach, touted in the Popeye cartoon for its ability to strengthen the body, may prove even more valuable for restoring vision to people who are legally blind. Researchers at the Department of Energys Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Southern California hope to learn whether a protein from spinach could replace a non-functioning light receptor in the eye. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010927072527.htm

Eugenics - The April 1998 issue of Life magazine ran a cover story, complete with a double-helix spanning the length of the page, boldly titled "Were You Born That Way?" The subtitle left no doubt about the answer: "Personality, temperament, even life choices. New studies show it's mostly in your genes.", says Garland E. Allen. See http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/294/5540/59

Flesh-eating Plants By Eric Hansen
An intrepid pair of flora hunters venture deep into the jungles of Borneo in search of Nepenthes campanulata, the world's rarest carnivorous pitcher plant, and encounter strange diving ants en route. See http://www.discover.com/oct_01/featplants.html

Earth Science

Dinosaur skin found in fossilized eggs: http://chtah.com/a/hA7vYSgAFqpj3AG83B1ABqQyjlQ/disc6

SEA OF GALILEE YIELDS CLUES FOR WEATHER FORECASTING
Oceanographer Ayal Anis has studied the lake where Christ walked on the water, but rather than focusing on religious questions, his research aims to shed light on the process by which surface waves transfer energy from the air to the water. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010920071932.htm

SCIENTISTS CHART IRON CYCLE IN OCEAN
Scientists at the University of California have found that sunlight plays an important role in cycling iron in the ocean and making it available to marine life. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010926065841.htm

RESEARCHERS DOCUMENT ANCIENT RIVER SYSTEM BURIED OFF THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST
Beneath the sandy shore of Nags Head, N.C. lies a river system that flowed across the continental shelf to the ocean during the last ice age, according to a University of Arkansas researcher. Such geology underlying North Carolina's Outer Banks still influences the present and future of the barrier islands. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010926071407.htm

RESEARCHERS FIND GLASS-EATING MICROBES AT THE ROCK BOTTOM OF THE FOOD CHAIN
Welcome to the bottom of the deep-sea food chain. The rock bottom, that is. In the current edition of Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, a team of researchers uncovers and characterizes a process that is commonplace below the ocean bottom. In the upper 300 meters of the earths oceanic crust, microbes were found to have literally eaten their way through rock. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010928070246.htm

Psychology

The Biology of ... Schizophrenia Seeds of Psychosis
New research shows that the biological clock ticks for men too By Josie Glausiusz See http://www.discover.com/oct_01/featbiology.html

September 29, 2001

Religion in the News

Day of Terror, Day of Grace
In the wake of fatal attacks killing thousands, Christians
steer America toward prayer, service, and reconciliation.
By Tony Carnes in New York City See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/139/21.0.html

The Hard-Won Lessons of Terror and Persecution
Overseas Christians reflect on painful experiences.
By Art Moore. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/139/31.0.html

Myths of the Taliban
Misinformation and disinformation abounds. What do we know?
By John Wilson. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/139/13.0.html

PBS Evolution miniseries:

PBS' Evolution generates a debate | Critics of the eight-hour production issued a poll to try to prove the public disagreed with the program (The Washington Times)
Evolution gets hot reception | Critics say the series doesn't give enough air time to scientists who themselves have doubts about evolutionary theory (The Boston Globe)
PBS series is a natural selection | 'Evolution' is a picturesque, wide-ranging adventure (The Boston Globe)
Evolution counters the gloom | This work of "science journalism" makes fundamentalism of any stripe look quaintly irrelevant (The Denver Post)
Hagiography for Moderns | PBS's Evolution strives for enlightenment but achieves only indoctrination. (Christianity Today, Sept. 24, 2001)

Science in the News

Archaeology

Galilee Drought Uncovers Oldest Village In The World
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/09/23/stifgnmid03001.html

Astronomy

A Quick Snap Shot Of Comet Science In Deep Space
Pasadena - September 23, 2001 - Deep Space 1 plunged into the heart of comet Borrelly and has lived to tell every detail of it! The amazing little spacecraft was fantastically successful in its encounter with the mysterious comet on September 22. Many recent mission logs have described why this probably would not work, but it did work, and it worked far far better than expected. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deep1-01l.html Desktop Of Best Imaged Released see http://www.spacedaily.com/images/borrelly-three-desk.jpg

New Eros Maps Traces Source Of Most Surface Rocks
Ithaca - Sept 27, 2001 - The first detailed global mapping of an asteroid has found that most of the larger rocks strewn across the body were ejected from a single crater in a meteorite collision perhaps a billion years ago. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/near-01q.html

CHANDRA EXAMINES QUADRILLION-VOLT PULSAR
The high-voltage environment of one of the most energetic and strongly magnetized pulsars known has been surveyed by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. A team of astronomers found a powerful jet of high-energy particles extending over a distance of 20 light years and bright arcs believed to be due to particles of matter and anti-matter generated by the pulsar. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010907080855.htm

COMPUTER SIMULATIONS PREDICT WHAT ASTRONOMERS WILL "SEE" WITH GRAVITATIONAL WAVE TELESCOPES WHEN TWO BLACK HOLES COLLIDE
The merging of two black holes is one of the strangest occurrences expected in modern astronomy. Now physicists using the world's biggest computers have shown astronomers what to look for and have brought the first observations of these events much closer. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010919074007.htm

LIFE'S ORIGINS IN SUPERNOVAE: OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY HEADS DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PROJECT THAT LOOKS TO THE STARS
Through a newly funded Department of Energy project, astrophysicists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and around the United States hope to gain a better understanding of what happens when stars die in spectacular explosions called core collapse supernovae. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010919073102.htm

Leonid Meteors Likely To Storm This November
Cambridge MA -September 21, 2001 - If predictions by the world's top meteor experts hold up, early on the morning of November 18th skywatchers in North America can expect to see their most dramatic meteor shower in 35 years. These meteors, called Leonids because they appear to radiate from the constellation Leo (the Lion), will signal the collision of Earth with streams of fast-moving dust particles shed by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/leonid-01a.html

Biology

GENE THERAPY MAY BE A TOOL TO PREVENT BLINDNESS; REDUCES BLINDING BLOOD VESSEL GROWTH BY UP TO 90 PERCENT IN LABORATORY MICE
Gene therapy may one day be used to halt or even prevent the overgrowth of blood vessels in the eye that blinds patients with macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, according to two recent studies led by researchers at Johns Hopkins' Wilmer Eye Institute. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010911072515.htm

FINDING OF KEY BLOOD SUGAR CONTROLLER COULD YIELD NEW DIABETES DRUGS
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers have discovered the long-sought molecular "switch" that regulates the livers production of glucose, the sugar that fuels the brain but which builds up dangerously in the bloodstream of diabetics because this switch doesnt turn off. The researchers say it may be possible to design new drug treatments for diabetes as a result of the work. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010913074242.htm

RESEARCHERS DISCOVER HOW NEURONS COMMUNICATE TO "WIRE" DEVELOPING BRAIN
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have discovered a biochemical pathway that helps describe how neurons in the brain and spinal cord form their connections. Further study into the new data, published in today's issue of Nature, could lead to discoveries in nerve regrowth and regeneration. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010914074135.htm

BLOOD PRESSURE MEASURES DURING EXERCISE CAN INDICATE UNHEALTHY HEARTS
A blood pressure reading taken during exercise is a more accurate test for early heart disease than one taken at rest, according to a study presented Sept. 14 at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) in Minneapolis. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010917075129.htm

SIX MONTHS OF EXERCISE REVERSES DECLINE IN PHYSICAL CONDITIONING ASSOCIATED WITH AGING, UT SOUTHWESTERN RESEARCHERS REPORT
Six months of exercise can reverse the decline in physical conditioning associated with aging, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas reported in a 30-year follow-up to the 1966 landmark Dallas Bed Rest and Training Study. The researchers also report that three weeks of bed-rest deconditioning has a more profound impact on physical work capacity than 30 years of aging. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010918134712.htm

MGH RESEARCHERS USE GENE THERAPY TO CORRECT HEART FAILURE IN A RAT MODEL
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have identified an important component leading to heart failure, and they have successfully fixed the problem in a rat model of the disease. The results are published in the September 18 issue of Circulation. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010919073410.htm

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RESEARCHER UNLOCKS LINKS BETWEEN COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES AND SPREAD OF CANCER
Research at the University of Georgia may lead to a revolutionary breed of treatments aimed at preventing the spread of cancer. Michael Pierce, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, has discovered an enzyme that could help unravel the mystery of how cancer spreads in the human body. If he and his team of researchers can find an inhibitor of this enzyme that works in the body, they may be able to develop a drug that would bind to that enzyme and prevent or slow the migration of cancer cells. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010919074829.htm

INITIAL RESULTS PROMISING FOR MIT BREAST CANCER TREATMENT
A breast-cancer treatment based on MIT radar research is now in Phase II clinical trials, and preliminary results to be reported at a September 24 meeting look promising. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010920072015.htm

Earth Science

Eggs provide new dinosaur clues: The fossils found in Argentina belong to a previously unknown species of plant-eater. See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/09/28/national/DINO28.htm

NEW FOSSILS SUGGEST WHALES AND HIPPOS ARE CLOSE KIN
Partial skeletons of ancient whales found in Pakistan last year resolve a longstanding controversy over the origin of whales, confirming that the giant sea creatures evolved from early ancestors of sheep, deer and hippopotami and suggesting that hippos may be the closest living relatives of whales. The new finds, reported in the Sept. 21 issue of the journal Science, are the first and only specimens known that combine sheep-like ankle bones and archaic whale skull bones in the very same skeletons. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010920072245.htm

Psychology

Depression Assessment
Could your blue feelings be depression? Take the free assessment at http://health.discovery.com/tools/hra/depress/depress_pg1.html

The effects of terrorism on children: See http://chtah.com/a/hA7sGOwAFqpjxAG6lbTABqQyj6S/heal97

GENE TRANSFER ENHANCES PAIR BONDING IN MONOGAMOUS VOLES
Scientists at Emory University have been able to increase bonding behavior in monogamous male prairie voles by transferring a receptor gene for the neuropeptide arginine vasopressin (AVP) into a particular region of the brain. The study reinforces previous findings that monogamy in voles, including the formation of pair bonds, is enhanced by vasopressin, and it is the first study to demonstrate that complex social behaviors, such as social attachment, can be increased by viral vector gene transfer. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010917075347.htm

September 22, 2001

Religion in the News

Active Christian on Flight 93 Hailed as a Hero
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/138/33.0.html

Opinion Roundup: Was September 11
the Beginning of the End? Observers say geography and gravity of attacks
have led to little prophecy speculation. See
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/138/34.0.html

Attack Brings Out the Best
and Worst of Public Religion
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/138/32.0.html

Taliban Moves Jailed Aid Workers for allegedly promoting Christianity to Safer Location. See http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010920/wl/christians_dc_1.html

Science in the News

Creation/Evolution

The series Evolution will air from September 24 through September
27 on many PBS stations 8-10 PM. Part seven is entitled "What about God" which deals with creation. See http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution

Saving Us from Darwin: Review of key books in the Creation/Evolution debate at http://www.nybooks.com/articles/14581

Archaeology

Secrets of the Queen of Sheba: Did the fabled Queen of Sheba ever exist? The discovery of important new relics at a huge temple complex in Yemen may finally confirm the legend of her power and beauty, writes Simon Crerar. See
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/09/16/stirevnws03004.html

Jerusalem's most disputed holy site caught in archaeological tug of war: Jews say renovations to Temple Mount mosques causing irreparable damage (Associated Press).

Anthropology

Oldest Hominid Fossils in Southern Africa Found. See http://us.news2.yimg.com/f/42/31/7m/dailynews.yahoo_safrica_apeman_dc_1.html

Arctic may not have been icy in Ice Age: Archeologists say a recent discovery of animal bones and stone tools means humans lived there more than 40,000 years ago, and the region then may not have been covered in ice at all. See http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2001/09/09072001/reu_44865.asp

PRE-NEANDERTAL HUMANS DEVELOPED SOCIAL SKILLS EARLIER THAN THOUGHT
If your image of a Neandertal is of a crude, uncaring, brute, think again. Teeth and jaw fossils found last year in southeastern France not only reinforce perceptions about how our Neandertal ancestors developed physically, but also suggest that their social and technological development was much more advanced than previously documented. An international team of scientists, including Erik Trinkaus, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, studied two ancient teeth and a large segment of a lower jaw. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010913074336.htm

Astronomy

NASA Tech Probe Set For Deep Space Encounter With Comet Borrelly
Pasadena - Sept. 16, 2001 - NASA's Deep Space 1 probe is now on final approach to a risky close encounter with comet Borrelly on September 22. Currently, DS1 is on a trajectory that has its passing within 2000 kilometers (1250 miles) of Borrelly's cometary nucleus at about 3:30 pm PDT. Traveling at 16.5 kilometers/second (36,900 miles/hour) DS1 will try to smell, see, and hear the comet with its instruments, and if it survives it will describe its scientific adventures to its anxious human colleagues back here on Earth. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deep1-01g.html

RESEARCHERS TEST ASTEROID COLLECTOR IN ZERO GRAVITY CONDITIONS
A University of Arkansas team will work in zero gravity to test a sample collector for a proposed NASA mission that one day may bring asteroids to Earth from space. The test will be a crucial step in proposing a NASA space mission called HERA that would collect samples from three near-Earth asteroids and return those samples to Earth. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010905074108.htm

YOUNG STARS IN ORION MAY SOLVE MYSTERY OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
Scientists may have to give the Sun a little more credit. Exotic isotopes present in the early Solar System--which scientists have long-assumed were sprinkled there by a powerful, nearby star explosion--may have instead been forged locally by our Sun during the colossal solar-flare tantrums of its baby years. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010907080622.htm

YOUNG PULSAR REVEALS CLUES TO SUPERNOVA
Astronomers examined the remnants of a stellar explosion with NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory and discovered one of the youngest known pulsars. The properties of this pulsar, a neutron star rotating 15 times a second, will enable scientists to better understand how neutron stars are formed in the seconds just before a supernova explosion, and how they pump energy into the space around them for thousands of years after the explosion. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010907081012.htm

ANCIENT BLACK HOLE SPEEDS THROUGH SUN'S GALACTIC NEIGHBORHOOD, DEVOURING COMPANION STAR
Data from the Space Telescope Science Institute's Digital Sky Survey has played an important supporting role in helping radio and X-ray astronomers discover an ancient black hole speeding through the Sun's galactic neighborhood. The rogue black hole is devouring a small companion star as the pair travels in an eccentric orbital path looping to the outer reaches of our Milky Way galaxy. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010913074141.htm

Latest Claims Of Martian Life Are Erroneous Says USGS Scientist
Flagstaff - Sept. 20, 2001 - Speculations about life on Mars have always caused great interest and controversy. Recently, several Internet articles have been posted describing the discovery of Martian Surface Organisms in the south polar region of Mars. As a research scientist working on the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) Team, I have spent the last four years analyzing data from this Martian region. The data reveal a region active with interesting and intriguing physical phenomena, but does not suggest the existence of life. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life-01h.html

Biology

RESEARCH FINDING COULD LEAD TO VACCINES AGAINST A RANGE OF CANCERS
Insertion of a single gene into several different tumors enabled mice to reject them all, leading scientists at UC Berkeley to hope that the gene might form the basis for a vaccine effective against a range of cancers. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010913075603.htm

THIRD ANIMAL SPECIES CLONED AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
Researchers at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University have cloned a litter of pigs, becoming the first academic institution in the world to have cloned three different animal species. Texas A&M researchers have successfully cloned cattle, goats and, most recently pigs, and are aggressively working to clone dogs, cats, and horses. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010906071658.htm

FROM EMBRYO TO PLACENTA, GENE TRANSFER IN PRIMATES A SUCCESS
By successfully inserting a gene from a jellyfish into the fertilized eggs of rhesus monkeys, scientists have managed to make transgenic placentas, placentas where the inserted gene functions as it does in the jellyfish. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010911072827.htm

CELL-CELL COMMUNICATION IN THE FLOWER IS UNLOCKED
Familiarity breeds contempt. Nonfamiliarity produces seed. Just as humans have a natural aversion toward marrying kin, some food crop plants have genes that allow them to avoid being fertilized by "self-related" pollen. Now Cornell University's biologists have solved one more piece of the puzzle of how plants' self-incompatibility works on the molecular level. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010907080218.htm

Your eating habits are governed by your genes
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991318

Psychology

CORNELL EXPERT ADVISES PARENTS ON HOW TO HELP CHILDREN COPE WITH NEWS OF TERRORIST ATTACKS
James Garbarino, professor of human development and co-director of the Family Life Development Center at Cornell University, offers advice to parents on how they can help their children cope with the news of terrorist attacks that occurred today in the United States. He is a nationally recognized expert on child development and youth violence. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010912074108.htm

Technology

NEW "ELECTRONIC PAPER" TECHNOLOGY PROMISES MORE COLORFUL, VERSATILE VIDEO DISPLAYS
A man in a caf slips on his glasses and opens his newspaper, but instead of headlines and halftone pictures, he's treated to animations, Web pages and video. As futuristic as it sounds, researchers at the University of Rochester and elsewhere are racing to develop a technology that would not only make flexible, paper-like video displays a reality, but could make them in full color. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010911072405.htm

QUANTUM COMPUTER COULD SOLVE PROBLEMS IN A FEW MONTHS THAT WOULD TAKE CONVENTIONAL COMPUTERS MILLIONS OF YEARS
How to build a super fast computer that uses the bizarre properties of quantum physics is the aim of a project by computer scientists Fred Chong of the University of California, Davis, Isaac Chuang at MIT and John Kubiatowicz at UC Berkeley. The five-year project is supported by a grant of $3 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The grant will establish a Quantum Architecture Research Center between MIT, UC Davis and UC Berkeley. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010913074828.htm

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FINDS RECYCLING CURE FOR USED TIRES
Imagine for a moment seeing 5 million worn tires heaped up in a pile: That is roughly the number that Arizonans produce each yearone tire for every man, woman and child. How to dispose of all those used tires without causing serious environmental hazards used to have state officials scratching their heads, but one ASU researcher believes has an answer. Civil and Environmental Engineering Assistant Professor Han Zhu says adding a small amount of the inexpensive crumb rubber to fresh concrete can improve strength and durability. Crumb rubber is the end result of grinding used tires into one-millimeter chunks. One tire produces about 10 pounds of crumb rubber and sells commercially for less than 20-cents per pound. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010913074634.htm

September 15, 2001

Religion in the News

Nation's Religious Leaders Urge Calm, Pray for Peace
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/137/26.0.html

Church Leaders Around World Deplore
'Unspeakable Horror' of Attack
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/137/27.0.html

Christians Provide Comfort in the Shadow of Calamity
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/137/41.0.html

Reflections on Suffering
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/011/35.98.html

As the World Prays, Falwell and Robertson Blame
ACLU, Gays, and Others for 'Deserved' Attack
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/137/52.0.html

Did Nostradamus Predict this Disaster? http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/09/15/specials/attack/NOSTRA15.htm for more information on Nostradamus see http://bibleandscience.com/archaeologyquestions.htm#Nostra

HUNTING FOR NOAH'S FLOOD
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010905/wl/bulgaria_noah_s_ark_1.html

God on the Brain by Jerome Groopman. See http://www.newyorker.com/THE_CRITICS/BOOKS/

Is Spirituality Good for Your Health? http://www.tikkun.org/magazine/index.cfm/action/tikkun/issue/tik0107/article
/010704b.html

Science in the News

Evolution

The series Evolution will air from September 24 through September
27 on many PBS stations.

New Book: Responses to 101 Questions on God and Evolution by John F. Haught
Paulist Press, September 2001, 145 pp. This is an in-depth introduction for the general reader.

BRAIN CIRCUITRY INVOLVED IN LANGUAGE REVEALS DIFFERENCES IN MAN, NON-HUMAN PRIMATES
A defining difference between man and non-human primates has been found in the circuitry of brain cells involved in language, according to researchers at the Medical College of Georgia. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010905071926.htm

MULTIPLE EVOLUTIONARY "JUMPS" DRIVE DROSOPHILA DIVERSIFICATION, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS RESEARCHER FINDS
A University of Arkansas researcher has compared the family trees of fruit flies and their host cacti and found that evolutionary "jumps" to different types of plant hosts have occurred throughout time, suggesting that ecological specialization can occur repeatedly from the same species pool. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010905074023.htm

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND RESEARCHERS LOCATE GENES THAT SPEED UP FORMATION OF NEW SPECIES
Scientists have theorized that how fast one species branches out to become two, a process called speciation, is in the genes. If a couple of key genes are located close to each other on the species' genome, the theory goes, formation of a new species will move along more quickly. By studying the genes of a common insect that appears to evolving into two separate species adapting to different environments, two University of Maryland researchers have confirmed that theory for the first time. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010905073214.htm

MOTHERS TRANSMIT MITOCHONDRIAL DNA THROUGH DAUGHTERS ONLY
Scientists have argued whether or not the often-studied mitochondrial DNA molecule is clonally inherited. It is with assuming clonal inheritance this type of DNA has been used to track the origin of modern human as well as to draw pictures of genetic relationships among other animals and plants. The conflict has now been solved by two evolutionary geneticists from Uppsala University in Sweden, who present the new evidence in this weeks issue of Nature. Their results show that mitochondrial DNA is stably transmitted from mothers to their offspring only. This clonal inheritance indeed makes mitochondrial DNA suitable for use in evolutionary studies. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010907080527.htm

Archaeology

Searching for Sheba: See http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101010910-173471,00.html

Archaeological find to ‘rewrite history’
Tombs dating back to Bronze Age unearthed in Sidon: See http://www.dailystar.com.lb/12_09_01/art16.htm

MYSTERIOUS CIRCLE FOUND BURIED BESIDE MOUNDS
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl.xml

Astronomy

CHANDRA CATCHES MILKY WAY MONSTER SNACKING
For the first time, a rapid X-ray flare has been observed from the direction of the supermassive black hole that resides at the center of our galaxy. This violent flare captured by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has given astronomers an unprecedented view of the energetic processes surrounding this supermassive black hole. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010906071927.htm

SCIENTISTS FIND X RAYS FROM STELLAR WINDS THAT MAY PLAY SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN EVOLUTION OF MILKY WAY GALAXY
Colorful star-forming regions that have captivated stargazers since the advent of the telescope 400 years ago contain gas thousands of times more energetic than previously recognized, powered by colliding stellar winds. This multimillion-degree gas radiated as X rays is one of the long-sought sources of energy and elements in the Milky Way galaxy's interstellar medium. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010906072411.htm

NASA Tech Probe On Final Approach For Deep Space Encounter
Pasadena - Sept. 10, 2001 - NASA's Deep Space 1 probe is now on final approach to an extraordinarily risky close encounter of the most exciting kind with comet Borrelly. On September 22 it will plunge into the comet's coma, the fog of gas and dust expanding away from the nucleus that lurks somewhere deep inside. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deep1-01g.html

ULYSSES FORECASTS WEATHER AT SUN'S NORTH POLE
Space physicists predict gusty winds for the next few months at the Sun's north pole, an area that will be observed when the Ulysses spacecraft passes over it starting on Aug. 31. This pass over the pole occurs at a time of solar maximum, when the Sun is more active. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010904072226.htm

Biology

STUDY SHOWS ANTIOXIDANTS PLAY VITAL ROLE IN PROTECTING SKIN
Sun-worshippers beware: Most sunscreen products offer inadequate protection against the harmful effects of the suns ultraviolet radiation. But there is hope, says a University of Illinois researcher who developed a technique to peer into the skin and study how it is affected by ultraviolet radiation. The addition of antioxidants such as vitamins E or C can help prevent skin cancer and keep skin firm and young looking. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010903092015.htm

STEM CELLS GUIDED DOWN BLOOD'S DEVELOPMENTAL PATHWAY
For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells can be teased down a developmental pathway to become blood cells. The work, conducted by a team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is important because it demonstrates the potential for creating in the laboratory a novel source of blood cells for transplantation and transfusion. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010904072836.htm

RISK OF LUNG DAMAGE FROM ULTRASOUND GREATER THAN ONCE THOUGHT
Pumping more energy into a beam of diagnostic ultrasound could produce a better image and therefore a better diagnosis but studies at the University of Illinois suggest the risk of ultrasound-induced lung damage is greater than many scientists previously believed. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010904072302.htm

SPIRALING HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE LINKED TO NITRIC OXIDE DEFICIENCY
When high blood pressure isn't controlled, it doesn't stay at one high level. Instead, it spirals higher and higher, greatly increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. According to a UC Irvine College of Medicine study, this pattern occurs because high blood pressure causes the inactivation of nitric oxide, an important molecular regulator of blood pressure. This inactivation then triggers a vicious circle of increased nitric oxide inactivation and ever higher, uncontrolled blood pressure. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010905074425.htm

A SMALL GENETIC CHANGE MAKES FLU VIRUS DEADLY
A tiny change in one of the influenza virus's 10 genes is key to making certain strains of the virus especially virulent to humans, scientists report in the Sept. 7 issue of Science. This discovery helps explain why an influenza outbreak four years ago in Hong Kong killed an unusually high proportion of the people it infected - six out of 18, says lead researcher Yoshihiro Kawaoka, D.V.M., Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010907080059.htm

GENE THERAPY REDUCES DRINKING IN "ALCOHOLIC" RATS
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have shown that increasing the level of a brain protein important for transmitting pleasure signals can turn rats that prefer alcohol into light drinkers, and those with no preference into near teetotalers. The findings, published in the first September 2001 issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry (Vol. 78, No. 5), may have implications for the prevention and treatment of alcoholism in humans. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010906072449.htm

BOTH GENETICS AND DIET INFLUENCE CHOLESTEROL LEVELS
New research on twins shows that genetics plays a predominate role in differences in cholesterol levels between people. However, a persons diet also is significantly associated with cholesterol level independent of inherited factors. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010907080306.htm

ECHOCARDIOGRAM SPOTS RISK OF VALVE NARROWING, STROKE
Standard echocardiograms which image the heart using ultrasound waves -- much like the ultrasound images used during pregnancy to monitor fetal development -- can be used as a screening tool to spot aortic valve abnormalities and to identify people at high risk for stroke and heart valve disease, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in September's Journal of the American College of Cardiology. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010905074731.htm

Earth Science

EARTH IS BECOMING A GREENER GREENHOUSE
Over the past 21 years, parts of the northern hemisphere have become much greener than they used to be. Researchers using satellite data have confirmed that plant life above 40 degrees north latitude (New York, Madrid, Ankara, Beijing) has been growing more vigorously since 1981 due to rising temperatures and buildup of greenhouse gases, and Eurasia seems to be greening more than North America, as existing vegetation is more lush for longer periods of time. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010905072142.htm

'Gold Bug' Sheds Light on How Some Gold Deposits Formed
Amherst - Sept. 10, 2001 - For centuries, scientists have wondered why gold is found in two forms -- as a solid in deposits close to the Earth's crust, and in solution, often far removed from gold-ore deposits. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01j.html

Physics

VIRGINIA TECH PART OF GROUP ARRIVING AT MAJOR PHYSICS MEASUREMENT
This summer, Virginia Tech physicists, in collaboration with others on the Belle Experiment at the Japanese National Laboratory for High Energy Physics (KEK), have obtained a measurement that shows that, to a very high degree, there is an asymmetry in the behavior of matter and anti-matter and that the difference is consistent with the prediction of the Standard Model Theory of Particle Physics first formulated in the 1970s. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/09/010904072536.htm

September 8, 2001

Religion in the News

Defiant We Stand: By Frederica Mathewes-Green, Focus on the Family.
Forget Generation X. Young Christian adults like Anna Halpine are taking
bold stands for biblical truth in politics, music and education. Just call
them Generation Acts. See http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/coverstory/a0017286.html

What apologetics should look like in a skeptical age. By Andy Crouch. See
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/011/37.101.html

Curious George publishers angry at being aped in Jews for Jesus pamphlet: See http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/3556.htm

Britian is now a post-Christian nation: The big religion story out of the U.K. today is Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor's remarks to the National Conference of Priests that Britain is now a post-Christian nation. See http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001310271,00.html

Elvis Presley inducted into the Gospel Hall of fame: The Gospel Music Association notes that all three of Elvis's Grammy wins were for gospel recordings, not rock. See http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,33637,00.html

Jewish leaders are criticizing The Scriptorium: Center for Biblical Antiquities, the world's largest collection of biblical artifacts because of the display of Torah scrolls that will be at the Holy Land Experience theme park in Orlando, Florida. See http://www.newschannel2000.com/orl/news/themeparknews/stories/themepark.html

Expedition seeks biblical flood site: Joint U.S.-Bulgarian scientific expedition combs the Black Sea for evidence (Associated Press), See http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010905/wl/bulgaria_noah_s_ark_1.html

Science in the News

Anthropology

The idea of a straight line of evolution is being challenged by recent anthropological discoveries. See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/09/03/magazine/HUMAN03.htm

Intelligent Design as a Theory of Technological Evolution: William A. Dembski: See http://www.metanexus.net/archives/message_fs.asp?ARCHIVEID=3889

New Evidence of Early Humans Unearthed in Russia's North
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD. See http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/06/science/06TUSK.html?ex=100077924a3

Astronomy

Scientists to test Mars water-seekers in Egyptian desert
Cairo (AFP) Sept. 3, 2001 - Cairo has given the go-ahead for French-based scientists to use the Egyptian desert to test sophisticated water-seeking probes before blasting them into space in the race to find water on Mars. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010903032515.7sqiw0vh.html

WEIRD CHEMISTRY: RESEARCHERS STUDY UNIQUE RADIATION-DRIVEN REACTIONS IN EXTREME COLD AND HIGH VACUUM OF JUPITER'S MOONS
By his own admission, Thomas Orlando deals with "weird chemistry." In fact, the Georgia Institute of Technology researcher studies chemical processes that are literally out of this world -- reactions occurring on the moons of Jupiter, driven by extreme radiation at ultra-cold temperatures. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010829082815.htm

MirCorp Plans First Space Hotel
Moscow - Sept. 4, 2001 - Would be space tourist operator MirCorp says it has signed a deal with Russia for the design, development, launch and operation of the world's first private space station - dubbed Mini Station 1. The "space hotel" will offer room and board for up to three visitors staying up to 20 days at a time. Commercial operations are slated from 2004. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01zb.html also Russian firm to launch first private space station in 2004. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010904141737.nyyf8z67.html

A Galaxy Blazes With Star Formation
Pasadena - Sept. 6, 2001 - Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are studying the colors of star clusters to determine the age and history of starburst galaxies, a technique somewhat similar to the process of learning the age of a tree by counting its rings. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/stellar-01b.html

Biology

RESEARCHERS CLOSER TO DELIVERING NEW INSULIN PILL FOR DIABETICS
Chemical engineers are getting closer to developing a method for taking insulin and other medications orally instead of by injection, research that would benefit hundreds of thousands of diabetics in the United States alone. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010828080248.htm

DENTISTS ABUZZ OVER CAVITY-PREVENTION POTENTIAL OF HONEYBEE PRODUCT
Dentists from the University of Rochester Medical Center and food scientists at State University of Campinas in Brazil have discovered that a substance that Brazilian honeybees make to protect their hives might prove to be a potent anti-cavity agent. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010830082619.htm

GROWTH FACTOR STIMULATION LEADS TO INCREASE IN NEW NEURONS IN THE BRAIN
Emory University researchers have demonstrated that several regions of the adult rat brain have the capacity to acquire new neurons following the introduction of a growth factor into the brains lateral ventricle, located in the depths of the cerebral cortex. The study is the first to show the presence of numerous new neurons in certain regions of the brain where they previously have not been found, and suggests that the adult brain may be able to replace neurons lost due to injury or disease. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010831092954.htm

ESTROGEN PATCH MAY IMPROVE MEMORY FOR WOMEN WITH ALZHEIMER'S
Here's another round in the ongoing debate over whether estrogen can help with the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease: A new study shows that an estrogen skin patch given to women with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease can improve their memory and attention skills. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010827193452.htm

Earth Science

LIKE A BALLOON: STUDY SUPPORTS BUOYANCY EXPLANATION FOR HOW VOLCANIC ROCK RISES THROUGH THE EARTH'S MANTLE
A new study of the Earth's mantle beneath the ocean near Iceland provides the most convincing evidence yet that simple buoyancy of hot, partially molten rocks can play an important role in causing them to rise and erupt through the surface at mid-ocean ridges. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010831081237.htm

ROCK AND ICE LINKED BY CRUSHING MECHANISM
The cracking, splitting and crushing events occurring constantly just beneath the earths surface can now be linked to similar activity taking place in floating sheets of ice in the polar regions. Two Dartmouth researchers offer a theory about how these brittle substances break under compression. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010831080952.htm

Secret to Earth's 'Big Chill' Found in Underground Water
Rochester - Sept 6, 2001 - Scientists studying the oceans depend on data from rivers to estimate how much fresh water and natural elements the continents are dumping into the oceans. But a new study in the Aug. 24 issue of Science finds that water quietly trickling along underground may double the amount of debris making its way into the seas. This study changes the equation for everything from global climate to understanding the ocean's basic chemistry. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iceage-01d.html

Revealing Earth's Deepest Secrets
Ann Arbor - Sept. 5, 2001 - In work that promises to advance understanding about the origin and dynamics of Earth's iron-rich inner core and the generation of the planet's magnetic field, a team that includes University of Michigan researchers has found that the elastic properties of iron are quite different at extremely high temperatures than at low temperatures. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tectonics-01g.html

Psychology

HYPNOSIS MAY GIVE FALSE CONFIDENCE IN INACCURATE MEMORIES
A new study suggests that hypnosis doesn't help people recall events more accurately - but it does tend to make people more confident of their inaccurate memories. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010828075745.htm

MEASURING BRAIN ACTIVITY IN PEOPLE EATING CHOCOLATE OFFERS NEW CLUES ABOUT HOW THE BODY BECOMES ADDICTED
Using positron emission tomography scans to measure brain activity in people eating chocolate, a team of U.S. and Canadian neuroscientists believe they have identified areas of the brain that may underlie addiction and eating disorders. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010829082943.htm

Worried about losing your mind? Soon you'll know if it's going to happen
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991240

Technology

Even a fingerprint smudged beyond recognition can nail a criminal
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991242

The pocket-sized detector that instantly spots illicit drugs
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991243

September 1, 2001

Fall Classes: The Wagner Free Institute of Science is offering several free courses this fall:

Introduction to Anthropology at the Northeast Regional Library, 2228 Cottman Avenue, in Philadelphia Tuesday evenings starting September 25 through December 11, 2001 at 7pm.

Catastrophic Geology at the Independence Branch Library, 18 South 7th Street, in Philadelphia Monday evenings starting October 15 through November 26, 2001 at 6:30 pm.

Human Evolution at University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia Wednesday evenings starting October 3 through November 7, 2001 at 7pm.

Hugh Ross vs. Kent Hovind Debate: This debate is being shown on the Reasons to Believe TV program on Trinity Broadcasting Network station at 7:30 am EST on Tuesday mornings.

Religion in the News

Dallas Theological Seminary takes heat for readmitting student
Dallas Theological Seminary is under fire for allowing a sexual offender to graduate. Jon Gerrit Warnshuis, a Dallas-area pastor charged with sexual assault and sexual indecency, was apparently expelled from the seminary in the late 1980s over unrelated sexual allegations but allowed to return and graduate with a master's degree in theology in 1992. "We believe that people should be given a second chance if they turn their lives around," former seminary president Donald Campbell tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. But school officials didn't tell churches that were thinking about hiring Warnshuis about the incidents when they called for references. Nor, did they tell alert authorities to the earlier incidents—which reportedly involved children—despite a Texas law requiring them to do so (Christianity Today). See http://web.star-telegram.com/content/fortworth/2001/08/24/topstory/24clergy.htm

ECFA criticized in homeless ministry investigation: See www.post-gazette.com/forum/20010827edmiss27p2.asp

Ten years after the coup attempt that triggered the end of Soviet communism, Russia's president has said that his country needs to seek inspiration from its Christian roots. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/135/23.0.html

Archbishop Bids Brotherly Goodbye to Wife, and Returns to Fold. See http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/30/international/30VATI.html

Did satellite photos find Noah's ark?
Explorers, adventurists, and other ark-eologists have been drawn to Turkey's Mount Ararat for decades in search of Noah's ark. Most notable of these was Apollo 15 moonwalker James Irwin, whose High Flight Foundation continues searching for the boat's ruins. But since 1991, fighting between the Turkish military and Kurdish rebels has closed the mountain to such expeditions. When you can't climb, the searchers reasoned, fly. Special satellite photos were taken of the summit, and a seven-person team of independent scientists did in fact find some kind of "anomaly." Some, however, felt it was a natural rock formation. Now another satellite is being launched to get even more detailed photos. Space.com has impressive images of the shots taken so far. (Christianity Today) See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/noahs_ark_010823-1.html

Science in the News

New Book: The borderland of Science by Michael Shermer. Review at http://www.salon.com/books/int/2001/08/27/shermer/index.html see also http://www.edge.org

Archaeology

Downsizing Solomon: LOS ANGELES -- No little shepherd boy David. No wise King Solomon. And if no Solomon, no glorious ancient temple in Jerusalem. So says a group of scholars dubbed the "Minimalists" by their opponents. In what sounds at times like verbal salvos in an academic Armageddon, archaeologists and theologians are debating whether the Old Testament is primarily history or fiction. See http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/643796.html

AMERICAN-MONGOLIAN TEAM FINDS TOMBS NEAR BIRTHPLACE OF GENGHIS KHAN
An American-Mongolian research team has discovered an enclave of tombs, apparently associated with persons of high status, on a hill near Genghis Khans probable birthplace and near the site where he was proclaimed emperor of all the Mongols in 1206, according to an announcement made jointly in Chicago and Ulaanbaatar on Thursday. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010818004646.htm

Astronomy

Pluto Gets More Competition
Paris (AFP) Aug 24, 2001 - A huge icy rock orbiting the Sun in deep space is the biggest asteroid ever spotted, outstripping the previous record-holder which was discovered 200 years ago, European astronomers said Friday. The asteroid, designated 2001 KX76, has a diameter of at least 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) and as much as 1,400 kms (875 miles). See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/kuiper-01g.html

Advancing Our Understanding of Life
Washington - Aug 21, 2001 - Over the past two decades, advances in a number of scientific disciplines have helped us better understand the nature and evolution of life on Earth. These scientific developments also have helped lay the foundation for astrobiology, opening up new possibilities for the existence of life in the Solar System and beyond. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01zd.html

Quantum Weirdness May Improve GPS Accuracy
Cambridge - August 22, 2001 - Exploiting "quantum weirdness" would dramatically improve the precision of radar, sonar, the global positioning system (GPS) and other object locators, MIT researchers report. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gps-01j.html

BLACK HOLE HUNTER INSTRUMENT TESTED IN FLIGHT AT EDGE OF SPACE
Scientists have successfully tested a key instrument for a next-generation gamma-ray telescope that will ultimately stare down the barrel of massive black hole particle jets. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010821074604.htm

GALILEO FLYBY REVEALS CALLISTO'S BIZARRE LANDSCAPE
A spiky landscape of bright ice and dark dust shows signs of slow but active erosion on the surface of Jupiter's moon Callisto in new images from NASA's Galileo spacecraft. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010824080606.htm See also http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2001/release_2001_178.html , Galileo at
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/

Well Preserved Meteorite Yields Clues to Carbon Evolution in Space: A fresh meteorite, unlike other similar space rocks, contains very few amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Implications for the origins of
life at http://www.asu.edu/asunews/Releases/Meteor0801.htm

Because the Earth's oceans reflect light better than the land, it would appear to "flicker" in brightness to a far distant observer. This fact might provide an additional technique for eventually locating an Earth-like
planet around another star. Story at http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=5874 , and check out
Terrestrial Planet Finder (a big goal for our future) at http://tpf.jpl.nasa.gov/

Violent gas collisions that produced supersonic shock fronts in a dying star are seen in a new, detailed image from our Hubble Space Telescope. The future of the Sun in 5 billion years at
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2001/release_2001_179.html

Biology

Cracking the Genetic Code for Long Life: Researchers found a DNA strand linked to longevity. They hope to find a drug to mimic it. See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/08/28/front_page/OLDAGE28.htm

BRAIN ACTIVITY IS INFLUENCED BY CHEMICAL SIGNALS UNDETECTABLE AS ODORS, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO RESEARCHERS FIND
Researchers at the University of Chicago have found for the first time that airborne chemosignals, substances undetectable as odors, have a measurable impact on brain metabolism, according to a new report. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010818004941.htm

FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN B12 SHOW POTENTIAL AS HEART DISEASE TREATMENTS
Red wine and garlic arent the only dietary supplements that keep our hearts healthy. Folic acid and vitamin B12 also appear to offer cost-effective treatments for heart disease and the reduction of associated deaths among the adult U.S. population, according to projections in a new University of California, San Francisco study published in the August 22 edition of the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA). See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010822081046.htm

SYNTHETIC ANTIFREEZE COULD PREVENT ICE GROWTH
A fish swimming in icy polar waters is helping scientists find ways to protect food from freezer burn, save fruit crops from frost, and use low temperature storage in complicated medical procedures like human organ transplants, researchers report. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010820071748.htm

OHIO UNIVERSITY BOTANISTS COLLECT, STUDY RARE HAWAIIAN PLANTS
Tourists flock to Hawaii for its lush landscape of breathtaking flora, but this summer the most remote island ecosystem in the world is serving as a living laboratory for a pair of botanists examining the origins and evolution of plant life on Earth. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010821075119.htm

RESEARCHERS MAKE KEY GENOME PUBLIC ON THE INTERNET
Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine, DuPont and the University of Campinas in Brazil, with partial funding from the National Science Foundation, have sequenced the genome of an important organism, Agrobacterium, and made it freely available on the Internet. This information is available at http://www.agrobacterium.org. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010822081137.htm

SUBSTANTIAL RESISTANCE TO HIV INFECTION TIED TO GENETIC MUTATION
Scientists have found that people who carry one copy of a mutation that protects cells against HIV infection may be partially resistant to the virus causing AIDS. The new finding is reported in a study by a multi-center research consortium that included institutions in New York City, Boston, Seattle, and San Francisco. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010823083108.htm

Earth Science

Permian Impact Caused Largest Mass Extinction on Earth
Boulder - August 27 2001 - What actually ended the Permian Period some 251 million years ago? Most Earth scientists think gradual sea fall, climate change, oceanic anoxia, and volcanism were the causes. But that's not so. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01ze.html

NASA GIVES POLE-TO-POLE VIEW OF CLOUD HEIGHTS AND WINDS
Scientists for the first time ever can simultaneously measure the height and motion of clouds over Earth from pole to pole, which may improve weather forecasts. Never before have researchers directly measured cloud heights from a single satellite, simultaneously measured cloud heights and winds, and done this above Earth's polar regions as well as lower latitudes. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010821074324.htm

Physics

As constant as the stars? We expect some things in our universe to never change: the pull of gravity, the speed of light. But research hints that one constant may be growing - "alpha," the strength of atomic glue. The findings could shake physics - and faith. See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/08/27/magazine/CONSTANT27.htm See also http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991158

BROOKHAVEN PHYSICISTS PRODUCE "DOUBLY STRANGE NUCLEI"; FIRST LARGE-SCALE PRODUCTION OF NUCLEI CONTAINING TWO STRANGE QUARKS
Strange science has taken a great leap forward at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory. There, physicists have produced a significant number of "doubly strange nuclei," or nuclei containing two strange quarks. Studies of these nuclei will help scientists explore the forces between nuclear particles, particularly within so-called strange matter, and may contribute to a better understanding of neutron stars, the superdense remains of burnt-out stars, which are thought to contain large quantities of strange quarks. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010821075526.htm

Technology

MAKING A CLEANER, CHEAPER FUEL CELL
Fueled by a $2.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, researchers at the University of Missouri-Rolla are working to develop a cheaper and more efficient fuel cell -- a technology that holds promise as a clean, alternative energy source. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010823083902.htm

Bucky Balls Get Superconductive
Murray Hill - Aug. 30, 2001 - Scientists from Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs have shown that soccer ball-shaped carbon molecules known as bucky balls can act as superconductors at relatively warm temperatures, raising hopes for inexpensive, power loss-free organic electronics and other practical applications such as quantum computers. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/carbon-01e.html

Zoology

STUDY SPOTLIGHTS OVERFISHING IN COLLAPSE OF MARINE ECOSYSTEMS
Overfishing over historical times is largely responsible for the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems around North America and Australia, concludes a team of 18 scientists that has sifted through mounds of geological, archaeological, historical and modern ecological data. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010818004856.htm

August 25, 2001

Religion in the News

Newsweek's Ken Woodward attacks religious bestsellers: See http://www.msnbc.com/news/616123.asp

EUROPE'S empty pews
GREAT CATHEDRALS AND CHRISTENDOM'S TRADITIONS NOTWITHSTANDING, CHURCHES IN BRITAIN AND THE CONTINENT STAY LARGELY VACANT: See http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/saturday/faith_values_b3e770aad309d17600b6.html

Franklin Graham is angry with HBO benefit: See http://www.charlotte.com/partners/news/briefs/news_briefs_4_Aug16.htm

Is Home Schooling Good for America? Time Magazine's cover story. See http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101010827/cover.html

True Love Should Wait! See http://www.smh.com.au/news/0108/21/national/national7.html

Science in the News

Archaeology

Nero's Golden House: See http://www.archaeology.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?page=pdfs/nero/index

Ancient Abydos: See http://www.archaeology.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?page=online/features/abydos/index

Fall of the Bronze Age: See http://www.bib-arch.org/aoso01/civilization1.html

Astronomy

NEW VIEW OF PRIMORDIAL HELIUM TRACES THE STRUCTURE OF EARLY UNIVERSE
NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellite has given astronomers their best glimpse yet at the ghostly cobweb of helium gas left over from the big bang, which underlies the universe's structure. The helium is not found in galaxies or stars but spread thinly through the vastness of space. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010810064957.htm

JUPITER-SIZE PLANET FOUND ORBITING STAR IN BIG DIPPER
A team of astronomers has found a Jupiter-size planet in a circular orbit around a faint nearby star, raising intriguing prospects of finding a solar system with characteristics similar to our own. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010816082702.htm

Galileo's Flyby Reveals Callisto's Bizarre Landscape
Phoenix - August 22, 2001 - A spiky landscape of bright ice and dark dust shows signs of slow but active erosion on the surface of Jupiter's moon Callisto in new images from NASA's Galileo spacecraft. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-callisto-01a.html

EXPLORING MARS: BLOWING IN THE WIND?
One answer to roving across the surface of Mars may be blowing in the wind. Literally. Researchers exploring different methods to deliver scientific instruments to various Martian locales are studying the potential for a giant, lightweight, two-story tall beach ball. Equipped with scientific instruments, the so-called "tumbleweed ball" conceived by JPL researchers could potentially explore vast tracts of planetary terrain, blown by the wind. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010817082305.htm

Giant Impact Theory For Moon Formation Boosted
Boulder - August 15, 2001 - The "giant impact" theory, first proposed in the mid-1970s to explain how the Moon formed, has received a major boost as new results demonstrate for the first time that a single impact could yield the current Earth-Moon system. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/lunar-01d.html

A nearby young star recently gave birth to millions of comets, and now it
is destroying them, according to new observations using our Far Ultraviolet
Spectroscopic Explorer spacecraft. http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/news-release/releases/2001/01-81.htm

Discovery Returns To Earth After "Excellent" Mission
Washington (AFP) Aug 22, 2001 - Discovery returned to Earth Wednesday after a perfectly choreographed 12-day mission during which astronauts set a series of scientific experiments in motion and escorted a fresh crew to the Station. Discovery touched down at 2:23 pm local time (1823 GMT). See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/shuttle-01l.html

Telescopes may soon be able to "see" dark matter
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991187

Biology

STRUCTURE SOLVED BY SCRIPPS SCIENTISTS MARKS IMPORTANT MILESTONE IN EFFORT TO DEVELOP HIV VACCINE
Scientists working in The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and at the Glycobiology Institute at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, have elucidated the structure of an antibody that effectively neutralizes human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), reported in the current issue of the journal Science. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010813081505.htm

STUDY IDENTIFIES NEW SOURCE OF STEM CELLS
A new study from the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) of McGill University has identified a non-controversial source of stem cells that can produce a number of different cell types, including the type of neural cells needed to potentially help patients recover from a spinal cord injury or Parkinsons disease. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010814063557.htm

HUMANS MAY BE EASIER TO CLONE THAN SHEEP AND MICE BECAUSE OF A SINGLE GENETIC DIFFERENCE
Humans could be technically easier to clone than sheep, cows, pigs and mice because humans possess a genetic benefit that prevents fetal overgrowth, a major obstacle encountered in cloning animals, according to new research by Duke University Medical Center scientists. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010815080314.htm

SLEEPLESS AGED RATS SHOW BIOLOGICAL CLOCK PROBLEMS
One of the problems of the aged is getting a good nights sleep. Often, the elderly sleep fitfully through the night only to be overcome by drowsiness during the day and nodding off then. A general feeling of tiredness and irritability goes hand-in-hand with this condition. Now a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis and colleagues from France and the University of Virginia have found this problem may be traced to a faulty biological clock at least in aged rats. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010814063122.htm

THE MEDIUM AND THE MESSAGE: EYES AND EARS UNDERSTAND DIFFERENTLY, CARNEGIE MELLON SCIENTISTS REPORT IN THE JOURNAL HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
A new study by Carnegie Mellon University scientists shows that because of the way the brain works, we understand spoken and written language differently, something that has potential implications in the workplace and in education, among many other areas. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010815082552.htm

GENETIC SECRETS OF METAL-EATING PLANTS UNCOVERED
Genes thought to allow plants to accumulate large amounts of metal in their tissues have been identified and cloned by a Purdue University scientist. The finding is expected to lead to new crop plants that can clean up industrial contamination, new foods that fight disease and reduced work for some farmers. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010815082128.htm

Earth Science

Digging into the 'deep history' of life: (CNN) -- Unlike most budding paleontologists, Andrew Knoll's fascination with fossils didn't lead him to dinosaurs. Instead, he focused on the first stirrings of life -- the evolution of prehistoric bacteria. See http://europe.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/americasbest/science.medicine/pro.aknoll.html

Seismic Doubleheader: Seismologist Shows Deep Earthquakes Come In Pairs. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010824081513.htm

Psychology

IF YOU CAN'T JOIN THEM, BEAT THEM -- PSYCHOLOGISTS FIND REJECTION CAUSES AGGRESSION
Seeing rejection as a common thread in school shootings across the country, CWRU psychologists undertook experiments to see if rejection in the lab produced aggression. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010817081926.htm

REWARDS COUPLED WITH NALTREXONE EFFECTIVE IN TREATING HEROIN AND OTHER OPIOID ADDICTIONS
Rewarding drug users with vouchers that they exchange for food, clothing, or, as one did, a robe for singing in a church choir, was effective in keeping patients drug free and on a medication regimen, according to research at Yale University. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010816083142.htm

A genetic mutation is to blame for panic attacks
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991185

Zoology

DNA Tests Indicate African Elephants are Two Species: Genetic fingerprinting shows that Africa's forest and savanna elephants are as different from one another as lions and tigers and should be considered as two genetically distinct species, an international group of researchers reports. See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/08/0824_twoelephants.html

Primitive sea creatures put our finest optical systems to shame
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991183

August 18, 2001

Religion in the News

"Are frozen embryos human life?" President Bush recently asked. The stem cell debate--and Bush's own decision--have actually moved us to focus on a different question: When is life sufficiently precious to preserve? Read opinions and join the debate. See http://www.beliefnet.com/nlrd.asp?to=st&sid=8595&bid=22141

Vatican Goes Commercial: And a fledgling Canadian business has been given a major role in exhibiting and selling products linked to the Pope's library, a vast collection described as a "history of humankind." Michella Frosch of Vancouver's Gloria Management Inc. won a worldwide licence to make reproductions of artifacts ranging from the Dead Sea Scrolls to ancient globes and sculptures, and to mount exhibitions of them in several countries. See http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/np.com/fordtaurus_popup;sz=220x260;ord=23817380649079604? The official site of the Vatican is http://www.vatican.va/

Maverick Archbishop's Wife Threatens Vatican Fast: ROME (Reuters) - The tearful Korean wife of Emmanuel Milingo, the Zambian archbishop who joined the church of the Rev Sun Myung Moon, on Saturday threatened to fast to death in front of the Vatican unless she can see her secluded husband. See http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010811/wl/pope_milingo_dc_1.html

Study Suggests Shaken Faith Can Worsen Poor Health: Religion and good health go hand in hand. Or so some researchers have asserted in studies over the last half decade, saying that people who attend church regularly, pray or are otherwise involved in religious activities enjoy longer lives and other positive health benefits. But in a study published today, researchers contend that some forms of religious anxiety may in fact increase the risk of death among people who are ill. The researchers, who surveyed 596 elderly hospitalized patients in 1996, found that those who said they "wondered whether God had abandoned me," "questioned God's love for me" or "decided the devil made this happen" were more likely two years later to have died than patients who did not endorse such statements. The patients in the study were almost exclusively Christian, with the majority representing conservative or mainline Protestant denominations. By ERICA GOODE See http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/13/health/psychology/13RELI.html also http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1488000/1488686.stm

Judge unveils Bible-based monument
This month, Moore made good on the campaign promise to bring back the 10 Commandments that helped to catapult him to the state's highest judicial office. Late one night, after his fellow jurists were long gone, Moore and a few helpers carted a 5,280-pound, 4-foot-tall granite monument into the lobby of the state Judicial Building. The monument, commissioned by Moore and financed with private donations, has a square base carved with quotations from Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and other Founding Fathers beneath two tablets inscribed with the 10 Commandments. See http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0108160287aug16.story?coll=chi%2Dnewsnationworld%2Dhed

Not Enough Faith to Convert the Enemy! Microsoft's Age of Empires reminds us what our faith is—and isn't—about. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/010/30.70.html

What Good is Stardust? The remarkable universe, see http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/010/7.52.html

NEW BOOK: The Gospel According to the Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World's Most Animated Family. http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/002/1.28.html

NEW TRANSLATION: THE EXTREME NEW TESTAMENT: The Extreme New Testament keeps things simple, using "only easy phrase structures and a vocabulary of about 3,000 words. Sentences are purposely kept short, transparent and uncomplicated to promote greater understanding. . . . The style coincides nicely with spoken grammar." See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/08/15/magazine/JENN15.htm

SPECIAL INTERVIEW WITH GOD at http://Reata.org This is one of the most visited religious sites on the web.

Science in the News

Creation/evolution

Design by Necessity by Gregory A Petsko: See http://genomebiology.com/2001/2/8/comment/1010/?mail=0000102

Photosynthetic Link May Have Made Humankind Possible: Scientists from Imperial College, London, have found an important evolutionary link between the two powerhouse protein complexes that drive photosynthesis. This shared evolutionary adaptation may have been crucial for the establishment of environmental conditions required for the emergence of humankind. See http://unisci.com/stories/20013/0816011.htm

Archaeology

Scientists uncover Sodom's fiery end: British scientists believe they may have found evidence to support the Bible's account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1497000/1497476.stm

Digging up the Philistine city of Gath: See http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/08/13/Features/Features.32478.html Greek Archeologists Unearth Rare Roman Tombs: ATHENS, Greece (Reuters) - Greek archeologists have unearthed two rare Roman tombs in ``excellent'' condition near the southwestern port city of Patras, the Culture Ministry said on Friday. Archeologists said the finds, dating back to the first century BC, were ``monumental'' and the only ones of their kind in the area. One tomb was still sealed and the other had only minor damage. See http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010810/wl/greece_tombs_dc_1.html

NEW PREDICTIVE MODEL HELPS UA ARCHEOLOGISTS PINPOINT SITES: FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Using innovative mapping techniques, University of Arkansas researchers have developed a predictive model that enables archeologists to more accurately surmise where long-buried sites are located on a given landscape. See http://pigtrail.uark.edu/news/2001/Aug01/PastPrediction.html

Anthropology

Civilization: Science, doctrine and Darwin By LOU MARANO: WASHINGTON, July 18 (UPI) -- The continuing argument between strict Darwinian evolutionists and those who believe in the intelligent design of the universe seems to hinge on two issues. http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=203774

Fourth Pre-Human Skull Found in Georgia: TBILISI, Georgia (Reuters) - Georgian archaeologists said on Tuesday they had unearthed a skull dating back 1.7 million years, similar to three discovered last year which may represent the first pre-humans who migrated out of Africa to Europe. See http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010814/sc/georgia_skull_dc_1.html

THE ANCIENTS WERE RIGHT - DELPHI WAS A GAS!
Scientists are revisiting the problem with results that would definitely please the ancients. In the August issue of GEOLOGY, J.Z. de Boer reports on a four-year interdisciplinary study that has successfully identified young faults at the Oracle site and has also pinpointed the emissions responsible for the Pythia's trance statelight hydrocarbon gases from bituminous limestone. De Boer and colleagues found ethane, methane, and ethylene in spring water near the Oracle. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010807075959.htm

DISCOVERY OF AX HEADS FURTHERS UNDERSTANDING OF CAHOKIAN SOCIETY
A team of archaeologists, including students, working under a blazing summer sun on a high hill near OFallon, Ill., have made a rare find. In what was considered to be an "ordinary" ancient farming village, the team, from the University of Illinois, has discovered a large cache of prehistoric stone ax heads called celts. The 70 celts are about 900 years old and belonged to the pre-Columbian residents of the Mississippi Valley. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010802081002.htm

HUMAN POPULATION GROWTH ALREADY SLOWING
Human population growth has turned "a very sharp corner" and is now slowing, on its way to leveling off in the next century, according to a study by University of Minnesota ecologist Clarence Lehman. He used new equations that take into account the accelerating effect population density has on per capita population growth at certain points in history--what is termed "positive feedback." The new equations show that the long-increasing human population growth rate began an abrupt decline in the 1970s, and these equations agree with recent work by demographers, Lehman said. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010807080055.htm

Astronomy

FIRST LIGHT: ASTRONOMERS USE DISTANT QUASAR TO PROBE COSMIC "DARK AGE," UNIVERSE ORIGINS
Using light from the most distant object known, astronomers have found traces of the first generation of atoms in the universe, 14 billion light years from Earth. The observations are the first of the cosmic "Dark Age" between the Big Bang and the first visible stars and galaxies and allow astronomers to set a date for the complete reionization of the universe. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010808134727.htm

US And Russia Reach Deal Over Space Tourist Flights To ISS
Washington (AFP) Aug 10, 2001 - The United States and Russia have agreed to allow more "space tourists" to visit the Space Station, The Washington Post said Friday. NASA and the Russian space agency have drafted criteria setting standards for "space flight participants," as the space visitors are to be called, said the daily. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01za.html

CARNEGIE MELLON'S SOLAR POWERED ROBOT DEMONSTRATES CONCEPT THAT COULD LEAD TO LONG-TERM EXPLORATION OF PLANETS AND MOONS
A prototype, solar-powered robot, developed with support from NASA by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, has demonstrated a concept that could pave the way for future long-term robotic exploration of distant planets and moons. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010803083944.htm

NASA'S SECOND GENERATION REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE PROGRAM ADVANCES PROPULSION TECHNOLOGY WITH SUCCESSFUL ENGINE TEST SERIES
NASA's Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle Program - also known as the Space Launch Initiative - is making advances in propulsion technology with this third and final successful engine hot-fire designed to test electro-mechanical actuators. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010808134824.htm

ASTRONOMERS GO BEHIND THE MILKY WAY TO SOLVE X-RAY MYSTERY
Through layers of gas and dust that stretch for more than 30,000 light years, astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have taken a long, hard look at the plane of the Milky Way galaxy and found that its X-ray glow comes from hot and diffuse gas. The findings, published in the Aug. 10 issue of Science, help to settle a long-standing mystery about the source of the X-ray emission from the galactic plane. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010810064535.htm

Ulysses Observes Surprising Reach Of Solar Activity
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ulysses-01a.html

Biology

ALCOHOL RESEARCHERS LOCALIZE BRAIN REGION THAT ANTICIPATES REWARD
Researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism have found that anticipation of increasing monetary rewards selectively activates the human nucleus accumbens of the ventral striatum. Since this brain region is implicated in animal studies of alcohol and drug self-administration, the research may help lead to methods for understanding the biological basis of alcohol and drug craving in humans. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010803083813.htm

SKIN PATCH FOR PARKINSONS DISEASE PROVES EFFECTIVE IN LARGE STUDY
The first large-scale study of a skin patch to treat Parkinsons disease shows that a patch under development seems to be as effective as traditional oral medications in treating the disease. The findings were presented this week in Helsinki at the International Conference on Parkinsons Disease, sponsored by the World Federation of Neurology. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010806074511.htm

STUDY SHOWS SIMPLE STEPS CAN REDUCE DUST MITE ALLERGENS IN BEDROOMS
Some simple steps - allergen-proof mattress and pillow covers, weekly laundering of other bedding and very careful vacuuming and dry steam cleaning of bedroom carpets and upholstery -- can significantly reduce the levels of dust mite allergens in bedrooms, scientists with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the University of Washington and Harvard University reported. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010807080452.htm

HERB USED TO TREAT MIGRAINE HEADACHES COULD BE USED TO DEVELOP NEW ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUGS
Yale researchers have shown for the first time that a component of the medicinal herb feverfew targets a protein called IkappaB Kinase and halts that proteins role in the inflammation process. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010808134627.htm

PICKY PLANTS: DO THEY "CHOOSE" THE BEST FUNGAL PARTNER?
Every time we make a choice, whether between job offers in two different cities or about what to have for dinner, evaluating the costs and benefits of each option is part of the process. Researchers at the University of Michigan are finding that the ability to actively select one option over another may no longer be reserved for higher animals; in fact, plants may make choices too. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010809070521.htm

JEFFERSON NEUROSCIENTISTS UNCOVER NOVEL RECEPTOR IN THE HUMAN EYE TO CONTROL BODY'S BIOLOGICAL CLOCK
Neuroscientists at Jefferson Medical College have clarified how the human eye uses light to regulate melatonin production, and in turn, the body's biological clock. They have discovered what appears to be a fifth human "photoreceptor," and which is the main one to regulate the biological - and non-visual - effects of light on the body. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010810065154.htm

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE GENOME'S "BLACK HOLES"
The centromeres of chromosomes -- considered by some to be the genomic equivalent of black holes -- may hold the answers to many scientific questions, according Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Steven Henikoff. For example, studies of the centromere may help in understanding the paradox that while centromeric DNA is evolving with extraordinary rapidity, it is still stable enough to perform its job during cell division. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010810065638.htm

Earth Science

UMASS GEOLOGISTS TO DEVELOP NEW ELECTRON MICROPROBE TO DETERMINE THE AGES OF ROCKS; NEW GEOLOGIC DATING TECHNIQUES PROVIDE A GREATER RESOLUTION OF EARTHS HISTORY : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010808134545.htm
A team of University of Massachusetts geologists is exploring a new way to determine the ages of ancient rocks, and refining our understanding of the timing and rates of the geologic events that have shaped the planet. The new method offers greater efficiency, and access to a much more detailed geologic record than current dating methods, the scientists say. Also see http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01h.html

FIRST LAND PLANTS AND FUNGI CHANGED EARTH'S CLIMATE, PAVING THE WAY FOR EXPLOSIVE EVOLUTION OF LAND ANIMALS, NEW GENE STUDY SUGGESTS
The largest genetic study ever performed to learn when land plants and fungi first appeared on the Earth has revealed a plausible biological cause for two major climate events: the Snowball Earth eras, when ice periodically covered the globe, and the era called the Cambrian Explosion, which produced the first fossils of almost all major categories of animals living today. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010810070021.htm

Scientists Propose New Theory of Earth's Early Evolution
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01g.html

Clues To Early History Of Solar System's Oldest Diamonds
Munich - August 09, 2001 - Simulating implantation of noble gases into terrestrial diamond grains, scientists from the Karpov Institute for Physical Chemistry (Moscow, Russia) and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Mainz, Germany) infer a sequence of events in the early life of diamonds in meteorites, the most common form of stardust available for laboratory study (Nature, August 9, 2001). See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/carbon-01d.html

Just How Old Is The Tibetan Plateau
Santa Barbara - August 8, 2001 - A study of the world's highest geological feature, the Tibetan Plateau, sometimes called the "roof of the world," has determined that the plateau rose to its current height much earlier than previously thought, according to a paper in the August 9th issue of the journal Nature, and it cannot go higher than it is now. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earth-01h.html

ON FIRST SCIENCE CRUISE ICEBREAKER HEALY STEAMS TO ARCTIC TO STUDY CRUST FORMATION
Researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) are sailing on the maiden scientific voyage of the U.S. Coast Guard's newest icebreaker to study one of the world's slowest growing oceanic ridges, with an eye to understanding how the Earth's crust forms. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010810064751.htm

Physics

A STUDY FINDS THAT THE SPEED OF LIGHT MIGHT BE CHANGING: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/15/science/15PHYS.html?todaysheadlines

Physicists Find New Difference Between Matter And Antimatter
Stanford - August 8, 2001 - An international collaboration of physicists conducting experiments at the Department of Energy's Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) has discovered a second fundamental difference between the behavior of matter and that of antimatter. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/antimatter-01a.html

PHYSICISTS FIND GYRATIONS OF TINY ROD-LIKE VIRUSES INDUCE MEASURABLE ENTROPIC FORCES IN SOLUTION
In an experiment with exquisite sensitivity, physicists at the University of Pennsylvania have found that fluctuations as fleeting as the bending of rod-shaped viruses just 880 millionths of a millimeter in length can measurably increase the entropic forces between other particles in solution. The finding is reported in the journal Physical Review Letters. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010810065304.htm

Quantum Interference Demonstrated For First Time In Liquids
Berkeley - August 8, 2001 - In the quantum world, waves can act like particles and particles like waves, interfering like overlapping ripples in a pond. Now, physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, have shown that this same quantum interference occurs between two samples of superfluid helium-3, a liquid so cold -- a thousandth of a degree above absolute zero -- that it flows without resistance. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/superfluids-01b.html

Zoology

PNNL CAPTURES PICTURE OF FISH PASSAGE WITH ACOUSTIC CAMERA
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then how valuable is a high-resolution image of fish seen through murky water? Very valuable, according to scientists seeking to understand fish movement near hydropower dams. Recently, fisheries biologists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory deployed an acoustic camera originally designed for the Navy at a dam in the Northwest to study and illuminate their understanding of fish behavior. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010807080144.htm

NEW SOURCE OF NATURAL FERTILIZER DISCOVERED IN OCEANS
New findings suggest that the deep ocean is teeming with organisms that produce essential natural fertilizers. A National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research team led by Jonathan Zehr, a marine scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has discovered a previously unknown type of photosynthetic bacteria that fixes nitrogen, converting nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form other organisms can use. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010809070218.htm

CANNIBALISM IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC: SCRIPPS RESEARCHER FINDS CRUSTACEAN SPECIES KEEPS POPULATION IN CHECK BY EATING ITS YOUNG
Using a combination of field samples from the Norwegian Sea and a new method for analyzing sea life populations, researchers have shown that tiny marine crustaceans called copepods use cannibalism as a mechanism to limit their population. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010809070341.htm

August 11. 2001

Religion in the News

Would a Cloned Human Have a Soul?
The implications of a proposed ban on human cloning go from the political to the theological. See http://www.beliefnet.com/nlrd.asp?to=st&sid=8549&bid=21637

Bush Finds Middle Ground with Stem-Cell Decision: See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/132/53.0.html
President Bush's stem-cell decision is better than the fatal cure many sought. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/011/32.42.html

Court Ruling is Good News for Equal Access
A U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the right of religious groups to meet in public school buildings will establish broad protections for free speech, legal experts say. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/010/14.24.html

Creationism fight looms The Board of Education has to decide whether to teach the biblical version in science classes (The Star Bulletin) See http://starbulletin.com/2001/08/01/news/index.html Also: Educators: Creation theory not scientific Creationism can be taught, but not in science class, teachers and scientists say (The Star Bulletin) See http://starbulletin.com/2001/07/28/news/story2.html

House-approved version of 'faith-based' bill includes voucher plan | While attracting little attention, House-approved bill gives Cabinet authority to convert up to $47 billion worth of social spending into vouchers (Associated Press). See http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=14558

Afghanistan Christian prisoners will face Islamic law
The BBC is reporting that Western diplomats and the United Nations are still working to obtain access to the eight foreign workers arrested for teaching Christianity in Afghanistan. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1477000/1477064.stm Taleban ease foreigner restrictions
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1481000/1481765.stm

Lebanese Army Arrests Up to 250 Christian Activists: BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - A broad security sweep by Lebanese troops that has netted up to 250 Christian activists in two days renewed debate Wednesday over Syrian military and political control in Lebanon and threatened a political crisis. See http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010808/wl/lebanon_christians_2.html

Sri Lankan Buddhists Seek to Ban Christian Conversions
See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/132/55.0.html

Leading a mission to alter Bible phrase that can hurt: Local man finds the portrayal of the Jewish people offensive. See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/08/08/front_page/PBIBLE08.htm

Creation in the Classroom: Student Joe Baker has led a textbook challenge against evolution in his High School. See the CNN news story at http://fyi.cnn.com/2001/fyi/teachers.ednews/05/09/evolution.debate/index.html. He has now filed a lawsuit against his High School. See http://www.charismanews.com/worldnews/worldnews.cgi?a=615&t=news.html Joe is now putting together a grassroots group called the Christian Creation Alliance and is just getting his listserv going. He tells me he will be sending out one e-newsletter per week on this list. If you or anyone you know would like to sign up for a creation awareness e-mail list now is your chance. This list is created by a student to equip
other students to be ready and willing to defend their faith within their public institutions. To sign up for the list go to this site:
http://www.coollist.com/group.cgi?l=joebaker or e-mail Joe Baker at Joeman12482@hotmail.com

Science in the News

2,000-year-old walls fit for a king Archaeologists in Jerusalem's Old City believe they have found remains of a palace. JERUSALEM - Just inside the ancient walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, Israeli archaeologists have begun unearthing what they believe are parts of a palace built for King Herod about 2,000 years ago. http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/08/09/national/HEROD09.htm

Anthropology

PRE-HISTORIC SKULL FIND IN CHAD MAY ROCK 'CRADLE OF HUMANITY' THEORY
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_364615.html

IS THERE AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE SOUL?
http://www.egyptrevealed.com/073001-archaeologyofthesoul.htm

ARCHEOLOGISTS DISCOVER GOLDEN SIBERIAN TOMB
http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/features/2001/07/item20010728090717_1.htm

RESEARCHERS WORK TO PREVENT DECAY OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES
In the land of pharaohs and sphinxes, civil engineers from the University of Missouri-Rolla are trying to solve a new riddle: Why are some of Egypt's most treasured antiquities crumbling into dust? See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010730080508.htm

Astronomy

Did NASA really land a man on the moon or was it staged? See http://www.governmentguide.com/govsite.adp?bread.msfc.nasa.gov/News/2001/News-MoonLanding.asp See also http://pirlwww.lpl.arizona.edu/~jscotti/NOT_faked/FOX.html and http://pirlwww.lpl.arizona.edu/~jscotti/NOT_faked/

Is there life in outer space? Drake's equation is thought to be among the most important of the 20th Century, second only to Einstein's E=MC^{2 Here's
the equation:}See http://aolsvc.pbs.aol.com/researchandlearn/saf/1103/features/outthere.htm

ULTRA-SMALL RIPPLES MAY EXPAND UNIVERSE
http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=207500

Nano Particles Find Stability In Orbit
Washington - July 31, 2001 - A NASA-funded study in materials science has yielded a discovery that may significantly change the way electronics, paint, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries develop products. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-01j.html

NEW-FOUND MOONS OF SATURN REMNANTS OF LARGER MOONS
Astronomers have discovered 12 more moons around Saturn. And they have evidence that these once were just three or four moons, minding their business, orbiting the planet like all regular saturnian moons do today. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010730080136.htm

APPROACH TO AN ASTEROID: NEW NEAR MOVIE FEATURES FINAL FOOTAGE FROM A LANDING SPACECRAFT
Stunning close-up views of asteroid 433 Eros from the descending NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft get top billing in a new movie from NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission. The minute-long movie, released today on the NEAR Web site at http://near.jhuapl.edu covers the final moments of NEAR's yearlong orbit at Eros. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010801082535.htm

Ulysses Observes Surprising Reach Of Solar Activity
Chicago - August 6, 2001 - Once every 11 years, the sun's magnetic field flips over. During the commotion that accompanies these field reversals, large solar flares send great geysers of hot gas and huge quantities of charged particles erupting from the surface and streaming into space during a period called "solar maximum." See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ulysses-01a.html

Chandra has imaged the active galaxy Centaurus A, and revealed a few
surprises. Lots of individual x-ray sources were resolved, and the x-ray
jet from the supermassive black hole in the galaxy's center doesn't fit
well with the radio image. See http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cycle1/0157blue/index.html

Biology

HOUSE APPROVES A BROAD BAN ON HUMAN CLONING
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010801/sc/health_congress_cloning_dc_2.html

Attack of the clones
A plan to produce the first cloned human baby by the end of 2002 provokes uproar from opposing scientists. See
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991124

ISRAELI TEAMS GROWS HEART CELLS AND INSULIN PRODUCING CELLS FROM HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS
Since the isolation of human embryonic stem cells three years ago, scientists have been excited about the prospect of using these cells to produce all the different types of tissues in our body, such as heart tissue to repair damaged hearts. Now researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have for the first time succeeded in growing the precursors of heart cells from human embryonic stems cells. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010801081426.htm

OPTICAL SCIENTISTS TO DEVELOP EYEGLASSES WITH AUTOFOCUS
Optical scientists at the University of Arizona are working under an agreement with The Egg Factory, LLC, and its subsidiary company, eVision, to develop a proprietary technology that within a few years could provide next-generation eyeglasses -- glasses with lenses that actively focus so people can see clearly up close or far away. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010730080847.htm

"BIONIC EAR" IMPLANTED BY PENN SURGEONS TO GIVE HEARING TO THE DEAF: FDA-APPROVED DEVICE PROVIDES THE WORLD'S FASTEST HEARING TECHNOLOGY
Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Centers Department of Otorhinolaryngology are now surgically implanting the recently FDA-approved bionic ear, bringing hearing to once-deaf adults throughout the Delaware Valley. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010801082144.htm

DISCOVERY WILL CHANGE THE WAY RESEARCHERS LOOK AT DNA TRANSCRIPTION, SCIENTISTS SAY
Biological chemists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill say a discovery they have made about how living organisms convert genetic instructions into action represents a fundamental advance in the understanding of the flow of genetic information. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010730081253.htm

GENETICALLY ENGINEERED TOMATO PLANT GROWS IN SALTY WATER
A genetically engineered tomato plant that thrives in salty irrigation water and may hold the key to one of agriculture's greatest dilemmas has been developed by plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, and the University of Toronto. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010801082418.htm

SCIENTISTS FIND GENETIC BASIS OF INSECT'S RESISTANCE TO ENGINEERED CROPS
Genetically engineered crops with built-in insecticides are an increasingly popular tool for controlling agricultural pests. Some experts, however, believe that using those modified crops could backfire by forcing the development of genetically resistant pests. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010803084155.htm

DESIGNER CHEMICAL OFFERS ALZHEIMER'S HOPE
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have designed and synthesized highly potent inhibitor compounds that could lead to an effective treatment for Alzheimers disease. The work was reported in the American Chemical Societys Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010803083854.htm

Earth Science

Scientists Propose New Theory of Earth's Early Evolution
Moffett Field - Aug. 3, 2001 - NASA scientists recently proposed a new explanation for the rise of oxygen in Earth's early atmosphere -- an event that may have jumpstarted the evolution of complex life. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01g.html

NASA assembles 3D map of Earth from shuttle soundings
Washington (AFP) Aug 4, 2001 - NASA has begun to publish the most accurate three-dimensional mapping of Earth ever made, based on data collected by a US space shuttle in February 2000. The map will be released in successive sections, Tom Farr, deputy chief of the project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Friday. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010804114500.k94hdeji.html

DINOSAURS GREW RAPIDLY, SAY FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS
Dinosaurs grew more rapidly than their living reptilian relatives asserts FSU evolutionary biologist and paleontologist Gregory Erickson in an article to be published Thursday in Nature magazine. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010730081218.htm

Technology

NEW MAGNETIC SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIAL SPINS HOPE FOR QUANTUM COMPUTING
Scientists at the Department of Energys Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have created a semiconductor material that has superior magnetic properties at room temperature and that may propel research one step closer to realizing the potential of quantum computing. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010801082047.htm

Zoology

'MONSTER' BEACHED
http://www.thetelegram.com/topstories/news/story.asp?id=46701&ln=ln

LAB-RAISED, ALGAE-EATING SEA URCHINS MAY REVERSE CORAL REEF DECLINE
One of the first attempts at restoring the health of Atlantic coral reefs gets underway as early as Friday, July 27, when the first ever laboratory-raised sea urchins will be released on an experimental site at Little Grecian Reef in a Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The sea urchins are critical to coral reef renewal because they eat coral-smothering algae. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010730081053.htm

More weird bugs: methane consuming archaeobacteria and sulfate-reducing
bacteria, acting together, are responsible for consuming most of the
methane in the world's oceans, according to a team of microbiologists and
geoscientists. See http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/marinemethane.html

August 4, 2001

Our Newest Web Page: The Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Florida. See http://bibleandscience.com/holyland.htm

Religion in the News

Jesus would not be a churchgoer, say Christians: Many people believe the son of God would not go to church if he were alive in present times, a survey claims. Figures show 43% of Christians agree that the existence of the Church as an organization puts more people off Christianity than attracts them. The survey also found 71% of Christians only go to church a couple of times a year, on special occasions or not at all. See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_365087.html

Peru Investigation Report of the Missionary Plane that was shot down. See http://www.state.gov/g/inl/rls/rpt/pir/index.cfm?docid=4397 Video tape of it at http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/popoff/DailyNews/010802raddatz_video_popoff/index.html

Board Won't Force Creationism Class See http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010803/us/hawaii_creationism_1.html

Science in the News

Archaeology

Ancient graves are found near Dead Sea Scrolls' site: They might have been for leaders from early days of Christianity, archaeologists say. See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/07/26/national/26DIG.htm

Anthropology

Old skulls offer theory on the first Americans WASHINGTON - Descendants of an ancient people who once lived in Japan may have been the first to cross a land bridge from Asia and settle in the Americas, according to a new study that examined the bone structure of nearly 10,000 human skulls. http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/07/31/national/LANDBRIDGE31.htm

Telltale Face Betrays Neanderthals as Non-Human: See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/08/0802_neandertal.html

Lightning may spark evolution
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991102

Artifact Analyses Dispute Assumptions About A Prehistoric Society: CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Fragments of red stone artifacts – bits of smoking pipes, decorative ear lobe spools and a figurine, all plucked out of rich prehistoric soil in the U.S. Midwest – used to tell one story about the complex culture and the ancient people who left them behind. Now they tell another. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010802080753.htm

Astronomy

Life of Mars: LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Did NASA discover evidence of life on Mars and then misplace it for almost 25 years? A University of Southern California scientist argues that is just what happened and that once-lost data collected by the 1975 Viking probes suggest the existence of Martian microbes. http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=sciencenews&StoryID=137333

Skepticism greets 'space bugs' claim: Scientist claims that there is life from outer space living high up in the earth's atmosphere.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1466000/1466477.stm

Exploring Cosmic Darkness, Scientists See Signs of Dawn: Scientists said on Friday that the dim haze from a time so
ancient that stars and galaxies had not begun to shine had been seen for the first time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/04/science/04DARK.html?todaysheadlines

RUTGERS' BLACK HOLE DISCOVERY: THE FIRST GALAXY WITHOUT ONE OR THE SMALLEST BLACK HOLE YET? Rutgers astronomers have made a provocative discovery -- the first galaxy without a supermassive black hole (SBH) at its center or the smallest black hole ever detected in the center of a galaxy. They used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the galaxy M33, one of the nearest neighbors to the Milky Way galaxy at a relatively short distance of 3 million light-years. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010720093143.htm

NEWEST NOAA ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE LAUNCHED: SATELLITE WILL DETECT HARMFUL SOLAR FLARES AND GATHER WEATHER DATA
The nation's most advanced satellite to detect harmful solar flares and gather data on daily weather and severe storms in the United States was launched successfully, NOAA announced. The GOES-M satellite is the fifth of five advanced weather satellites operated by NOAA and designed to help improve forecasting of Earth's weather and space weather. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010724082053.htm

NASA'S WIND SPACECRAFT FLIES THROUGH EARTH'S MAGNETIC TAIL AND CAPTURES RARE EVENT IN ACTION
Thanks to a fluke encounter while flying through the Earth's magnetic tail two years ago, NASA's Wind spacecraft may have solved a long-standing mystery about how the sun's magnetic field interacts with that of the Earth. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010726102041.htm

STAR WITH MIDRIFF BULGE EYED BY ASTRONOMERS
For the first time ever, a star spinning so fast its mid-section is stretched out has been directly measured by an ultra-high-resolution NASA telescope system on Palomar Mountain near San Diego. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010727094638.htm

Solar Storms Help Destroy The Ozone
Washington (AFP) Aug 1, 2001 - Solar storms that bombard earth's atmosphere with electrically charged particles contribute to the destruction of the upper-level ozone, scientists confirmed in Wednesday's issue of Geophysical Research Letters. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarstorm-01a.html

Scientists Find Largest Flood Channels in the Solar System: Tucson - Aug 1, 2001
Scientists may have discovered the largest flood channels in the solar system on Mars after finding a system of gigantic ancient valleys, some as much as 200 kilometers wide, that are partly buried by volcanic lava flows, ash fall and wind-blown dust in Mars' western hemisphere. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-science-01k.html

Summer Meteor Spotlights Hunt for Killer Asteroids: PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The scene of a fiery meteor streaking across the daytime skies of the northeastern United States this summer gave a once-in-a-lifetime thrill to those lucky enough to witness it. See http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010804/sc/science_asteroids_dc_2.html

Shooting Stars! Viewer's Guide to the Perseid Meteor Shower
They peak on August 12th. see http://www.space.com/spacewatch/perseids_2001_010731-1.html

Biology

PATIENTS WITH DIABETES CAN TEST NEW GLUCOSE MONITORING DEVICE THAT JUST MIGHT MAKE FINGER PRICK TEST OBSOLETE
The University of Maryland Joslin Diabetes Center will be one of 10 centers nationwide studying a potential new tool that, if effective, would be music to the fingertips of anyone diagnosed with diabetes a painless, needle-free glucose-monitoring device. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010724081534.htm

COMPUTER MONITORS WHEEZING IN ASTHMA PATIENTS
NWO researcher Mireille Oud is working on a computer program to evaluate the respiratory sounds made by asthma patients. It would seem that a microphone just under the Adams apple may be sufficient to warn of an impending asthma attack. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010726103637.htm

NEW HEART BYPASS PROCEDURE SIDESTEPS HEART-LUNG MACHINE, REDUCES RELATED COMPLICATIONS
When Jim Sellers could no longer take a shower without chest pain, he summoned his courage and finally called a doctor. The 53-year-old Stockton truck driver learned he needed a triple bypass. With half a million Americans undergoing coronary bypass surgery each year, the four-decade-old procedure has become routine. But Sellers operation was not. In the first surgery of its kind at UC Davis Medical Center, Sellers heart kept beating throughout the procedure, sparing him the ordeal of a heart-lung machine. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010727101114.htm

POKING HOLES IN PATHOGENS: SCIENTISTS AT THE SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE BUILD A NEW CLASS OF NANOTUBE "SMART DRUGS"
Scientists at The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, a part of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), have published a paper in the current issue of Nature that describes a broad nanochemical approach for designing drugs to combat such problems as infections with antibiotic resistant bacteria. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010726101824.htm

PLANTS VS. DISEASE: "TRENCH WARFARE AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL"
By observing the battle between bacterial speck disease and tomatoes, biologists have discovered how plant cells resist some ailments. Researchers from the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) for Plant Research Inc. and Cornell University can now demonstrate how disease-causing organisms deliver destructive agents to plants, and how the plants fight back. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010723102016.htm

CELLULAR ORGANELLE EVOLVED REPEATEDLY
NWO researchers have discovered that in the course of evolution hydrogenosomes repeatedly evolved from mitochondria. Hydrogenosomes, or hydrogen-forming organelles, are cell organelles that produce hydrogen and energy. They serve as an alternative energy supply in organisms that live without oxygen, such as anaerobic fungi and protozoa. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010726101732.htm

Earth Science

TINY CRYSTALS PREDICT A HUGE VOLCANO IN WESTERN UNITED STATES
Reading the geochemical fine print found in tiny crystals of the minerals zircon and quartz, scientists are forming a new picture of the life history - and a geologic timetable - of a type of volcano in the western United States capable of dramatically altering climate sometime within the next 100,000 years. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010723101806.htm

Research Debunks Long-Standing View of Dinosaurs. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Turning up his nose at a century of conventional wisdom, a scientist studying dinosaur fossils and the physiology of their closest living relatives has determined the creatures' nostrils were perched near the end of their snouts and not toward the top of their heads. See http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010802/sc/science_dinosaur_nostrils_dc_1.html See also http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010803083551.htm

Skeleton of New Dinosaur "Titan" Found in Madagascar: See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/08/0801_madagascardino.html

VISITING MT. ETNA A BLAST FOR TEMPLE UNIVERSITY GEOLOGIST
Temple University geology professor Dr. Gene Ulmer sits in his home and closely watches the continued eruptions of Sicilys Mt. Etna volcano on his television. "I wish I were still there," he says, wistfully. Ulmer was there, watching from an erosional valley only three miles from Mt. Etnas summit, when the volcano violently erupted and spewed forth ash and lava at 1:33 p.m. on June 19. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010727101339.htm

Cosmic Collision May Have Created Hawaii: See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/volcano_asteroid_010731.html

Physics

RHIC RESUMES OPERATION WITH FIRST FULL-ENERGY COLLISIONS: HIGHER ENERGY, DETECTOR UPGRADES TO YIELD MORE DATA IN QUEST FOR QUARK-GLUON PLASMA
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have taken their search for an elusive form of matter to a new level by bringing the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) up to full collision energy. All four detectors at the 2.4-mile-circumference, two-ringed particle accelerator are now recording these full-energy collisions, which are expected to produce 100 times more data than collisions during RHIC's first run last year. The result will be a clearer picture of what happens when gold ions slam together at nearly the speed of light. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010723101914.htm

Time Travel in Einstein's Universe
London - July 23, 2001 - Time travel to the future is possible within the laws of physics. But what of time travel to the past? In 'Time Travel in Einstein's Universe' Richard Gott explores the physics of time travel and puts forward his own suggestions for ways in which time travel to the past might be achieved. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/time-01b.html

Technology

LOW POWER, HIGHLY RELIABLE, WIRELESS, INFRARED LOCAL AREA NETWORKS DEMONSTRATED
Penn State engineers have shown that broadband, wireless, indoor, local area communication networks that rely on non-line-of-sight infrared (IR) signal transmission can offer low error rates as well as safe, low below one Watt power levels. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010725081349.htm

July 28, 2001

Religion in the News

State panel rejects teaching Creation. Science standards endorse evolution (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) See http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20010712evolution0712p4.asp

Pa. schools revise science standard (Associated Press) See http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010712/us/science_standards_1.html

Oldest Christian find in Norway: New discovery hints that Christianity may have had a foothold in Norway centuries earlier than previously thought (Aftenposten, Oslo) See http://rigg.aftenposten.no/english/local/d221316.htm

What it means to be 'born again': For some,the change hit like a lightning bolt; for others, it came quietly and gradually. Readers share their stories. (The Philadelphia Inquirer) See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/07/08/city/BORN08.htm

Chasing Bible balloons in North Korea: Voice of the Martyrs sometimes sends as many as 50,000 helium-filled orange vinyl bags imprinted with the Gospel of Mark (UPI). See http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=200972

In Sudan, ancient and evil slave trade persists: But controversy persists over practice of redemption (Fox News). See http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,29232,00.html

Willow Creek Community Church announces plans for satellite churches http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/130/22.0.html

Silicon Valley Saints
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/010/1.34.html
High-tech Christian executives in California are
bringing biblical values back into a mecca of Mammon.
By Tony Carnes

A Church for Internet Entrepreneurs
Grace Presbyterian had a Web site before it even had Sunday services.
By Tony Carnes. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/010/2.37.html

Report blames Peruvian air force for missionary shoot-down http://www.cnn.com/virtual/editions/europe/2000/roof/change.pop/frameset.exclude.html

When God Hides His Face
Can faith survive when hope has died? The Guthries think so. See http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101010716-166728,00.html

Facing the Maker: AI www.science-spirit.org

Bible scholars claim Jews never fled Egypt, and Moses was just a myth
FROM JACK GEE IN PARIS Two French Jewish academics claim those who fled were not Jews - but rebellious Egyptians. They even claim Moses was not king of the Jews at all but may actually have been pharaoh Rameses I. See http://www.lineone.net/express/00/09/22/news/n3140-d.html They should have read my web page on the archaeological evidence for the Exodus at http://bibleandscience.com/evidenceofexodus,htm

Science in the News

Coming to Blows Over How Valid Science Really Is
Several books about Thomas S. Kuhn, physicist and historian of science, have been published in the last year,
attacking and defending his concept of paradigm. See http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/21/arts/21KUHN.html?todaysheadlines

Archaeology

Dr. Wood has had his article, “David Rohl's Revised Egyptian Chronology: A View From Palestine,” published in the Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin 45 (2000): 41-47. Dr. Wood’s article, along with recent information in support of his conclusions, is available online at http://www.christiananswers.net/abr/scoop.html#Pharaohs. I agree with Dr. Wood that David Rohl's chronology is way off.

In search of Jesus' tomb | An archeologist believes Christ's burial site may remain intact in Church of the Holy Sepulcher. (Thomas Maugh, Los Angeles Times). See http://adserver.tribuneinteractive.com/ads/latimes/national/millerSweeps/mgdsplash.htm

Congress bill would protect Temple Mount | Bill would eliminate aid to the Palestinian Authority if archeological antiquities continue to be removed (The Jerusalem Post). See http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/07/22/News/News.30888.html

ARCHEOLOGISTS FIND SIGNS OF FARMING IN 11,000 BC
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-000058219jul16.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dscience

AN ANCIENT CITY ON A DELTA HILLTOP
http://www.egyptrevealed.com/07101-ancientdeltacity.htm

Egyptian Egyptologists Debunk Claims of Two French Archaeologists that claim there are hidden chambers in the pyramids. http://www.egyptrevealed.com/042301-debunkfrench.htm

Ancient Egyptian Port Reveals Underwater Secrets http://www.egyptrevealed.com/060701-ancientportgoddio.htm

ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND ANCIENT CEMETERY IN MIAMI DOWNTOWN PARK
http://www.news-journalonline.com/2001/Jul/5/STAT8.htm

PYRAMID BUILD 5000 YEARS AGO FOUND IN INNER MONGOLIA
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200107/06/eng20010706_74356.html

Anthropology

EVOLUTION
The basis of all life, or a fairy tale for scientists who reject God?
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=23471

DIGITAL ORGANISMS USED TO CONFIRM EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS
Using a revolutionary computer program that gives scientists the opportunity to watch evolution take place before their eyes using "digital organisms," a team of researchers from Michigan State University and Caltech has confirmed an evolutionary process long suspected but, until now, unproven. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010719080551.htm

Links to Ancient Man in DNA Find? Two researchers claim that they have extracted the DNA of a 1,8-million-year-old hominid from microscopic traces of blood found on stone tools excavated at the Sterkfontein Caves.It is a discovery, scientists say, that could revolutionise the study of ancient DNA and the origins of mankind."The DNA we have found is something between a chimpanzee and a human, which suggests a hominid," explains Wits University micro archaeologist Bonnie Williamson. See http://allafrica.com/stories/200107260275.html

Survival Of The Flattest
Pasadena - July 23, 2001 - Darwinian dogma states that in the marathon race of evolution, the genotype that replicates the fastest, wins. But now scientists at the California Institute of Technology say that's true, but when you factor in another basic process of evolution, that of mutations, it's often the tortoise that defeats the hare. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01z.html

EARLIEST HUMAN ANCESTORS DISCOVERED IN ETHIOPIA; DISCOVERY OF BONES
AND TEETH DATE FOSSILS BACK MORE THAN 5.2 MILLION YEARS
Anthropologists have discovered the remains of the earliest known human ancestor in Ethiopia, dating to between 5.2 and 5.8 million years ago and which predate the previously oldest-known fossils by almost a million years. The previous discovery of the 4.4-million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus was up to this point the oldest known hominid, the primate zoological family that includes all species on the human side of the evolutionary split with chimpanzees. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010712080134.htm

SOIL SUGGESTS EARLY HUMANS LIVED IN FORESTS INSTEAD OF GRASSLANDS
Carbon isotope evidence in almost 6-million-year-old soils suggests that the earliest humans already were evolving in and likely preferred humid forests rather than grasslands, report a team of scientists working in Ethiopia. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010712080455.htm

NASA Scientist Finds Clue To Possible Evolutionary Shift
Moffett Field - July 12, 2001 - A team of researchers, including a NASA scientist, reports that an early-life nitrogen crisis may have triggered a critical evolutionary leap about 2 billion years ago. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01y.html

Astronomy

One giant leap for lunar skeptics

As many as 20 percent of Americans believe that the moon landings were faked. See http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/space/orl-land07102001.story?coll=o

Genesis To Catch Some Solar Rays
Pasadena July 16, 2001 - NASA'S next robotic space explorer is ready to do a little sunbathing on a mission to catch a wisp of raw material from the luminous celestial body around which the Earth and other planets revolve. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/genesis-01a.html

Space shuttle Atlantis crew attaches airlock to ISS
Washington (AFP) Jul 15, 2001 - Two astronauts from the space shuttle Atlantis attached a giant new airlock to the International Space Station on their first space walk of the mission, NASA officials announced Sunday.
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010715103550.f6295mof.html

DUST STORM SWALLOWS HALF OF MARS
The largest dust storm to be seen on Mars since NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft arrived in 1997 is currently raging across about half the planet. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010710074640.htm

Evidence Of Icy Region And Recent Climate Change Observed On Mars
Providence - July 25, 2001 - New images of the surface of Mars provide the first direct evidence that the climate of Mars changed during the last 100,000 years, much more recently than the hundreds of millions of years scientists had previously thought, according to Brown University geologist John Mustard. The high- resolution images show evidence of water ice closer to the equator than had previously been observed. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-science-01j.html

STELLAR APOCALYPSE YIELDS FIRST EVIDENCE OF WATER-BEARING WORLDS
BEYOND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
As an alien sun blazes through its death throes, it is apparently vaporizing a surrounding swarm of comets, releasing a huge cloud of water vapor. The discovery, reported in an article to be published tomorrow in the journal Nature, is the result of observations with the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS), a small radio observatory NASA launched into space in December 1998. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010712075944.htm

A new study using data from our Chandra and RXTE spacecraft suggests that
gamma-ray bursts may be the byproduct of black hole formation. Screams of
dying stellar giants at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/magnetic_gamma_010713.html

Biology

NEW STUDY SHOWS NORMAL-LOOKING CLONES MAY BE ABNORMAL
Scientists have found the first evidence to show that even
seemingly normal-looking clones may harbor serious abnormalities
affecting gene expression that may not manifest themselves as outward
characteristics. The findings, reported in the July 6 issue of Science
by researchers at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and
University of Hawaii, confirm the previous suspicion that reproductive
cloning is not only inefficient, but may actually be unsafe. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010709073545.htm

WITH FIRST COMPARATIVE LOOK AT HUMAN AND MOUSE DNA, JOINT GENOME
INSTITUTE TEAM CONFIRMS GENE ESTIMATE
Earlier this year, researchers mapping the human genome estimated
that human DNA contains about 30,000 genes. Now, based on the
first-ever look at comparable sections of human and mouse DNA, a team
of Walnut Creek-based Joint Genome Institute (JGI) scientists has
confirmed that estimate as roughly accurate. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010709074239.htm

STAPH BACTERIA ARE PROLIFIC GENE SWAPPERS, RESEARCHERS SHOW
When some disease-causing bacteria encounter a new obstacle, they
simply swap DNA with their relatives to acquire the genes needed to
overcome it. And they do so quite readily, according to scientists
from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
(NIAID). See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010710073828.htm

SCIENTISTS REPORT THE FIRST LIVE BIRTHS IN LARGE MAMMALS AFTER USING
FROZEN OVARIAN TISSUE
French scientists have succeeded in using previously frozen ovarian tissue to produce live offspring in large mammals for the
first time. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010711061236.htm

STUDY GIVES FIRST GLIMPSE OF HUMAN BRAIN'S NATURAL PAINKILLER SYSTEM
IN ACTION
A unique experiment that studied chemical activity in the brains
of human volunteers while they experienced sustained pain and reported
how they felt is providing new insights into the importance of the
body's natural painkiller system - and the reasons why each of us
experiences pain differently. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010716112818.htm

MEDITATION MAY CUT STRESS, IMPROVING MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH
An intensive program that teaches meditation skills may help people reduce the psychological and physical effects of high stress, according to a new study. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010710074320.htm

RESEARCHERS FIND THAT AFTER STOPPING COCAINE USE, DRUG CRAVING GETS
STRONGER OVER TIME
Using an animal model of drug craving in laboratory rats, researchers at the Intramural Research Program of the National
Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) have found that craving for cocaine seems to increase, rather than decrease, in the days and months after drug use has stopped. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010712081026.htm

NEW PILOT STUDY SUGGESTS FLAXSEED AND LOW-FAT DIET CAN BE PROTECTIVE
AGAINST PROSTATE CANCER
A low-fat diet supplemented with flaxseed may help reduce the risk of prostate cancer, researchers from Duke University Medical Center report in the July issue of Urology. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010712080024.htm

RESEARCHERS DISCOVER GENE THAT COULD BE KEY IN EVOLUTION OF HARDWOODS
Researchers at Michigan Technological University have discovered a gene that may have played a key role in the evolution of hardwood trees such as oaks and maples. Their work is featured on the cover of the July 11 issue of The Plant Cell. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010712080539.htm

BLOCKING "ENGULFMENT" GIVES DYING CELLS NEW LEASE ON LIFE
Multicellular life is a balance between cell survival and cell
death. The genetically programmed death of cells is a normal part of
embryonic development and occurs throughout the lifetime of organisms
to rid abnormal (e.g. pre-cancerous) and surplus cells from the body.
Research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory now reveals that under
special circumstances, cells programmed to die during nervous system
development can be brought back from the brink of death. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010712080935.htm

Headaches, what you don't know can really hurt you!
In the case of headaches, what you don't know can really hurt you. Check out Headaches on DiscoveryHealth.com to find out about the latest in headache treatments, test your knowledge of headache causes and cures, take an assessment to find out what kind of headache you suffer from, and read ten tips for living headache-free. See http://health.discovery.com/convergence/headaches/headaches.html

A whiff of pheromones might fix premenstrual syndrome
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991041

Pain-free lasers replace the dreaded dentist's drill
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991040

Arm patch tells drinkers how well their bodies cope with alcohol
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991038

Earth Science

NEW TECHNIQUE DATES FAULTS NEAR EARTH'S SURFACE
A new approach developed by scientists at the University of
Michigan and ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company allows direct dating
of faults---surfaces along which rocks break and move---near Earth's
surface. A report on the work appears in the July 12 issue of the
journal Nature. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010712080846.htm

SCIENTISTS SEEKING SECRETS OF "LOST CITY"
The remarkable hydrothermal vent structures serendipitously
discovered last December in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, including a
massive 18-story vent taller than any seen before, are formed in a
very different way than ocean-floor vents studied since the 1970s,
according to findings published July 12 in the journal Nature. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010712080308.htm

ARCTIC OSCILLATION HAS MODERATED NORTHERN WINTERS OF 1980S AND '90S
The Arctic Oscillation has been linked to wide-ranging climate
effects in the Northern Hemisphere, but new evidence shows that in
recent decades it has been the key in preventing freezing temperatures
from extending as far south as they had previously. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010709074127.htm

VISITING SCIENTISTS TO TEST-DRIVE RUTGERS' ADVANCED COASTAL AND OCEAN
DATA GATHERING SYSTEM
A demonstration of the full capabilities of Rutgers' advanced
marine and coastal scientific data gathering system is attracting more
than 200 ocean scientists to the Institute of Marine and Coastal
Sciences (IMCS) Field Station in Tuckerton (Ocean County, N.J.). Known
as HyCODE/COMOP (Coastal Ocean Modeling and Observation Program
Hyperspectral Coastal Ocean Dynamics Experiment), the system employs a
combination of satellites, planes, ships, radar, remote control
underwater vehicles, and moored and towed data collection devices. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010711060705.htm

GENOME TO BRING BACK DINOSAURS 'IN 60 YEARS'
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/uk.cfm?id=90817

Colorado Geologist Fights to Save Dinosaur Fossils
A retired geologist has begun a one-man crusade to stymie
the development of a golf course in a Denver suburb on a
site where dinosaur footprints have been discovered.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/23/national/23DINO.html?todaysheadlines

FOSSIL OF OLDEST CRUSTACEAN HAS EXQUISITE DETAIL
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010719/sc/science_crustacean_dc_1.html

Earthquakes Reveal Diamonds' Origins
Tempe - July 13, 2001 - The seismic rumblings could provide key clues about where miners should look for diamonds, according to recent research. Matt Fouch, assistant professor of geological sciences at ASU, studies vibrations caused by earthquakes to visualize the earth at depths of hundreds of kilometers, where diamonds are formed. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/carbon-01c.html

Physics

ANTIMATTER NOT AS TOUGH AS MATTER -- THUS WE EXIST
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010707/sc/science_universe_dc_2.html Also

PHYSICISTS FIND A NEW, STRIKING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MATTER AND
ANTIMATTER
An international collaboration of physicists conducting
experiments at the Department of Energy's Stanford Linear Accelerator
Center (SLAC) has discovered a second fundamental difference between
the behavior of matter and that of antimatter. They observed this
intriguing phenomenon -- known as charge-parity (CP) violation and
first seen decades ago in experiments with another particle -- in
disintegrations of heavy, short-lived subatomic particles called B
mesons. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010712075806.htm

"THE DISH" TESTS EINSTEIN'S WARPED SPACE
In the most precise astrophysics experiment ever made, Australian
and U.S. astronomers have used Australia's CSIRO Parkes radio
telescope to measure the distortion of space-time near a star 450
light-years (more than 4 000 million million kilometres) from Earth.
Their results, confirming Einstein's general theory of relativity, are
published in the July 12 issue of the journal "Nature". See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010717080309.htm

FORM OF MATTER DISCOVERED IN 1995 SHOWS ABILITY TO COLLAPSE, EXPLODE
A group of Colorado physicists who made worldwide news in 1995 by
creating a new form of matter called Bose-Einstein condensate have
developed a new "flavor" of the matter that has been delivering
surprise after surprise in the laboratory. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010719080507.htm

Technology

NANO-TRANSISTOR SWITCHES WITH JUST ONE ELECTRON, MAY BE IDEAL FOR
MOLECULAR COMPUTERS, SCIENCE STUDY SHOWS
A single electron makes the difference between "on" and "off" for
a new transistor made from a single carbon nanotube, whose minute size
and low-energy requirements should make it an ideal device for
molecular computers. Dutch researchers introduce this nanotube single
electron transistor, the first to operate efficiently at room
temperature, in the 29 June issue of the international journal,
Science. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010709073509.htm

NMR SHAKES OFF ITS COIL: A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION NMR
SPECTROSCOPY OUTSIDE THE MAGNET
Researchers in the laboratory of Alexander Pines, a member of the
Materials Sciences Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
and a professor of chemistry at the University of California at
Berkeley, have recovered high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR) spectroscopy data from experimental samples in a grossly
nonuniform field. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010709073327.htm

July 13, 2001

Religion in the News

Rise of Christian Pop: The Christian entertainment industry is exploding. Newsweek magazine. See http://www.msnbc.com/news/597609.asp

The Salvation Army and Bush took up: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37723-2001Jul9.html No way now http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42827-2001Jul10.html

Is Teen Challenge in or out? http://www.weeklystandard.com/magazine/mag_6_41_01/colson_novak_art_6_41_01.asp

Christians Remain Imprisoned in Brunei
Dozens interrogated as government investigates whether prayer program is a threat. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/128/23.0.html

In the Beginning details Bible's imprint on English | Chronicling three centuries of cultural, religious, and political history that led to history's most famous Bible translation, Alister McGrath shows how the King James version is a literary landmark. (The Boston Globe)

Cousins share passion for Bible with the world | Bethesda, Maryland, museum focuses on Scriptures (The Washington Post)

Archaeologists to dig for apostle Matthew | Tax collector who wrote gospel may be buried by Kyrgyzstan lake (Sapa)

Calling Dr. God | Can a prayer a day help keep the doctor away? (Richard Morin, The Washington Post) See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30449-2001Jul7.html

IRRCed by creationism | A review panel questions science guidelines (Editorial, Pittsburgh Post Gazette) see http://www.post-gazette.com/forum/20010707edcreation07p3.asp

Historical Hogwash
Two books--one new, one newly reissued--debunk false claims about the "real" Jesus.
By Elesha Coffman. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/128/55.0.html

Science in the News

Archaeology

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI ARCHAEOLOGIST TO LAUNCH EXCAVATIONS AT BRONZE
AGE HARBOR TOWN IN CYPRUS
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010605074203.htm
A University of Cincinnati archaeologist will open new
excavations June 18 on the island of Cyprus in hopes of discovering
whether a Bronze Age city was actually an important trading center for
the Middle East, Egypt and Greece.

NAVAL SECRETS OF D-DAY LANDING EMERGING FROM COASTAL DEPTHS, AS
ARCHAEOLOGISTS CONTINUE OMAHA AND UTAH BEACH SURVEY
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010605074248.htm
Fifty-seven years after the Allies landed at Normandy and
liberated Europe, a team of nautical archaeologists is surveying
wreckage off the Omaha and Utah beaches in hopes of learning more
about what happened in the naval operations supporting the Allied
invasion beginning on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Oldest human is Ethiopian: Scientists working in Ethiopia have found what may be the oldest known traces of human-like life - teeth and bones from up to 5.8 million years ago - in a discovery that challenges the long-held belief that man's earliest ancestors first emerged on the grassy plains.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns9999995 also see http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/07/12/national/BONES12.htm

Astronomy

SWISS GEOLOGISTS FIND MARS METEORITE IN THE SULTANATE OF OMAN
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010616001009.htm
Geologists from Bern University and from the Natural History Museum
Bern have found more than 180 meteorites in Oman in January/February
2001. The most exciting find is a piece of Mars rock. The geologic
past of Mars, including the fate of water, as well as the search for evidence of possible past life on Mars are research
areas in which Mars meteorites play a key role.

HUBBLE PICTURES SHOW SINGLE STARS IN DISTANT GALAXY
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010619072305.htm
Astronomers have for the first time taken infrared pictures of
individual stars in a galaxy called NGC 3379, about 30 million light
years from Earth.

STAR FACTORY NEAR GALACTIC CENTER BATHED IN HIGH-ENERGY X-RAYS
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010608081227.htm
Near the crowded core of the Milky Way galaxy, where stars are so
plentiful and shine so brightly that planets there would never
experience nighttime, astronomers have found a new phenomenon: a
cauldron of 60-million degree gas enveloping a cluster of young stars.

MASSIVE STAR CLUSTERS SWADDLED IN HUGE COCOONS DURING INFANCY
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010605075417.htm
New observations with the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii
indicate three of the youngest massive star clusters yet detected each
are swaddled in dust cocoons at least 600 trillion miles across,
providing new clues to the evolution of the early universe.

JUPITER PARTICLES' ESCAPE ROUTE FOUND
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010604072858.htm
Jupiter's magnetosphere, an ionized-gas bubble encasing the
planet, is lopsided and leaky, with an unexpected abundance of
high-energy particles bleeding out of one side, according to recent
measurements by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

STUDY STIRS OLD DEBATE ABOUT GALAXIES
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010612070325.htm
Using a technique that peeks over obscuring rings of dust and gas
and into the hearts of distant galaxies, a researcher has found
evidence suggesting that as many as half of the bright, active
galaxies known as Seyfert 2 galaxies may have significantly less
active central black holes.

CORNELL ASTRONOMERS USE ARECIBO OBSERVATORY TO REVEAL RADIO BEACONS,
CALLED OH MEGAMASERS, THAT YIELD GALACTIC CLUES
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010606073336.htm
When galaxies collide, they leave clues in the wake of their
primordial history: radio beacons from their tell-tale hearts. Thanks
to an upgrade of the radio telescope at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto
Rico, these radio beacons -- 50 peculiar extragalactic objects called
OH megamasers -- have been revealed.

- The Moon And Plate Tectonics: Why We Are Alone
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01x1.html
Sydney - July 11, 2001 - The existence of a large Moon in orbit around the Earth and its implications for the origin and nature of life have been a subject of considerable discussion. With the Hartmann/Davis models for the catastrophic origin of the Moon by glancing collision, it has become clear that our Moon is a rare celestial object and that few Earth-like planets could have produced such a chance outcome during their assembly.

Twelve more moons for Saturn
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010711180158.dpjhx68o.html

Dawn Window Opens For Space Shuttle Atlantis
http://www.spacedaily.com/ for latest updates. After weeks of delay, the space shuttle has returned to service with Atlantis blasting off on time at 5.03:59 am EDT (0904 GMT). STS-104 will deliver a six-tonne airlock to the space station late Friday night, where it will be used as the primary EVA airlock without waiting for a shuttle to be docked.

Biology

UT SOUTHWESTERN RESEARCHERS FIND ANOTHER CLUE TO SECRETS OF CELLULAR
AGING
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010615071927.htm
A discovery by UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
scientists that genes near human telomeres can be silenced may help
explain how and why humans age.

RESEARCHERS FIND POTENTIAL MECHANISM LINKING OBESITY TO TYPE 2
DIABETES
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010615071657.htm
Problems with a protein buried deep within pancreatic beta cells
may explain how obesity evolves into type 2 diabetes, according to new
evidence from researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and
their colleagues.

SCIENTISTS PUSH ENZYME EVOLUTION INTO HIGH GEAR; WORK COULD LEAD TO
MASS PRODUCTION OF USEFUL PLANT PRODUCTS
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010614064156.htm
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National
Laboratory have found a way to make a plant enzyme that is 100 times
more efficient than similar enzymes found in nature. The research,
described in the June 15, 2001 issue of The Journal of Biological
Chemistry, offers insight into how enzymes evolve, and may one day
lead to methods to boost production of other useful plant products.

UCSD BIOLOGISTS IDENTIFY 548 GENES IN THE FRUIT FLY LIKELY TO PLAY A
ROLE IN HUMAN GENETIC DISEASES
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010619072527.htm
Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have
identified genes in the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster,
that appear to be counterparts of genes responsible for more than 700
different genetic diseases in humans.

IDENTIFICATION OF MATING GENES PROVIDES CLUES TO EVOLUTION
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010702085525.htm
Newly identified "mating genes" in the mustard plant (Arabidopsis
thaliana) may provide a powerful tool for understanding of the
interactions that foster self-recognition and the evolution of new
species. These mating genes code for all the major protein components
of the Arabidopsis pollen coat.

STUDY OF AQUATIC BIRD GENES REVEALS SURPRISING RELATIONSHIPS AND
EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010704093022.htm
A comprehensive analysis of the genes of aquatic birds has
revealed a family tree dramatically different from traditional
relationship groupings based on the birds' body structure, according
to a research report to be published in the 7 July 2001 issue of the
Journal of the Royal Society and featured on the cover of that issue.

MANIPULATING A SINGLE GENE DRAMATICALLY IMPROVES REGENERATION IN ADULT
NEURONS: FINDING MAY LEAD TO NEW APPROACHES FOR TREATING BRAIN AND
SPINAL CORD
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010702084939.htm
Increasing the expression of a single gene that is important
during development dramatically improves the ability of adult neurons
to regenerate, a new study shows. The finding suggests that intrinsic
properties of neurons play an important role in controlling neuronal
regeneration and may lead to new approaches for treating damage from
stroke, spinal cord injury, and other neurological conditions.

BIOLOGISTS FIND CELLS NUCLEAR SURFACE MORE COMPLICATED THAN EXPECTED
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010614064109.htm
From middle school through college, students are taught that each
plant or animal cell has a nucleus -- a simple, round sphere
containing the organisms genetic blueprint. In an accidental
discovery, however, researchers at North Carolina State University
have found its not that simple, after all.

FROM FLIES TO HUMANS -- ANCIENT GENE MAY BE INVOLVED IN MALE
INFERTILITY
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010619074439.htm
UCSF researchers have discovered a human gene that can be traced
back through the mouse to the fly, illuminating a molecular nugget
from ancient times that may play a crucial role in male fertility -
and infertility.

DO YOU LIKE ROLLER COASTER RIDES OR HATE THEM? YOUR GENES MAY PLAY A
ROLE
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010619073151.htm
Attitudes are learned, but new research shows that differences
between people in many attitudes are also partly attributable to
genetic factors. These include attitudes as diverse as whether one
likes roller coaster rides to controversial social issues such as
attitudes toward abortion and the death penalty for murder.

FAILURE AT NONCONSCIOUS GOALS EXPLAINS NEGATIVE "MYSTERY MOODS"
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010619073057.htm
Have you ever been in a bad mood that you couldn't explain and
wondered what put you in a funk? A researcher at Ohio State University
found that such negative "mystery moods" can occur when people fail at
a goal that they didn't even know they had.

STUDY SHOWS NEW TECHNIQUE FOR REMOVING CANCEROUS KIDNEYS MAKES SURGERY
AND RECOVERY TIME SHORTER
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010605074325.htm
A new technique that lets surgeons remove cancerous kidneys
through a small incision with the help of their hands and special
cameras and instruments gets patients out of the operating room faster
than - and on the road to recovery just as fast as - a more
conventional laparoscopic technique, a new study finds.

Earth Science

MIGRATING IMPURITIES IN ANCIENT ICE CAN SKEW CLIMATE RESEARCH FINDINGS
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010605072609.htm
Chemicals trapped in ancient glacial or polar ice can move
substantial distances within the ice, according to new evidence from
University of Washington researchers. That means past analyses of
historic climate changes, gleaned from ice core samples, might not be
entirely accurate.

EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT EL NINOS AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010619074302.htm
In the July issue of the journal Geology, a team of researchers
has suggested that the climate phenomenon known as El Nino has been a
contributing factor in the rise and fall of ancient civilizations in
Peru.

NATURAL "LAVA LAMP" DRAWS SEA FLOOR PATTERNS
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010619072105.htm
Giant V-shaped ridges on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean are
explained by a new theory developed by University of California,
Davis, geologist Garrett Ito. The V-shaped ridges, which are hundreds
of miles long, lie across the Reykjanes ridge, a line running south
from Iceland where the continental plates of America and Europe are
slowly drifting apart.

ALL EARTHQUAKE FAULT LINES NOT EQUAL
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010702085416.htm
While most scientists assume that both sides of a geologic fault
move equal distances during an earthquake, National Science Foundation
(NSF)-funded researchers at Pennsylvania State University and the
University of Miami have discovered that not all strike slip faults
act that way.

- Ancient Volcanoes Were A Wipe Out
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01f.html
Edinburgh - July 4, 2001 - Volcanoes were more destructive in ancient history. Not because they were bigger, but because the carbon dioxide they released wiped out life with greater ease.

U.Hawai'i Researchers Propose New Geological Formation Theory
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tectonics-01e.html
Honolulu - July 7, 2001 - Throughout geologic history, continents have been pulled apart by tectonic forces forming rifts that eventually become new ocean basins. Sometimes during this process rock layers near the earth's surface are pulled apart and rocks from depths of 35 kilometers or more are exposed at the Earth's surface.

Underwater Alchemists Watch The Gold Mount Up
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-01p.html
Sydney - July 11, 2001 - A team of Australian and Indonesian scientists may have witnessed the birth of a gold deposit on the flanks of a submerged volcano bubbling away in waters off northeastern Sulawesi.

Physics

FIRST RESULTS FROM THE SUDBURY NEUTRINO OBSERVATORY EXPLAIN THE
MISSING SOLAR NEUTRINOS AND REVEAL NEW NEUTRINO PROPERTIES
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010619071559.htm
Physicists from Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. are announcing that
their first results provide a solution to a 30-year old mystery * the
puzzle of the missing solar neutrinos. The Sudbury Neutrino
Observatory (SNO) finds that the solution lies not with the Sun, but
with the neutrinos, which change as they travel from the core of the
Sun to the Earth.

STOPPING ATOMS (EXTREMELY) COLD: RESEARCHERS DEVELOP ALL-OPTICAL
TECHNIQUE TO PRODUCE BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATES
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010703035420.htm
Georgia Institute of Technology physicists have demonstrated the
first all-optical technique for producing Bose-Einstein condensates, a
form of matter in which atoms cooled to a fraction of a degree above
absolute zero stop their normal motion -- and enter a single quantum
state in which all atoms behave identically.

Efforts to harness nuclear fusion hot up
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns9999999

Psychology

Why some people are destined to divorce
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991002

Technology

SPIN MOVES WITH UNEXPEXTED EASE FROM ONE SEMICONDUCTOR TO ANOTHER;
SUCCESSFUL DEMONSTRATION OF SPIN-TRANSFER MAKES WAY FOR WHOLE NEW
TECHNOLOGY OF SPINTRONICS
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010614064459.htm
Four researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara
(UCSB) and at Penn State University in University Park, Pa., report in
the June 14 issue of Nature experiments that show high-efficiency spin
transfer through interfaces between two different semiconductor
materials. The paper "Persistent Sourcing of Coherent Spins for
Multifunctional Spintronics" also announces the discovery of a new
"persistent" mode of spin currents that makes semiconductor reservoirs
act, in effect, as "spin batteries."

Zoology

DNA ANALYSIS OF SALAMANDERS TURNS UP NEW SPECIES UNDER ALMOST EVERY
LOG, UC BERKELEY ZOOLOGISTS FIND
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010704092634.htm
A new species of salamander discovered in an isolated range of
hills in southeastern Mexico highlights the agile inventiveness of
evolution as well as the many species still waiting to be discovered
in out of the way spots and even under our noses.

KANGAROO, PLATYPUS ARE NOT RELATED AFTER ALL; DUKE SCIENTISTS REFUTE
CURRENT MOLECULAR METHOD OF CLASSIFYING MAMMALS
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010706081043.htm
Classifying kangaroos and platypuses together on the evolutionary
family tree is as absurd as adding your neighbors to your own family
ancestral line simply because they share your love of the opera,
according to scientists at Duke University.

July 8, 2001

Free College Education Courses online at www.free-ed.net

Religion in the News

What's Happening at Calvin College? Rev. Robert C. Butler, a Baptist minister and director of Calvin College's criminal justice program is facing up to 20 years prison for cocaine delivery charges. http://gr.mlive.com/news/index.ssf?/news/stories/20010630gwhoishe021803.frm Another Professor. Fred DeJong in his case regarding his arrest for possession of cocaine remains a closely guarded affair within Calvin College, weeks after the event has taken place. See http://www-stu.calvin.edu/chimes/2001.05.04/news/story06.shtml

Pro-life and Pro-stem cells? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6571-2001Jul1.html also http://www.beliefnet.com/index/index_506.html

Finding the Spiritual Power of Harry Potter By Shelvia Dancy "I thought I was reading the book to explain to my kids why they shouldn't read it," said Connie Neal, author of the new "What's a Christian to Do With Harry Potter?" (Waterbrook Press). "Once I had made [the] distinction for my kids about the fantasy world versus our real world, I realized these books were so rich and really had lessons that directly connected to the Bible."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1883-2001Jun29.html

Science in the News

Archaeology

King Hezekiah's Seal Revisited. Article in the recent issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. See http://www.bib-arch.org/barja01/seal_revisit1.html

Surprises at Yattir
Unexpected Evidence of Early Christianity. See http://www.bib-arch.org/barja01/surprises1.html

Destruction In Mesopotamia: Ancient Mysteries Fall Prey To Looters In Iraq, Science Feature Reveals http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010706081613.htm

MIDDLE EAST DIGS: Archaeological studies conducted during the Summer 2001 field season in the Middle East. http://archaeology.about.com/cs/dig2000mideast/index.htm

Anthropology

Prehistoric engravings found in France ASSOCIATED PRESS PERIGUEUX, France - Vivid prehistoric engravings that could date to 28,000 B.C. have been found in a cave in western France, regional officials said yesterday. See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/07/05/national/CAVE05.htm for stunning pictures see http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news_photos?p=cussac&n=20&c=news_photos For video of this discovery see http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1420000/video/_1423021_caves01_goldsmith_vi.ram

Lascaux Cave
In 1940, four teenage boys stumble on one of the archaeological treasures of the world; and today you can do the same from the comfort of your computer. See
http://www.culture.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/

Astronomy

Satellite Bound For L2 Will Map An Ancient Echo Of A Big Bang
Cape Canaveral - June 30, 2001 - A Boeing Delta II rocket successfully launched NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) into space today on a quest for the origins of the universe. Liftoff occurred at 3:46 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 17B. Approximately one hour and 26 minutes later, the Boeing Delta II deployed the MAP spacecraft. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/map-01d.html

NASA, ESA agree on fix for Saturn probe bug
Paris (AFP) Jun 29, 2001 - NASA and the European Space Agency have agreed on a programme for fixing a communications hitch that would have marred exploration of Saturn's largest moon by their joint Cassini-Huygens mission, ESA said Friday. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010629155652.qm520zkd.html

Kuiper Belt Object found possibly as large as Pluto's moon
Tucson - July 2, 2001 - Astronomers from Lowell Observatory, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory have discovered an icy planetary body orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune in the Kuiper Belt roughly equal in size to Pluto's moon Charon. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/kuiper-01f.html

NASA Opens The Door Atlantis July 12
Houston - July 3, 2001 - Space Shuttle Atlantis will launch July 12 to carry a new airlock to the International Space Station. The mission will bring the orbiting outpost an unprecedented degree of self-reliance, providing it with a new doorway to space for maintenance and construction. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01t.html

DS1 Closing In For Final Act
Pasadena - July 2, 2001 - DS1's grand "extended mission" will end in about 3 months, after the aged and scarred explorer attempts a final daring feat: a brief and close-up investigation of comet Borrelly. Last month's log described some of the preparations for this risky finale to DS1's bonus mission, including two complex tests with the spacecraft. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deep1-01e.html

Brown dwarfs, essentially stunted stars, were most likely ejected from newborn, multiple-star systems, according to a new study, suggesting that they don't typically develop in isolation. http://www.colorado.edu/NewsServices/NewsReleases/2001/1303.html

Stellar evolution may require some tweaking: An 85-year-old Nobel laureate has mixed lasers with starlight and, with a sprinkling of luck, discovered that some old stars are 30% larger than expected. If true, this could mean that current theories of stellar evolution require some tweaking. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/red_giants_010703-1.html

Biology

Of mind and spirit: Researchers are studying the brain to better understand religious feelings. Atheists see support for their position; religious people say the work is simplistic. Article by Shankar Vedantam in the Philadelphia Inquirer 7/2/01. See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/07/02/magazine/BRAIN02.htm

Mice, Humans Have Similar Regulatory Genes that drive chromosome evolution By Elizabeth Lo http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010705/sc/science_genes_dc_1.html

Biosphere 2: http://www.the-scientist.com/asp/checkvaliduser.asp?redir=http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2001/jul/bunk_p1_010709.html

Genes Crucial In The Control Of Tuberculosis Found By Gladstone Researchers http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010704093108.htm

Evidence That Alzheimer's Protein Switches On Genes http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010706081510.htm

Earth Science

Dinosaurs on TV, and Live Online!
Let Discovery Channel transport you to prehistoric times with When Dinosaurs Roamed America, premiering Sunday, July 15 at 8 p.m. e/p. Dissolving from modern-day cityscapes and fossil beds in North America to what our land looked like many millions of years ago, When Dinosaurs Roamed America incorporates the latest scientific findings to show how dinosaurs may have lived and died right in your own backyard. See http://discovery.com

New addtions to sedimentology page at http://bibleandscience.com/sedimentology.htm

Physics

Physicists find new evidence on origins of matter: Science has long sought to explain the crowded cosmos; experiments with antimatter may now yield the answer. By Kathy Sawyer
WASHINGTON POST, See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/07/07/national/MATTER07.htm

Zoology

Stop washing and let the bugs keep your clothes clean
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns9999973

A day when bats could swim and voles could fly
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns9999974

July 1, 2001

LOST LEGEND OF PLATO'S ATLANTIS: With the release of the new Disney movie, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, one may wonder if there really was a lost civilization of Atlantis. Plato tells the story of an ancient island civilization that vanished as the result of a natural disaster. Was this the volcanic eruption on Thera? See http://bibleandscience.com/atlantis.htm

Religion in the News

Revisiting Mt. Carmel Through Charitable Choice
Secularists and Christians should enter a "contest" to see which social
philosophy produces better social results. By Ronald J. Sider http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/008/21.84.html

In the beginning was the Word—then they changed it to W
Fifty-year-old Word Publishing is changing its name to W Publishing Group. See http://www.publishersweekly.com/articles/20010625_96075.asp

LIFE-AFTER-DEATH DEBATE RISES AGAIN: A British scientist studying heart attack patients says he is finding evidence that suggests that consciousness may continue after the brain has stopped functioning and a patient is clinically dead. See http://www.msnbc.com/news/593912.asp

"The last taboo in corporate America"
Fortune magazine dedicating a cover story to spirituality in the workplace. See http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=203106

The Legacy of Prisoner 23226
Twenty-six years after leaving prison, Charles Colson has become one of America's
most significant social reformers. By Wendy Murray Zoba See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/009/1.28.html

Science in the News

PHOENIXVILLE - Next month will mark the 76th anniversary of the Scopes "Monkey Trial" where Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan challenged the issue of teaching evolution or creationism in the classroom. Today the controversy remains current with proposed science standards sparking new debate in Pennsylvania schools. See http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=1993334&BRD=1673&PAG=461&dept_id=17915&rfi=6

Archaeology

Violence Puts Archaeologists Between Rocks, Hard Places
About half of the planned excavations in the Holy Land this summer have been canceled.
By Gordon Govier See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/009/18.25.html

Anthropology

SOUTH AMERICA'S BIGFOOT?: DE LOYS APE -- Another cryptozoological
enigma bites the dust as the famous de Loys Ape photograph turns out
to be only an image of a common spider monkey. See http://www.xprojectmagazine.com

Homo erectus: Australian and Indonesian archaeologists have found fossils believed to belong to this extinct branch of humanity's family tree, Homo erectus, on a remote island that in ancient times was only few hundred kilometres from the Australian mainland. See http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/2001/06/26/FFX1PWS4DOC.html

Kennewick Man's missing bones may have been found. http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/31413p-531772c.html

Astronomy

Cluster's Whispers Probe The Electrifying Plasmasphere
Paris - June 26, 2001 - An astronaut who exits a spacecraft without a spacesuit will die very quickly because there is no air to breathe. However, although space is often regarded as an airless vacuum, it is by no means empty. Spacecraft such as Cluster are built to detect and study the sparse 'soup' of electrified plasma -- mostly electrons and protons -- that populates near-Earth space. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cluster2-01b.html

APiercing the heart of a globular star cluster, our Hubble Space Telescope uncovered clues to what could be a strange and unexpected population of
wandering, planet-sized objects. As much as 10 per cent of the cluster's mass could be made up by these objects. More work is needed to confirm that they are really there, but if they are, it could yield new insights
about how stars and planets formed in the early universe. http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2001/20/index.html see also http://www.msnbc.com/news/593438.asp

The Goldilocks Effect: How Other Earths Form Just Right
Edinburgh - June 27, 2001 - What does it take to make an Earth-like planet? It takes a stellar nursery rich in carbon, oxygen, iron, and silicon in a combination that's not too much, and not too little, but just right. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01e.html

Where There's Soup, There's Life
Edinburgh - June 27, 2001 - But we're talking gourmet soup. That is, gourmet geochemical "primordial soups" in hot springs and hydrothermal springs in the oceans that support novel chemolithotrophic thermophiles. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01w.html

Subglacial Volcanoes On Mars
Edinburgh - June 27, 2001 - The search for liquid water is key for finding habitable environments on Mars today--places where prebiotic chemistry and/or life could still be going on. Not surprisingly, the mantra, "Follow the Water," has become a primary driver in NASA's new Mars Program. Water in liquid form is regarded as essential for life. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-volcano-01b.html

Venus Holds Clues To Finding Earth's Platinum And Diamonds
Edinburgh - June 27, 2001 - Venus is key to understanding what the early Earth was like during the late Archaean and early Proterozoic when precious resources were formed. While modern Venus is in a quiet state most of the time, is does enter into short periods of intense volcanic activity where the old surface of Venus is destroyed and a new one is created. In its early history when life evolved, Earth worked in a similar way to modern Venus. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/venus-01b.html

Solar Rage: On 10 May, most of the instruments on board the ESA/NASA Ulysses spacecraft
recorded their highest readings during the ten and a half years that the spacecraft has been in orbit. Our raging sun at
http://sci.esa.int/content/news/index.cfm?aid=1&cid=1&oid=27429

STRANGE GLOWS ON JUPITER MOON IO
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1409000/1409117.stm See also http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010629064939.htm

The Aerover Blimp: The Ultimate All-Terrain Vehicle ... For A Trip To Saturn's Moon Titan http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010620075213.htm

Biology

Scientists Report New Findings On The Connection Between Diabetes And Heart Disease And Stroke See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010629065932.htm

Two Emotional States - Fear And Anxiety - Have Profoundly Different Effects On Person's Ability To Feel Pain See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010614063559.htm

Sad Workers May Make Better Workers: In the past few decades, the popular belief in the area of organizational behaviour and organizational psychology has been that happy workers are better workers. However, new research at the University of Alberta shows that sad workers are more productive. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010612065304.htm

SCIENTISTS DISCOVER 'EXTINCT' TREE
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010621/sc/rediscovered_tree_1.html

Earth Science

SEISMIC SHAKING MAY EXPLAIN FABLED LOCK NESS MONSTER
http://www.accessatlanta.com/partners/ajc/epaper/editions/wednesday/news_b393a722401c01e51051.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/scotland/newsid_1409000/1409851.stm

El Nino Link To Southern Ocean Currents
Sydney - June 26, 2001 - Scientists have found that El Nino is primarily responsible for determining the strength of the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave. The Antarctic Circumpolar Wave occurs in the Circumpolar Current around Antarctica. The Current takes eight years to complete a full rotation of the earth, and influences Australia's weather. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/pacific-01b.html

Rare Orbital Anomaly May Have Caused Global Cooling
Edinburgh - June 27, 2001 - A rare coincidence of orbital cycles may have caused sudden global cooling 23 million years (Ma) ago, according to scientists, who used high resolution records and new techniques that allow astronomical calibration to be extended much further back in time. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/greenhouse-01q.html

Mass Extinction At The Triassic-Jurassic Boundary
Edinburgh - June 27, 2001 - Who did it? Who pulled the trigger, or rather, what pulled the trigger at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary that wiped out 20% of all marine families in Earth's oceans, and, on land, most non-dinosaurian archosaurs, most therapsids, and the last of the large amphibians? Whatever it was, it shot down much of the competition so dinosaurs could later dominate the Earth. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01t.html

A Disturbance In The "Force" Caused The K-T Impact?
Edinburgh - June 27, 2001 - But this disturbance is more mysterious than Darth Vader. UCLA scientists don't know exactly what it was, but they believe it occurred within the Solar System 65 million years ago. The ensuing pandemonium upset Solar System dynamics causing Mercury, Earth, and Mars to go off course. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01u.html

How Trees Changed The World
Edinburgh - June 27, 2001 - Before 380 million years (Ma) ago, the continents had only patches of mosses and algae with no tree cover. The effect of the evolution of trees (large vascular plants with deep, extensive roots) changed the world for ever, according to Dr Robert Berner (Yale University). See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01v.html

Unlocking The Mystery Of Recurring Sea Ice Holes
New York - June 26, 2001 - Located at the southernmost tip of the Atlantic Ocean, Antarctica's Weddell Sea is one of the most ice-covered bodies of water on the planet. During the winter, the pack ice extends well north, reaching all the way to 60°S. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/antarctic-01d.html

Physics

Physicists have found the most convincing evidence yet that neutrinos -- elusive subatomic particles that were thought to have no mass whatsoever -- have a tiny wisp of heft after all, accounting for a small portion of the
universe's "missing mass". http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/06/19/solar.mystery.ap/index.html

Technology

I.B.M. to Announce Plans for Fast Transistor
I.B.M. plans to announce what it calls the world's fastest silicon-based transistor, a device that would drive communications systems to speeds of 100 gigahertz.
http://partners.nytimes.com/2001/06/25/technology/25CHIP.html?todaysheadlines

June 24, 2001

Religion in the News

Supreme Court Declines to Hear
Three Cases on Religion in Schools
Religious use and student-led prayer seem to be okay, but Bible reading in class isn't. What does the Supreme Court really think about public religion? Compiled by Ted Olsen See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/125/22.0.html

PCUSA Opens Door to Gay Ordination and Other Ways to Salvation
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/125/12.0.html

Mind Over Skepticism
Philosopher Alvin Plantinga has defeated two of the greatest challenges to the Christian faith. By John G. Stackhouse. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/008/19.74.html

Babywise Almost Dropped
Author Ezzo nearly loses book contract in ongoing dispute.
http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/009/12.20.html

The War for Narnia Continues
Charles Colson, Andrew Greeley, Frederica Mathewes-Green, and Lauren Winner join the battle—-and Doug Gresham comes out to reply. Compiled by Ted Olsen. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/125/32.0.html

CEO of Crosswalk.com is named in criminal proceedings. See http://biz.yahoo.com/e/010613/amen.html

Significance in a Small Package
The Prayer of Jabez is already one of the best-selling religious books in history. Why? By Mark Galli See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/008/45.97.html

New Book: Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love, by Dava Sobel. See a review at http://christianitytoday.aol.com/bc/2001/003/14.36.html

Science in the News

Archaeology

Colosseum 'built with loot from sack of Jerusalem temple' By Bruce Johnston in Rome. See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=002549632124328&rtmo=fwvqNv0s&atmo=

Anthropoloy

Evolution: On becoming human. See http://www.becominghuman.org/

TalkOrigins: This site is for those who like to debate creation/evolution. See http://www.talkorigins.org/

The Forgotten Empire: Byzantium http://historymedren.about.com/homework/historymedren/library/weekly/aa100697.htm

Astronomy

How the Universe will End: cover story for Time magazine. With recent discoveries we can now be reasonably sure that the universe is flat, and that it is made up of 5% matter we can see, 35% dark matter we can not see, and 60% dark energy or antigravity. There is not enough matter to cause the universe to stop expanding and collapse back. Antigravity is causing the the expansion of the universe to speed up. See details at http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101010625/index.html

Ice may lie not far below Mars surface: study
Washington (AFP) Jun 14, 2001 - Ice was present not far below the surface of Mars as recently as 10 million years ago and might still be found there today, according to a study to be published in Friday's edition of Geophysical Research Letters. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010614015820.gybo51ht.html

Swiss geologists find Mars meteorite in the Sultanate of Oman
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-meteorite-01b.html

Star Birth: Astronomers using the Green Bank 140-foot radio telescope have discovered a highly unusual, massive interstellar cloud that appears poised to begin a
burst of star formation. Stick around a few million years, you might see a
new star cluster. http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/hiclouds.html

ASTRONOMERS DISCOVER UNIQUE LINK BETWEEN STELLAR DEATH AND BIRTH
Astronomers from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the
University of California at Berkeley have discovered a key building
block for new stars in the rapidly expanding remains of an ancient
stellar explosion. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010611071927.htm

Hidden Oceans On Jupiter's Moons Could Support Life
Mountain View - June 18, 2001 - Could life thrive where the Sun never shines? The answer to this unorthodox question bears directly on the tantalizing possibility that life exists in the hidden, perpetually dark oceans that are thought to shroud some of Jupiter's moons, most prominently Europa. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-europa-01b.html

NASA TO "MAP" BIG BANG REMNANT TO SOLVE UNIVERSAL MYSTERIES
The Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP), scheduled for launch June
30, will journey into deep space on a voyage to explore some of the
deepest mysteries of the cosmos. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010613073242.htm

Biology

ELIMINATION OF HOUSEHOLD ALLERGENS AND PETS COULD REDUCE ASTHMA NEARLY 45 PERCENT AMONG OLDER CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS
More than 2 million children and adolescents in the United States
between the ages of 6 and 16 with asthma might not have the disease if
risk factors were removed from the home, according to a new Children's
Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati study. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010605075900.htm

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH RESEARCHERS USE STEM CELLS TO TREAT INCONTINENCE IN ANIMAL MODELS
University of Pittsburgh researchers have successfully used stem
cell tissue engineering to restore deficient urethral sphincter
muscles in animal models, according to a study presented today at the
96th Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA).
Researchers successfully regenerated viable muscle using muscle
derived stem cells (MDSC). http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010606073057.htm

PIONEERING HIP REPLACEMENT SURGERY SENDS PATIENTS HOME THE DAY AFTER THE OPERATION
A new approach to hip replacement surgery done through a few
small portals instead of a large, 12 to 18 inch incision used in
traditional hip replacement surgery, dramatically reduces time in the
hospital, pain and expenses. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010611072834.htm

"I TAWT I TAW" A BUNNY WABBIT AT DISNEYLAND: NEW EVIDENCE SHOWS FALSE MEMORIES CAN BE CREATED
About one-third of the people who were exposed to a fake print
advertisement that described a visit to Disneyland and how they met
and shook hands with Bugs Bunny later said they remembered or knew the
event happened to them. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010612065657.htm

DNA EVIDENCE CALLS IRISH POTATO FAMINE THEORY INTO QUESTION
For years, scientists thought they knew which strain of late
blight caused the great Irish potato famine of the 1840s, a
catastrophic crop failure that killed more than 1 million people,
forced another 2 million to immigrate to America and other countries,
and changed the course of European and American history. It turns out
they were wrong. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010611071858.htm

NEW STUDY QUESTIONS ROLE OF GINSENG AS MOOD ENHANCER
The popular dietary supplement ginseng is purported to improve
one's mood and all-around vigor, but a new study published today in
the Journal of the American Dietetic Association suggests that ginseng
has little if any effect on psychological health. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010605074830.htm

INCREASE IN ANTIOXIDANTS, DECREASE IN FREE RADICALS IDENTIFIED AS LIKELY NEW MECHANISM OF ACTION FOR PURPLE GRAPE JUICE BENEFITS
Drinking purple grape juice contributes to healthy cardiovascular
function in at least two related ways, report Georgetown University
researchers in the most recent issue of Circulation. Their study
showed that drinking grape juice not only has a direct effect on
important biological functions like blood clotting, but it also
appears to increase plasma levels of valuable antioxidants while
decreasing production of a key free radical in the body. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010612065525.htm

VITAMIN C PRODUCES GENE-DAMAGING COMPOUNDS, TEST-TUBE STUDY IN SCIENCE REPORTS
Vitamin C, known to be a DNA-protecting "antioxidant," is a
switch hitter, also capable of inducing the production of DNA-damaging
compounds, suggests a study in the 15 June issue of the international
journal, Science. Mutations caused by these compounds have been found
in a variety of tumors. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/01061507

Earth Science

Dinosaur Discoveries Fill in Cretaceous Gap: See http://www.sciam.com/news/061901/3.html also http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010619025439.tw5ojklh.html

Discovery Channel special: When Dinosaurs Roamed America. July 15, 2001 8pm ET. http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/dinos/dinos.html

Museum of Paleontology: This is a very interesting site at http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/

PaleoMap Project: The goal of the PALEOMAP Project is to illustrate the plate tectonic development of the ocean basins and continents. There are also 3-D Paleogeographic Maps. See http://www.scotese.com/Default.htm

What is a Trilobite? See http://www.aloha.net/~smgon/trilobite.htm

EARLIEST EFFICIENT CHEWING HERBIVORE EVER FOUND SPURRED ANIMAL LIFE ON LAND
The advent of chewing by a group of herbivores 260 million years
ago may have signaled one of the first great bursts of vertebrate life
on land, say paleontologists from University of Toronto and Duke
University. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010608081744.htm

Phsyics

On the neutrino's trail: These tiny, mysterious particles are everywhere - but elusive. Penn scientists and others are tracking them in a Canadian mine. See http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/06/18/magazine/PARTICLE18.htm

Frozen Light: Slowing a beam of light to a halt may pave the way for new optical communications technology, tabletop black holes and quantum computers By Lene Vestergaard Hau. See http://www.sciam.com/2001/0701issue/0701hau.html

Technology

INTEL RESEARCHERS BUILD WORLD'S FASTEST SILICON TRANSISTORS JUST 20 NANOMETERS IN SIZE; WILL ENABLE BILLION-TRANSISTOR MICROPROCESSORS LATER THIS DECADE
Intel Corporation researchers have demonstrated that there are no
fundamental barriers to extending Moore's Law for another decade by
building the world's fastest silicon transistors. These transistors --
featuring structures just 20 nanometers (nm) in size -- will allow
Intel to build microprocessors containing a billion transistors,
running at speeds approaching 20 gigahertz and operating at less than
one volt in approximately 2007. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010612070638.htm

NEWLY AVAILABLE TOOL MAKES THE WEB SEARCH A GRAPHIC EXPERIENCE
The campus that produced Mosaic, the graphical browser that
helped produce the explosive growth of the World Wide Web, now has a
graphical solution for searching the Webs vast resources. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010605075942.htm

NEW MATERIALS' ODD TRAITS TO HELP IMPROVE COMPUTER MEMORY
Scientists have created the first example of a new type of
material known as a half-metallic ferromagnet, and researchers say the
development will provide invaluable help to an effort already underway
to revolutionize the way computer memory works. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010612065821.htm

Zoology

OCEANIC BACTERIAL PHOTOPIGMENTS CONVERT LIGHT INTO BIOCHEMICAL ENERGY
A new energy-generating, light-absorbing pigment called
proteorhodopsin is widespread in the worlds oceans, say scientists
funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and affiliated with
the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010614063941.htm

"GROW-IN-THE-DARK" ALGAE MAY PROMISE DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS, GLOWING PIGMENTS, AND MORE, SAY SCIENCE AUTHORS
By tinkering with a single gene, researchers have weaned
photosynthetic algae off their dependence on sunlight and engineered
them to grow and thrive in darkness. This accomplishment, reported in
the 15 June issue of the journal Science, could pave the way towards
clean, efficient, and inexpensive production of microalgae, which are
used in a variety of commercial applications. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010615072508.htm

June 17, 2001

Religion in the News

What newspaper editorials are saying about religious clubs in elementary schools. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/124/42.0.html

NAE President Resigns in Wake of Financial Woes
"In the process of change, you also create friction," says Kevin Mannoia.
By Corrie Cutrer. See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/124/54.0.html

With fears of increased targeting, New Tribes Mission quiets its missionaries See http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-asec-ntm061501.story?coll=orl%2

Jars of Clay finally graduates from Greenville
Christian music breakthrough Jars of Clay helped put Greenville College on the musical map, bringing attention to the school's major in Contemporary Christian Music. They graduated this year from Greenville. See http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver/pagename=/RP/ALLSTAR/article.html/fid=271113 also see http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/9td/9td032.html

Star may be born on Kristin sitcom. Christian faith empowers the fictional Kristin, a nice girl who takes an interim job as a receptionist for a real estate tycoon. See http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010612/en/ap_on_tv_kristin_chenoweth_2.html

Televangelist adds telemarketing to divine calling. Rev. Robert Schuller auto-dials 400,000 homes in a week. Some say it sends a bad message. (Los Angeles Times) See http://www.latimes.com/news/religion/20010603/t000046489.html

Raising a Wild Child
Is daycare preparing toddlers to become bullies? See http://christianitytoday.aol.com/ct/2001/008/40.28.html

Why I Yell at My Husband? http://christianitytoday.aol.com/mp/2001/002/17.72.html

Does John Edwards really talk to the dead? See http://www.skeptic.com/newsworthy13.html, also see http://bibleandscience.com/psychicpowers.htm

A Critical Analysis of James Redfield and The Celestine Prophesy http://www.skeptic.com/review08.html

Crash Course in Jewish History-Hillel and Shammai http://aish.com/literacy/jewishhistory/Crash_Course_in_Jewish_History

Why is the Old Testament so weird? What you need to know to wade into the wild waters of the Old Testament (Discipleship Journal) See http://www.navpress.com/djtemplate.asp?2473

Science in the News

Creation in the Classroom

On Monday, June 18th from 7-8pm, Representatives Connie Williams (D) and Sara Steelman (D) will be on the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) to talk about the current debate on Pennsylvania's proposed science standards and whether they open the door to teaching creationism in Pennsylvania public
school science classes. It will be repeated on June 19^th at 10 am. See PCN's website at http://www.pcntv.com for local television listings.

The Pennsylvania Controversy: See http://www.arn.org/docs/pjweekly/pj_weekly_010611.htm

God and Darwin Square off

http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/farris_21_2.html

A Case for God’ Existence

http://www.skeptic.com/archives04.html

The Science of God by Gerald Schroeder. Reviewed by Peter B. Weichman. See http://www.skeptic.com/review04.html

Darwinian Myths: The Legends and Misuses of a Theory by Edward Caudill. Book Review at http://www.skeptic.com/review06.html

Archaeology

New critique of David Rohl’s Views

Dr. Bryant Wood has recently written a fresh critique of David Rohl's Revised Egyptian Chronology, showing how, rather than helping eliminate perceived conflicts between the Bible and archaeology, it creates new and serious ones when Palestinian archaeology is in focus. See the new article in our Latest Scoop section at http://ChristianAnswers.Net/abr/scoop.html.

Archaeology and the Exodus

A storm of debate has erupted in the Jewish world, following the well-publicized assertion by Rabbi David Wolpe of Los Angeles that "the way the Bible describes the Exodus is not the way it happened, if it happened at all." Rabbi Ken Spiro brings up some good points against Wolpe’s extreme statement. See http://aish.com/societyWork/sciencenature/Archaeology_and_the_Exodus.asp

The Date of the Exodus, 1552 BC?

See http://doig.net/OT_Chronology.htm and http://bibleandscience.com/dateofexodus.htm

Is there archaeological evidence that supports the Bible?

http://aish.com/societyWork/sciencenature/Archaeology_and_the_Bible_-_Part_2.asp

Anthropology

The perils of looking into American prehistory. By John J. Miller. See http://www.nationalreview.com/weekend/anthropology/anthropology-miller060901.shtml

Astronomy

Newly-found meteorite may point to water under Martian surface
Paris (AFP) Jun 12, 2001 - A meteorite found in the western Sahara contains water that may have come from below the surface of Mars, French researchers said Tuesday. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010612160555.cs3jd2m3.html

Life's Rocky Road Between Worlds
Sydney - June 12, 2001 - A possible mechanism for transfer of life between planets is via rocks ejected by major asteroid or comet impacts. The term "transpermia" was coined by Oliver Morton to describe the transfer of lifeforms by this method and to distinguish it from the more general concept of panspermia. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01r.html

Biology

UCSD biologists identify 548 genes in the fruit fly likely to play a role in human genetic diseases See http://www.eurekalert.org/releases/ucsd-ubi061501.html

Long Life depends on your height

It is now well known that tall people tend to live longer, but has this always been the case? A study of skeletal remains dating back to the 9th century published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health concludes that short bones have always been a marker of a short life. EurekAlert, BBC News

NEW CANCER RESOURCE CENTER
Whether it's for you or someone you love, check out our new personalized and interactive Cancer Resource Center. You can learn more about different types of cancer, what treatment options are available, and what outcomes you can expect based on similar cases. See http://health.discovery.com/jump/nexcura/nexcura.html

Brain Differences detected in alcoholics’ kids
Brain scans of children who come from families with several generations of alcohol dependence reveal differences in a region of the brain associated with basic emotions, researchers have found. See http://health.discovery.com/news/reu/20010611/alcoholics.html

Earth Science

Trace fossils yield important clues to ancient life

http://www.sciencenews.org/20010609/bob9.asp

The Lost World of Jack Horner
An Interview With the World’s Most Famous Dinosaur Digger, by Michael Shermer. See http://www.skeptic.com/archives02.html

Zoology

What will big game do when the eclipse plunges them into darkness? http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/news.jsp?id=ns229525

June 10, 2001

Test of Faith for “Survivor” Dirk Been http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/04/business/04DIRK.html

Worshiping at the Digital Temple
By Aaron Lazenby. See http://biz.yahoo.com/st/010530/26783.html

Balancing Star Wars and the CBA.
An interview with Kathy Tyers See http://www.christianity.com/partner/Article_Display_Page/

The Holy Land Experience: Blending 20 centuries into a living Bible museum

Now that the furor has died down about some covert plan to convert Jews, it's possible to look at Holy Land Experience as its owners wanted people to: as another theme park in Orlando. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel) See http://www.sun-sentinel.com/travel/sns-holyland-themepark.story

Missionary’s Plane get’s blamed http://www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,287135-412,00.shtml

'Why not advertise Jesus?' Steve Chavis of Promise Keepers carries a 9-foot cross down busy Denver street to promote Jesus Day outreach (The Denver Post) See http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E41133,00.html

The impact of religion on education issues separates four officials from their positions. After a minority of school board members opposed adoption of a controversial social studies textbook, some residents accused the board of promoting a right-wing Christian agenda. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) See http://www.post-gazette.com/neigh_north/20010517naelect8.asp

Jimmy Swaggart accused in lawsuit of plagiarism. Heirs of the Rev. Finis Jennings Dake and Dake Publishing Inc. say Swaggart stole from his hero. (Bloomberg/Boston Herald) See http://www.bostonhera

Institute for Biblical & Scientific Studies

News: 2001 Archive

Study, review and editorial focus on religion, spirituality and medicine:

Peer Review: Do Studies Prove Its Effectiveness? http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2001/oct/opin_011029.html

Oldest Hominid Fossils in Southern Africa Found. See http://us.news2.yimg.com/f/42/31/7m/dailynews.yahoo_safrica_apeman_dc_1.html

Mice, Humans Have Similar Regulatory Genes that drive chromosome evolution By Elizabeth Lo http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010705/sc/science_genes_dc_1.html

June 24, 2001

Earth Science

Phsyics

Frozen Light: Slowing a beam of light to a halt may pave the way for new optical communications technology, tabletop black holes and quantum computers By Lene Vestergaard Hau. See http://www.sciam.com/2001/0701issue/0701hau.html

God and Darwin Square off

A Case for God’ Existence

Archaeology

New critique of David Rohl’s Views

Archaeology and the Exodus

The Date of the Exodus, 1552 BC?

Anthropology

Astronomy

Biology

Earth Science

Trace fossils yield important clues to ancient life

Zoology

Test of Faith for “Survivor” Dirk Been http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/04/business/04DIRK.html

'Why not advertise Jesus?' Steve Chavis of Promise Keepers carries a 9-foot cross down busy Denver street to promote Jesus Day outreach (The Denver Post) See http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E41133,00.html

News:
2001 Archive