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News:
2002 Archive
Note: Due to the archiving policies of the various news Websites some links on this page may no longer be valid. All links will take you away from the IBSS Site - use your browser's "back" button to return to this page.
- January 13, 2002; January 20,2002; January 27, 2002
- February 3, 2002; February 10, 2002; February 18, 2002; February 25, 2002
- March 4, 2002; March 10, 2002; March 17, 2002; March 25, 2002; March 30, 2002
- April 7, 2002; April 14, 2002; April 21, 2002; April 28, 20002
- May 5, 2002; May 19, 2002: May 26, 2002
- June 2, 2002; June 9 2002; June 23, 2002; June 30, 2002
- July 7, 2002; July 14, 2002; July 21, 2002; July28, 2002
- August 4, 2002; August 18, 2002; August 24, 2002
- September 1, 2002; September 8, 2002; September 15, 2002; September 22, 2002; September 29, 2002
- October 6, 2002; October 13, 2002; October 20, 2002; October 27, 2002
- November 10, 2002; November 17, 2002; November 24, 2002
- December 1, 2002; December 8, 2002; December 15, 2002; December 20, 2002; December 29, 2002
We will be switching to a faster cable internet service this week. Our new e-mail address is ibss@comcast.net
Religion in the News
John
Walvoord Dead at 92
Theologian
noted for writings on Bible prophecy. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/150/14.0.html
The
Positive Prophet
Tony
Campolo is a ferocious critic of Christians left and right. Why do people
still flock to hear him? By Ted Olsen. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2003/001/1.32.html
Benny
Hinn on Dateline
Dateline, on NBC, aired an investigation of faith
healer and televangelist Benny Hinn. According to the network's
site, "[Hinn] claims he can call on God to heal the sick. But Dateline's
hidden cameras reveal another side of the Hinn ministry, and some former
followers raise troubling questions." Religious weblog RelaspedCatholic.com
posted a letter this week from the Trinity
Foundation, an organization that monitors
religious programming. The group said that it had been working with
Dateline for the last two years in its investigation of Hinn.
There's
Something About Mary
Beliefs
about Jesus' virgin mother vary between Christians of
the early church, Roman Catholics, and modern-day Protestants,
but this model of total trustful devotion has lessons to teach
all Christians. An interview with J.I. Packer and Tom
Oden. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/150/12.0.html
Boston Archdiocese Asks for Dismissal of All Suits
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston asked a judge to
dismiss all the abuse lawsuits against it on religious
freedom grounds. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/24/national/24BOST.html?todaysheadlines
How
to Deal with Criminals
Is
there a biblical principle behind the punishment of those who break the law? See
http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/008/27.59.html
The Koran Online at http://www.hti.umich.edu/k/koran
I'm
Dreaming of a Victorian Christmas
An
ageless story reminds us of the values the Victorians can still teach us. By
Chris Armstrong. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/150/13.0.html
Use our interactive map to discover where experts believe the original paradise was located. And don't stop there
Meet Adam's Other Wife
Compare Genesis' TWO Creation Stories
Explore Creation Myths of Different Cultures
What the Expert Says About Eden
Debate Erupts Over Authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls: A crumbling consensus was manifest at a conference of Qumran archaeologists held here in November at Brown University. Organizers said this was the first meeting to focus solely on the archaeology of the site. See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/24/science/sciencespecial/24SCRO.html?ei=5062&en=0cfd0d817161e93c&ex=1041310800&partner
A Stone Box, Christ and History : Science can't ignore Jesus. (Robert L. Bartley, The Wall Street Journal). See http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/rbartley/?id=110002809
Science in the News
ASA Spring Meeting: We have a speaker for a spring meeting - Dr. Thomas Davis. He is available March 1, 2003. He is a Palestinian archeologist and can speak on current issues in relating archeology to the scriptures. As usual with many topics, the real picture is neither the minimalist view that the Bible says nothing useful for the archeologist nor the overly idealist view that every detail of OT history has been proved. This should be another good one. More details forthcoming.
ICC Meeting: The Fifth International Creation Conference on August 4-9 at Geneva College. See http://www.csfpittsburgh.org/icc03.htm
Creation/Evolution
Our Not-So-Distant Cousin
By LISA BROOKS
Comparing the genome of humans to that of mice gives us a
glimpse into the history of both of our genomes over the 75
million years since we last shared a common ancestor.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/27/opinion/27BROO.html?todaysheadlines
Pa. school district statement sparks evolution debate | Officials at a suburban school district say new wording in the system's mission statement is provoking discussion of evolution and other issues that are often in dispute. (The Boston Globe). See http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/360/nation/Pa_school_district_statement_sparks_evolution_debate+.shtml
Astronomy
Star of Bethlehem: Going back in time to examine its origins (Space.com). See http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=96&ncid=753&e=10&u=/space/20021223/sc_space/star_of_bethlehem__going_back_in_time_to_examine_its_origins
Methane
Clouds Discovered On Saturn's Moon Titan
Teams of astronomers at the California Institute of Technology and the
University of California, Berkeley, have discovered methane clouds near the
south pole of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, resolving a fierce debate about
whether clouds exist amid the haze of the moon's atmosphere. See
Biology
Religious Sect Says It Will Announce the First Cloned Baby
A religious sect that contends space travelers created the
human race by cloning themselves said that it would announce
that the first cloned human baby has been born.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/27/science/27CLON.html?todaysheadlines
Raelian leader says cloning first step to immortality: The leader of a religious sect that claimed to have created the first human clone Friday called the development "just the first step" toward human immortality through cloning. See http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/12/27/human.cloning/index.html
Echinacea Ineffective for Treating Common Cold: Dec. 17 — The Echinacea herb, which is widely touted as a booster for the immune system, appears to be ineffective in combating the common cold, according to a new study. See http://health.discovery.com/news/afp/20021216/echinacea.html
Protein in the Eye Regulates Body Clock: Dec. 12 — A protein in the eye regulates the body's internal clock and its daily cycles, according to Stanford University research released Thursday. Melanopsin captures light and keeps the body tuned to a daily cycle, called a circadian rythm. See http://health.discovery.com/news/afp/20021209/bodyclock.html
Stanford
Researchers Study Emerging Treatment For Chronic Sinus Infections
Conducted over 12 months beginning in November 2000, the study is the first to
prospectively evaluate the effectiveness of nebulized antibiotics for the
treatment of chronic sinusitis following surgery. Results are published in the
December issue of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021227070722.htm
Religion in the News
Violent
Night, Holy Night
The
Apocrypha tells us about the brutal world Jesus was born
into. By Tim Stafford. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/013/2.40.html
No
Humbug
A
Christmas Carol remains the quintessential holiday story, but why? By Elesha
Coffman. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/149/52.0.html
Missing from manger: Baby Jesus statue kidnapped; thieves demand ransom (The Trentonian, N.J.) See http://www.trentonian.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6376155&BRD=1697&PAG=461&dept_id=502176&rfi=6
Walt
Disney World drops weekly church services
Last Friday, in an article about the forgotten Disney Christmas special "The
Small One," Disney archivist Dave Smith told The
Orlando Sentinel that Disney cartoons avoid religion for the same reason
that Walt Disney himself didn't put a church in Disneyland's Main Street, USA.
"He didn't want to single out any one religion," Smith said. See http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2002/12/16/story1.html
Does
The Lord of the Rings Teach Salvation By Works?
The
authors of Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues and J. R. R.
Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth talk about whether Tolkien
was too ignorant of evil and other subjects.
A conversation between Brad Birzer and Mark Eddy Smith. See
http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/149/32.0.html
Why
The Lord of the Rings Is Dangerous
http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/149/31.0.html
Hobbits
Aren't Fence-Sitters
The
authors of Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues and J. R. R. Tolkien's
Sanctifying Myth discuss why Tolkien hated modernity and thinking
about evil --and whether he was right to do so. A conversation between
Brad Birzer and Mark Eddy Smith. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/149/53.0.html
U.S.
News: Billy Graham brought evangelicalism into respectability. What will his
kids do?
From the cover of the new U.S. News & World Report,
it looks like a story on Billy Graham and his family: "A
Christian Dynasty: How Billy Graham's kids are following up his crusade."
But Jeffrey Sheler's cover story really is a brief history of evangelicalism,
with the elder Graham as a the main actor and foil. See http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/021223/misc/23grahams.htm
There's a new book review of "A Matter of Basic Principles: Bill
Gothard & the Christian Life": See http://members.shaw.ca/batteredsheep/gothard.html
Medicine with a dose of Scripture | Biblical counseling, an evangelical response to secular therapy, tries to raise its profile (The Philadelphia Inquirer). See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/4740062.htm
Science in the News
New Premise in Science: Get the Word Out Quickly, Online
A group of prominent scientists is challenging the leading
scientific journals with the creation of two peer-reviewed
online journals this week. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/17/science/17JOUR.html?todaysheadlines
Creation/Evolution
'Scientific balancing act' dominates AAAS top ten list of science policy
stories for 2002: 5) INTELLIGENT DESIGN-NOT SMART FOR SCIENCE CLASSES:
Efforts to kick the theory of biological evolution out of U.S. public school
classrooms are taking a new twist. Instead of opposing evolution directly,
evolution foes now are seeking to include intelligent design theory in science
classrooms. Such efforts were seen in local and state school boards, including
Cobb County, Georgia, and the State of Ohio during 2002. ID theory suggests that
the complexity of DNA, for example, and the diversity of life forms can only be
explained by a supernatural agent. Science educators will be keeping their eyes
open to see where this issue pops up next in 2003. Meanwhile, the AAAS Board of
Directors passed a resolution in October saying ID theory should be treated in
the same manner as creationism or other family teachings--but not in science
classrooms. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-12/aaft-ba121302.php
Ancient Antarctica Lake has Ancient Life: Dec. 17 — Scientists exploring a frozen lake in Antarctica have awakened 2,800-year-old microbes that are models for life on Mars. The microbes were found locked in the ice of Lake Vida, which was previously thought to be solid ice all the way down to its 50-foot depths. What's more, the researchers have also discovered that Lake Vida is not completely frozen. The bottom 15 feet or so grade into a slushy brine that is seven times saltier than seawater. The lake-bottom brine contains all the salts that were squeezed out of the ice above by the freezing process, Doran said. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20021216/icelake.html
Giant bird spotted in Alaska: A giant bird with a reported wingspan of about 14ft has been sighted in Southwest Alaska. Villagers in Togiak and Manokotak say they have seen a huge bird much bigger than anything they have seen before. See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_690946.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.phenomena
100,000 tourists flock to see mysterious Thai fireballs: More than 100,000 tourists flocked to a remote part of Thailand to see a mysterious phenomenon in which coloured fireballs shoot into the sky. The flames, said to come from a mythical serpent living in the Mekong River in the north eastern province of Nong Khai, are known as Naga's Fireballs. Some scientists say the red, pink and orange fireballs are caused by flammable natural gas deposits in the river bed drawn to the surface by the moon's gravitational pull. See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_694513.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.phenomena
Experts
dismiss town's sea monster claims
Experts have dismissed claims a strange sea monster has been washed up on the
Nova Scotia shoreline. See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_673939.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.phenomena
Girl finds gold ring inside apple: A 12-year-old girl has found a gold ring after biting into an apple. It's thought the ring may have fallen from a fruit picker's finger and then the apple formed around it. See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_652972.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.phenomena
Cosmologists has produced the most detailed images of the early
Universe ever recorded. The new results provide additional evidence to
support the currently favored model of the Universe in which 30 percent of
all energy is a strange form of dark matter that doesn't interact with
light, and 65 percent is in an even stranger form of dark energy that
appears to be causing the expansion of the Universe to accelerate.
The story is at
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021216071324.htm
Voices of Evolution: Statements from different scientific and Religious organizations about evolution. See http://www.ncseweb.org/article.asp?category=2.
Archaeology/Anthropology
Ancient treasure trove uncovered: Archaeologists have found a 2,700-year-old temple which contains objects from across the ancient world.Gold and silver figures, jewellery and shells from throughout the Mediterranean were gathered in one place on the small Greek island of Kithnos in the Aegean Sea. See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_730131.html
Experts
rebut claim of biblical bathhouse in Jesus' hometown
Archaeologists and Bible scholars have refuted claims a bathhouse unearthed in
Nazareth may have been used by Jesus. See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_729492.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.archaeology
Researcher
refutes Mummy's curse myth
Australian research has laid the myth of Mummy's Curse to rest. See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_731026.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.archaeology
'Unluckiest
church in the world' is found
A British archaeologist has uncovered what is probably the
unluckiest church in the world. See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_726609.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.archaeology
Astronomy
Mysterious Trials on Mars: Dec. 12 — Mysterious tracks that look like 250-mile long ski or sled trails have been found near the South Pole of Mars. Researchers at the University of Colorado have found the broad, sweeping lines cutting through a section of the southern ice caps of the frigid planet, but haven't a clue what caused them. If the features were on Earth, they would probably be attributed to a long-gone glacier that dragged boulders along its underside and scoured out the grooves. Another possible cause of the features is powerful winds. In fact, the way that the grooves appear to bear west as they head away from the pole suggests as much, since air currents on Mars and Earth are turned by the planets' spins. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20021209/marssled.html
Precursors To Early Earth Life Found In Canadian Meteorite
Houston - Dec 17, 2002 - In a study published today in the "International
Journal of Astrobiology," researchers state that a meteorite that fell to
Earth over northwestern Canada in January 2000 contains a previously unseen type
of primitive organic material that was formed long before our own solar system
came into being. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02zze.html
Seeing Red: Revolutionary Probe Gears For Martian Exploration
Milton Keynes, England (AFP) Dec 19, 2002 - British experts on Thursday put on
display a robot lander that could settle one of the most pressing questions in
space science today: does life, or the potential for it, exist on Mars? The
probe, Beagle 2, will be placed aboard a European Space Agencyspacecraft, Mars
Express, which is scheduled to blast off from Russia's Baikonur launchpad in
Kazakhstan next May 23. See http://www.spacedaily.com/2002/021219155003.ydgjaki5.html
Titan's Methane Clouds Make For A View To Behold
Mauna Kea - Dec 19, 2002 - Teams of astronomers at the California Institute
of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered
methane clouds near the south pole of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, resolving a
fierce debate about whether clouds exist amid the haze of the moon's atmosphere.
See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/saturn-titan-02e.html
Hubble Watches Galaxies Engage In Dance Of Destruction
Washington - Dec 17, 2002 - NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is witnessing a
grouping of galaxies engaging in a slow dance of destruction that will last for
billions of years. The galaxies are so tightly packed together that
gravitational forces are beginning to rip stars from them and distort their
shapes. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/spaceart-02e.html
Planets Aplenty In T Tauri Furnaces
Nashville - Dec 17, 2002 - If David Weintraub and Jeff Bary are right, there
may be a lot more planets circling stars like the Sun than current models of
star and planet formation predict. The associate professor of astronomy at
Vanderbilt and his graduate student are taking a critical look at T Tauri stars.
These are stellar adolescents, less than 10 million years old, which are
destined to become stars similar to the Sun as they age. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/extrasolar-02z.html
New Theory Unravels Magnetic Instability
Los Alamos - Dec 17, 2002 - Reconnection, the merging of magnetic field
lines of opposite polarity near the surface of the sun, Earth and some black
holes, is believed to be the root cause of many spectacular astronomical events
such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, but the reason for this is not
well understood. Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory now have a new
theory that may explain the instability and advance the understanding of these
phenomena. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarstorm-02i.html
Chandra X-ray Observatory results:
Lobes of unexpectedly hot gas speeding away from a black hole in our galaxy
have been discovered by Chandra. The high temperature and the distance of
the lobes from the black hole indicate that violent collisions are
occurring between clumps of gas as they fly away from the black hole at
near-light
speed. http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/02_releases/press_121102.html
Discovery Of Giant X-Ray Disk Sheds Light On Elliptical Galaxies - a little
galactic evolution at http://www.ohiou.edu/researchnews/science/xray_disk.html
Young Star Cluster Found Aglow With Mysterious X-Ray Cloud - the x-rays
could change the chemistry of any planets forming in the
area. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/rcw38/
Biology
A
surprise in treating high blood pressure
The cheapest, oldest medicine to treat high blood pressure works better than
newer, more expensive drugs, researchers reported yesterday from the largest
clinical trial ever conducted on high blood pressure. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/4761881.htm
Scientists Favoring Cautious Approach to Smallpox Shots
Unless a smallpox attack seems highly likely, the public
should not be vaccinated, doctors and scientists warned in a
series of articles posted on the Internet.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/20/health/20SMAL.html?todaysheadlines
Scientists
may have made breast cancer breakthrough
Scientists believe they have made a major breakthrough in the fight against
breast cancer. See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_726718.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.medicalbreakthroughs
Heart
researchers study regenerative zebrafish
Scientists are studying zebrafish in the hope that they hold the secret to
mending damaged human hearts. See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_726756.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.amazingscience
Study
suggests bone marrow could offer ethical source of stem cells
Researchers have found it could be possible to take stem cells
from adult bone marrow to treat diseases such as brain cancer or Alzheimer's.
See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_731309.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.medicalbreakthroughs
Earth Science
Mysterious "Boing" Sound Identified in North PacificDec. 17 — A team of biologists recently identified the source of a mysterious marine sound that has been puzzling scientists for some 50 years, the Academic Press reported. U.S. Navy sonar operators discovered "boing" sound in the 1950s. Their theory was that an enemy submarine was making the sound. Based on the behavior of related whales, the researchers now believe the noise is the mating call of a male minke, said the article. Full story http://animal.discovery.com/news/briefs/200212/boingidentified.html
Scientist
wins means to pursue rain-making ambition
A British inventor has been given a government grant to develop a rain-making
machine. See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_719937.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.inventions
Religion in the News
Seeking
not to offend, Bush's holiday season doesn't leave anyone out
"There's something for just about every faith at the White House this
holiday season," reports the Associated Press. "Over the course of 24
hours last week, President Bush helped light a menorah for Hanukkah and the
national Christmas tree and visited a mosque at the end of the Muslim holy month
of Ramadan."
Faith-based initiative gets major push, puts hiring decisions in organizations' hands, and goes international. See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021212/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush
Boston's
Cardinal Law resigns
"I am profoundly grateful to the Holy Father for having accepted my
resignation as Archbishop of Boston," Archbishop Bernard
Law of Boston
said in a statement
from the Vatican today. "It is my fervent prayer that this action may help
the Archdiocese of Boston to experience the healing, reconciliation and unity
which are so desperately needed. To all those who have suffered from my
shortcomings and mistakes I both apologize and from them beg forgiveness."
See http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/347/nation/Cardinal_Law_resigns+.shtml
Protestants aiding Voice of the Faithful: Protestant ministers have been opening their churches' doors to meetings of Voice of the Faithful, a lay organization seeking "reform" in the Roman Catholic Church that has been criticized by several Catholic leaders. See http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/342/metro/Ministers_reaching_out_to_Catholics+.shtml
Ousted
seminarian reportedly confesses to priest's murder
Roman Catholic priest William
Gulas was shot
to death, then burned, in his office at Cleveland's St.
Stanislaus Church. See http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1039602680180400.xml
Broken vows: A former Catholic priest speaks out about secrecy, scandal, and being gay in the church (The Boston Globe). See http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories3/120802_schiavone.htm
Newly released letters tell of Jesus calling Mother Teresa 'my little wife' | The letters she wrote to two priests, who acted as her spiritual mentors, also reveal that Mother Teresa suffered episodes of depression throughout her life in which she underwent grave crises of faith (The Scotsman). See http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1367572002
Missionaries
Flee Violence in Ivory Coast
Muslim
rebel attacks force school closures. David Miller, Compass Direct. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2003/001/22.29.html
oys
Will Be Boys
A
new book by a leading Christian feminist scholar
inadvertently reveals the flawed assumptions
underlying much talk about "flexibility" in
gender roles. By John W. Miller. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/148/11.0.html
PBS show to 'counter' perceptions of Islam | The two-hour documentary on the life of the prophet Muhammad is meant to help counter negative images of Muslims, according to its creators (The Washington Times). See http://www.washtimes.com/national/20021213-91496698.htm
Bipartisan furor builds over Lott's remarks | "Thoughtless, careless remarks like this can have a devastating impact" on evangelism efforts, says chairman of Franklin Graham Crusade (USA Today). See http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20021213/4699938s.htm
Temple
Square Face-off
Baptist
evangelist irks LDS, but court is on his side. By John W. Kennedy. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2003/001/11.21.html
Mormons agree, again, to end posthumous baptisms of Jews | Agreement was apparently breached since it was made with Jewish leaders seven years ago (Associated Press). See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/2/ap_wo_en_po/na_gen_us_baptizing_the_dead_2
Clean
Flicks, Illegal Flicks?
Hollywood
directors file suit against CleanFlicks. By Ted Olsen. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/013/20.13.html
Fundamentalists Losing Favor with Public
WASHINGTON -- The American Family Association, a far right lobbying
group in Washington, released results from a recent survey that shows
mainstream Americans see evangelical Christians as one of the least
likable groups in the country. See http://www.datalounge.com/datalounge/news/record.html?record=20398
BBC Progran: Mary was no virgin | Firstly it looks at the possibility that she slept with Joseph while she was engaged to be married to him, secondly that she was raped by a Roman soldier, and thirdly that she fell pregnant to an unidentified man before marrying Joseph (The Sunday Herald, Scotland). See http://www.sundayherald.com/29816
New
Christian Allegory
Science-fiction
adventure novel Arena thrives with spiritual symbolism. Reviewed by
Cindy Crosby. http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/013/44.63.html
Is there a God? Pair trade opinions | Many listen to the debate, but few seem to have changed their minds (Sacramento Bee). See http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/5525008p-6504124c.html
Voyage into the unknown | Hiding behind the comfort of belief are destructive forces. (David Bryant, The Guardian, London). See http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,856393,00.html
Heritage
alert as 1,000 churches face closure | Britain is facing a loss of church
buildings second only to that which took place in the Reformation, a report has
said (The Times, London). See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-507644,00.html
U.S.
Samaritans send Christmas gifts | The world's largest cargo plane will next
week jet into Entebbe loaded with the biggest Christmas gift to have ever come
into the country (New Vision, Kampala, Uganda)
See http://allafrica.com/stories/200212090415.html
Science in the News
Scientists
exposed as sloppy reporters
A cunning statistical study reveals that many scientists do not read the papers
they cite as references in their published work. See
Creation/Evolution
Ousted creationist sues over website: A Tennessee creationist is suing the operators of a popular physics website that refused to publish his alternative Big Bang hypothesis. Robert Gentry, a lifelong Seventh-Day Adventist, filed the suit in the district court at Knoxville, Tennessee, against the operators of the arXiv preprint server, claiming that they refused a series of ten of his papers because of their religious content. Counsel representing the chief defendant, Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, says the claims have no merit and that the university has the right to choose what appears on the site. (Must register) See http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v420/n6916/full/420597b_fs.html
Ohio Strengthens Teaching of Evolution
The state school board unanimously approved on Tuesday
standards that more strongly advocate the teaching of
evolution while letting students fully criticize the
legitimacy of the theory. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/12/education/12EVOL.html?todaysheadlines
An Open Letter to the Ohio Citizens for Science from Eugenie C. Scott http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/news/2002/ZZ/406_an_open_letter_to_the_ohio_cit_12_13_2002.asp
Religion and Darwin: The fact is that religion mutates with Darwinian restlessness. See http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/02/lester.htm
A
God of Math and Order
The new science rode in on the shoulders of new theological
ideas. by Peter Harrison
The
Monkey Trial
The first "trial of the century" revealed a great
divide
separating American Christians. by David Goetz
SEARCHING FOR YOUR INNER CHIMP
Natural History, December 2002 - January 2003
by Carl Zimmer. In the past decade, as molecular biologists have learned to read
DNA
sequences rapidly, the chimpanzee has clearly emerged as humanity's
closest living relative. Our DNA is astonishingly similar. You can see
for yourself by visiting the "Silver Project" Web site of Japan's
National Institute of Genetics (sayer.lab.nig.ac.jp/~silver/), http://www.carlzimmer.com/articles/2002/articles_2002_6.html
Targeted
Comparative Sequencing Illuminates Vertebrate Evolution
This technique may revolutionize the model species concept. See http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2002/dec/research3_021209.html
Revolutionary New Theory For Origins Of Life On Earth
London - Dec 12, 2002 - A totally new and highly controversial theory on the
origin of life on earth, is set to cause a storm in the science world and has
implications for the existence of life on other planets. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02zzc.html
Archaeology/Anthropology
Archaeology - politics (12 Dec) - Human bones, pieces of skin and bits of hair tucked away in museum display cases and vaults have become the subject of ferocious political battles. Many of these human remains were collected in the nineteenth century, when Western colonial expansion was at its height and there was a lust for scientific enquiry. Today, there are demands that these bones be returned to indigenous groups for reburial. See http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000006DB8A.htm
The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey: By analyzing DNA from people in all regions of the world, geneticist Spencer Wells has concluded that all humans alive today are descended from a single man who lived in Africa around 60,000 years ago. See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/12/1212_021213_journeyofman.html
Astronomy
Mars Odyssey: The latest results from Mars Odyssey are being
released this week,
including evidence of massive amounts of water ice in the soil near Mars'
north polar cap, even more than previously found in the South. Take a
drink at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2002/release_2002_221.cfm
,
Odyssey at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/
Global Flooding on Mars: The bombardment of comets and asteroids on
early Mars may have caused
cycles of rain that led to global flooding and the formation of Mars' river
valleys and other water-sculpted landscapes. The argument is that the
period when large comets and asteroids struck Mars appears to correlate
with the formation of ancient rivers. Se http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov/releases/2002/02_126AR.html
Jupiter's Moon: Galileo data suggests that Jupiter's potato-shaped
inner moon, named
Amalthea, appears to have a very low density, indicating it is full of holes.
Cheesy story at
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2002/02-237a.txt
, Galileo at
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/
Above and Beyond:Universal classifier detects bacteria in space--and on the homeland | By A.J.S. Rayl. See http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2002/dec/rayl_p26_021209.html
First Images Of Earth's Plasma Sheet
San Antonio - Dec 12, 2002 - Observations led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)
using NASA's Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE)
spacecraft may lead to a new, critical technique for monitoring and predicting
space weather. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earth-02zj.html
Genesis' First Year A Success
San Francisco - Dec 10, 2002 - As scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory
begin analysis of first-year data from the solar wind probe Genesis they have
determined the spacecraft is working so well that they are considering
possibilities for research beyond the planned 2004 mission completion date.
Three of Genesis' instruments were designed and built at Los Alamos. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/genesis-02a.html
Biology
The Biological Basis of the Placebo Effect: Therapist-patient interaction activates the endogenous opioid systems. See http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2002/dec/research_021209.html
Stanford may clone human embryos | New Center's Work Could Have Big Impact (The Washington Post). See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37453-2002Dec10.html
Earth Science
Earth's
volcanism linked to meteorite impacts
Gigantic meteorites may punch straight through the crust and cause massive lava
surges that obliterate the crater, controversial new work suggests. See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993171
Psychology
MRI May Give Early Warning of Mental Illness: Dec. 10 — A hi-tech scanner may give early warning to people who are at high risk of schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses, according to a study published online on Tuesday by The Lancet, the British medical publication.See http://health.discovery.com/news/afp/20021209/psychosis.html
Fear (13 Dec) - Researchers have discovered the first genetic component of a biochemical pathway in the brain that governs the indelible imprinting of fear-related experiences in memory. See http://www.hhmi.org/news/kandel3.html
Schizophrenia (13 Dec) - The long search for a gene that helps cause schizophrenia may at last be bearing fruit after many false starts and disappointments, scientists are reporting. An errant gene first implicated among schizophrenic patients in Iceland has now turned up in a survey of Scottish patients, too, giving a clear confirmation of the earlier result. See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/13/national/13GENE.html
Psychology of happiness (8 Dec) - The happiest people surround themselves with family and friends, don't care about keeping up with the Joneses next door, lose themselves in daily activities and, most important, forgive easily. See http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2002-12-08-happy-main_x.htm
Stress - Bruce McEwen is a pioneering expert on the ways in which the brain influences the body. He is the author of "The End of Stress As We Know It" (with Elizabeth Norton Lasley, published by Joseph Henry Press). The book examines the response of the body to stress, what happens when the body's stress response turns against us, and how to keep that from happening. See http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=864895
Domestic violence (8 Dec) - A new study suggests that the way abusive men try to manage stress in their relationships and other parts of their lives may be associated with their violent outbursts. See http://www.osu.edu/researchnews/archive/violstres.htm
Music - neuroscience (12 Dec) - Researchers at Dartmouth are getting closer to understanding how some melodies have a tendency to stick in your head or why hearing a particular song can bring back a high school dance. They have found and mapped the area in your brain that processes and tracks music. It's a place that's also active during reasoning and memory retrieval. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-12/dc-miy120902.php
Religion in the News
Nigerian Riots: Last week in Nigeria…Muslims destroyed churches and beat and murdered Christians. Yet in many of the press accounts, there was no mention of who started the violence (Muslims), and who the victims were (Christians). See http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/147/31.0.html
An Islamic Reformation: What's going on in Iran today is precisely the war of ideas within Islam that is the most important war of all (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times). See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/04/opinion/04FRIE.html
Police
Arrest Indian Christians Over Dalit Conversion
Low-caste
Indians reject Hinduism, turn to Christianity or Buddhism.
By Joshua Newton in Chennai, India. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/147/53.0.html
Boston Documents Show Failure to Oust Accused Priests
Hundreds of pages of church documents show that officials of
the Boston Archdiocese allowed priests accused of abuse to
remain in ministry. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/04/national/04PRIE.html?todaysheadlines
Mother Teresa on fast track for sainthood: On December 20, the Pope is expected to announce the exact date of Mother Teresa's beatification next year (BBC). See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2529471.stm
Religious conversion: Charles University's Catholic Theological Faculty opens program to women (The Prague Post). See http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2002/Art/1204/news1.php
DiIulio:
Bush governs by politics rather than principle
John
J. DiIulio Jr, former
head of the White
House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, says his former boss
has been ineffective
and lacks principle. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62270-2002Dec2.html
Then John
DiIulio apologizes for "Mayberry Machiavellis" comment. Twice.
Owner of parody Web sites heads to court: Judge Norman K. Moon will hear arguments for the dismissal of Falwell's suit, which claims the parody sites www.jerryfalwell.com and www.jerryfallwell.com are an illegal use of Falwell's trademark, libelous, unfair competition and cybersquatting (The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.). See http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-sou--falwell-website1126nov26,0,4860265.story?%2Dheadlines%2Dvirginia
Head of Parents Television Council fired, allegedly for prayer
After just three months as executive director of the watchdog group Parents
Television Council, Dennis Mansfield has been fired. He tells The
Idaho Statesman it was because of "Jesus."
Mormon scholar predicts his expulsion: Thomas W. Murphy, 35, published an article in the May Signature Books anthology "American Apocrypha," which uses genetic data to discredit the Book of Mormon claim that American Indians are heathen descendants of ancient Israel (Associated Press). See http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/134586805_mormon30m.html
Myth at the multiplex : Lord of the Rings, Tolkien poured Christian values into a pagan world (John J. Miller, The Wall Street Journal). See http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110002732
The
Ultimate Language Lesson
Teaching
English may well be the 21st century's most promising way to take the Good News
to the world.
By Agnieszka Tennant. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/013/1.32.html
Florida atheists challenge angels on lawn of City Hall: City Council votes unanimously to keep the display (The Washington Times). See http://www.washtimes.com/national/20021205-441042.htm
The History of Christmas: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm
Science in the News
Bigfoot Legend Creator Dies; Family Calls Bigfoot A Hoax: Ray Wallace, who started one of the most notorious myths of our time -- the legend of Bigfoot -- has died. Wallace died of heart failure Nov. 26 at a Washington state nursing home, at the age of 84. Wallace's family feels that they can finally reveal the truth: Wallace made up Bigfoot. Wallace, a native of Clarksdale, Mo., used photos, footprints, and Sasquatch sightings that convinced some people that Bigfoot was real. But his family says it was all a hoax. His family says Wallace asked a friend to carve 16-inch feet, then he and his brother wore them to create huge tracks on the ground at his California construction company in 1958. That led The Humboldt Times to coin the term "Bigfoot" on its front page. His nephew Dale Wallace still has those "Bigfoot" fake feet. Pictures and more of the story at http://www.nbc4.tv/irresistible/1823767/detail.html
Creation/Evolution
Phillip
Johnson Interview
Asking
the right questions is at the heart of the evolution debate. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/147/22.0.html
Feedback From Kent Hovind Article by AIG: See http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/feedback/negative_02December2002.asp?srcFrom=aignews
Creation/Evolution Journal Online: This publication was first started
by the American Humanist Association in 1980, and was the first to devote itself
entirely to the creation/evolution
controversy. In 1991 NCSE was invited to purchase C&E from the AHA,
and until 1996 continued to published both it and its own NCSE Reports.
After five years of producing both publications they were combined into
Reports of the National Center for Science Education. See http://ncseweb.org/article.asp?category=16
Icons of Evolution Critique: Many of you sent us (NCSE) emails after
we posted our critique of Icons of Evolution by Jonathan Wells to let us know
the content was not printable because of the
way the pages had been coded. That problem has now been fixed and the complete
content of the critique can be printed from the individual pages. Please feel
free to distribute this document as you wish. See http://www.ncseweb.org/icons
Revolutionary
New Theory For Origins Of Life On Earth
A totally new and highly controversial theory on the origin of life on earth, is
set to cause a storm in the science world and has implications for the existence
of life on other planets. See http://sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021204080856.htm
The glue that broke flying dinosaur's back | Once hailed as a missing link, forgery is found to be mosaic of fossils from Microraptor and a bird (Los Angeles Times). See http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-fossil2dec02,0,4432678.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dnation
Pow! Splat! Take that, you Darwin disparagers! | School boards have found creative ways to smuggle creationism into the classroom, even in a comic book (The New York Times). See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/30/arts/30TANK.html
Survival of the slickest | How anti-evolutionists are mutating their message (Chris Mooney, The American Prospect). See http://www.prospect.org/print/V13/22/mooney-c.html
Archaeology/Anthropology
NEW BOOK - "THE EXODUS CASE"
"The Exodus Case" is the
print version of the research that the video "The Exodus Revealed"
which is
based upon Ron Wyatt's discoveries. Wyatt's claims have never been substantiated
by archaeologists. A good book that refutes Wyatt is Holy Relics or
Revelation by Russell and Colin Standish. See http://www.csicop.org/bibliography/display.cgi/634
BBC1
Program on Moses
In 'Moses', the latest scientific evidence is combined with state-of-the-art
computer graphics and dramatic reconstructions to reveal the sensational truths
that lie at the heart of the Moses story.There is also an accompanying website
with behind the scenes stories, computer graphics video clips, history and much
more.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/moses
Experts question authenticity of bone box for `Brother of Jesus' | Some see differences in the handwriting (The New York Times). See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/03/science/social/03JAME.html More on the debate at www.bibleinterp.com also http://www.bib-arch.org/bswbbreakingV.html
Oldest American writing (6 Dec) - Archaeologists may have found the oldest example of writing from the Americas. The find gives clues to how the ancient civilizations of Central America developed, they say. Others dispute that the objects discovered bear writing. See http://www.nature.com/nsu/021202/021202-13.html
Oldest American Skulls (4 Dec) - Tests on skulls found in Mexico suggest they are almost 13,000 years old - and shed fresh light on how humans colonized the Americas. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2538323.stm
Astronomy
New Research Belies Previous Idea That Mars Was Once Warm, Wet Planet :A new study led by University of Colorado at Boulder researchers indicates Mars has been primarily a cold, dry planet following its formation some 4 billion years ago, making the possibility of the evolution of life there challenging at best. See http://sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021206074940.htm
Hubble
Makes Precise Measure Of Extrasolar World's True Mass
NASA Hubble Space Telescope's crisp view has allowed an international team of
astronomers to apply a previously unproven technique (astrometry) for making a
precise measurement of the mass of a planet outside our solar system. The Hubble
results place the planet at 1.89 to 2.4 times the mass of Jupiter. See http://sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021205084515.htm
How
Small Are Small Stars Really? VLT Interferometer Measures The Size Of Proxima
Centauri And Other Nearby Stars
At a distance of only 4.2 light-years, Proxima Centauri is the nearest star to
the Sun currently known. It is visible as an 11-magnitude object in the southern
constellation of Centaurus and is the faintest member of a triple system,
together with Alpha Centauri, the brightest (double) star in this constellation.
From its spectrum, Proxima Centauri (PR Photo 27a/02) is classified as a
"late M-dwarf star". Such stars are among the smallest and faintest,
but also the most numerous in our Milky Way galaxy. In the case of Proxima
Centauri, both the mass and the diameter are about 1/7 of those of the Sun.
Contrarily, while it is 150 times more massive than Jupiter, it is only about
1.5 times larger than that planet. See http://sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021204082258.htm
From Darwin To Internet At The Speed Of Light
Paris - Dec 2, 2002 - Internet traffic jams may become history if ESA succeeds
in developing new technology to see nearby Earth-sized planets. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/internet-02n.html
Biology
Infant rat heads grafted onto adults’ thighs
Infant rats are being decapitated and their heads grafted onto the
thighs of adults by researchers in Japan. If kept cool during the
operation, a transplanted brain can develop as normal for at least
three weeks. The mouth of the head will move, as if it is trying to
drink milk, the team reports.
The researchers claim the grafted heads could be “excellent models”
for brain damage suffered by human babies. But other experts are far
from convinced by the grisly technique. Read the full story on NewScientist.com
at: http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993135
Investigators Find Repeated Deception in Ads for Drugs
Some companies have repeatedly disseminated misleading
advertisements for prescription drugs, even after being
cited for violations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/04/health/04DRUG.html?todaysheadlines
Study Suggests Mercury in Vaccine Was Not Harmful
A groundbreaking study of infants who received vaccines
containing a mercury-based preservative has found that the
levels of mercury in their blood were well within federal
safety limits.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/04/health/04VACC.html?todaysheadlines
Caught
Sleeping: Study Captures Virus Dormant In Human Cells; Cytomegalovirus, Hidden
In Most People, Begins To Give Up Secrets Of Its Stealth
Princeton scientists have taken an important step toward understanding a virus
that infects and lies dormant in most people, but emerges as a serious illness
in transplant patients, some newborns and other people with weakened immune
systems. See http://sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021205084431.htm
Grape
Seed Extract Help Speed Up Wound Recovery, Study Suggests
Grape-seed extract may help skin wounds heal faster and with less scarring, a
new study suggests. The extract seemed to aid wound healing in two ways: It
helped the body make more of a compound used to regenerate damaged blood
vessels, and it also increased the amount of free radicals in the wound site.
See http://sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021204081709.htm
Mouse to Man (3 Dec) - Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have bred a mouse to model human L1 retrotransposons, the so-called "jumping genes." Retrotransposons are small stretches of DNA that are copied from one location in the genome and inserted elsewhere, typically during the genesis of sperm and egg cells. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2536501.stm
Researchers
Begin To Unlock Genetic Mysteries Of Down Syndrome
One of the most common genetic abnormalities is Down syndrome, which occurs when
a person inherits three copies of chromosome 21 instead of the normal complement
of two. Although the association has long been known, no one understands how the
extra genetic material produces the syndrome, which is the most common genetic
cause of mental retardation. See http://sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021205083700.htm
Neurotheology (3 Dec) - Neuroscientist Rhawn Joseph has spent years studying history, myth and biology in his quest to understand the universality of spiritual experience and its evolutionary function. In his studies of the brains of Tibetan monks and Franciscan nuns, radiologist Andrew Newberg seeks out the relationship between neural activity and mystical experience. Both men believe that the connection between the brain and spirituality suggests that there is a physiological basis for religion -- that human beings, in essence, are hard-wired for God. See http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-5/103889954795810.xml
Earth Science
Key To Global Warming Prediction Within Reach
Boston - Dec 2, 2002 - The search for a Holy Grail of climate science may be
nearing an end, if an MIT-led project is launched by NASA to measure soil
moisture -- data needed to predict global change, assess global warming and
support the Kyoto Protocol. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/greenhouse-02n.html
Climate
Change Surprise: High Carbon Dioxide Levels Can Retard Plant Growth, Study
Reveals
Writing in the journal Science, Stanford University researchers concluded that
elevated atmospheric CO2 actually reduces plant growth when combined with other
likely consequences of climate change – namely, higher temperatures, increased
precipitation or increased nitrogen deposits in the soil. See http://sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021206075233.htm
Psychology
UCLA
Study Names 10 Keys To Recovery From Schizophrenia
UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute researchers have identified 10 key factors to
recovery from schizophrenia. The findings open opportunities to develop new
treatment and rehabilitation programs and to reshape the negative expectations
of many doctors, patients and their families.
Technology
Toyota, Honda Launch World's First Commercial Use Of Fuel-Cell Cars
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 02, 2002 - The world's first commercial use of fuel-cell cars
began Monday with the lease by Japanese auto giants Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda
Motor Co. Ltd. of their environmentally friendly vehicles to the Japanese
government. See http://www.spacedaily.com/2002/021202102937.38u0nunx.html
Japan's Denso Develops World's First Carbon Dioxide Air Con For Cars
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 04, 2002 - Japan's top car parts maker Denso Corp. said
Wednesday it has developed with Toyota Motor Corp. the world's first air
conditioner for cars using carbon dioxide, which is kinder on the environment.
See http://www.spacedaily.com/2002/021204065123.7v5mu33v.html
New Research: Against All Odds, Plutonium Is Latest Superconductor
Gainesville - Dec 2, 2002 - Scientists have discovered superconductivity in a
most unlikely place: the highly radioactive element used to make nuclear
weapons. In an article set to appear Thursday in the journal Nature, a group of
researchers, including a University of Florida physicist, report discovering a
plutonium-based electrical superconductor. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-02zu.html
Religion in the News
Gwen
Shamblin's New Jerusalem
Remnant
Fellowship grows, but critics see 'graceless legalism.' By John W. Kennedy.
See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/013/6.15.html
'VeggieTales' to sprout another movie | Unlike "Jonah," "Bob and "Larry" won't feature an overtly religious yarn (Reuters). See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=579&e=5&cid=638&u=/nm/20021126/en_nm/film_veggietales_dc
Eat,
Drink, and Relax
Think the Pilgrims would frown on today's football-tossing, turkey-gobbling
Thanksgiving festivities? Maybe not. by Elesha Coffman. See http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/147/31.0.html
Trickle-Down
Evangelism: The earliest missionaries to China started with the elite.
by Ralph R. Covell. See http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/52h/52h024.html
Ask
Christian History
Was the phrase "he descended into hell" always part of the
Apostles' Creed, or was it introduced later? And how have
Christians interpreted it over time? by Steven Gertz. See http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/features/ask/2002/nov15.html
Did
You Know?
Interesting and unusual facts about Christians in the scientific revolution. by
Chris Armstrong. See http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/2002/004/16.2.html
Science in the News
Wolpe and Richardson on placebo effect and science and the spiritual quest
12/4 and 12/11 at the Metanexus Institute:
Dr. Wolpe¹s talk on Wednesday, December 4 will be "Everything is a Placebo
Effect: Science, Medicine, and Ways of Knowing." On Wednesday,
December 11,
Dr. Richardson will speak on ³Science and the Spiritual Quest: Does the
Relationship Matter?² Both talks will take place at the Metanexus Institute,
3624 Market Street, Suite 301, in Philadelphia at 5:30 PM. The talks,
which
are part of the Fall Lecture Series, are open to the public. They are
sponsored by the Philadelphia Center, the regional educational and outreach
program of the Metanexus Institute. See http://www.metanexus.net
Creation/Evolution
Geneticists Track More of Earliest Humans' First Itineraries
By NICHOLAS WADE. COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. ‹ Through the wizardry of modern
genetics, it is
possible to reconstruct the travels of the earliest humans as they moved out
from their ancestral home in northeast Africa and spread around the globe.
More details of these historic itineraries emerge each year. See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/12/science/social/12ORIG.html
cultured? They exhibit human-like behaviour, but should they join the Royal Society,
asks Roger Highfield. See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=/connected/2002/10/31/e
Novel Method of Creating New Species Observed in Laboratory Yeast. See http://www.uh.edu/admin/media/nr/2002/112002/yeast11272002.html
Archaeology/Anthropology
Scholars debate small box's reference to Jesus | Authenticity of inscription on ossuary is questioned (The Baltimore Sun). See http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.ossuary25nov25,0,2350420.story?coll=bal%2Dnews%2Dnation
Experts disagree about authenticity of ossuary | Toronto attracts international academics for hot debate on origin of limestone box (The Globe and Mail, Toronto). See http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20021125/UBIBLN/national/national/national_temp/1/1/9/
Lexington man helps explain James Box | Ossuary may be link to Jesus Christ (Lexington [Ky.] Herald-Leader). See http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/local/4588090.htm
8 Roman Witnesses to Jesus: See http://www.uncc.edu/jdtabor/saw.html
Wandering
around in Egyptian history
Gaston Maspero, the first director of Egypt's national storehouse of ancient
treasures, is said to have believed his museum should resemble pharaohs' tombs -
crowded with paintings and statues, furniture and jewelry. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4621823.htm
Envelopes used 4000 years ago
Love letters encased in mud envelopes found at Kültepe-Kaniþ Tumulus
show that little has changed in four millennia. See http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/news/190319.asp?cp1=1
Archaeology - Aubrey Manning visits the Meadowcroft Rock Shelter near Pittsburgh to examine evidence that there were humans in North America 14,000 years ago, earlier than anyone thought possible. But how did they get there? Over the ice from the North-West or even across the Atlantic Ocean from the East? See http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/unearthingmysteries.shtml
Astronomy
Big Planets Form in Hundreds of Years, Not Millions
Thu Nov 28, By Deborah Zabarenko: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Astronomers unveiled a
quick new recipe for creating big planets, using high-powered supercomputer
calculations to show these gassy giants could form in hundreds of years, instead
of millions. See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=585&e=2&cid=585&u=/nm/20021128/sc_nm/space_planets_dc
Do you believe in the Big Bang? 5 Reasons you should: 1. The darkness of the night sky, Olber's Paradox. 2.The expanding universe. 3. Cosmic microwave radiation. 4. The abundance of light elements. 5. The evolution of stars. See Astronomy Magazine's feature article in December issue. See www.astronomy.com
Birth of the
Universe: Scientists have recreated a temperature not seen since the first
microsecond of the birth of the universe and found that the event did not
unfold quite the way they expected. See
http://www.rochester.edu/pr/News/NewsReleases/latest/manly-quark.html
Exploring the Cosmic
Microwave Background
Astronomers use a variety of instruments to study the signature of the Big
Bang.
by Maggie McKee, Vanessa Thomas. See http://www.astronomy.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/001/041yhlel.asp
Unveiling the Flat
Universe
New observations of the cosmic microwave background suggest that the
universe is flat and will expand forever at an accelerating rate. by Diana
Steele. See http://www.astronomy.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/000/083dsscy.asp
Black Hole: A nearby black hole is hurtling like a cannonball
through the disk of our galaxy. The detection of this speed demon is the
best evidence yet, some astronomers say, that stellar-mass black holes --
those that are several times as massive as the Earth's Sun -- are created
when a dying, massive star explodes in a violent supernova. Hubble results
at http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/2002/30/
X-ray Glow From Clusters Of Galaxies Confirms Evidence Of Missing Matter
Huntsville - Nov 26, 2002 - The spectral glow of an oxygen isotope from
three clusters of galaxies might be proof that hot gases there account for a
large fraction of the previously unseen matter in the universe. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/darkmatter-02e.html
Firm
plans to fly first private moon mission
A California company plans to fly the world's first private mission to the moon
next year, delivering messages, business cards and cremated remains for a fee.
See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4627119.htm
Biology
Stem Cell Mixing May Form a Human-Mouse Hybrid
Some biologists argue that the best way to test stem cells
for their usefulness in treating diseases is to see how
they work in a living animal, such as a human-mouse hybrid.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/27/science/27CELL.html?todaysheadlines
Human
clone due in weeks, Italian says
The world's first human clone should be born in about seven weeks, a
controversial Italian gynecologist said at a news conference here yesterday. See
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4612954.htm
'Dolly' scientist embryo bid: Scientists "fooled" cells into
dividing.
The man who led the team which created Dolly the sheep has applied to use
cloning technology to create human embryos. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2510055.stm
Sense and sensibility
For centuries, science and philosophy have grappled with the mystery of our
inner life. But, argues David Lodge, it is literature that has provided the
most accurate record of human consciousness. See http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,823955,00.html
Synaesthesia - As many as one in 2000 people has an extraordinary condition in which the five senses intermingle. This major two part series reveals how synaesthesia is changing our understanding of the world of neuroscience. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/hearingcolours.shtml
Aging (27 Nov) - New research suggests that changes in less than 1% of our genes are responsible for the ageing process. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2521243.stm
Earth Science
Two-Billion-Year-Old Surprise Found Beneath The Azores
Bristol - Nov 26, 2002 - Geologists may have to revise their ideas about
what goes on in the Earth's interior, following the publication today of new
research in the journal Nature. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-02h.html
Seismic History Suggests Big Quakes Impending in California
Menlo Park - Nov 25, 2002 - An in-depth analysis of major long-term research
on the San Andreas fault indicates that parts of the fault are likely to
experience a major temblor sooner than previously believed, including the
section near Palm Springs and the San Bernardino-Riverside areas, and the
Hayward fault in the Bay Area. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tectonics-02p.html
Arctic Sea Ice Could Be Gone By End Of The Century
Greenbelt - Nov 29, 2002 - A NASA study finds that perennial sea ice in the
Arctic is melting faster than previously thought -- at a rate of 9 percent per
decade. If these melting rates continue for a few more decades, the perennial
sea ice will likely disappear entirely within this century, due to rising
temperatures and interactions between ice, ocean and the atmosphere that
accelerate the melting process. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iceage-02e.html
Dirt, The Final Frontier
Paris (AFP) Nov 28, 2002 - An international team of scientists announced
Thursday they would go below ground in seven tropical countries to find out more
about "minibeasts" -- minute soil creatures believed to the largest
untapped source of life on Earth. See http://www.spacedaily.com/2002/021128144541.mwjv6l5m.html
Technology
NASA Breakthrough Method May Lead To Smaller Electronics
Moffett Field - Nov 26, 2002 - NASA scientists have invented a breakthrough
biological method to make ultra-small structures that may well be used to
produce electronics 10 to 100 times smaller than today's components. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/chip-tech-02k.html
Zoology
Primatology (26 Nov) - A secret population of orang-utans has been discovered in the forests of the island of Borneo. Conservationists believe about 2,000 rare apes are living out of sight in a remote lowland region of East Kalimantan. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2510803.stm
French Creek Mines
The Institute for Biblical and Scientific Studies, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization, has a great opportunity to save the French Creek Mines in St. Peters, PA from destruction by land developers. The French Creek Mines are famous for their unusual mineral specimens. We want to preserve and restore the mines. The mine shaft itself would remain buried. We would restore the old railroad station as a museum with mineral displays from these mines. The cost of the property is $85,000. We can obtain half of this money with easement grants, but we still need to raise at least another $40,000 before the property is sold to others. There may be some that could give a donation for a tax write off to help us save the mine. If you know anyone that might be interested in helping us out financially to save the French Creek Mines, please let me know. You can contact me by e-mail at ibss1@aol.com.You can see pictures of the mines at http://bibleandscience.com/french_creek_mines.htm .
Spanish translation of Bible and Science now available: http://bibleandscience.com/spanish.htm.
I want to thank Felipe,
a biochemist from Chile, South America with Corporación Cristiana Anabaptista
"Puerta del Rebaño"
http://www.puertachile.cl, for his
translation of my article.
Religion in the News
The Teachings of Bill Gothard discussed live on the internet tonight at 10 CST by Don Venoit. See http://www.kfuo.org/Issues_Main_page.htm
Black
churches lost millions in scam, SEC says
Abraham L. Kennard cast himself as an entrepreneurial man of God, out to raise
big bucks for his brethren, that they might better spread the Word. For about 40
black churches in this area and more than a thousand others across the country,
Kennard seemed a godsend. But federal regulators contend that Kennard, 44, is an
ex-con who traded on race and faith in an $8.7 million "affinity
fraud" that mostly targeted African American churches. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/4595981.htm
Murder
in Lebanon: Are Falwell and Robertson to blame?
More details are emerging about the death of the American missionary killed in
Lebanon yesterday, although such key facts as her actual name are still disputed.
See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/22/international/middleeast/22LEBA.html
and http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/145/51.0.html
Making
mileage a matter of morality
A group of religious leaders came to the Motor City yesterday with a proposition
for U.S. automakers: Start producing vehicles that are kinder to God's creation,
and we will urge the faithful to buy them. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4567878.htm
Puritans' dilemma revisited | How did a fanatical search for truth give us religious tolerance? (Julia Vitullo-Martin, The Wall Street Journal). See http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110002670
Evangelical
Christians a rising force in Brazil
In this nation with the world's largest Roman Catholic population, evangelical
Christians are growing in record numbers and starting to flex their muscles in
Brazilian politics. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4567903.htm
Alabama
Chief Justice Roy Moore loses Ten Commandments case
It's not whether the Ten Commandments are posted in a courthouse that matters,
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled
yesterday in an eagerly awaited decision. It's how
they're posted. See http://www.religionwriters.com/public/tips/111802/111802b.html
Evangelical
Theological Society Moves Against Open Theists
Membership
of Pinnock and Sanders challenged by due process. By Doug Koop. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/145/54.0.html
Afraid you'll be left behind? | Though he writes from a Catholic perspective, Paul Thigpen, an ex-Pentecostal and former editor of Charisma magazine, takes care to demonstrate in The Rapture Trap how none of the leaders of the Reformation believed in the Rapture (Rod Dreher, National Review Online). See http://www.nationalreview.com/dreher/dreher111802.asp
Wall
Watchers Admits Error in Ministry Critique
In
addition, three other organizations removed from group's Transparency Watch
list. By Todd Hertz. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/145/52.0.html
2012:
A School Odyssey
Baylor
strives to go where no Christian university has gone before--in ten years. by
Randall Balmer. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/012/5.62.html
Save the Earth, Not Just Souls
http://www.emagazine.com/november-december_2002/1102eword.html
http://www.emagazine.com/november-december_2002/1102feat1.html
Miracle or fake? Weeping statue probe starts | Scientists from two Perth universities have already tested the 70cm sculpture, but were unable to find the source of the rose-scented oil that trickles from its eyes (The Age, Melbourne, Australia). See http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/11/22/1037697864831.html
How
Computer Nerds Describe God
The
founding editor of Wired magazine explains his mission to talk about
faith using the vocabulary and logic of science. An interview with
Kevin Kelly. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/145/31.0.html
Science in the News
Creation/Evolution
Icons of Evolution: NCSE is pleased to announce that its extensive
critique of Jonathan
Wells's Icons of Evolution -- "ICONS OF EVOLUTION? Why much of what
Jonathan Wells writes about evolution is wrong" -- is now available at
http://www.ncseweb.org/icons
Hovind vs. Weisenberg Debate at Temple University on November 12, 20002. For a summary of the debate CLICK HERE or see http://bibleandscience.com/hovinddebate.htm#Temple .
What comes naturally | Does evolution explain who we are? (Louis Menand, The New Yorker). See http://www.newyorker.com/critics/books/?021125crbo_books
Man & Dog. (21 Nov) - Dogs today come in all shapes and sizes, but scientists believe they evolved from just a handful of wolves tamed by humans living in or near China less than 15,000 years ago. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2498669.stm
Genetics (18 Nov) - Scientists have identified the first "master" molecule in the cell nucleus that controls the action of hundreds of different genes at once through its action on enzymes. The broad-acting molecule affects enzymes that restructure chromosomes, exposing genes to proteins that can then trigger key gene processes, including the start of protein production and copying and repairing of genes. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-11/uoc--si111802.php
Darwin In the Genome: As evidence builds up from studies of the genomes of various species, it's beginning to seem that mutations aren't always random: they occur more often in some genes than in others. Genes that make proteins involved in the simple chores of cellular housekeeping can be virtually identical in widely different species. But those that may give a selective edge - such as those coding for the toxins used by predatory sea snails to catch their prey - change rapidly from generation to generation. In Darwin in the Genome, Lynn Caporale explains the many ways that organisms shuffle the DNA pack to deal a winning hand. The nomadic chunks of DNA known as transposons and even the repeat sequences once dismissed as "junk" now seem to be mechanisms for generating this genetic variety, she says. Caporale, a biotechnology consultant working in New York, subtitles her book "Molecular strategies in biological evolution", but rejects any suggestion that its contents undermine classical Darwinian theory. The term "strategy" is not used to imply that the process is driven by a preordained plan, as creationists would argue. Rather, she says, it is used to indicate mechanisms that "have the effect of anticipating and responding to challenges and opportunities that continue to emerge in the environment". See http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opbooks.jsp?id=ns237022
Epicurus'--and
Darwin's-- Dangerous Idea
How
we became hedonists. By Richard Weikart. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/145/11.0.html
Archaeology/Anthropology
Damage
to James ossuary helps authenticate age
The James ossuary, which may be the oldest extratextual evidence of Jesus'
existence, went
on display in Toronto Friday. The cracks that appeared during shipment from
Tel Aviv have been repaired—and
have led to more evidence that it's as old as archaeologists say it is. Fossils
of plant roots and bacterial staining were found in the cracks, and officials at
the Royal Ontario Museum also discovered a carved funereal rosette with flecks
of red paint, common decorations on bone boxes between A.D. 50 and A.D. 70. As
for recent naysaying, archeologist Ed Keall says it's
clearly untrue that the phrase "brother of Jesus" was added long
after the original inscription. "I'm convinced that all of the criticisms
voiced by people who have only photographs are without substance," he told
a news conference. See http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/national/national/nationalTheNationHeadline_temp/9/9/24/
Astronomy
Shuttle
finally heads to space
Space shuttle Endeavour streaked into orbit last night after weeks of delay,
carrying up a new set of residents and another massive building block for the
International Space Station. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4593344.htm
NASA Pushed Everyday Trickle Down Of Space Technology
Huntsville - Nov 19, 2002 - From sunglasses to solar power collection,
technologies derived from NASA's space research continue to change the world
around us. The latest examples are highlighted in the new edition of "Spinoff"
-- an annual publication showing how technology from the space program benefits
everyday life. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/industry-02f.html
Where on Earth Is Mars?
Pasadena - Nov 19, 2002 - Among the thousands of visitors to Mt. Etna this year,
one group came not just to look at one of most famous volcanoes on Earth. Dozens
of scientists trekked up Etna together this fall to observe what Etna has in
common with Mars. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-general-02i.html
Biggest Volcanic Eruption Seen on Jupiter Moon : Nov. 15 — A team of astronomers, routinely monitoring Jupiter's moon Io, has witnessed the largest documented volcanic eruption in history. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20021111/io.html
US Astronomers Detect Two Black Holes In Far Away Galaxy
Washington (AFP) Nov 19, 2002 - Astronomers using an orbiting X-ray
observatory say they have discovered two enormous black holes co-existing in a
single galaxy 400 million light years away, the first-ever such discovery. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/021119215024.zwspkvku.html
Hurtling Black Hole Reveals Secrets: Nov. 18 — A black hole barreling through the Milky Way galaxy got its drive from the supernova explosion in which it was born, say astronomers who are calling the discovery the first solid evidence that small black holes are formed in the death throes of large stars. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20021118/blackhole.html
How many Universes? http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/29/science/space/29MULT.html?ex=1036901261&e
i=1&en=97762bd90d76a496
We might have a special place in the Universe after all.
Only galaxies about the age of our Milky Way have the right conditions for
intelligent life to develop, argue Jaume Garriga of the University of
Barcelona, Spain, and Alexander Vilenkin of Tufts University in Medford,
Massachusetts1. And that age, they say, might coincide with a fundamental
change in the Universe. See http://www.nature.com/nsu/021028/021028-4.html
Biology
Scientists Hope to Create New Form of Life: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The pioneer scientist who helped crack the human genome (news - web sites) and a Nobel laureate were expected to announce on Thursday plans to create a new life form in a laboratory dish in an experiment that raises ethical and safety questions, according to a published report. See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=585&e=1&cid=585&u=/nm/20021121/sc_nm/science_cell_dc
Scientists Want to Create a New Kind of Mosquito: They look to bioengineering to win the battle of malarial resistance. See http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2002/nov/research1_021125.html
Vaccine Appears to Prevent Cervical Cancer
Scientists say the vaccine works by making people immune to
a transmitted virus that causes many cases of the disease. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/21/health/21VACC.html?todaysheadlines
Drug
shows promise in radiation therapy
Researchers have discovered that a drug normally used to prevent the rejection
of kidney transplants might improve radiation therapy by keeping cancer tumors
from growing between doses. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4589311.htm
Cannabis and mental health (21 Nov) - Frequent cannabis use increases the risk of developing depression and schizophrenia in later life, according to three studies in this week's British Medical Journal. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2498493.stm
Heart
group denies a shift on Atkins
The American Heart Association yesterday denied reports that it was changing its
policy toward high-protein diets, reiterating its belief that such weight-loss
plans could be harmful. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4567881.htm
Earth Science
New Theory on Dinosaurs: Multiple Meteorites Did Them In
By WILLIAM J. BROAD. "It's so clear," said Dr. Gerta Keller, a
geologist and paleontologist at
Princeton, who studies the links between cosmic bombardments and life
upheavals. "A tremendous amount of new data has been accumulated over the
past few years that points in the direction of multiple impacts." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/05/science/life/05CRAT.html?ex=1037507635&ei=1&en=c088b804fe20331c
Physics
Molecular Film On Liquid Mercury Reveals New Properties
A team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National
Laboratory, Harvard University, and Bar-Ilan University in Israel have grown
ultrathin films made of organic molecules on the surface of liquid mercury. The
results, reported in the November 15, 2002, issue of Science, reveal a series of
new molecular structures that could lead to novel applications in nanotechnology,
which involves manipulating materials at the atomic scale. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-02zt.html
Psychology
Religion in the News
Bush
steps up support of Islam
In the wake of television host Pat Robertson comments that Muslims are
"worse than the Nazis," President George Bush has taken a more
direct defense of Islam. See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021113/ts_nm/bush_muslims_dc_4
Powell criticizes Falwell, Robertson | "This kind of hatred must be rejected," says Secretary of State (Associated Press). See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021114/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/powell_muslims_1
Accused snipers may be followers | Federal authorities are investigating whether accused snipers John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo had ties to a growing sect of militant American Muslims committed to waging holy war against the United States (The Washington Times). See http://www.washtimes.com/national/20021113-31531012.htm
Baptist
college rejects convention's trustees
A battle between Shorter
College and the Georgia
Baptist Convention is coming to a boil. On Tuesday, the convention rejected
all 16 possible names submitted by the college to fill eight openings on the
college's 30-member board of trustees. See http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/cobb/1102/13baptists.html
Bishops revise abuse policy | Clergymen say the new policy is tighter; lay groups call it too secretive (The Washington Post). See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48605-2002Nov13.html
Pope crosses town and makes history | Speech to Italian Parliament a first. (The Washington Post). See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56626-2002Nov14.html
45
Ministries 'Failed to Demonstrate Financial Transparency,' Says Watchdog Website
List
may have financial consequences, but several named groups say ratings are wrong.
By Ted Olsen. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/144/53.0.html
Elegy
for a 9/11 Hero
A
review of Lisa Beamer's Let's Roll!: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage.
By Cindy Crosby. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/012/37.86.html
Cults on campus | Cults prey on new students' feelings of alienation, experts say (KGTV, San Diego). See http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/sand/news/stories/news-178208720021112-161152.html
Benny
Hinn event in England produces injuries and illness
Last Saturday, about 19,000 people showed up to see faith healer and
televangelist Benny
Hinn in Manchester,
England. The problem: the arena only holds 17,000. At
least seven gatecrashers were injured.
See http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/stories/Detail_LinkStory=23380.html
Monks give religion a pop spin | Benedictines at a Limerick abbey build on their hit CD of Gregorian chants with a new prayer book (The Observer, London). See http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,825049,00.html
Don't
forget marriage, says Alex Kotlowitz
"With the Republican victory last week, Congress now appears likely to set
aside funding
for programs that promote marriage among the poor," writes Alex
Kotlowitz in today's New
York Times. He had initially thought the plan was "nuts,"
"But now I wonder if the conservatives who are driving this effort might be
on to something.…There is now growing consensus among social scientists that,
all things being equal, two parents are best for children. It would seem to
follow that two-parent families are also best for a community. It may take
a village to raise a child, but it takes families to build a village."
See http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/144/31.0.html
Guilt
Good and Bad
The
early warning signs. By Philip Yancey. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/012/36.112.html
Aramaic
May Disappear in Four Decades
Only
about 400,000 Arab Christians and 20,000 Jews speak the language. By
Ted Olsen. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/012/19.21.html
A pair of unlikely magazines have a friend in Jesus | Wired, Popular Mechanics both have religion covers in December (The Philadelphia Inquirer). See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/magazine/daily/4505293.htm
'What would Jesus drive?' gas-guzzling Americans are asked | TV commercials air in Midwest. (The Guardian, London). See http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,839521,00.html
Science in the News
Creation/Evolution
Patrick
Henry rewrites Statement of Biblical Worldview
After denying preliminary accreditation to Patrick
Henry College in April, the American Academy of Liberal Education (AALE) announced
this week that it has
approved the 150-student school for pre-accreditation. The Purcellville,
Virginia, college, designed for homeschooled students, previously was denied
accreditation because of its teaching
of world origins. Patrick Henry's Statement
of Biblical Worldview said that all professors had to believe that
"God's creative work…was completed in six twenty-four hour days."
The AALE ruled that the position disqualified the school from pre-accreditation
because it limited "liberty of thought." http://www.phc.edu/news/docs/200211130.asp
also http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/144/51.0.html
Weird
Science?
A
Darwinian debate continues. By Jonathan Wells. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/144/11.0.html
Kenneth Miller Responds to Jonathan Wells: http://www.millerandlevine.com/km/evol/wells-april-2002.html
AAAS Opposes 'Intelligent Design Theory' Within Science
Classes
Washington - Nov 12, 2002 - The world's largest general scientific
organization -- the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
-- today urged policymakers to oppose teaching "Intelligent Design
Theory" within science classrooms, but rather, to keep it separate, in the
same way that creationism and other religious teachings are currently handled.
See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02zy.html
| The length of time DNA can survive in permafrost is about 100,000 years, and for most people this would seem like quite a while. But for anyone hoping to chart the progress of evolution, it's really no time at all. So studies of evolutionary relationships have had to rely on comparing the bones of fossils and living animals. But new research could change all that. Researchers have discovered that osteocalcin, a structural protein that bonds directly to the minerals of bone, could yield perfect genetic data after many millions of years. The finding may allow researchers to probe the evolutionary conundrums left by many extinct species, including the ancestors of modern humans. See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993058 |
The New Convergence: In recent years, Allan Sandage, one of the world's leading astronomers, has declared that the big bang can be understood only as a "miracle." Charles Townes, a Nobel-winning physicist and coinventor of the laser, has said that discoveries of physics "seem to reflect intelligence at work in natural law." Biologist Christian de Duve, also a Nobel winner, points out that science argues neither for nor against the existence of a deity: "There is no sense in which atheism is enforced or established by science." And biologist Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, insists that "a lot of scientists really don't know what they are missing by not exploring their spiritual feelings." See http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.12/convergence.html
Archaeology/Anthropology
ABR Electronic Newsletter reports: Rumors are circulating in the archaeological circles of Israel that another inscription has been found, apparently illegally. The report is that the inscription is a dedicatory building inscription from the First Temple in Jerusalem.
Biblical plagues and parting of Red Sea 'caused by volcano' | So says new BBC documentary (The Daily Telegraph, London). Moses, which will be broadcast on BBC1 on Dec 1, will suggest that much of the Bible story can be explained by a single natural disaster, a huge volcanic eruption on the Greek island of Santorini in the 16th century BC. See http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/11/11/nmoses11.xml
CIA releases Noah's Ark documents
The CIA has released two new documents that indicate the search for
''Noah's Ark'' reached the level of the White House, according to a report in
Insight Magazine. See http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29655
Russian Scientists Say Shroud of Turin a Fake: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20021111/shroud.html
Iron Age Objects Found in Israel :JERUSALEM - Archaeologists have
uncovered hundreds of Iron Age
Philistine religious objects near Tel Aviv, a senior scientist said Monday,
calling the find rare and significant. The vessels, used in religious
ceremonies, date to the 9th and 10th centuries B.C., said archaeologist Raz
Kletter. See http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/4494723.htm
Offering
table confirms oldest church find
In 1998, North Carolina State University archaeologist Thomas Parker announced
that he'd discovered the oldest
Christian church in the world in Aqaba, Jordan. Excavations have continued,
and this summer Parker found important evidence showing the building, erected in
the 200s, was truly built to be a church: an
offering table. Before 300, Christians used other buildings as churches. See
http://technicianonline.com/read/tol/news/006322.html
ROM repairing box linked to Jesus | Exhibit opens on Friday: Stabilization techniques will not hide crack (The National Post, Canada). See http://www.nationalpost.com/national/story.html?id=%7BFD54A9EB-434E-4701-AABF-2657FC90A4CA%7D
Archeological garden opens at Ramat Rahel http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1037248946704
Rise in antiquities theft vexes Israel's 'Indiana Joneses' | Looting in the West Bank is a new concern. But the 'James ossuary' reveals a need for continued vigilance at home (The Christian Science Monitor). See http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1114/p18s01-stgn.html
Great Wall of China Is Older Than Experts Thought: Nov. 11 — The first section of the Great Wall of China was constructed in the central portion of the country around 688 B.C., Chinese archaeologists announced at a recent academic conference in Henan Province. If their claim holds true, the Great Wall is over 400 years older than previously thought. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20021111/greatwall.html
Astronomy
Indian Scientists claim they have found Microbial Life in Space: http://tlc.discovery.com/news/afp/20021104/story4.html
Chandra Snaps Mars In X-Ray Vision
Huntsville - Nov 15, 2002 - This remarkable image from the Chandra X-ray
Observatory image gave scientists their first look at X-rays from Mars. In the
sparse upper atmosphere of Mars, about 75 miles above its surface, the observed
X-rays are produced by fluorescent radiation from oxygen atoms. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-general-02h.html
Martian
meteorite mysteries resolved
The unexpectedly high number and young age of rocks propelled from Mars to Earth
can now be explained, say scientists. See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993030
Keck Watches Io Adapt
Berkeley - Nov 14, 2002 - Routine monitoring of volcanic activity on
Jupiter's moon Io, now possible through advanced adaptive optics on the Keck II
telescope in Hawaii, has turned up the largest eruption to date on Io's surface
or in the solar system. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-io-02c.html
XMM-Newton Closes In On Space's Exotic Matter
Paris (ESA) Nov 12, 2002 - A fraction of a second after the Big Bang, all
the primordial soup of matter in the Universe was 'broken' into its most
fundamental constituents. It was thought to have disappeared forever. However
scientists strongly suspect that the exotic soup of dissolved matter can still
be found in today's Universe, in the core of certain very dense objects called
neutron stars. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/darkmatter-02c.html
Magnetic Space Storms Accelerate Electrons To Light Speed
Berkeley - Nov 13, 2002 - A chance observation of high-energy electrons
emanating from a tiny region of space where the sun and Earth's magnetic fields
intertwine provides the first solid evidence that a process called magnetic
reconnection accelerates electrons to near the speed of light in the Earth's
magnetosphere and perhaps throughout the universe where magnetic fields
entangle. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/stellar-02d.html
DARE for Planetary Exploration
Altadena - Nov 12, 2002 - Balloons outfitted with innovative steering
devices and robot probes could be the future of planetary exploration. Dr.
Alexey Pankine, a fellow at the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC),
presented an analysis of balloon applications for planetary science at the World
Space Congress in Houston, Texas last month. His study, entitled Directed Aerial
Robot Explorers or DARE, is funded by NIAC. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/balloon-02b.html
New Evidence for Dark Energy
Macclesfield - Nov 13, 2002 - An international team of astronomers, led by
scientists at the University of Manchester have produced new evidence that most
of the energy in the Universe is in the form of the mysterious "Dark
Energy". See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/darkmatter-02d.html
Leonid Shower To Be Last Meteor Fiesta For Decades
Paris (AFP) Nov 15, 2002 - The Leonid shooting stars return next week for
what is likely to be their last great fireworks display for three decades, and
maybe even as long as a century. See http://spacedaily.com/news/021115031218.dl32ssp2.html
Biology
20-Minute AIDS Test Approved: Nov. 8 — A new diagnostic
device allowing to detect the AIDS virus in as little as 20 minutes has received
government approval in the United States in what officials described as a major
step toward curbing the deadly epidemic. See http://health.discovery.com/news/afp/20021104/aidstest.html
Vaccine May Protect Against Cancer: Nov. 5 — Researchers have
tested a cancer vaccine on laboratory mice that works by choking off the blood
supply that helps tumours to grow, according to the November issue of the
journal Nature Medicine. See http://health.discovery.com/news/afp/20021104/cancervaccine.html
Exercise Fights Cholesterol: Nov. 6 — The more a person
exercises the greater the benefit to cardiovascular health, a study published
Wednesday found, drawing a direct link between the amount of regular exercise
and the reduction of harmful cholesterol. See http://health.discovery.com/news/afp/20021104/exercise.html
Earth Science
Ancient Protein And DNA Sequences Found In Same Fossil
Newcastle - Nov 14, 2002 - For the first time in the world, researchers at
the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, along with collaborators at the
University of Oxford, Harvard University, and Michigan State University have
uncovered two genetically informative molecules from a single fossil bone. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02zz.html
NASA Takes H2O Apart With Radar
Greenbelt - Nov 13, 2002 - Rain, snow, ice crystals, and hail are part of a
complex process that drives energy circulation in the atmosphere, which in turn
helps regulate our planet's climate. A new NASA radar is helping scientists
understand this process by measuring the characteristics of various forms of
precipitation within rain and snowstorms. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/radar-02j.html
GPS Technology Aids Earthquake Research
Newcastle - Nov 12, 2002 - Scientists' understanding of the movement of the
Earth's crust is being helped by a new, highly accurate observing facility which
is taking measurements that may one day help predict earthquakes. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tectonics-02n.html
Technology
Canada Pursues Micro Fuel Cells
Edmonton - Nov 15, 2002 - A first in Canada, the Alberta Research Council (ARC)
reached a milestone in the technical development of its own version of solid
oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology. ARC scientists are developing a proprietary
micro solid oxide fuel cell (µ-SOFC) source of energy for small-scale portable
applications such as laptops or personal digital assistants (PDAs). See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/energy-tech-02u.html
Religion in the News
The
Praying Trucker Who Stopped the Snipers
http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/142/12.0.html
Campus killer: "Here's a lesson in spirituality" See http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/142/42.0.html
Conservative religious organizations: "This was a significant
victory"
So far, few Christian political organizations on the right or left have offered
analysis of yesterday's election. Two notable exceptions are Focus
on the Family and the Family
Research Council. "On balance, this was a significant victory for our
pro-family issues," says council president Ken Connor in his daily Washington
Update.
Is Oprah America's Most
Effective Pastor?
http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp?pageLoc=story/115/story_11585_1.html&boardID=47471
The
Dick Staub Interview of John Polkinghorne
The
2002 Templeton Prize winner sees the Bible as "the laboratory
notebook" of the Holy Spirit. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/143/21.0.html
Mormons give roots to online 1880 Census
Folks interested in their roots get a huge boon today when the 1880 U.S.
Census -- the first searchable, complete Census -- goes online.
Volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is
renowned for its genealogical research facilities, spent 17 years inputting
the 50 million entries into computers. The result can be found at
http://familysearch.org
The Mormon murder case | By ignoring clear historical evidence, Gordon Hinckley and his church have failed to confront, and atone for, the bloody consequences of their claim to be God's anointed (Caroline Fraser, New York Review of Books). http://www.nybooks.com/articles/15814
Does Brigham Young University pose a threat to academic freedom? | An ex-professor states his case. (Scott Abbot, The Boston Globe).
Tamil
Nadu's anti-conversion ordinance becomes permanent law
As expected, the legislative assembly in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu
created a law prohibiting
religious conversion by "force, allurement, or fraudulent means."
In rumor of cow's death, a reason to kill | Hindu lynching of 5 rekindles national debate in India over faith and culture (The Washington Post).
Religious development impressive in China: foreign religious leaders | A number of foreign religious leaders, attending the 50th anniversary of Nanjing Union Theological Seminary in east China's Jiangsu province, expressed their surprise at the favorable development of religion in China (People's Daily, China)
Christians risk all for church in Israel, Orthodox nun says | Military checkpoints, curfews and violence remain oppressive issues for the economic and spiritual well-being of Palestinian Christians, says Agapia Stephanopoulos (The Grand Rapids Press)
Religious tension growing in Russia | President Putin urges people not to incite ethnic conflicts (Pravda)
Religion rules in Brazil | In a country where everyone has to vote, the evangelical voting bloc (which votes the way its pastors tell it to) has the power to swing elections (Andrew Greeley, Chicago Sun-Times)
Thomas Nelson sues International Bible Society in Visual Bible dispute. See http://nashville.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2002/10/28/story7.html
Publishers alter texts to try to make grade | Texas Freedom Network, a group that monitors the religious right, said publishers have deleted passages that describe Islam positively and made changes to promote Christianity (Houston Chronicle)
'Jesus' bills fill libraries | Counterfeit bills with quotes from the Bible and other pro-Christian literature are being stuffed in books at public libraries throughout Maine (Kennebec Journal).
Christian students search for acceptance on campus | For many Christian students on campus, much of their time is spent working to change preconceived notions of their faith (The Michigan Daily, Ann Arbor)
Beliefnet
no longer financially bankrupt
Scaling back from 69 employees to five, depending mostly on reprints, massively
cutting original material, and scrubbing their own toilets, multifaith website Beliefnet
has pulled
out of bankruptcy,
reports USA Today.
New status for embryos in research | Embryos in experiments are "human subjects" whose welfare should be considered along with that of fetuses, children and adults, says federal advisory committee (The Washington Post)
Patient dies after visit to faith healer | The Santa Ana man sought help for a rash but was injected with an unidentified substance (Los Angeles Times)
Science in the News
Creation/Evolution
Creation in Six Days: An analysis of James Jordan's defense of the
traidtional reading of Genesis One. The second presentation in the
Fall 2002 Colloquium Series of the
Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute will be held Tuesday 19
November 2002, at Biblical Theological Seminary, tentatively in room 25,
beginning at 8 pm. The topic is "Creation in Six Days: An
analysis of
James Jordan's defense of the traidtional reading of Genesis One."
The
speaker will be Bartholomew J. Votta, a research biologist and Associate of
IBRI. Bart is a Principal Investigator in the Dept of Musculoskeletal
Diseases at GalaxoSmithKline, and a ThM candidate at Biblical Seminary.
Abstract: In a recent book (1999), Dr. Jordan, writing from a reformed
perspective, challenges some of the contemporary interpretations of Genesis
1-2. In particular, he rejects the "framework" approaches of
Bruce Waltke
and Meredith Kline, the "anthropic days" of C. John Collins, and the
"limited geography" of John Sailhammer. Jordan concludes his
defense of the
traditional (literal, consecutive day) reading of Genesis one by proposing
his own creative interpretation of the text. We will review and analyze
Jordan's principal arguments and evaluate the adequacy of his defense.
Admission is free and open to all interested. See www.ibri.org
Dr. Dino, Kent Hovind of Creation Science Evangelism,
will debate Dr. Richard Weisenberg, professor of biology at Temple University on
Tuesday, November 12, 2002 in Anderson Hall, Room 17.Details can be found on
Hovind's website at
http://www.drdino.com/cse.asp?pg=itinerary&specific=449
The transcripts for the intelligent design forum held at the
American Museum of Natural History on April 23, 2002,
"Blind Evolution or Intelligent Design," are now available
on-line at the NCSE web site. To access the transcripts go to:
http://www.ncseweb.org/article.asp?category=15
Teaching the controversy' over evolution could be disastrous
By Charles C. Haynes: http://morningsun.net/stories/102702/opE_1027020050.shtml
Stop the fighting: Use 'creation-evolution' conflict as teaching tool | We'll never get beyond the battling until we help students understand the range of views — religious and non-religious — about the claims of science (Charles Haynes, Freedom Forum). See http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16053
Of
Moths and Men Revisited
A
Darwinian debate. By Kevin Padian and Alan Gishlick. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/143/11.0.html
Darwin debate spreads | Teachers in Danish primary schools have been warned against being overly critical of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution when teaching biology (The Copenhagen Post). See http://cphpost.periskop.dk/default.asp?id=25516
The Great Darwin Divide: Darwin and Christianity http://www.research.fsu.edu/ResearchR/issue2001/darwindivide.html
Did Methane Rich Greenhouse Boosted Evolutionary Process?
Denver - Oct 28, 2002 - What constrained the evolution of life during the very
hot early Earth? Was a simple drop in temperature largely responsible for the
emergence of cyanobacteria, a large and varied group of bacteria with
chlorophyll that carry out photosynthesis in the presence of light and air with
concomitant production of oxygen? Was it a reduction in carbon-dioxide levels?
See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02zt.html
Evolution Upset: Oxygen-Making Microbes Came Last, Not First
Denver - Oct 30, 2002 - Get ready to rewrite those biology textbooks -- again.
Although the "lowly" blue-green algae, or Cyanobacteria, have long
been credited as one of Earth's earliest life forms and the source of the oxygen
in the early Earth's atmosphere, they might be neither. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02zr.html
The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins selected excerpts at -
http://www.world-of-dawkins.com/Dawkins/Work/Books/blind.htm
The Stephen Jay Gould Archive: http://www.stephenjaygould.org
Archaeology/Anthropology
James
ossuary may not go on display as scheduled
Delays in fixing the damage to the limestone box that probably once held the
bones of James, the brother of Jesus, may mean the ossuary won't be displayed at
Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum as scheduled. See http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20021106/headdexNational_temp/12/12/27/
Evidence
of Jesus' existence now has crack through it
The limestone
box that once held the bones of "James, son of Joseph, brother of
Jesus," survived in Israel for 1,939 years. But only two weeks after its
existence was made known to the world, the limestone box sustained what is being
called "very
serious damage." See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021101/od_uk_nm/oukoe_life_canada_ossuary_1
Israel
says owner of James ossuary may not be owner after all
Tel Aviv newspaper Ha'aretz has finally revealed
the owner of the James
ossuary, the oldest extra-textual evidence of Jesus' existence. Oded Golan
is a 51-year-old Tel Aviv engineer who apparently works
for Lucent Technologies—or at least did in 1998. But wait. He may not be the
owner after all. Ha'aretz reports that mere hours
before Biblical Archaeology Review held its press
conference to announce the discovery of the bone box, the Tel Aviv police
brought Golan in for questioning. "Investigators at the Antiquities
Authority suspect that Golan illegally acquired this artifact, which actually
belongs to the state," reports Ha'aretz's Sara
Leibovich-Dar. See http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=22651ID=2&subContrID=1&sbSubContrassID=0
Ossuary
owner breaks his silence
After being called an idiot for packing a 2,000-year-old bone box that may
be the most exciting New Testament archaeological find ever in cardboard and
bubble wrap, and after being accused of trying to smuggle the priceless treasure
out of Israel, and after being accused of dealing in looted artifacts, ossuary
owner Oded Golan has come out of hiding to defend himself. The front-page story
in Toronto's Globe
and Mail has several notes that contradict what has been previously
reported: http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20021107/UO/headdexInternational_temp/4/4/29/
Ancient box opens lid on theological debate | Was Jesus an only child? Was Mary forever a virgin? The discovery of a Jewish ossuary bearing some familiar scriptural names is turning into a Pandora's box for scholars, clergy and laity. (St. Petersburg Times). See http://www.sptimes.com/2002/11/01/Floridian/Ancient_box_opens_lid.shtml
Is Mount Sinai at Har Karkom? See http://www.harkarkom.com/
Archaeologists unearth Tyre’s Phoenician roots: Dig uncovers 12 burial jars http://www.dailystar.com.lb/02_11_02/art4.asp
Fundamentalism (30 Oct) - 'The Origins and Nature of Fundamentalism in Society' by Niccolo Caldararo. The current debate on the nature of fundamentalism is outlined in this paper. Ethnohistorical materials are used to define the origins of this concept and to describe the function and structure of such movements in past societies. The relationship of identity, religion and global economy and hegemony are discussed as formative elements of fundamentalist movements. Some prospects for the future are presented. See http://human-nature.com/nibbs/02/history.html
Astronomy
Martian rock 'does contain life' Is this a fossilised micro organism
from Mars?
By Dr David Whitehouse: The strange shapes seen in a rock from Mars that some
researchers say are
fossilised bacteria really are tiny micro organisms, say American
researchers.
But while they are confident the Mars rock contains fossilised life they
cannot quite bring themselves to say it comes from the Red Planet, it might
be Earthly contamination. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2354533.stm
Martian Water Debate: Oct. 23 — There's no end in sight for the debate over whether Mars was once wet, warm and Earth-like, or forever a frigid world where water never had a chance to thaw and flow. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20021021/marsdebate.html
Face on Mars: Nov. 6 — The face on Mars has been spotted again, this time in a nighttime infrared image that tells a bit more about its mysterious geological origins. The "face" is actually a three-kilometer long knob of sediments in the northern Cydonia region that is littered with similar knobs and mesas. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20021104/mars.html
Intelligent life in the Universe (30 Oct) - Ever since Copernicus put the Sun, rather than Earth, at the centre of the Universe, scientists and philosophers have suspected that there's nothing special about our cosmic time and place. But two physicists now suggest otherwise. Only galaxies about the age of our Milky Way have the right conditions for intelligent life to develop. See http://www.nature.com/nsu/021028/021028-4.html
Astronomers Find Life On Earth
Boston - Nov 01, 2002 - Now that the discovery of extrasolar planets, or
planets around distant stars, has become relatively routine, scientists are now
tackling the next step: finding life-bearing worlds. To do this, observers must
know what signs to look for in the feeble light from these faraway planets. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02zw.html
Sounding Europa On the Cheap: Eavesdropping On Ice
Denver - Oct 28, 2002 - Forget drilling. A simpler and cheaper way to search for
an ocean under Europa's glacial surface is to land a solitary electronic ear on
the Jovian moon, and listen to the echoes of cracking ice. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-europa-02e.html
Life's The Pits On Europa
Boulder - Nov 01, 2002 - The oozing of glacial material in the floating
ice shell on Jupiter's moon Europa has important implications for future
exploration of the enigmatic moon and prospects of life in its ice-covered
ocean, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder professor. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-europa-02g.html
A new moon of the planet Uranus has been discovered, bringing the
total of
known moons to 21. See http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2002/release_2002_197.cfm
NASA'S Stardust Comet-Chaser Passes Asteroid Test
Pasadena (JPL) Nov 06, 2002 - All systems on NASA's Stardust spacecraft
performed successfully when tested in a flyby of asteroid Annefrank on Friday,
heightening anticipation for Stardust's encounter with its primary target, comet
Wild 2, 14 months from now. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/stardust-02e.html
Bouncing Cosmic Mysteries Off Kuiper Worlds
Boulder - October 30, 2002 - A team led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)
has found that a portion of anomalous cosmic rays -- charged particles
accelerated to enormous energies by the solar wind -- results from interactions
with dust grains from a belt of comet-sized objects near Pluto's orbit. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/kuiper-02e.html
'Oldest' star found in galaxy: HE0107-5240 lies in the outer reaches
of our galaxy
By Dr David Whitehouse
This is the oldest star in our Milky Way yet observed by astronomers. It
could date back to the beginning of the Universe, about 14 billion years
ago. The giant star, HE0107-5240, is a rarity because unlike younger stars it is
virtually metal-free. It is from the first generation of stars made from the
simple elements left over from the Big Bang.
Writing in the journal Nature researchers say, "these old stars provide
crucial clues to the star formation history and the synthesis of chemical
elements in the early Universe. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2381935.stm
Why aren't there more new stars? It seems like there's enough
gas and dust
around that more new stars should be seen. Researchers have discovered
that a well-known, but overlooked source of heating may play a significant
role in keeping the Milky Way's gas continually stirred up, limiting the
formation of new stars. http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/Kritsuk_Norman1.htm
V838 Mon Bursts Into Light
Cape Town - Dec 06, 2002 - A highly unusual new variable star has attracted
a great deal of attention amongst the astronomical community in recent months:
the star has significantly changed its appearance during this time. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/stellar-02c.html
Aging Stars: An international team of astronomers have provided proof
that the magnetic
field close to a number of aging stars is 10 to 100 times stronger than
that of our own Sun . These observations suggest a solution to the long
outstanding problem as to how, at the end of its life, a perfectly
spherical star can give rise to the complex and beautiful structure seen in
the resulting "planetary nebula". http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/news/magnetism/
Magnetar: Scientists have identified the most magnetic object
known in the Universe, the result of the first direct measurement of a
magnetic field around a peculiar neutron star known as a
magnetar. http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20021030strongestmag.html
Gravity Waves Analysis Opens 'Completely New Sense'
St. Louis - Oct 30, 2002 - Sometime within the next two years, researchers will
detect the first signals of gravity waves -- those weak blips from the far edges
of the universe passing through our bodies every second. Predicted by Einstein's
theory of general relativity, gravity waves are expected to reveal, ultimately,
previously unattainable mysteries of the universe. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gravity-02c.html
In Search Of Cosmic Mayhem
St. Louis - Nov 01, 2002 - A physicist at Washington University in St. Louis
working with scientists at the Smithsonian Institution is unveiling the dark,
violent side of the universe. Studying the highest energy photons known to
science, Washington University Associate Professor of Physics James H. Buckley,
Ph.D., and his colleagues are analyzing bursts of gamma rays released from
massive black holes at the center of so-called active galaxies. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gamma-02e.html
Memories Of Orange Rock From The Lunar Age
Washington - Nov 01, 2002 - The date was December 11, 1972, and the occasion
was the last Apollo mission to the Moon. Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt
landed in the Valley of Taurus-Littrow, the only scientist and the last of 12
men to step onto the lunar surface. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/lunar-02c.html
Leonids 2002 Among The Moonlight
Washington - Nov 05, 2002 - After putting on spectacular performances for
the last four years running, the Leonid meteor shower is due to sweep across
Earth one more time during the early-morning hours of Tuesday, November 19th,
Sky & Telescope magazine reports. If the weather is clear, we could be in
for a grand celestial show. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/leonid-02a.html
Biology
Top Ten Nutritional Tips: http://health.discovery.com/convergence/bodychallenge2/jack_bio/jack_tips.html
Top Ten Myths of Marriage: http://health.discovery.com/centers/loverelationships/articles/marriage_myths.html
Duct Tape to treat Warts: http://health.discovery.com/news/afp/20021014/ductape.html
Inside the womb: What scientists have learned about those amazing first nine months—and what it means for mothers (Time). See http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101021111/story.htmlStress at work doubles heart attack risk: According to a study published in Saturday's issue of the weekly British Medical Journal (BMJ), people who suffer from stressful demands at work, poor rewards and scant career opportunities are twice as likely to die from heart disease. See http://health.discovery.com/news/afp/20021014/stress.html
Vaccine may save hepatitis C victims' livers
http://www.newscientist.com/exc/enews.jsp?id=ns99992985
Gains in Understanding Human Cells
By NICHOLAS WADE: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/25/science/25CELL.html
Gene pioneer urges dream of human perfection: http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/front/RTGAM/20021026/026/Front/homeBN/breakingnews
The Brain Revolution and Ethics
By Arthur L. Caplan: http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2002/oct/opin_021028.html
Your
brain may soon be used against you
The last refuge of secrets and lies - the brain - may be about to reveal all.
Scientists are finding ways to use the brain's activity to expose truths a
person may try to hide. The techniques could revolutionize police work, improve
national security, and threaten personal privacy. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/4391614.htm
Earth Science
Three ESA Satellites Reveal Etna's Complexity
Paris (ESA) Nov 05, 2002 - As detected by ESA satellite sensors, the recent
eruptions of the Mount Etna volcano in Sicily are throwing huge amounts of ash
and trace gases into the atmosphere. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/volcano-02c.html
Physics
Researchers 'look inside' antimatter
In its so-called Atrap research, the Cern team has built a corral for
anti-protons. European scientists have carried out the first experiments on
antimatter.
Researchers in Geneva, Switzerland, have been able to trap and control
anti-hydrogen atoms in a chamber at a sufficiently low temperature to begin
studying their physics in detail. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2375717.stm
Experiment Could Reveal 'Extra Dimensions,' Exotic Forces
West Lafayette - Nov 05, 2002 - Physicists have devised a new experiment
that will be used in the quest for exotic forces in nature and "additional
spatial dimensions." See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cosmology-02l.html
Order And Disorder Unite To Enable Ultrasound, Sonar
Philadelphia - Nov 04, 2002 - Chemists at the University of Pennsylvania
have shown how atom-scale changes in certain materials can dramatically affect
their ability to interchange mechanical and electrical signals. This finding,
reported in the Oct. 31 issue of Nature, may permit scientists to engineer these
materials to be more sensitive, durable and environmentally friendly. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-02zq.html
Psychology
Addiction (1 Nov) - Researchers at Jefferson Medical College have evidence in animals that the young, adolescent brain may be more sensitive to addictive drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines than either the adult or newborn. The work may help someday lead to a better understanding of how the adolescent human brain adapts to such drugs, and provide clues into changes in the brain that occur during drug addiction. See http://www.jeffersonhospital.org/news/e3front.dll?durki=15369
Schizophrenia (28 Oct) - Jerusalem genomics company IDgene Pharmaceuticals has found a genetic link responsible for as many as a fifth of all schizophrenia cases. See http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1035868696791
Depression (31 Oct) - Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have made significant progress in identifying the first susceptibility gene for clinical depression, the second leading cause of disability worldwide, possibly providing an important step toward changing the way doctors diagnose and treat major depression that affects nearly 10 percent of the population. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-10/uopm-uop102902.php
Serial killers (27 Oct) - A rapid and bizarre change in religious beliefs, especially the delusion of being God, is not rare among serial killers and others who commit violent crimes, according to mental health experts who study extreme criminal behavior. See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/27/national/nationalspecial/27RELI.html
What turns us into heroes? http://www.guardian.co.uk/women/story/0,3604,817767,00.html
What Makes Us Do It?
In the age-old debate of nature vs. nurture, an M.I.T. prof says our genes don't
get enough respect
By MICHAEL D. LEMONICK: http://www.mit.edu/~pinker/slate_reviews_file/time.com_what_makes_us_do_it.html
The Neuro-anatomy of the Moral Mind: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/leadingedge.shtml Audio at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/rams/leadingedge.ram
Religion in the News
Stunning
New Evidence that Jesus Lived
Scholars link first-century bone box to James,
brother of Jesus. By Gordon Govier. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/141/11.0.html
Burial
Box of James the Brother of Jesus
André Lemaire
An unadorned ossuary from first-century A.D. Jerusalem bears the earliest
historical reference to Jesus yet found. Read how this important object came to
light and how scientists proved it wasn't a modern forgery. See http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/bswb_BAR/bswbbar2806f1.html
Scholar Claims Oldest Jesus Evidence
By Richard N. Ostling. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60101-2002Oct21.html and
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20021021/jesus.html
Inscription
on burial artifact might refer to Jesus
An inscription on a burial artifact recently discovered in Israel likely refers
to Jesus of Nazareth and dates back to three decades after the Crucifixion,
archaeologists announced yesterday. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4337778.htm Also
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/141/22.0.html
Does
James's bone box destroy Roman Catholic teaching of Mary's perpetual virginity?
With the Washington sniper case, a U.N. declaration on Iraq in the works, and
other major stories, the discovery of James's ossuary doesn't get much press
today. But where it does, the issue seems to be its implications on Roman
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox teachings of Mary's perpetual virginity. "The
theological implications really turn on interpretation of 'brother' in the New
Testament," Biblical Archeology Review editor Hershel Shanks said on PBS's Newshour
(audio)
last night. See http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/141/32.0.html
Text
Criticism and Inerrancy
How can I reconcile my belief in the inerrancy of Scripture with comments in
Bible translations that state that a
particular verse is not 'in better manuscripts'? by J.I. Packer. See http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/011/31.102.html
Erika
Harold, Miss America 2003, has just emerged victorious from a very public
struggle. Erika, a professed
Christian, announced after winning the title that she would be using her year in
the spotlight to promote abstinence for teenagers. For reasons best known to
themselves, the Miss America pageant organizers in Atlantic City ordered her not
to do so. Then, in the face of controversy, they reversed their decision but
made Erika promise that she would couch her message in the more politically
correct theme of "teen violence." See http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB1035246377421478631,00.html
and http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/141/52.0.html
Monumental clash over Ten Commandments | A trial examines whether a judge's decision to display a stone tablet at a courthouse violates church-state divide (The Christian Science Monitor). See http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1025/p03s01-usju.html
The gospel according to Hammurabi | Instead of the Commandments, display mankind's earliest known code of laws (Dale McFeatters, Naples [Fla.] Daily News). See http://www.naplesnews.com/02/10/perspective/d846401a.htm
Female priest calls for change | A former Ohio first lady who was secretly ordained as a priest said she was trying to send a message that the time has come to admit women into the Roman Catholic clergy (Associated Press). See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021023/ap_on_re_us/female_priest_3
Doctor claims pressure to ratify Teresa's 'miracle' | Objections by the doctors who treated Monica Besra, the tribal woman whom Mother Teresa is believed to have miraculously cured, and Indian rationalists have blotched the entire beatification process (Rediff.com). See http://indiabroad.rediff.com/news/2002/oct/19teresa.htm
The Lord is my headmaster | Christian evangelists are shunning local schools and educating their children at home because they believe that the schools are spreading lies. Are they damaging their children's minds or giving them a good start in life? (Joel Budd, The Independent, London). See http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=345239
The Great Debate: Atheism vs. Christianity
A Live CCN Satellite Broadcast -- Free -- Sunday, December 8
Join thousands across North America live via satellite as a
Christian leader debates the atheist who sued to remove "Under
God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. The broadcast is available
free to any church with compatible satellite equipment. For more
info visit: http://ChristianityToday.com/conferences/events/21208.html
Science in the News
Creation/Evolution
Dr. Dino, Kent Hovind of Creation Science Evangelism,
will debate Dr. Richard Weisenberg, professor of biology at Temple University on
Tuesday, November 12, 2002 in Anderson Hall, Room 17.Details can be found on
Hovind's website at
http://www.drdino.com/cse.asp?pg=itinerary&specific=449
New radiohalo find challenges primordial granite claim by Robert Gentry
http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/magazines/tj/docs/tj_v15n1_radiohalofind.asp?srcFrom=aignews
RATE Project: Joe Meert and other anti-Creationists recently blasted Dr. Russell Humphreys, the RATE project, and the Institute for Creation Research for an alleged mistake in an article about Helium diffusion and rapid nuclear decay. What is Dr. Humphrey's response? See http://www.icr.org/headlines/replytojoemeert.html Joe Meert's comments at http://www.gondwanaresearch.com/rate.htm
Intelligent Design advocate lauds state plan on teaching evolution | "Our slogan to the press is, Teach the controversy,' " says Phillip Johnson (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland). See http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/103536549015230.xml http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-winnick101802.asp
THE DESCENT OF GOULD
by H. ALLEN ORR. How a paleontologist sought to revolutionize evolution. See http://www.newyorker.com/printable/?critics/020930crat_atlarge
Life
in a greenhouse world
What constrained the evolution of life during the very hot early Earth? Was a
simple drop in temperature largely responsible for the emergence of
cyanobacteria, a large and varied group of bacteria with chlorophyll that carry
out photosynthesis in the presence of light and air with concomitant production
of oxygen? Was it a reduction in carbon-dioxide levels? See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-10/gsoa-lia102502.php
Archaeology/Anthropology
A
"Centrist" at the Center of Controversy
BAR Interviews Israel Finkelstein
Hershel Shanks
Did David and Solomon rule a mighty United Kingdom of Israel? How old are the
Biblical narratives? These and other pressing questions are at the heart of a
heated academic controversy. We speak with a key figure in that debate. See http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/bswb_BAR/bswbbar2806f2.html
The Antikythera mechanism: The clockwork computer
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1337165
Cheese: Ancient Disease Carrier? Oct. 18 — Bacteria found in a 2,000-year-old piece of cheese could be the final evidence that this food was a continuous source of infectious disease in the ancient Roman world. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20021014/cheese.html
Astronomy
Small Planet Spotted About Epsilon Eridani
Rochester - Oct 25, 2002 - A new extrasolar planet has been discovered using a
new technique that will allow astronomers to detect planets no other current
method can. Planets around other stars have been previously detected only by the
effect they have on their parent star, limiting the observations to large,
Jupiter-like planets and those in very tight orbits. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/extrasolar-02x.html
also http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2356359.stm
Scientists
studying two big craters on earth find two causes
Two of the three largest impact craters on Earth have nearly the same size and
structure, researchers say, but one was caused by a comet while the other was
caused by an asteroid. These surprising results could have implications for
where scientists might look for evidence of primitive life on Mars. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-10/uoia-sst102502.php
Hidden
face of Mars uncovered by father & daughter
Ghosts of the most ancient craters in the solar system are materializing on
Mars. Using altimeter data from the Mars Global Surveyor and special graphics
software, a father and daughter have found the circular outlines of the Red
Planet's earliest impact craters and basins – pounded into what remains of the
planet's first crust. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-10/gsoa-hfo102502.php
Cosmology (22 Oct) - Despite what recent observations suggest, Professor Andrei Linde from Stanford University and his wife Professor Renata Kallosh say the universe will stop expanding and collapse in the relatively near future. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2346907.stm
More Evidence that Dark Matter Rules the Universe
23 October 2002. New X-ray observations add further evidence to the
likelihood that most of
the universe it comprised of exotic dark matter. The finding may also help
narrow down the types of dark matter researchers should consider viable.
Most astronomers already view dark matter as the only logical way to explain
the orbits of stars and shapes of galaxies. Nobody has ever seen dark
matter, and scientists don¹t know exactly what it is, but without it
galaxies would fly apart. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/dark_matter_021023.html
and http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/02_releases/press_102202.html
NASA to Try On New Spacesuit. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20021014/spacesuit.html
Rose Center for Earth and Space: See http://www.amnh.org/rose
Biology
Pigs
with human genes are step toward transplants
In a step toward creating herds of pigs that could provide organs for
transplanting into humans, Italian researchers manipulated swine sperm to make
an animal strain that carries human genes in the heart, liver and kidneys. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4337773.htm
Longevity (24 Oct) - A US team has doubled the lifespan of the nematode worm with no apparent physiological side affects. The key to what appears to be uncompromised longevity is to silence a gene involved in ageing at just the right point in a worm's life cycle. See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992969
Earth Science
Paleontology (25 Oct) - The shapes and internal structures of individual cells within some of the earliest multicellular animals have been revealed for the first time using technology normally associated with hospitals. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-10/gsoa-ife102502.php also http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2002AM/finalprogram/abstract_39474.htm
Fossil Record (25 Oct) - The quality and completeness of the fossil record and its credibility as a source of information about the history of life have been debated since before Charles Darwin's time. Now, as part of the Paleobiology Database project, a systematic examination is being conducted with some good news so far. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-10/vt-pdb102202.php
Sod
busters along the old Cambrian trail
If you've ever had to scrape a barnacle, you can blame a trilobite for your
trouble. The advent of trilobite-tilled, worm-worked muck a half-billion years
ago may have helped feed an explosive evolution of early animal life in the
oceans – including the sort of critters that today attach themselves to boats
and piers. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-10/gsoa-sba102502.php
Evolution
upset: Oxygen-making microbes came last, not first
Get ready to rewrite those biology textbooks – again. Although the
"lowly" blue-green algae, or Cyanobacteria, have long been credited as
one of Earth's earliest life forms and the source of the oxygen in the early
Earth's atmosphere, they might be neither. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-10/gsoa-euo102502.php
Prehistoric 'sea dragon' found
"Sea dragons" were common when the sea was warmer. The remains of a
prehistoric monster have been found on the east coast of Yorkshire. The
plesiosaur, which resembles the Loch Ness monster, dates back to the
beginning of the Cretaceous period 130 million years ago. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2357455.stm
Researchers Show Why Active Mountains Don't Get Taller
University Park - Oct 23, 2002 - Active mountain ranges like the Olympic
Mountains, Taiwan Central Range or the Southern Alps are still growing, but they
are not getting any taller. River cutting and erosion keep the heights and
widths of uplifted mountain ranges in a steady state according to an
international team of geoscientists. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tectonics-02l.html
Purdue Scientist Adds Third Dimension To Earth's Interior
West Lafayette - Oct 22, 2002 - The swirl of malleable rock in the earth's
mantle -- located between the earth's crust and core -- may have greater effect
on the earth's surface than was once believed, a Purdue research team reports.
See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earth-02zd.html
Africa's Ice Age In Final Meltdown
Columbus - Oct 21, 2002 - A detailed analysis of six cores retrieved from
the rapidly shrinking ice fields atop Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro shows that
those tropical glaciers began to form about 11,700 years ago. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iceage-02d.html
Melting Crust Makes Rich Mineral Deposits: Geologist
Toronto - Oct 18, 2002 - A University of Toronto study suggests why giant
gold and copper deposits are found at some volcanoes but not others, a finding
that could point prospectors to large deposits of these and other valuable
metals. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earth-02zc.html
Psychology
Schizophrenia (23 Oct) - Schizophrenia may not be one single disease but rather an array of disorders whose psychiatric and cognitive symptoms vary according to which part of the brain is affected and to what degree. That's the conclusion of a study published in the October issue of Neuropsychology, in which a seven-neuroscientist team linked schizophrenic subtypes with different memory problems and different brain anatomies. The scientists say this is a "first step in our efforts to uncover the specific biological mechanisms of the disorder," which they hope will lead to better diagnosis and treatment of people with schizophrenia. See http://www.apa.org/releases/schizophrenia.html
ADHD - genetics (22 Oct) - UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute researchers have localized a region on chromosome 16 that is likely to contain a risk gene for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, the most prevalent childhood-onset psychiatric disorder. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-10/uoc--ugf102202.php
Sibling rivalry
Why the nature/nurture debate won't go away. By Steven Pinker. See http://www.mit.edu/~pinker/slate_reviews/boston_globe_ideas_section_sibl.html
Debating Human Happiness
From: Steven Pinker. See http://slate.msn.com/?id=2072079
Technology
Sharp Takes First Step To Ultra-Thin Screen
Tokyo (AFP) Oct 22, 2002 - Japan's leading liquid crystal display maker
Sharp Corp. said on Tuesday it had made an "epoch-making" step toward
making ultra-flat "sheet computers" after it succeeded in running a
computer on a tiny piece of glass. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/021022104706.v1em8w9a.html
Religion in the News
Working
with the Communists
Some
evangelicals minister happily within China's state-supervised Three Self church.
By Tony Carnes. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/011/4.56.html
Freedom's
Wedge
What
you can do to help persecuted Christians. By Jeff M. Sellers. See
http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/011/30.100.html
Riots,
Condemnation, Fatwa, and Apology Follow Falwell's CBS Comments
President
of the All India Christian Council: "I prayed that the broadcast would not
reach India."
By Todd Hertz. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/140/41.0.html
and Rev.
Jerry Falwell trips over his own tongue "To call the holy man of
millions a 'terrorist' on national television was not, by any stretch of the
imagination, a swift move." (Elizabeth Schuett, The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
Pope
marks 24th anniversary
Pope John Paul II entered the 25th year of his papacy yesterday, praying for
strength to carry on and changing one of the best-known Roman Catholic
traditions, the rosary. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4301261.htm
Vatican
rejects some U.S. steps to get tough on abusive priests
Elements of the toughened abuse policy approved by U.S. Roman Catholic
bishops have been rejected at the Vatican, which has warned American prelates
about going ahead with some changes, church sources familiar with the Holy See's
response said yesterday. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4309897.htm
The letter that Cardinal Re, from the Vatican, sent to the American Bishops
explaining them the reason why the Vatican rejected their plan to fight against
the abuses. See http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=26621
Response of the American bishops to that letter See http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=26621
Billy
Graham's Texas mission begins
A packed
out stadium? Check. Thousands responding to the altar call as
others sing Just As I Am? Check. Articles
suggesting this may be "Billy
Graham's last crusade"? Check. On that last point, however, note that
Graham hasn't
announced any plans for future missions.
Graham's daughter leads Christian expo | Choral groups also join up to 10,000 at Downtown venue for three-day event (The Indianapolis Star).
Alliance between conservative U.S. Christians and Israel worries Muslim leaders (Voice of America).
Israeli Tribes: Once lost and now found? | Searching for the lost tribes of Israel in India and Afghanistan (Newsweek).
Going to war: What would Jesus do? | Doesn't a simple reading of the Sermon on the Mount preclude violence as a way for us who follow Jesus to deal with threats to our well-being? (Tony Campolo, Winston-Salem Journal).
Church members sent to jail for whipping kids | House of Prayer pastor says he'll follow the Bible (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
Taxes haunt TV evangelism's best-known pair | IRS says Bakker, Messner owe $3 million from '80s (The Baltimore Sun)
Evangelist John Jacobs, founder of the Power Team ministry, recently ended his brief marriage to his second wife. According to Jacobs, who was divorced from his first wife, Ruthanne, in May 2000, his latest marriage to Sara Jacobs has now been annulled by a Dallas judge. See http://www.charismanews.com/online/articledisplay.pl?ArticleID=6017
Feeling their pain | Why do so many otherwise kindly Christians and compassionate conservatives not only tolerate the widespread abuse of farm, lab and game animals but also routinely label those who attempt to defend and protect these animals as dangerous, misguided radicals, dismissing every argument for mercy? (The Washington Post)
Back to basics | Colleen Carroll's The New Faithful combines first-hand reporting with social-science metrics to examine a remarkable trend toward religious orthodoxy among Americans born roughly between 1960 and 1983 (The Wall Street Journal).
Sept.
11 is a prime example of how legends evolve.
For several years, Jeffrey Hyson broke the news to tourists visiting Valley
Forge: It didn't happen the way they thought. The winter of 1777-78 was cold -
but not the coldest. The colonial troops suffered supply and morale problems -
but the causes were mundane, not epic. George Washington slept there - but he
didn't kneel in the snow to pray. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/cities_neighborhoods/philadelphia/4301282.htm
Christian
History Corner: The King Is Coming, Eventually
What
if you announced the rapture, but God didn't show up? By Elesha Coffman. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/140/52.0.html
Science in the News
Lecture: The Mystical Mind: Why God Won't Go Away
Speakers: Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Elaine Yuen, Ph.D.
Place: Chestnut Hill College Auditorium
Address: Germantown and Northwestern Avenues, Philadelphia,
PA 19118
Date/Time: Thursday, November 7, 2002 7:00 PM
Free and Open to the Public
On Thursday, November 7, 2002 at 7:00PM, Dr. Andrew S.
Newberg, M.D.,
Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology at the Hospital of the
University of Pennsylvania, will discuss his recent research in brain
function and neuroimaging. Specifically, he will address his high-tech
investigation of the brains of meditating Buddhists and Franciscan nuns at
prayer. His research has elucidated the chain of neurological events that
are triggered by intensely focused spiritual contemplation.
Creation/Evolution
Ohio Panel Gives Evolution Nod
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A state school board panel Monday recommended that
Ohio science classes emphasize both evolution and the debate over its validity.
The committee left it up to individual school districts to decide whether to
include in the debate the concept of ``intelligent design,'' which holds
that the universe is guided by a higher intelligence.
The guidelines for the science curriculum simply put into writing what many
school districts already do. The current guidelines do not even mention
evolution. See http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Evolution-Debate.html
and http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/science/AP-Evolution-Debate.html
also http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/103467429114850.xml
77 years after Scopes trial, evolution fight still rages: COBB COUNTY, Ga. -- Every new biology textbook used in public schools here comes with the warning: Material in these pages contains evolution. The label, pasted inside the textbooks by the Cobb County School Board to placate angry parents, tells students that "evolution is a theory, not a fact" before advising them to read the material "with an open mind." See http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-asecevolution16091602sep16.story
Before Adam and Eve, the Farmers Were Termites
By JAMES GORMAN
Sometime, perhaps about 50 million years ago, farming was invented. Not by
human beings of course, but by ants, termites and beetles, each of which
developed forms of fungi gardening.
Previous studies have tracked the molecular evolution of ants and beetles.
The tools used, statistical analyses of genetic variation, are the same ones
that have produced the claim, widely but not completely accepted, that human
beings are all descended from a single female ancestor in Africa ‹ called
Eve, of course ‹ about 150,000 years ago.
Researchers have found Eves and Adams among the ants and beetles as well.
Farming appears to have evolved only once among the ants, suggesting one
founding pair, although the descendant farmers have domesticated new
varieties of fungi several times. In contrast, farming appears to have
evolved at least seven different times among the beetles.
Now a European research group has turned its attention to fungus-farming
termites, which have been less well studied. What they have found is an
out-of-Africa story in which termites and fungi joined together once and
have not separated since. It was, apparently, the beginning of a beautiful
symbiosis. See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/15/science/life/15TERM.html
Man or ape? African fossil sparks verbal war
Paris - A fossil claimed to be modern human's most ancient ancestor has
sparked a bitter squabble, with a team of anthropologists declaring the find
is making a monkey out of the human family tree. See http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=31&art_id=qw1034344981134B252&set_id=1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,808955,00.html
Archaeology/Anthropology
Biggest Treasure Trove Found? Oct. 10 — The largest treasure trove in marine history could soon emerge from Mediterranean waters, thanks to an unprecedented public-private partnership. Focusing on a 17th-century British warship, the treasure hunt has been launched by a 20-year-old deal between Britain and U.S. salvage company Odyssey Marine Exploration.HMS Sussex, an 80-gun ship, was said to be on a secret mission taking gold and silver coins to the Duke of Savoy Victor Amadeus II, a shaky ally in Britain's Nine Years' War against France. But King William III's huge bribe — a million pounds sterling, according to historical records — never reached the Duke. On Feb. 19, 1694, a violent storm hit the flotilla near the Strait of Gibraltar. The Sussex sank and its 500 crew drowned. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20021007/treasure.html
Machu Picchu Mummy Discovered: Oct. 13 — Peruvian archeologists have discovered a complete mummified human skeleton in the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, the National Institute of Culture announced Saturday. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20021007/mummy.html
David's
Threat to Nabal
Peter J. Leithart. When the wealthy landowner Nabal turns down David's
request
for much-needed assistance, David responds with vulgarity. Modern Bible
translations clean up David's language, but in so doing they destroy David's
meaning‹and motive. See http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/bswb_BR/bswbbr1805fr1.html
Gods
of Nemrut Dag
Giant stone deities litter a remote Turkish mountaintop. By Jarrett A. Lobell.
See http://www.archaeology.org/magazine.php?page=0211/abstracts/nemrut
Legacies
of a Slavic Pompeii
In the post-Soviet era, both priests and prehistorians have a stake in the
future of a once-resplendent ancient city.
by Kristin M. Romey. See http://www.archaeology.org/magazine.php?page=0211/abstracts/slavic
New Alexandria Library Designers Try To Fireproof The Phoenix
Alexandria (AFP) Oct 16, 2002 - With the new Alexandria Library rising like
a Phoenix from the ashes of the ancient one, its designers are at pains to give
it the best in 21st century fireproofing and detection. See http://spacedaily.com/news/021016093823.xfyr3mj6.html
Astronomy
Tackling Life's Big Questions
Ann Arbor - Oct 18, 2002 - University of Michigan astrophysicist Fred Adams is a
world-renowned theorist on star and planet formation whose ideas have influenced
a generation of thinkers. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02zq.html
Hubble Telescope As Time Machine To Probe Mystery Of Universe Birth
http://spacedaily.com/news/021016232833.np7b5knk.html
Thin ice opens lead for life on Europa
http://www.newscientist.com/exc/enews.jsp?id=ns99992929
Astrobiologists To Study Extreme Life At Earth's Highest Lake
Moffett Field - Oct 11, 2002 - Scientists from NASA, the SETI Institute and
other organizations are preparing to ascend nearly 4 miles to the summit of a
dormant volcano in the Chilean Andes to find out how the organisms that live
there can survive in the volcano's hostile environment. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02zp.html
Titan's Bizarre Landscape Shaped More by Internal Heat Than Erosion
Birmingham - Oct 11, 2002 - Six months after NASA's Cassini spacecraft
reaches Saturn in July 2004, it will deploy the European Space Agency's Huygens
probe to Saturn's largest moon, Titan. A cold, dark, smog-shrouded world nearly
half the size of Earth, Titan the only moon in the solar system with a thick
atmosphere. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/saturn-titan-02c.html
European Gamma-Ray Telescope Takes To Heavens
Toulouse - Oct 17, 2002 - A powerful telescope designed to detect violent
deep-space phenomena such as exploding stars and black holes was launched
Thursday by a Russian rocket, the French Centre for Space Research said. The
330-million-euro (dollar) observatory, Integral, has been built by the European
Space Agency (ESA) with contributions from the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia
and the United States. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/021017045723.3e2s1gth.html
Giant Black Hole Enslaves Star At Heart Of Milky Way
Paris - Oct 16, 2002 - A "super-massive" black hole lurking at the
centre of our galaxy has snared a star, forcing it to perform a tortured orbital
dance at speeds of up to 180 million kilometers (110 million miles) per hour.
See http://spacedaily.com/news/021016180337.07q6ujzh.html
Russian Space Launch Blows Up, One Killed
Moscow (AFP) Oct 16, 2002 - A Russian rocket exploded in mid-air seconds
after blasting off, killing one man and injuring eight, emergency officials said
on Wednesday. The Soyuz-U rocket was launching a Photon-M satellite late Tuesday
from Russia's Plesetsk military cosmodrome when it blew up 16 seconds after
lift-off and crashed into a nearby forest. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/021016054610.klb10mdt.html
Race Is On for First Mars Words: Oct. 9 — They may not be needed for years, but the race is on this week to come up with the first words to be spoken on Mars. See http://ads.x10.com/discovery/dsc1_rooms.htm
Biology
To
vaccinate or not: The smallpox debate
Smallpox was officially wiped out 22 years ago, but Tara O'Toole, a bioterrorism
expert at Johns Hopkins University, can imagine how the ancient disease might
quickly come back. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/4301250.htm
Trial Vaccine for Alzheimer's Shows Hope: Oct. 14 — A trial vaccine against Alzheimer's disease that was halted because of side effects showed promise by triggering defenses against the agent which causes the illness, a study published Monday said. Scientists have been battling for years to find a vaccine and a treatment against Alzheimer's, which occurs when a rogue protein clumps together in the brain, destroying its cells. See http://health.discovery.com/news/afp/20021014/alzvaccine.html
Parkinson's Cure Gets Green Light for Testing: Oct. 12 — A US-based New Zealand scientist has won approval to test his potentially revolutionary treatment for Parkinson's disease, the New Zealand Herald reported Saturday. The transpacific team announced Friday a "significant advance" in the technique of inserting a synthetic gene into the brain using an inactivated virus. See http://health.discovery.com/news/afp/20021014/parkinsontest.html
Bid to create human embryo clones
Professor Ian Wilmut does not want to make babies. The first application to
produce human embryo clones in Britain could be lodged within six months.
Professor Ian Wilmut plans to seek permission to use the technique that
created Dolly the sheep to make early human embryos. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2322489.stm
Frozen egg baby hailed as fertility milestone
A fertility doctor yesterday hailed the imminent arrival of a world in which
women could cap a successful career with mature motherhood, following the
birth of a baby girl to a woman whose eggs had been removed and kept frozen
until she needed them to conceive. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,809837,00.html
Earth Science
Mummified Dinosaur Discovered In Montana: Leonardo, a mummified, 77-million-year-old duck-billed dinosaur was only about three or four years old when he died, but he's proving to be a bonanza for paleontologists today. His fossilized skeleton is covered in soft tissue—skin, scales, muscle, foot pads—and even his last meal is in his stomach. Leonardo's stomach contents are so well-preserved that researchers can tell what he had for his last supper; a salad of ferns, conifers, and magnolias. The stomach also contained the pollen of more than 40 different plants. Leonardo is one of the most complete brachylophosaurus dinosaur fossils uncovered to date, and the first sub-adult. He is also only the fourth dinosaur fossil in the world to be classified as a "mummy" because of the soft tissue that is preserved. See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1010_021010_dinomummy.html
Dinosaur hunters find plenty in Alaska
COLVILLE RIVER, Alaska (AP) -- Dinosaur hunter Tony Fiorillo returned to
Alaska's North Slope in July, intent on extracting the skull of a
pachyrhinosaur spotted a year before north of America's northernmost
mountains. The plant-eating dinosaur was a cousin to triceratops. It grew up to
7 feet
(2.1 meters) high and 18 feet (5.4 meters) long. Its head had a boney nasal
protuberance that may have supported a horn, and a prominent frill at the
back with two distinct horns. See http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/10/10/alaska.dinosaur.ap/index.html
Nature of Earth's Mysterious Core Found Beneath Arctic Ice
Rochester - Oct 18, 2002 - In the high Canadian Arctic, researchers at the
University of Rochester have stripped away some of the mystery surrounding the
powerhouse that drives the Earth's magnetic field. The research strongly
suggests that several of the characteristics of the field that were long thought
to operate independently of one another, such as the field's polarity and
strength, may be linked. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earth-02zb.html
Earth's New Center May Be The Seed Of Our Planet's Formation
Los Angeles - Oct 13, 2002 - An odd, previously unknown sphere, some 360
miles in diameter, has been found at the bottom of the Earth. It was detected by
a Harvard professor and a graduate student who patiently examined records of
hundreds of thousands of earthquake waves that passed through the center of the
planet in the past 30 years. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earth-02z.html
Kilimanjaro's
snowy top is vanishing fast, scientists say
The snowcap of Mount Kilimanjaro, famed in literature and beloved by tourists,
formed 11,000 years ago but will be gone in two decades, according to
researchers who say the ice fields on Africa's highest mountain shrank by 80
percent in the last century. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4309904.htm
Hawaii's Mauna Loa Volcano Is Beginning To Stir, New Data Reveal
Stanford - Oct 18, 2002 - Mauna Loa - Hawaii's biggest and potentially most
destructive volcano - is showing signs of life again nearly two decades after
its last eruption. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/volcano-02b.html
World Risks Water Shortage By 2025
Washington - Oct 16, 2002 - If action is not taken soon the world could face
enormous problems from dwindling or poisoned fresh water sources as early as
2025, according to a new report. Two non-profit environmental research groups --
the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute and the
Pretoria-based International Water Management Institute -- used sophisticated
computer modeling to project the fate of the world's fresh water sources and the
repercussions of their disappearance. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/021016211118.7uagx0as.html
Psychology
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Among American children it's
the most common behavioral disorder, yet a generation ago no one had ever
heard of it. Keys
to Proper Diagnosis 12
Strategies to Help Parents
Schizophrenia (17 Oct) - Researchers at the University of Toronto and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have discovered a communication link between proteins in the brain that could lead to improved treatments for psychiatric disorders and stroke. The study, published in the Oct. 18 issue of the journal Cell, examined the interaction between two proteins known as dopamine D1 and NMDA receptors. See http://www.newsandevents.utoronto.ca/bin3/021017a.asp
Neuroscience (17 Oct) - A biotech company has developed a way to keep slices of living brain tissue alive for weeks, allowing researchers to study the effect of chemicals on entire neural networks, not just individual cells. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-10/ns-boa101602.php
Seasonal affective disorder (17 Oct) - Seasonal patterns of illness have been recognized since ancient times, but the concept of seasonality in psychiatric disorders has only gained prominence in the past two decades. This article reviews the diagnosis, treatment and pathophysiology of winter seasonal affective disorder. See http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p021063.html
Development (17 October) - Scientists believe they have found a cause of adolescent angst. Nerve activity in the teenaged brain is so intense that they find it hard to process basic information, researchers say, rendering the teenagers emotionally and socially inept. See New Scientist, Brain and Cognition
Free will (15 Oct) - The issue of free will has perplexed theologians and philosophers for centuries - now neuroscience enters the age-old debate. See http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/288/science/A_question_of_will+.shtml
Cognitive science - Researchers have begun to explore animals' capacities for uncertainty monitoring and metacognition. This exploration could extend the study of animal self-awareness and establish the relationship of self-awareness to other-awareness. It could sharpen descriptions of metacognition in the human literature and suggest the earliest roots of metacognition in human development. See http://www.bbsonline.org/Preprints/Smith/Referees/
Teen angst rooted in busy brain
http://www.newscientist.com/exc/enews.jsp?id=ns99992925
Alcoholism (16 Oct) - Genetic factors play a key role in the development of alcoholism. A family history of alcoholism does not, however, guarantee that individual offspring will develop the disease. In an effort to discover identifying "markers" of those at risk for alcoholism, researchers in the October issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research evaluate the influence of a family history of alcoholism on the response of saccadic eye movements to alcohol. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-10/ace-teh100902.php
Fear (15 Oct) - In a discovery with implications for treatment of anxiety disorders, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute investigators have identified a distinct molecular process in the brain involved in overcoming fear. The findings will be published in the Oct. 15 edition of the Journal of Neuroscience. EurekAlert, BBC News Online.
Taking a Clinical Look at Human Emotions: A CONVERSATION WITH | JOSEPH
LEDOUX
By CLAUDIA DREIFUS. See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/health/anatomy/08CONV.html
Technology
Tiny Atomic Battery Could Run For Decades Unattended
Ithaca - Oct 18, 2002 - While electronic circuits and nanomachines grow ever
smaller, batteries to power them remain huge by comparison, as well as
short-lived. But now Cornell University researchers have built a microscopic
device that could supply power for decades to remote sensors or implantable
medical devices by drawing energy from a radioactive isotope. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/energy-tech-02r.html
Tiny optical disc could store five movies
http://www.newscientist.com/exc/enews.jsp?id=ns99992930
On Scientific Fakery and the Systems to Catch It
By KENNETH CHANG
In some ways, the pivotal figure in the research misconduct case at Bell
Labs was not Dr. J. Hendrik Schön, the scientist fired last month for
fabricating and manipulating data, but Dr. Bertram Batlogg, the man who
hired him in 1998. See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/15/science/15FRAU.html
At Lawrence Berkeley, Physicists Say a Colleague Took Them for a Ride
By GEORGE JOHNSON. Discovery of element 118 retracted. See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/15/science/physical/15ELEM.html
Religion in the News
Calvary
Chapel says Focus on the Family is inappropriate
KWVE, a
California Christian radio station run by Chuck
Smith's Calvary
Chapel of Costa Mesa, has dropped Christian radio's most popular program, Focus
on the Family, after 17 years. The broadcasts, hosted by James Dobson,
"were not always reflecting the kind of content that fit with our primary
purpose," the church board of directors explains
on the radio station's website. See http://www.charismanews.com/online/articledisplay.pl?ArticleID=6710
Gong
Shengliang, other Chinese Christians sentenced to life in prison
As Weblog noted
earlier, five leaders of the banned South China Church had their death
sentences overturned and were given new trials. Now, instead of being charged
for leading an "evil cult," Gong Shengliang was accused
of rape and battery — charges that observers say are a fiction.
Fleeing
North Korea
Christians
among the thousands making their way to China. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/011/13.22.html
International
religious freedom report released
The State Department's fourth annual Report
on International Religious Freedom, released yesterday, names
the usual suspects of inhibiting freedoms—Burma,
China,
North
Korea—but also cites France,
Belgium,
and Germany
for monitoring or discriminating against religious minorities. See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/religious_freedom_mideast_1
Jimmy
Carter wins the Nobel Peace Prize
Former President Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in
recognition of his role in brokering Middle East peace while in office and his
globe-trotting efforts since then to defuse conflicts and promote clean and fair
government in some of the world's most forsaken places. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4270141.htm
Conservative Christians biggest backers of Iraq war | Some 69 percent of conservative Christians favor military action against Baghdad; 10 percentage points more than the U.S. adult population as a whole (Inter Press Service). See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/wl_oneworld/1032_1034248146
Lights, camera, exploitation | Falwell says he "should have known" 60 Minutes' segment on Christians and Israel would be a hatchet job, but that is no excuse for shoddy, bigoted journalism (World). See http://www.worldmag.com/world/issue/10-19-02/opening_3.asp
Students,
faculty call for Baptist university president's resignation
In 1999, Carlos Webb, a star basketball player at Gardner-Webb
University, was caught cheating in his religion class. Three years later,
the way the Baptist
university dealt with Webb has led to faculty resignations, administration
demotions, and calls for the president to step down. See http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/local_news/Default.asp?ArID=11367&SecID=2
In Sickness and in Health:The past and future of Christian Science.
by Jana Riess. See http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2002/005/18.38.html
Meaning-full
Translations
The
world's most influential Bible translator, Eugene Nida, is weary of 'word
worship.'
Interview by David Neff. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/011/2.46.html
Poll:
Earlier Marriages?
Teen pregnancy is not
the problem, says Beliefnet columnist Frederica Mathewes-Green: unwed
teen pregnancy is the problem. Restore an environment that supports earlier
marriage, and young people won't have to fight biology for a decade or more. See
http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp?/story_11415_1.html&boardID=46252
Girls of Grace | Point of Grace, an all-female contemporary Christian musical group, started the Girls of Grace conference to teach teenage girls that it's cool to be virgins (Sarasota Herald-Tribune). See http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/1028&SectionCat=NEWS0107
Vatican drafts abuse policy response | Several Vatican officials have told reporters that the Holy See may find it difficult to give a formal stamp of approval to the policy because of concern that several of the proposals may conflict with universal church law (Associated Press). See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?/ap/20021010/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_church_abuse_2
Bridging the religious divide | On Saturday's Faith page, we asked what Catholics and evangelicals can learn from each other. (The Times, London). See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,564-440345,00.html
Churches recruit Harry Potter | A church booklet argues that the Harry Potter books can help illuminate themes such as the battle between good and evil. (The Daily Telegraph). See http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/09.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/10/09/ixhome.html
Serious and silly | Religious action figures are battling for new buyers. (The Detroit News). See http://www.detnews.com/2002/religion/0210/05/e03-602645.htm
Understanding
the Death Card--and Other Facts About Tarot
Residents
of the Washington, D.C. area have been terrorized by a sniper who has left only
one clue to his identity: the Death card from a Tarot deck. Read interviews with
Tarot critics and advocates to learn what the card usually means (it's not what
you think) and what Tarot's popularity means. See http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp?pageLoc=story11496_1.html&boardID=46821
A
Crack in the Wall
Two
recent books help explain Thomas Jefferson's intent for "separation of
church and state." A Christianity Today Editorial. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/011/28.33.html
Science in the News
Creation/Evolution
Maintaining Creationist Integrity: There seems to be a big verbal
battle between Ken Ham of AIG and Kent Hovind of CSE. See the arguments at
http://answersingenesis.org/docs2002/1011hovind.asp?srcFrom=aignews
Majority of Ohio Science Professors and Public Agree:
'Intelligent Design' Mostly About Religion. The controversial concept of
"intelligent design" theory, now under consideration by the Ohio Board
of Education, is seen by Ohio scientists and the general public as basically a
religious view of human origins. That's according to a new study conducted
jointly by George Bishop, a UC professor of political science and director of
UC's Internet Public Opinion Laboratory, and faculty at Case Western Reserve
University. See http://www.uc.edu/news/idpoll.htm
Darwin: Under the Microscope
Leading ophthalmologist James P. Gills has diagnosed a serious problem among
many leaders of the scientific community. They are blinded by "spiritual
cataracts," he says, which prevent them from seeing God's hand in creation.
See http://www.newmanmag.com/article.php?sid=349&mode=thread&order=0
Gene technique reveals human evolution: A method that could allow scientists to probe our ancestors' evolution over the last 20,000 years passes its first test. The researchers analysed two gene variants already known to give some resistance to malaria. But the genetic analysis proved that the genes were under strong natural selection in the recent past. The work shows that the advantage conferred by the genes meant they spread rapidly through human populations. See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992908
Resistant gene raises threat of global pests: By Deborah Smith. Genes that make insects resistant to chemicals can spread quickly around the world, research has shown, highlighting the need for international collaboration in the fight against pests. See http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2002/09/27/1032734328098.htm
Archaeology/Anthropology
Ancient
skull's species in dispute
An ancient skull whose recent discovery was thought to have pushed back the dawn
of man may well have come not from a human ancestor but from a gorilla or
another ape species. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4249114.htm also
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2313695.stm
Mass human sacrifice unearthed in Peru: The ancient remains of 200 fishermen who were tied up and stabbed through the heart have been excavated from a beach. The grisly find represents the biggest case of human sacrifice discovered in South America. Hector Walde, chief of the excavation project at Peru's National Institute of Culture, says the men probably died in a victory ceremony conducted by the Chimu people in about 1350. See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992885
Scholar
challenges history of exploration
In 1507, a group of scholars working in France produced an extraordinary map of
the world, the first to put the still-recent discoveries of Columbus and others
into a new continent separate from Asia, and to call that continent
"America." See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4270155.htm
Anthropology - race (8 Oct) - Two physical anthropologists have reanalyzed data gathered by Franz Boas, a founder of American anthropology, and report that he erred in saying environment influenced human head shape. Boas's data, the two scientists say, show almost no such effect. See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/science/social/08HEAD.html
King Tut Had Spine Disease: A closer examination of the 1968 X-rays taken inside Tut's coffin by Liverpool University's Ronald Harrison, provided scientists with new clues about the pharaoh's health. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020930/kingtut.html
Astronomy
Another Candidate For Planet X Found Beyond Pluto
Birmingham - Oct 07, 2002 - Planetary scientists at the California
Institute of Technology have found a spherical body in the outskirts of our
solar system. The object has been named Quaoar (KWAH-o-ar) after the creation
force of the Tongva tribe who were the original inhabitants of the Los Angeles
basin, where the Caltech campus is located. The object circles the sun every 288
years, is half the size of Pluto, and is larger than all of the known objects in
the asteroid belt combined. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/kuiper-02c.htm
http://space.com/scienceastronomy/quaoar_discovery_021007.html
Exploring Sol's Third Realm
Colorado - Oct 6 2002 - In the short decade of discovery between the detection
of the first Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) and today's announcement of the behemoth
KBO Quaoar, the Kuiper Belt has delivered a series of discoveries so profound
that its exploration was recently ranked as the top priority of the National
Research Council's recent Decadal Survey outlining goals for solar system
exploration. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/kuiper-02d.htm
Big Bang Created A Flat Universe, Say Scientists
Paris (AFP) Oct 10, 2002 - The cosmos is not just big, it is remarkably
flat, according to scientists who say they have carried out the most accurate
measurement of the backwash of microwave radiation left from the Big Bang which
created the Universe. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/021010151839.th4tfcay.html
Close twin star system reveals a planet The discovery boosts the likely number of planets outside our Solar System, as most star systems in our galaxy are binary. See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992909
Sun Art: Some good folks from our SOHO mission have created 'The Sun
As Art,' a
visually stunning and whimsical introduction to the workings of our closest
star. See
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/news-release/releases/2002/02-140.htm
Radio waves could construct buildings in space: Forced radio waves could push the components into place without the help astronauts, says a US engineer - NASA likes the idea. See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992901
Crab Pulsar: Multiple observations made over several months with
Chandra and Hubble Space Telescope have captured the spectacle of matter
and antimatter propelled to near the speed of light by the Crab pulsar, a
rapidly rotating neutron star the size of Manhattan. See http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/02_releases/press_091902.html
X-Ray Jets: For the first time, astronomers have tracked the life
cycle of X-ray jets
from a black hole. A series of images from our Chandra X-ray Observatory
has revealed that as the jets evolved, they traveled at near light speed
for several years before slowing down and fading. See http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/02_releases/press_100302.html
Understanding The Complexity Of Cometary Worlds
Los Angeles - Oct 11, 2002 - Funny things happen on the surfaces of comets.
We are 'somewhat' used to pictures of planets, moons and asteroids, but when the
NASA/JPL Deep Space 1 spacecraft flew by the comet 19/P Borrelly, the DS1
science team was amazed. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/comet-02k.html
Meteorite Falls on Siberia: Oct. 4 — A meteorite so big that it caused a minor earth tremor crashed into the Irkutsk region of Siberia, appearing to local villagers as a large ball of fire streaking across the sky, officials said. See http://tlc.discovery.com/news/afp/20020930/meteor.html
New Hawaiian Telescopes Will Search For Killer Asteroids
Los Angeles - Oct 09, 2002 - Astronomers at the University of Hawaii Institute
for Astronomy (IfA) have been awarded a $3.4 million grant by the Air Force
Research Laboratories to design a new observatory to survey the entire sky and
detect very faint objects. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deepimpact-02u.html
Biology
Genes
yield clues to heart and prostate risks
ASSOCIATED PRESS The potential of genetic research was suggested once again
today, as scientists announced discoveries that help them better understand two
of the biggest modern killers: See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4249112.htm
Subtle gene therapy tackles blood disorder. The world's most common genetic disease could be treated by tricking cells into making normal proteins from mutated genes. See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992915
Eczema study reveals skin's broken defences: Sufferers fail to produce effective amounts of key bacteria-killing molecules - the discovery raises hopes of new treatments for millions. See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992907
Breakthrough in Brain Healing Research: Oct. 7 — A world-first discovery about the way the human brain heals itself was announced here Monday by an Australian university researcher.University of Queensland Professor Perry Bartlett said on the Nature Neuroscience website his team had found a mechanism that may stimulate the production of new nerve cells in the brain. See http://health.discovery.com/news/afp/20021007/brainhealing.html
Earth Science
PNG Volcano Could Be Facing Massive Blow
London (AFP) Oct 10, 2002 - A volcano in Papua New Guinea is showing signs of a
catastrophic eruption that could threaten tens of thousands of lives and
temporarily affect the Earth's climate with its dust plume, New Scientist says.
See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/volcano-02a.html
Evidence That Antarctic Ice Stream Has Reversed Flow
Seattle - Oct 09, 2002 - It is virtually impossible for a river or stream to
first stop its flow and then reverse course. But an ice stream in Antarctica has
done precisely that during the last 250 years, and scientists are trying to
figure out exactly why. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/antarctic-02r.html
Suction And Pull Drive Movement Of Earth's Plates
Ann Arbor - Oct 09, 2002 - As anyone with a smattering of geological
knowledge knows, Earth's crust is made up of plates that creep over the planet's
surface at a rate of several inches per year. But why do they move the way they
do? Even experts have had trouble teasing out the exact mechanisms. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tectonics-02k.html
Psychology
Brain Size Tied to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
The brains of children and adolescents in whom attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder is diagnosed are smaller in
volume than those of children without the condition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/09/health/09BRAI.html?todaysheadlines
Intimate Relationships: "Forget marital breakdown, high rates of divorce, and the number of children born outside of marriage. Endless discussions about the 'crisis' facing the family distract attention from trends that are likely to have a far greater impact on how we live. The truth is that adults are not only finding it difficult to sustain marriage, but just about all forms of intimate relationships," writes Frank Furedi. See http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000002D3A7.htm
Self-esteem (9 Oct) - Though there may be great advantages for precocious preschoolers who have a high level of mental, social and emotional understanding, there may be disadvantages as well, new study findings suggest. These youngsters may be more sensitive to criticism. See http://img.mediaplex.com/cgi-bin/html/ads/1866/6452/6452-1039-8?mpt=1034531524
Antidepressants (8 Oct) - A controversial abortion pill may have a use as an anti-depressant, say researchers in the United States and France. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2309279.stm
Unemployment and depression (6 Oct) - Job loss and its related financial strain put people at elevated risk for emotional and physical problems, according to researchers studying the consequences of being unemployed. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-10/apa-jlc093002.php
Artists and criminals (6 Oct) - What makes one person choose painting and another robbery? A controversial theory suggests that artists and criminals have a lot in common: they both break the rules. See http://www.observer.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,805353,00.html
Physics
'Strange Matters': Mathematics and the Playful Side of Physics
By JON TURNEY. See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/29/books/review/29TURNEYT.html
Technology
F.C.C. Approves a Digital Radio Technology
The Federal Communications Commission unanimously approved a
method Thursday for broadcasting digital radio within
current analog channels.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/11/technology/11RADI.html?todaysheadlines
Nanocylinders Open Way To Polymer Electronics
Mainz - Oct 09, 2002 - A team of German and American scientists have
succeeded in combining conventional organic molecules and conductive polymers to
form highly symmetric, structured materials with new electronic properties. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-02zc.html
Technology Could Use Moon Dust To Capture Sun Power
Houston - Oct 09, 2002 - New technologies designed to harness the power of
the sun may hold the key to successful moon colonies, cheaper and lighter-weight
satellites, and cleaner-burning, more efficient car engines. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarcell-02j.html
Zoology
Evidence Suggests a New Type of Elephant: Oct. 2 — New genetic evidence suggests that there are three different types of elephants living in Africa: savanna elephants, forest elephants and a new western variety, said the University of California, San Diego in a press release. See http://animal.discovery.com/news/briefs/200210/newelephant.html
Religion in the News
'Pastor
John' Sees Himself As a Survivor on the Mount
The
show's first clergyman discusses reality TV, playing the game with faith,
and why he was the first voted out. An interview with John Raymond. See
http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/138/31.0.html
What about Gary Ezzo's teachings? See www.ezzo.info
Falwell's
latest
That Baptist pastor Jerry Falwell doesn't think highly of Muhammad is hardly
surprising, but his comment that the founder of Islam was a terrorist makes a
lot of headlines today. "I think Mohammed was a terrorist," he says in
an interview to be broadcast on Sunday's 60
Minutes. See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021003/ap_on_re_us/falwell_muhammad_3
Department of Health and Human Services offers millions to faith-based organizations. See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021003/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/religion_charities_2
Focus on the Family celebrates victory in California | Responding to opposition from concerned citizens, Governor Gray Davis quietly vetoed AB 2651, a bill that would have forced radical pro-gay policies upon California's foster care system (Press release). See http://www.family.org/welcome/press/a0022545.cfm
Latest front for fight on choice: Washington state | Two college students seeking education credentials sued the state for the right to complete their student-teaching requirements at private religious schools (Education Week). See http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=05institute.h22
Fallen Christian puts faith in the law | Loraine Daly is suing the Sydney Christian Life Centre for $750,000 after she was "slain in the spirit" and not caught. (The Sydney Morning Herald). See http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/09/26/1032734278505.html
Founder of the Christian Brotherhood Sued: http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/4180633.htm
God via satellite | Germany's first solely Christian television channel goes on air on October 1 (Deutsche Welle, Germany). See http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1441_A_646467_1_A,00.html
Cleaning up Hollywood | Sanitized tapes, DVDs have directors crying foul (Chicago Tribune). See http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-0210010145oct01.story
Stop the holy showboating | Listen up, jocks: God doesn't care if you score a touchdown. So do your praying in private, not in the end zone (Dan McGraw, Salon.com). See http://www.salon.com/news/sports/2002/09/28/praying/index.html
Evangelist Franklin Graham says that America is being 'Islamized' (Associated Press).See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020927/ap_wo_en_po/us_graham_islam_1
Mother Teresa of Calcutta moves toward sainthood | Vatican approves miracle involving a 30-year-old Indian woman who was inexplicably healed from a stomach tumor after praying to the nun (Associated Press). See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021001/wl_nm/pope_teresa_dc
Christian cyclists take to the road | Members of the Christian Motorcyclists Association ride their shiny Harley-Davidsons in the name of the Son (The Miami Herald). See http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/4178814.htm
Marriage makes both partners happy | Contrary to popular belief, marriage gives men and women an equal mental health boost, a study in Australia shows (New Scientist). See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992868 and http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2291731.stm
God got me into this | An interview with the matriarch of Charismatic Catholics, Marilynn Kramar (LA Weekly). See http://www.laweekly.com/ink/24/01/light-trevino.php
Taking a hard look at organized religion | Does organized religion do more harm than good? (Allison Moore, The Bergen Record, N.J.). See http://www.bergen.com/cgi-bin/page.pl?id=4074542
Computer software is Bible study resource | Computer duffers often find CD-ROMs baffling to use and may give up (Associated Press). See http://www.phillyburbs.com/couriertimes/news/news/0927biblecd.htm
'Idiot's Guide to Bible' not quite idiotic | Book is sometimes silly, but still an informative read (Associated Press). See http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/enquirer/4165992.htm
The
Un-Apologist
Oblivious to convention, Chesterton launched a bold campaign
to point a mad world back toward truth. by John Warwick
Montgomery. See http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/2002/003/9.28.html
Science in the News
Science Friday's: Science news interviews on Real Player. See http://www.sciencefriday.com/pages/
Creation/Evolution
The attack on evolution
On the sixth day, post-modernism From The Economist print edition
A suburban school board declares that evolution is just another theory
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1373046
Genes caught skipping from bacteria to beetle
Tokyo team claims first direct evidence of horizontal gene transfer.
By KENDALL POWELL
Researchers think they have caught a set of bacterial genes that jumped ship
and relocated to the genome of a Japanese beetle.
They could be the first to witness natural horizontal gene transfer between
a bacterium and an animal. Although many researchers suspect this sort of
gene movement occurs, no one had stumbled across evidence as direct as this
before. See http://www.nature.com/nsu/020923/020923-11.html
Biologist¹s new experiment may vindicate Darwin?
Charles Darwin, the founder of the modern theory of evolution, was an avid
proponent of sympatric speciation, the idea that a single species need not
be geographically divided in order to evolve into two separate species. In
the mid-20th century, however, certain vocal scientists convinced the
scientific community that geographically isolating two halves of a
population was a necessary factor in creating a new species. It wasn't until
the last few decades that modern biologists began to reexamine Darwin's
ideas to discover that he may have been quite right all along. Now the
theory behind one such idea is undergoing its most exhaustive test yet at
the University of Rochester. James D. Fry, assistant professor of biology, is
running fruit flies through a series of tests to see if a few, subtle changes in
the flies' environment
could be enough to trigger the creation of a new species. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-09/uor-bne092502.php
Putting Darwin in His Place
Using his quiet country estate as headquarters, the great naturalist was a
reclusive revolutionary. By Richard Milner. See
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000B62D6-7E63-1D7E-90FB809EC5880000&catID=2
Reeling
in more than a new species
Science has only just discovered the Chiapas catfish, but the people of remote
southern Mexico have known it for years - as dinner. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4185231.htm
Is the Speed of Light Slowing Down? See http://www.skepticfriends.org/articles/showquestion.asp?faq=4&fldAuto=52v
Special Primetime interview
with young-earth astronomer, Danny
Faulkner. See http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/creation_update/Archives.asp
(RealAudio)
Desperately Defending The Peppered Myth:
A Response to Bruce Grant by Jonathan Wells. See http://www.discovery.org/viewDB/index.php3?command=view&id=1275&program=CRSC
Radioactivity winds up evolution's clock
by Bea Perks. DNA is famously susceptible to radioactive
damage, but what happens to apparently healthy people who live in areas
where radiation levels are naturally high? An international group of
researchers from England, Germany, and India, set about answering the
question, and now conclude that turning up the radioactivity makes people
evolve faster. See http://news.bmn.com/news/story?day=021001&story=2
(Must register).
Arctic pollution causing polar bears to change.
By Charles Arthur Technology Editor
Polar bears, Arctic foxes and Inuit peoples are under threat from man-made
toxins such as polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs) that build up in the food
chain, new research reveals. Environmental and animal groups are calling for a
global ban on the production of the chemicals to safeguard the future health of
those groups.
Some scientists believe the PCBs are leading to "gender-bender" polar
bears
in Norway and Greenland, after the discovery of a number of female bears
which had both male and female sexual organs. See http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=338678
Archaeology/Anthropology
Kennewick Man pits scientists against tribes
By Diedtra Henderson
BOULDER - Tom Stafford was on the verge of running a series of tests that
would unravel the mystery of the true age of the Kennewick Man, human
remains that are among the oldest, most complete - and wildly controversial
- skeletons found in North America. See
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E894325,00.html
MIAs'
remains located in Tibet
Nearly 60 years after four young American airmen disappeared while flying over
the Himalayas from India to China, the U.S. Army finally has found out what
happened to them. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4185233.htm
Astronomy
Moon
to get a jolt of power
The moon has a strange but real pull on the Earth, its oceans and the human
psyche, and Sunday morning, its tug will be a bit stronger than usual. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4199762.htm
Mars Odyssey Releases First Data Archive To Scientists: NASA has released the first set of data taken by the Mars Odyssey spacecraft to the Planetary Data System, which will now make the information available to research scientists through a new online distribution and access system. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021003080653.htm
Camera
Eyes Dusty Spirals In Milky Way Center
The highest resolution mid-infrared picture ever taken
of the center of our Milky Way galaxy reveals details about dust swirling into
the black hole that dominates the region. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021003080626.htm
Biology
Scientists
hail mapping of malaria genetic codes
Researchers have sequenced the genes both for the parasite that causes malaria
and for the mosquito that spreads it to humans. The double triumph gives medical
science new weapons in the war on a disease that kills almost three million
people a year. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4199765.htm
Japan Researchers Invent Mosquito Needle: Japanese researchers have developed a microscopic needle modelled on a mosquito bite that could drastically reduce the pain of taking blood, the team leader said Thursday. See http://tlc.discovery.com/news/afp/20020923/needle.html
Preventing Headaches: As doctors learn more about our throbbing heads, they are uncovering amazingly effective ways to kill the pain before it starts. See http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101021007/story.html
Secret of Long Life Found? A potentially fatal disease is likely to be associated with longevity, according to Italian researchers who have been studying centenarians on the island of Sardinia. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020923/longevity.html
What's the deal with the bright light you see before dying? | Assuming it's not the Great Beyond, medical science has advanced several theories as to the bright light's physiological roots (Brendan I. Koerner, Slate.com). See http://slate.msn.com/?id=2071835
New research adds to understanding of conscious awareness:
Two new studies by faculty at Georgetown University Medical Center and
colleagues shed new light on the brain mechanisms underlying conscious
awareness. The studies are published in the current issue of the journal
Neurology. "Gamma coherence and conscious perception," adds to the
growing body of knowledge about the role of brain waves, or electrical
pulses in the brain. Gamma waves are fast electrical waves that have been
hypothesized to be involved in conscious perception. Previous studies have
shown that the thalamus and midbrain play an important role in
consciousness. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-09/gumc-nra092502.php
Madison Avenue and your brain
New advances in neuroscience are explaining why people just do it, exactly
as they're told to, when that commercial comes on. By Matthew Blakeslee. See http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/09/30/ad_brain/index.html
Germs' Increased Resistance Causes Concern: International researchers on Saturday sounded the alarm over the increasing resistance of bacteria to powerful antibiotics, reducing the ability of doctors to combat common diseases. See http://health.discovery.com/news/afp/20020930/resistance.html
Researchers Grow Pig Teeth in Rat: U.S. researchers have succeeding in growing pig's teeth inside rat intestines, an advance that could revolutionize dentistry, according to a study published Thursday. See http://tlc.discovery.com/news/afp/20020923/teeth.html
Earth Science
Research: Deep Sea Basalt May Help Reveal Volcanoes’ Impact On Climate: GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- By examining volcanic rocks retrieved from deep in the ocean, scientists have found they can estimate the carbon dioxide stored beneath much of the earth's surface – a development that could enhance understanding of how volcanoes affect climate. The research by University of Florida scientists and others will be reported this week in the journal Nature. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021004064618.htm
Physics
Despite Fraud at Bell Labs, Chip Research Barrels Ahead
By KENNETH CHANG
Two papers by Harvard and Cornell researchers in the June 13 issue of the
journal Nature described a spectacular breakthrough in miniaturization:
researchers have now created transistors whose switching components are
literally single atoms. See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/01/science/physical/01BELL.html?ex=1034477630&ei=1&en=dd9c597c49194b93
NC State Chemist Creates Structure in Amorphous Materials
Argonne - Oct 1, 2002 - A chemist at North Carolina State University has made
breakthrough discoveries that advance basic understandings of the nature of
liquids and glasses at the atomic and molecular levels. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-02zj.html
Psychology
Researchers
Find Promising New Target For Anxiety-Reducing Drugs
Anxiety, a natural response to real or potential
threats, affects all higher creatures, including humans, sometime in their
lives. Under normal conditions, that protective emotion spurs action to avoid
such threats. But when anxiety grows excessive -- as it does in an estimated 25
percent of U.S. residents sooner or later -- it can significantly reduce one's
quality of life, and in the cases of some 20 million Americans at any given
time, it reaches levels that may require treatment. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021002065855.htm
Test Your Anxiety Level: http://discoveryhealth.queendom.com/access_anxiety.html
Triassic
Park Open House Oct. 12th.
You are invited to come and visit Triassic Park on Saturday
afternoon anytime between 1-4 PM, October 12th. Get a special tour of the park.
If you think you might be able to come, you can e-mail me, Stephen Meyers at ibss1@aol.com,
or call 215-423-7374. Directions are at TRIASSIC
PARK HOME PAGE
New web site for Triassic Park: http://triassicparkofpa.com
Religion in the News
Christian
school students leave Ivory Coast
The 191 Americans pinned down in the Ivory Coast's International
Christian Academy are now on their way to Ghana. French military secured the
school yesterday after days of fighting between the government and rebels
trapped them in the Bouaké school. See http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-ivory-coast0925sep25.story
Faith
puts two women on mission
They drew as many fans to Denver's Pepsi Center as Ozzy Osbourne did. In
Indianapolis, they shared a stage with World Wrestling Federation stars. Almost
a year after U.S. Special Forces rescued them from the Taliban's grip, the two
Christian aid workers have been reborn as speakers on the evangelist circuit.
They even have a manager. They are touring the country with Women of Faith, a
group that does for women what The Promise Keepers did for men. It lets them
bond. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/4174557.htm
Harold Camping: Trading
churches for the airwaves
Like many other Bible-believing Christians, the Rev. Dean Harner for years has
tuned in to Harold Camping's Bible studies on the Family Radio Network, but
Camping wants Christians to stop going to church. "The church age has come
to an end," according to the Oakland, Calif.-based Camping, a fixture on
national Christian radio for 43 years who is not ordained. The end times are
imminent, and churches are not merely irrelevant but "altogether
apostate" because they soft-pedal the gospel, Camping, 81, has been telling
his national audience since about June of last year. Instead of using
Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other "corporate" denominations
to evangelize the world, he says, God has turned instead to... radio. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/4170944.htm
For more information on Harold Camping see http://bibleandscience.com/revelation.htm#Interview
The Legacy of Abraham
He is beloved by Jews, Christians and Muslims. Can this bond stop them from
hating one another? By David Van Biema. See http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020930/story.html
VeggieTales:
Moralizing, Photosynthesizing
For a decade, religious videos
starring witty tomatoes and cucumbers have been outselling standard kiddie fare.
With his first feature film hitting the screens this weekend, the creator of
VeggieTales explains why Christians aren't funny, why PG movies may be better
for kids than G-rated ones, and why his Pious Produce must triumph. See http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp?pageLoc=story/113/story_11334_1.html&boardID=45840
The
TNIV Debate
Is
this new translation faithful in its treatment of gender? Pro's &
Cons. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/011/1.36.html
and http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/011/37.37.html
http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/011/38.37.html
http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/011/39.43.html
http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/011/40.43.html
Vatican
scientists accused of destroying Turin Shroud | Microscopic particles that
could have proved whether or not the Shroud of Turin could be dated to around
the time of the death of Christ have been destroyed by Vatican scientists. (Sunday
Herald, Glasgow, Scotland). See http://www.sundayherald.com/27941
News in Science
Wagner Free Institute Classes:
Skeletons Do Tell Tales: Introduction to Forensic Anthropology. Meeting Wednesdays starting October 2 through November 6 at 7P.M. at the University of Penn Museum. Instructor is Janet Monge.
The Physics of Animal Locomotion. Meeting Tuesdays starting September 24 through November 26 at 6:30 P.M. at St. Joseph's University. The instructor is Paul Angiolillo.
An Introduction to Insects and Related Arthropods. Meeting Thursdays starting September 26 through November 14 at 6:30 P.M. at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Instructor is Robert Allen and Jon Gelhaus.
Creation/Evolution
New Twist in the Dating Game
A new calculation of the age of many of South Africa's best-known fossils by
a team at the University of Witwaters-rand has turned the clock of human
evolution forward by a million years. But not everyone in scientific circles is
happy about the way the team rearranged our evolutionary tree. See http://allafrica.com/stories/200209200655.html
Kent Hovind Arrested on Building Code Violation on 9/13/2002. See http://205.152.130.14/cv_web_1b.asp?ucase_id=31271238
Is Hovind a Fundamentalist? See http://home.hiwaay.net/~contendr/9-15-94.html
Hovind Creation/Evolution Debate: http://www.indianastatesman.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/09/25/3d91c201bd0f6
Glimpse of Darwin's legacy
By Christine McGourty
Millions of preserved creatures from across the world - including some
collected by Charles Darwin himself - are going on view at a London museum. For
the Natural History Museum, it is little short of a revolution. Most of
its vast collection of specimens previously tucked away in dusty cupboards
are being brought into the limelight in the new £95m Darwin Centre.
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2276706.stm
School board wants Darwin to move over
At issue: Teaching `disputed views'. By Dahleen Glanton
MARIETTA, Ga. -- Barred by the courts from promoting religion-based
curricula in public schools, creationists have adopted a more scientific
approach to challenge the teaching of the theory of evolution to students.
They have recruited intellectuals to challenge the Darwinian theory, forced
disclaimers onto science textbooks and lobbied for equal time in classroom
discussions on the origins of life. See http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0209260307sep26.story
American Journal of Physical Anthropology:
The Maka femur and its bearing on the antiquity of human walking: Applying
contemporary concepts of morphogenesis to the human fossil record. See http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/98516776/START
Neuroscience (25 Sep) - Big brains gave humans an evolutionary edge, but how did they grow so big? An important clue may come, ironically, from a gene that has been found to stunt the cerebral cortex in people with microcephaly. See http://www.academicpress.com/inscight/09232002/graphb.htm
Astronomy
Acidic clouds of Venus could harbour life: The acidic clouds of Venus
could in fact be hiding life. Unlikely as it sounds, the presence of microbes
could neatly explain several mysterious observations of the planet's atmosphere.
Venus is usually written off as a potential haven for life because of its hot
and acidic surface. But conditions in the atmosphere at an altitude of around 50
kilometres are relatively hospitable: the temperature is about 70 °C, with a
pressure of about one atmosphere. Although the clouds are very acidic, this
region also has the highest concentration of water droplets in the Venusian
atmosphere. To look for possible signs of life, Schulze-Makuch and his colleague
Louis Irwin looked at existing data on Venus from the Russian Venera space
missions and the US Pioneer Venus and Magellan probes. They noticed some
peculiar things about the chemical composition of Venus's atmosphere. Solar
radiation and lightning should produce large quantities of carbon monoxide in
the planet's atmosphere, but instead it is scarce, as if something is removing
it. They also found hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide. These two gases react
with each other, and so are never normally found together unless something is
producing them. Even more mysterious is the presence of carbonyl sulphide. This
gas is so difficult to produce inorganically that it is sometimes considered an
unambiguous indicator of biological activity. See
http://www.newscientist.com/exc/enews.jsp?id=ns99992843
Boost for life on Jupiter moon
By Helen Briggs
The chances of finding life on another planet have received a boost.
Data from the Galileo space probe's journey to Jupiter suggests an ocean on
its moon, Europa, is somewhat Earth-like. Scientists in the United States think
the moon's icy crust is relatively thin. There seem to be cracks and vents,
which would allow gases, heat and organic matter to reach what may be water
beneath. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2284852.stm
Tough Earth bug may be from Mars
A hardy microbe that can withstand huge doses of radiation could have evolved
this ability on Mars. That is the conclusion of Russian scientists who say it
would take far longer than life has existed here for the bug to evolve that
ability in Earth's clement conditions. They suggest the harsher environment of
Mars makes it a more likely birthplace. See http://www.newscientist.com/exc/enews.jsp?id=ns99992844
New Evidence Boosts Universe Theory: Sep. 20 — After 20 years of searching, U.S. astrophysicists said Thursday they have detected for the first time a polarization of the cosmic microwave background, a finding that supports the cosmic inflation theory that says that following the Big Bang the universe expanded rapidly. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20020916/microwave.html
Biology
Trauma (24 Sep) - Until recently, mental health clinicians could only speculate on the ways that abuse and neglect damage a child's developing brain. But a series of ground-breaking studies in neuroscience conducted over the last decade are allowing researchers to pinpoint the actual changes in children's brains caused by traumatic experience. See http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/267/science/How_child_abuse_and_neglect_damage_the_brain+.shtml
Anxiety (24 Sep) - People who cope with a life-threatening situation by ignoring their anxiety or diverting their attention away from it may be doing themselves a favor. Such practices may act as a buffer against stress disorders, according to the results of an Israeli study of heart attack patients. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-09/cfta-ram092302.php
The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit
by Melvin Konner, Reviewed by Creighton W. Don, MD, PhD. In light of
this enigma dating at least from Descartes' "Cogito ergo sum"
anthropology professor turned physician Melvin Konner offers a highly
readable review of a century of investigations into biology and human
behavior up through the 1990s' "decade of the brain." The Tangled Wing
is a
wonderful narrative, starting with primates and "mitochondrial Eve,"
the
theoretical progenitor of Homo sapiens, and leading us through the
developments in psychology and neuroscience
See http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v288n12/ffull/jbk0925-4.html
Conscious awareness (25 Sep) - Two new studies by faculty at Georgetown University Medical Center and colleagues shed new light on the brain mechanisms underlying conscious awareness. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-09/gumc-nra092502.php
Earth Science
Most Gold is 3 Billion Years Old: Sep. 20 — Settling a debate that's been waged for more than a century, scientists have determined that gold in the world's richest deposit is 3 billion years old, more ancient than the rock in which it is encased. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020916/gold.html
Earth's magnetic field 'boosts gravity'
http://www.newscientist.com/exc/enews.jsp?id=ns99992814
Physics
Panel Says Bell Labs Scientist Faked Discoveries
Results from 17 papers that had been promoted as major
breakthroughs in physics were dismissed as fiction.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/26/science/26FRAU.html?todaysheadlines
150-Ton Magnet Pulls World Toward New Energy Source
Cambridge - Sep 24, 2002 - A 150-ton magnet developed in part by MIT engineers
is pulling the world closer to nuclear fusion as a potential source of energy.
See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/energy-tech-02p.html
Triassic
Park Open House Oct. 12th.
You
are invited to come and visit Triassic Park on Saturday afternoon anytime
between 1-4 PM, October 12th. Get a special tour of the park. If you think you
might be able to come, you can e-mail me, Stephen Meyers at ibss1@aol.com,
or call 215-423-7374. Directions are at TRIASSIC
PARK HOME PAGE
Religion in the News
$10 Million Accord Backed by Plaintiffs in Boston Case
A lawyer for 86 people suing Boston's Roman Catholic
Archdiocese in the case of a pedophile priest said all the
plaintiffs agreed to accept a $10 million settlement.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/19/national/19PRIE.html?todaysheadlines
Dobson,
Awad Debate Palestinian's Invitation
The
full text of what the presidents of Focus on the Family
and Bethlehem Bible College said about Hanan Ashrawi. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/136/52.0.html
Conservative Churches Grew Fastest in 1990's, Report Says
Socially conservative churches that demand high commitment
from their members grew faster than other religious
denominations in the last decade.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/18/national/18RELI.html?todaysheadlines
George Barna Responds to Christianity Today Article | Says he hasn't given up on the church (Barna.org).
Armageddon ahead, please fasten your Bible Belt | There's bad news on the end of the world front. The Rapture Index, which measures end-time activities, has soared to dangerous levels and Bible-Belt America is readying itself for the last trump (Richard Morrison, The Times, London). See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-420765,00.html
Students pray around school flag | Claxton High School students pray at national 'See You at the Pole' rally (Savannah Morning News). See http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/091902/LOCPRAYER.shtml
Home school to high school | High school marks an especially hard transition for home-schooled students (The Miami Herald). See http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/2002/09/16/entertainment/4082888.htm
Maine:
the next voucher battleground
Since Lionel and Jill Guay's town of Minot, Maine, has no high school, the state
offers to send their 15-year-old daughter to other local schools. As with about
17,000 other Maine students from small towns, the state will even pay for her to
attend a private school. Just so long as it's not a religious school. See http://www.sunjournal.com/story.asp?slg=091902lauswit
Was church/state separation part of the original Constitution? | A review of Philip Hamburger's provocative recent book on separation's history (Marci A. Hamilton, Findlaw.com). See http://writ.news.findlaw.com/books/reviews/20020920_hamilton.html
Man of steel | In 1995, after the accident which left him paralysed, Christopher Reeve said he wanted to be on his feet by his 50th birthday. That's next week, and although he has made amazing progress, he won't be standing - and for that, he says, George Bush and the Catholic Church must share the blame for their stance on stem cell research. (The Guardian, London). See http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,793417,00.html and http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,793557,00.html
Saving
Africa
The
story of forgotten missionary hero William Sheppard is
finally told. by Jennifer Parker. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/010/26.73.html
Science in the News
ASA Meeting: The fall meeting of the Eastern PA Section of the American Scientific Affiliation will be returning to Messiah College campus in Grantham, PA on September 28th. Please contact Alan McCarrick at admeam@aol.com for more information and to be put on our contact list. Our general topic this time around will be Astronomy (history and cosmology). We will have Dr. Owen Gingerich and Dr. Robert C. Newman. Dr. Gingerich's talk is entitled "Galileo: Hero or Heretic?" Dr. Newman's presentation is entitled "The Cosmos and the Bible: A Critical Examination of Modern Cosmological Theories."
Wagner Free Institute Classes:
Skeletons Do Tell Tales: Introduction to Forensic Anthropology. Meeting Wednesdays starting October 2 through November 6 at 7P.M. at the University of Penn Museum. Instructor is Janet Monge.
The Physics of Animal Locomotion. Meeting Tuesdays starting September 24 through November 26 at 6:30 P.M. at St. Joseph's University. The instructor is Paul Angiolillo.
An Introduction to Insects and Related Arthropods. Meeting Thursdays starting September 26 through November 14 at 6:30 P.M. at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Instructor is Robert Allen and Jon Gelhaus.
Creation/Evolution
Neat animated Theban version of creation by the British Museum. See
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/story/main.html
Uprooting the Tree of Life
A proposed theory has researchers debating life's origins--again | By
Brendan A. Maher
The cell--the irreducible unit of life on Earth--has an estimated history
nigh on 3.5 billion years. Scientists since Charles Darwin have attempted to
trace that history to a so-called last common ancestor. Comparative
physiology and fossil records can take one only so far, so many researchers
are trying to reach the tree of life's roots with tools of a genetic nature.
Yet, the more they dig, the more convoluted those roots appear to be.
Lateral gene transfer, the square peg in cellular evolution's round hole,
casts doubt on the verity of the Darwinian tree with its single point of
origin and straight branching. This uprooting leaves room for numerous
speculations about life's origins. See
http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2002/sep/research1_020916.html
"Intelligent Design" Not Accepted by Most Scientists
by Eugenie C. Scott and Glenn Branch. See http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/5896_intelligent_design_not_accep_9_10_2002.asp
Battle lines drawn as Cobb evolution vote looms | The Georgia ACLU already plans to file suit when the controversial proposal is approved, as expected (Marietta [Ga.] Daily Journal).
National Science Academy weighs in on local dispute | Objections to the proposed Cobb Board of Education policy aren't confined to the ACLU (Marietta [Ga.] Daily Journal) Also: Scientists jump into Cobb evolution debate (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
77 years after Scopes trial, evolution fight still rages | Every new biology textbook used in public schools in Cobb County, Georgia, comes with the warning: Material in these pages contains evolution (The Orlando Sentinel).
Federal law ignites evolution debate | Supporters of the Santorum amendment say it sends a message to educators that Congress believes concepts that counter Darwinian evolution should be taught in science classes (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
Intelligent design may find new home in social studies | The Ohio State Board of Education finally may have found a way to deal with the thorny issue of whether to include intelligent design in Ohio's new science standards: stick it in the social studies standards instead (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
DNA codes own error correction
Genetic alphabet is like computer parity code.
By PHILLIP BALL
Natural selection picked out the chemical basis of genetic information
transfer probably because it was the best of the available options for
ensuring fidelity in reading and copying information.
Donall Mac Donaill of Trinity College, Dublin, has worked out that DNA code
is like the parity code that information technologists use to minimize the
probability of making mistakes1. See http://www.nature.com/nsu/020916/020916-4.html
Morpheus Genes Offer Clues to Primate Evolution, Gene Birth, and Human Disease. By Michael D. O'Neill. A new gene family (morpheus) that appears to have emerged and evolved very rapidly in recent evolutionary time, and which may be associated with the phenotypic differences that are seen between closely related primates, has been identified in humans. See http://www.appliedbiosystems.com/biobeat/morpheus/
What Primates Think
by Jill Locantore and Brendan Horton
When Koko the gorilla signals in American sign language, ³Koko again bad,²
after biting a trainer, is she using language to communicate?
Scientists are hotly debating these questions, but one thing is clear:
differences between humans and other primates aren¹t as black and white as
once was thought. Intelligence appears more a matter of degree, developing
gradually throughout the primate lineage rather than sprouting magically
when humans first arrived on the scene. Many of the features of our brain
that support higher cognitive functions, such as language and mathematics‹or
at least their precursors‹may well be present in ape and monkey brains, and
in the brains of long-extinct relatives like the Australopithecines. See http://www.fonz.org/zoogoer/zg2002/4/PrimateThink.htm
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
By Steven Pinker
The Blank Slate² ought to be read by anybody who feels they
have had enough of nature-nurture rows or who thinks they already know where
they stand on the science wars. It could change their minds. See http://www.economist.com/books/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1337125
Smart People Believe Weird Things
Rarely does anyone weigh facts before deciding what to believe.
By Michael Shermer. See http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0002F4E6-8CF7-1D49-90FB809EC5880000&catID=2
Archaeology/Anthropology
Holy Relics or Revelation - Recent Astounding Archaeological Claims Evaluated by Russell R. Standish and Colin D. Standish, Hartland Publications, Rapidan VA, paper, 302 pages. This book debunks the claims of the late Ron Wyatt. See http://www.hpcatalog.com/productinfo.mv?103221876928067+HREL1+HP
Galilee finding provides 1st evidence of 2nd Temple ritual persisting after
destruction. A Roman-era limestone container found near the Galilee city of
Zippori,
provides the first evidence that a significant Second Temple ritual lasted well
beyond the holy site's destruction. See http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1032275783210
The
'magical' birth brick
A little over a year ago, deep in the bowels of a huge excavation site 300 miles
south of Cairo, Josef Wegner turned over and over in his hands a brick encrusted
with mud. He knew it was made around 1700 B.C. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/4085711.htm
"This
is very important."
A tiny robot crawled through Egypt's Great Pyramid for two hours yesterday,
opening a door to a secret chamber and leaving scientists and TV viewers with
another mystery to ponder. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4088900.htm
Stone
carvings rewrite history, tell of ancient Maya 'world war'
A bitter war between Maya city-states may have set the stage for the collapse of
that once-great civilization, say scientists who translated recently found
hieroglyphics on stone stairs in an ancient pyramid in Guatemala. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4111012.htm
Astronomy
Signs of water found on distant planets: Tantalising signs of water have
been found in the atmospheres of planets orbiting distant stars. If the
discovery is confirmed, it will fuel
speculation that the Galaxy is teeming with life.
Water has been detected in region around Upsilon Andromedae.
"This would be a historic discovery - the first detection of a prebiotic
molecule in an extrasolar planet," says Cristiano Cosmovici of the
Institute
for Cosmic and Planetary Sciences in Rome, whose team made the discovery. See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992810
Radio Telescope Proves a Big Bang Prediction
By DENNIS OVERBYE
CHICAGO, Sept. 19 ‹ After 271 20-hour nights of staring at the Antarctic
sky, a radio telescope at the South Pole has confirmed a critical prediction
of the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe, astronomers from the
University of Chicago and the University of California announced here today. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/20/science/20COSM.html
The Big Collapse: Cosmology keeps getting weirder and weirder: the recent
discovery that the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing rate has led many
astronomers
to forecast that all galaxies to run away from each other until they are no
longer visible, 150 billion years from now. But two new studies suggest
that our cosmos may be in danger of collapsing in a "mere" 10 to 20
billion
years. See http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/pr/02/universe925.html
Dusty Signposts Point To Recent Planet Formation
Salt Lake City - Sep 19, 2002 - Young stars are surrounded by a thin, swirling
cloud of gas and dust that may be the birthplace of planets. New computer
calculations reveal that a newborn planet signals its presence by a clear, sharp
ring of cold dust. Such rings are seen around many nearby stars. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/extrasolar-02v.html
Space Weather Forecasting Shifts into High Gear
Boulder - Sep 19, 2002 - Over the next decade, forecasts of spectacular northern
lights and other solar-generated events will become as commonplace as today's
thunderstorm predictions, say scientists meeting this week in Boston to plan the
first five years of accelerated space weather research. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarstorm-02h.html
100th Extra-Solar Planet Gives Clues To Origins Of Planets
Swindon - Sep 19, 2002 - British astronomers, together with Australian and
American colleagues, have used the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope [AAT] in New
South Wales, Australia to discover a new planet outside our Solar System -- the
100th to be detected. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/extrasolar-02w.html
Black Holes: Hubble Space telescope data has revealed for the first time
medium-sized
black holes in the cores of globular star clusters -- promising a better
understanding of how galaxies and globular clusters first formed billions
of years ago. See http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2002/18/index.html
also Black Holes In Galaxy Clusters Call Evolution Theories Into Question
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/020913182837.iqkrjqti.html
Rings Around The Earth: A Clue To Climate Change?
Albuquerque - Sep 17, 2002 - While most of us know about rings around Saturn and
Jupiter, some scientists believe there once were rings of rock debris around our
own planet. Two scientists -- Peter J. Fawcett, of the University of New Mexico,
and Mark B.E. Boslough, of the US Department of Energy's Sandia National
Laboratories -- have suggested that a geologically "recent" collision
(about 35 million years ago) may have caused such a temporary debris ring. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/climate-02zb.html
Biology
Gene tests' accuracy reassessed
: When it comes to foretelling our health and longevity, it seems the genetic crystal ball may not be as clear as experts originally thought. Epidemiologists taking a closer look at the genetics of breast cancer have found that the risk associated with defects in the so-called breast-cancer genes may have been exaggerated. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/4088897.htmBritain to get cloning factory within a year
Human embryo stem cells to be used for research
By Sarah-Kate Templeton Health Editor. See http://www.sundayherald.com/27171
Studies
find men may be at greater risk from parasites
One reason women tend to live longer than men may be that something is eating at
men: parasites. Scientists have long known that men are more prone to dying from
murder, suicide and accidents when they are young, and from cancer and heart
disease when they are old. Now two new studies in today's issue of the journal
Science point to parasites as a possible reason that more men than women die in
their middle years. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/4110989.htm
How
the autumn affects us
Second in a seasonal series examining the effects of weather on human health.
Leaves are already littering the ground, the mornings are breaking cooler and
damper, and nurse Cheryl Brumbaugh is bracing for a scary harvest. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/4122762.htm
New Organic Composites Could Add Muscle To Artificial Body Parts
University Park - Sep 19, 2002 - A new class of all organic composites that
change shape under an electric voltage may open the door for the manufacture of
artificial muscles, smart skins, capacitors, and tiny drug pumps, according to
Penn State researchers. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/spacemedicine-02m.html
Doctors create out-of-body sensations
Doctors say they have triggered out-of-body experiences in a female patient
by stimulating her brain. They believe their work may help to explain mysterious
incidents when people report experiences of 'leaving' their body and watching it
from above. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2266740.stm
Living In A Glass House
Princeton - Sep 19, 2002 - Why live in a glass house? For diatoms -- tiny
ocean-dwelling organisms that live in exquisitely ornate glass cases -- the
benefit turns out to be enormous. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02zm.html
Earth Science
"Weird" Bucktoothed Dino Found in China: It's small, it's fast, and it's bizarre-looking. Paleontologists in China have discovered the skull of a new dinosaur species with beaver-like buck teeth on its upper jaw and the beginnings of a beak on its lower jaw. The skull is around 128 million years old and was found in Liaoning Province, a region in northeastern China that has proven to be a spectacular treasure trove of dinosaur fossils. See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/09/0917_020918_dinosaur.html
The Fish That Was Not a Fish
By Hannah Hoag. For a quarter of a century, a 350-million-year-old fossilized
skeleton lay in the basement of the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, Scotland.
Discovered by
Peder Aspen in Dunbarton, Scotland, the unnamed fossil was labeled
"Rhizodont Fish" but was never fully pried from its limestone casing,
making
an accurate classification impossible. In 1996 a graduate student brought
the rock-covered fossil into the lab of Jenny Clack, a vertebrate
paleontologist at the University of Cambridge's Museum of Zoology. She knew
within minutes that what she had before her was not a fish but a key missing
link, one that is only now giving up its secrets. See http://www.discover.com/science_news/newsflash/gthere.html?article=news_fish.html
N.J.
forest: Old, older, maybe oldest
In this land where trees grow five stories tall on the edge of an old
sand-mining operation, scientists are trying to determine whether the soaring
canopy of sweet gum, maple and magnolia might be the oldest hardwood forest in
the northeastern United States. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/4110974.htm
Mines
in Pennsylvania are brewing a pollution crisis
Over the last two centuries, abandoned coal mines leaking a toxic mix of
sulfuric acid and heavy metals have fouled more than 3,100 miles of Pennsylvania
rivers and streams, making them the chief source of water pollution in the
commonwealth. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/4122763.htm
Life reached land a billion years ago
Torridon, an ancient landscape with traces of ancient life.
By Dr David Whitehouse. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2246831.stm
Physics
Europeans
create some antiatoms
Scientists yesterday announced a breakthrough in their long struggle to
understand the weirdest stuff in the universe - antimatter, the mirror image of
ordinary matter. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/4102995.htm
New Neutrino Experiment Goes Live At Fermilab
Batavia - Sep 19, 2002 - Scientists of the Booster Neutrino Experiment
collaboration announced this week that a new detector at the US Department of
Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has observed its first neutrino
events. The BooNE scientists identified neutrinos that created ring-shaped
flashes of light inside a 250,000-gallon detector filled with mineral oil. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cosmology-02j.html
Speed of light broken with basic lab kit:
Equipment found in any college science department can be used to
transmit electric signals at least four times the speed of light. See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992796
The Physicist and the Abalone Diver
The difference between the creators of two new theories of science reveals
the social nature of the scientific process. By Michael Shermer. See http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000A141E-6137-1D7E-90FB809EC5880000&catID=2
Triassic Park
We still need more help! We could use a small trailer for the park. We need someone with a pick up truck that could help transport rocks and fossils. We could use youth groups or others willing to help pick up trash, clear trails, and spread out gravel for a parking lot. Your financial support will enable us to move this project forward. You can also donate by credit card. If you can help out you can e-mail me, Stephen Meyers at ibss1@aol.com or call 215-423-7374. TRIASSIC PARK HOME PAGE
Religion in the New
Seeing
Light After the Smoky Darkness of the
Trade Towers Collapse
The
spiritual war against terrorism is the war against the sinful heart and its
allegiances. By Darrell L. Bock. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/135/52.0.html
Deliverance
on the 81st Floor
On
9/11, Stanley Praimnath and Sujo John called out to God from inside the World
Trade Center. By Todd Hertz. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/135/32.0.html
Afghanistan
Before September 11
A
Christian relief worker talks about the terror
inside the war-ravaged country and his prayers
for change. An excerpt from Inside
Afghanistan by John Weaver http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/135/22.0.html
Christian
History Corner: 9/11, History,
and the True Story
Wartime
authors J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis help put 9/11 in perspective.
By Chris Armstrong. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/135/53.0.html
Battle
over Colorado College speaker becomes religious, personal
Colorado
College's invitation
to Palestinian Hanan
Ashrawi to speak at a three-day symposium called "September
11: One Year Later, Responding to Global Challenges," has brought
criticism
from Jewish groups, Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, conservative state
legislators—and Focus on the Family President James Dobson. Dobson's comments
outraged Bishara
Awad, president of Bethlehem
Bible College, who is apparently e-mailing an open
letter to Dobson to several media outlets and websites. "On September
11, I was in Bethlehem and I personally asked many Palestinians, Muslims and
Christian, about the attack and all those I asked have said this is
terrible and evil," Awad
wrote. "Not one condoned the attack on America….The incident of dancing
you referred to is a very isolated incident, and all Palestinians believe it was
staged by the media."
Keeping the faith even as pillars fall | Jim Hayes is a priest and psychotherapist, a specialist in forensic therapy: dealing with those who deal with the dead. (Mike Barnicle, New York Daily News). See http://www.nydailynews.com/news/col/story/16990p-16107c.html
Providence Diocese Settles 36 Abuse Suits
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence said Monday that it
had reached a $13.5 million settlement with 36 people who
say members of the clergy molested them as youngsters.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/national/10PRIE.html?todaysheadlines
Plan on Abuse Is Said to Face Vatican Pitfalls
The abuse policy adopted by Roman Catholic bishops in
the U.S. contradicts church laws and risks being revised by
the Vatican, according to canon lawyers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/14/national/14CHUR.html?todaysheadlines
Mel Gibson launches scathing attack on the Vatican | Catholic actor says it's a "wolf in sheep's clothing," and doesn't believe in church as an institution (The Times, London). See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-413266,00.html
Tests on crying Madonna fail to show hoax | Researcher says he knows it's a fake, but he can't show how (UPI). See http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020912-073527-6812r
Religious and Public Stations Battle for Share of Radio Dial
Christian stations all over the country are routing NPR
under a law that allows noncommercial broadcasters with
licenses for full-power stations to push out those with
weaker signals. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/15/national/15RADI.html?todaysheadlines
NYC
Christian radio station dumps show of Jew who works against Jews for Jesus
Salem broadcasting's WMCA,
one of New York's largest Christian radio stations, pulled the plug on the Tovia
Singer Show — hosted by a non-Christian Jew who works against Christian
missionaries. Singer calls himself an "anti-missionary," and his
Outreach Judaism organization claims to "rescue" Jews from Jews
for Jesus and other evangelistic organizations. See http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?level_3_id=63&page=4887358
Void Mormon Leader Left Could Take Years to Fill
The death of Rulon T. Jeffs, of the Fundamentalist Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has left a significant
gap in the church leadership that will not be easily mended. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/15/national/15POLY.html?todaysheadlines
School violated club leader rights | A federal appeals court ruled Monday that a school district violated a Bible club leader's rights by refusing to give her club the same status and benefits granted to other school groups (Associated Press). See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020910/ap_on_re_us/bible_club_1
Pat Robertson favors tax hike for roads | Supporters of the campaign say the endorsement from Robertson may encourage conservative voters to reconsider anti-tax positions (The Virginian-Pilot). See http://www.pilotonline.com/news/nw0913rob.html
Can any good come of radical Islam? | A modernizing force? Maybe. (Francis Fukuyama and Nadav Samin, The Wall Street Journal). See http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110002251
The times that try one's faith | Does God cause or condone evil? Do murder victims who do not believe in God go to heaven or hell? Can Islam, Judaism and Christianity co-exist? (The Orange County Register). See http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=2322
What the Left Behind series left out | A biblical text taken out of its original context can mean whatever anyone wants it to mean (Ben Witherington III, Bible Review). See http://www.bib-arch.org/bswb_BR/bswbBRColumnist.html
Science in the News
ASA Meeting: The fall meeting of the Eastern PA Section of the American Scientific Affiliation will be returning to Messiah College campus in Grantham, PA on September 28th. Please contact Alan McCarrick at admeam@aol.com for more information and to be put on our contact list. Our general topic this time around will be Astronomy (history and cosmology). We will have Dr. Owen Gingerich and Dr. Robert C. Newman. Dr. Gingerich's talk is entitled "Galileo: Hero or Heretic?" Dr. Newman's presentation is entitled "The Cosmos and the Bible: A Critical Examination of Modern Cosmological Theories."
Wagner Free Institute Classes:
Skeletons Do Tell Tales: Introduction to Forensic Anthropology. Meeting Wednesdays starting October 2 through November 6 at 7P.M. at the University of Penn Museum. Instructor is Janet Monge.
The Physics of Animal Locomotion. Meeting Tuesdays starting September 24 through November 26 at 6:30 P.M. at St. Joseph's University. The instructor is Paul Angiolillo.
An Introduction to Insects and Related Arthropods. Meeting Thursdays starting September 26 through November 14 at 6:30 P.M. at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Instructor is Robert Allen and Jon Gelhaus.
Creation/Evolution
Scientists wrangle with questions of faith
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald. Special to The Christian Science Monitor. See http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0905/p16s01-stgn.html
'THE GENIUS WITHIN'
All Living Things Think, No Matter How Teensy
By ANN FINKBEINER
Frank T. Vertosick Jr., a neurosurgeon, has written a book that's an argument
for a grand idea: most living things operate according to the same general
model. That model is a network. A network is a self-regulating community of
small things. "I could summarize the main thesis of this book in one
sentence," he writes: "Life is a network." See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/04/books/04FINK.html
Wrongly Inferred Design, by Richard Wein: A critique of William Dembski's book "The Design Inference." The essay is by Richard Wein, who is currently a software developer and technical translator (Russian ) in the UK. See http://www.metanexus.org/archives/message_fs.asp?ARCHIVEID=2654
William Dembski, "Obsessively Criticized but Scarcely Refuted: A
Response
to Richard Wein", May 2002,
http://www.designinference.com/documents/05.02.resp_to_wein.htm
Archaeology/Anthropology
Satellite combs mountain for Noah's Ark (Discovery News). See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020909/noah.html
Expecting
a Flood of Tourists
A
replica of Noah's Ark is planned for Turkey. By Ted Olsen.
See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/010/21.14.html
Did All Humans Once Speak the Same Language? See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020902/caveart.html
Was 'Old' Map Faked to Tweak the Nazis?
The subject of endless studies and counterstudies, the
Vinland Map, which describes the Viking discovery of North
America, is either a rare medieval artifact or else a
modern fake. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/14/arts/design/14MAP.html?todaysheadlines
Museum seeks cash to prepare for Dead Sea Scrolls | It's not cheap to display the ancient manuscripts (The Muskegon [Mich.] Chronicle).
Overlapping
Genetic And Archaeological Evidence Suggests Neolithic Migration
For the first time, Stanford researchers have compared genetic patterns with
archeological findings to discover that genetics can help predict with a high
degree of accuracy the presence of certain artifacts. And they say the strength
of this link adds credence to theories that prehistoric people migrated from the
Middle East to Europe, taking both their ideas and their way of life with them.
Astronomy
Rare Sighting Reveals Pluto: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020909/pluto.html
Seeing Double Among The Kuipers
Boulder - Sep 11, 2002 - The Kuiper Belt region of the solar system, which
stretches from just past Neptune to beyond the farthest reaches of Pluto's
orbit, was only discovered in 1992, but continues to reveal new knowledge into
the formation processes of the planets. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/kuiper-02b.html
Astronomers Wrangle Over Earth's "New Moon"
Paris (AFP) Sep 12, 2002 - An enigmatic object spotted in the night sky last
week by an amateur astronomer has set experts wondering whether the Earth may
have gained a new moon. Others say the answer could be quite different, but
almost as exciting. They believe it to be a piece of space history left over by
the Apollo lunar pioneers, and that the Earth has now reclaimed it, saving it
from the fiery embrace of the Sun. See http://spacedaily.com/news/020912160050.bdbxn2dj.html
The Moon Beyond 2002: Next Steps in Lunar Science and Exploration
Los Alamos - Sep 12, 2002 - The Department of Energy's Los Alamos National
Laboratory is hosting an international gathering of lunar scientists in Taos,
N.M. beginning Thursday. Los Alamos, who played a major role in the recent
Lunar Prospector mission to the moon, together with the University of California
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Los Alamos' Center for Space
Science and Exploration and the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas,
is organizing and hosting "The Moon Beyond 2002: Next Steps in Lunar
Science and Exploration." See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/lunar-02b.html
A Case for Life on Mars
Leicester - Sep 11, 2002 - A multitude of arguments supporting the possible
existence of life on Mars have surfaced after the discovery and examination of
the ALH84001 meteorite. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) found
within, plus detailed examination of the ratios of certain metabolites, all have
various interpretations supporting or opposing their organic origin. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life-02f.html
Mark
Bowden | How preconceptions blurred a scientist's universal view
There's been vindication, of a sort, for early 20th-century astronomer Percival
Lowell. The Boston Brahman who built the famous observatory named after himself
in Flagstaff, Ariz., and who recognized (before this age of orbiting telescopes)
the advantage of viewing the heavens where the air was thin and dry, has gone
down in history as a fool.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/special_packages/sunday_review/4074560.htm
Biology
Scientists
Identify "Genetic Signature" Of Stem Cells
Princeton University scientists have taken a major step toward identifying the
"genetic signature" of stem cells, discovering a subset of genes whose
products may give these cells their unique traits.
Earth Science
Ancient Antarctic Ice Challenges Climate Change Theories
Sydney (AFP) Sep 13, 2002 - A 15-year study of ancient Antarctic ice has
challenged prevailing theories about the process of climate change, a scientist
involved in the research said Friday. The Australian-French project involved
scientists drilling through 90,000 years of compacted Antarctic snow over a
six-year period and then analyzing the ice core they recovered for a further
nine years. See http://spacedaily.com/news/020913015032.parqllhi.html
EO Birds Confirm Rapid Changes In Earth's Polar Ice Sheets
Pasadena (JPL) Sep 10, 2002 - Recent NASA airborne measurements and a new
review of space-based measurements of the thickness of Earth's polar ice sheets
concludes they are changing much more rapidly than previously believed, with
unknown consequences for global sea levels and Earth's climate. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/antarctic-02q.html
Diamonds Tell How Old Continents May Have Formed
Washington - Sep 10, 2002 - Diamonds are much more than just pretty gemstones.
Scientists have found that these valuable minerals, and the smaller minerals
sometimes included in them, can reveal the details of how and when the oldest
parts of our planet formed. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-02g.html
A Thermodynamic History Of Universe, Earth And Humans
Philadelphia - Sep 10, 2002 - A new book by Gino Segre, a theoretical physicist
at the University of Pennsylvania, makes temperature the theme of a journey
through science, history and culture, revealing the surprisingly deep ways in
which this subtle parameter has shaped humans and their world. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-02k.html
New
Gravity Mission On Track To Map Earth's Shifty Mass
Six months into its mission to precisely measure Earth's shifting water masses
and map their effects on Earth's gravity field, the joint NASA-German Aerospace
Center Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or Grace, is already producing
results of considerable interest.
Dinosaur
Ancestor's Vision Possibly Nocturnal; Researchers Recreate 240-Million Year Old
Protein In Test Tube
Call it "Triassic Park": with statistics, instead of amber-preserved
DNA, researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at The Rockefeller
University and Yale University recreated in the test tube a functional pigment
that would have characterized the eyes of archosaurs ("ruling
reptiles") and allowed these direct ancestors to dinosaurs to see in dim
light.
Technology
Purdue Creates Self-Generating Nanotubes With 'Dial-Up' Properties
West Lafayette - Sep 02, 2002 - Nanotubes, stringy super molecules already
used to create fuel cell batteries and tiny computer circuits, could find myriad
new applications ranging from disease treatment to plastics manufacturing to
information storage, reports a Purdue University research team. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-02o.html
Religion in the New
Mixing God and politics Congress is voting on a bill to let religious leaders endorse candidates from the pulpit. The right can't lose: If it fails, they'll have a campaign issue to use against opponents in November. See http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2002/09/04/worship/index_np.html
Islam's anguish Working to blunt the power of Muslim fundamentalism requires knowledge of Islamic traditions and teachings (Editorial, The Boston Globe). See http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/241/editorials/Islam_s_anguish+.shtml
U.S. Muslims respond to criticism | They say their condemnation of attacks have gone unnoticed by detractors (Associated Press). See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020901/ap_on_re_us/sept_11_muslims_2
Science in the News
ASA Meeting: The fall meeting of the Eastern PA Section of the American Scientific Affiliation will be returning to Messiah College campus in Grantham, PA on September 28th. Please contact Alan McCarrick at admeam@aol.com for more information and to be put on our contact list. Our general topic this time around will be Astronomy (history and cosmology). We will have Dr. Owen Gingerich and Dr. Robert C. Newman. Dr. Gingerich's talk is entitled "Galileo: Hero or Heretic?" Dr. Newman's presentation is entitled "The Cosmos and the Bible: A Critical Examination of Modern Cosmological Theories."
Wagner Free Institute Classes:
Skeletons Do Tell Tales: Introduction to Forensic Anthropology. Meeting Wednesdays starting October 2 through November 6 at 7P.M. at the University of Penn Museum. Instructor is Janet Monge.
The Physics of Animal Locomotion. Meeting Tuesdays starting September 24 through November 26 at 6:30 P.M. at St. Joseph's University. The instructor is Paul Angiolillo.
An Introduction to Insects and Related Arthropods. Meeting Thursdays starting September 26 through November 14 at 6:30 P.M. at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Instructor is Robert Allen and Jon Gelhaus.
Creation/Evolution
Kent Hovind Arrested on first degree felony and other charges:
ON 8-15-2002 AT APPROX 1400 HRS IN ESCAMBIA COUNTY FL, THE ABOVE DEFENDANT, DR KENT E HOVIND DID WILLFULLY AND INTENTIONALLY COMMIT THE OFFENSE OF BURGLARY, BATTERY AND-ASSAULT. ON THIS DATE DR HOVIND CAME TO THE RESIDENCE OF HIS TENANT AT 100 CUMMINGS ST WHERE HE MADE CONTACT WITH TRUDY OWEN AT THE FRONT DOOR AND ATTEMPTED TO PROVIDE HER WITH MONEY IN ORDER FOR HER TO RELOCATE RESIDENCY. TRUDY OWEN SAID SHE REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE MONEY ASKING DR HOVIND TO LEAVE AS SHE SHUT THE FRONT DOOR. DR HOVIND THEN FORCED THE FRONT DOOR OPEN, KNOCKING MS OWEN BACKWARDS AND ENTERED INTO THE STRUCTURE AND BEGAN YELLING LOUDLY AND ACTING IN A HOSTILE AND AGGRESSIVE MANNER, PUTTING V/OWEN IN FEAR FOR HER SAFETY.
VICTIM CHRISTOPHER KENUI, ALSO RESIDING AT THIS RESIDENCE, ATTEMPTED TO INTERVENE WITH THIS ALTERCATION, WHERE DR HOVIND THEN BECAME PHYSICALLY AGGRESSIVE TOWARD KENUI, WHERE CHRISTOPHER THEN PHYSICALLY WRESTLED HIM OUT OF HIS RESIDENCE AND ONTO THE FRONT PORCH THEN SLAMMING THE DOOR AND LOCKING IT AND CALLING THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE TO REPORT THIS INCIDENT.
UPON MY ARRIVAL, I INTERVIEWED V/TRUDY OWEN, V/CHRISTOPHER KENUI AND WA/ROENALINE KENUI, WHO ALL CONCURRED WITH THE SAME STATEMENT OF THE EVENT THAT PREVIOUSLY OCCURRED. I THEN INTERVIEWED DR KENT HOVIND IN REFERENCE TO THIS INCIDENT WHERE HE DID ADMIT TO FORCING HIS WAY INTO THE HOUSE STATING THAT THE RESIDENCE BELONGED TO HIM AND HE WAS MERELY RENTING THIS HOME TO TENANT OWEN AND FAMILY. DR HOVIND FURTHER STATED THAT HE WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT HE COULD ENTER THIS RESIDENCE ANY TIME HE WANTED THEREFORE. HE DID NOT FEEL THAT HE COMMITTED A CRIME. DR HOVIND FURTHER STATED THAT HE DID NOT ASSAULT MS OWEN AT THIS LOCATION AND THAT CHRISTOPHER KENUI DID IN FACT HAVE TO PHYSICALLY REMOVE HIM AFTER HIS REFUSAL TO LEAVE VERBALLY.
AT THAT TIME, DR KENT HOVIND WAS PLACED UNDER ARREST, TRANSPORTED TO THE ESCAMBIA COUNTY JAIL AND CHARGED WITH BURGLARY, BATTERY AND ASSAULT. BOND PLACED AT $1,000 AND RETURNABLE SET FOR 9-05-2002.
http://205.152.130.8/cv_web_1.asp?ulname=Hovind&ufname=Kent http://205.152.130.8/cv_web_1b.asp?ucase_id=12619523
There is also an open warrant for Kent Hovind's arrest on a County Building Code violation. Kent Hovind has filed for bankruptcy in the past claiming he does not own any property, yet records show he owns over $144,000 worth of property, http://www.escpa.org/ . Hovind also refuses to pay the IRS income tax. Since Hovind does not want to follow the laws of the United States, I suggest that he move to another country, or be prepared to spend a lot of time in jail.
Human evolution (26 Aug) - A gene that separates humans from the apes and all other animals seems to have disappeared from humans up to three million years ago, just before they first stood upright, researchers said on Monday. Most animals have the gene but people do not -- and it may be somehow involved in the expansion of the brain, the international team of researchers said. The gene controls production of a sialic acid -- a kind of sugar -- called Neu5Gc, the researchers write in an advance online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "This mutation occurred after our last common ancestor with bonobos (pygmy chimpanzees) and chimpanzees, and before the origin of present-day humans," they wrote. Neanderthal skeletons, the oldest early humans from who DNA has been obtained, also lack the sugar. See http://abcnews.go.com/wire/SciTech/reuters20020826_393.html
Archaeology/Anthropology
Neanderthal Newborn: A skeleton of a newborn Neanderthal, lost for almost 90 years, has turned up in a museum in France. The beautifully preserved fossil could lead to new insights into the evolution of human development and the relationship between modern humans and our long-extinct cousins. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2236585.stm
Archaeology (5 Sep) - The 7,700-year-old remains of a woman, nicknamed the Lady of Trent, reveal that she ate nearly as much meat as a wolf, according to a press release from the Archaeological Consultancy of the University of Sheffield in England. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020902/wolfeater.html
Archaeology - politics (30 Aug) - A federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. government to let scientists study the bones of Kennewick Man, an ancient skeleton discovered in 1996 on the banks of the Columbia River. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18318-2002Aug30.html
Astronomy
Age of our Solar System: A geochemist has accurately dated Calcium Aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs), the oldest objects in our solar system, to be 4.57 billion years old. This provides insight into how objects in our solar system formed. See http://www.llnl.gov/llnl/06news/NewsReleases/2002/NR-02-09-01.html
Comets: Some comets may break apart over and over again in the
farthest reaches of
the solar system, challenging a theory that comets break up only occasionally
and not too far from the Sun. See http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2002/release_2002_170.html
Crater: Starting on September 10, NASA scientists will venture into an
isolated
part of the Bolivian Amazon to try to uncover the origin of a 5 mile (8
kilometer) diameter crater there known as the Iturralde Crater. See http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20020904icecrater.html
Hubble Captures "Perfect" Image Of Distant Ringed Galaxy
Washington (AFP) Sep 05, 2002 - The orbiting Hubble space telescope has captured
the most detailed image ever of a distant ringed galaxy, NASA said Thursday. The
galaxy, known as Hoag's Object, measures some 120,000 light years in diameter,
about the size of our own Milky Way, the US space agency said, offering an
enthusiastic description: See main Hubble Site:
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/2002/21/
http://spacedaily.com/news/020905215240.5fv2iur6.html
Landmark Decision Clears Way For First Commercial Lunar Flight
San Diego - Sept 2, 2002 - TransOrbital, Inc. has become the first private
company in the history of space flight to win approval from the U.S. government
to explore, photograph, and land on the moon. The company expects to launch its
Trailblazer Mission from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan within the next
9-12 months. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/lunar-02a.html
Biology
Immunology (28 Aug) - Exposure to at least two dogs or cats in the first year of life may drastically reduce the risk of allergies, including reactions to molds, grasses and pollen, scientists report in an unusual line of research published today. See http://adserver.trb.com/html.ng/site=newsday&adtype=popwindow&adplacement=3
Earth Science
Dinos Were Dying Before Asteroid Hit: A near 20-degree drop in average temperature was killing the dinosaurs even before a giant asteroid impact finished them off, according to new research by a team of Canadian paleontologists. If correct, the finding explains why dinosaurs were so vulnerable to the impact, which many scientists agree caused the extinction of dinos and other prehistoric creatures around 65 million years ago. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020826/dino.html
Physics
Physics (22 Aug) - A new finding may shed light on natural clustering processes including the assembly of quarks and other minuscule components into atoms, the folding of proteins and the clumping of stars in galaxies scientists say. See http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/n02-13.htm
Psychology
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (4 Sep) - Scientists have uncovered a gene which they believe may play a role in causing obsessive-compulsive disorder. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2234315.stm
Consciousness (5 Sep) - A Surrey scientist claims to have an answer to what is often considered to be the hardest problem in science (sometimes just known as the "Hard Problem"): why we are aware. See http://www.alphagalileo.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=readRelease&Releaseid=10776
Stress (31 Aug) - Believing that you have control over a moderately stressful situation may make it less potentially damaging to your heart and circulatory system, a new study suggests. See http://www.hbns.org/newsrelease/control8-31-02.cfm
Depression (25 Aug) - Painless magnetic waves pulsed across the brain appear to relieve depression as well as the more traumatic and standard electro-convulsive shock therapy, researchers said at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. See http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020825-111801-2480r
Technology
Hooked
on photonics
A major technological transformation, potentially as significant as the
electronic revolution of the 20th century, is creeping up on a largely
unsuspecting world. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/3987110.htm
Evolutionary algorithms (28 Aug) - A self-organizing electronic circuit has stunned engineers by turning itself into a radio receiver. See http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992732
Near-Frictionless Carbon Coating Nears Commercial Applications
Argonne - Sep 03, 2002 - Four years and more than 3,000 phone calls and e-mail
contacts later, Argonne's "Near-Frictionless Carbon" coating stands on
the brink of commercialization. A flurry of calls from just about every engineer
who works with moving parts followed the announcement in 1997 of a new coating
with the lowest coefficient of friction ever measured. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-02ze.html
Triassic Park Update!
New web pages and links:
TRIASSIC PARK HOME PAGETRIASSIC PARK BOTANICAL SURVEY
PLANT LIST (Over 250 species at Triassic Park)
We still need more help! We could use a small trailer for the park. We need someone with a pick up truck that could help transport rocks and fossils. We could use youth groups or others willing to help pick up trash, clear trails, and spread out gravel for a parking lot. Your financial support will enable us to move this project forward. You can also donate by credit card. If you can help out you can e-mail me, Stephen Meyers at ibss1@aol.com or call 215-423-7374.
Religion in the NewMichael
Newdow hopes lightning strikes twice
Californian Michael
Newdow is clearly trying to become the next Madalyn Murray O'Hair. The
emergency room doctor who famously
sued over the Pledge
of Allegiance has now filed suit in federal district court charging that
government funding of chaplains
in the U.S. Congress is unconstitutional. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13530-2002Aug29.html
Accused Priests Charge Slander
Some priests have used the civil courts in recent weeks to
strike back against those who have accused them of misconduct.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/25/national/25LIBE.html?todaysheadlines
Recognizing
Abuse - Leadership Journal
Signs that a child may have been abused. See http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2002/003/15.76.html
Devout
Christian Gains Prime Minister's Post
Cautious
Dutch evangelicals take a wait-and-see stance concerning new leader. By Benjamin
Louwerse in Amsterdam. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/010/16.30.html
Religious
conservatives turn on Bill Simon
Bill
Simon, California's Republican gubernatorial
candidate, has been a darling of religious
conservatives throughout the campaign—so much so that the support was seen by
some as a liability.
As Weblog has noted, several California newspapers have attempted to paint
him as an extremist.
Apocalyptic — and atop the bestseller lists Author Tim LaHaye takes on the final battle between good and evil (The Christian Science Monitor). See http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0829/p14s01-lire.html
Temple
wall may fall, say Israelis
A 35-foot
bulge in a wall at the Temple Mount is about to collapse, say Israeli
archaeologists and leaders. Some press reports
are saying the Western Wall (or Wailing Wall) is bulging, but it's actually the
wall above it. The Western Wall, then, may still be in danger of collapse if the
bulging wall falls. Weblog wonders what Bible prophecy enthusiasts think of all
this. Would the collapse of the Western Wall be a fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy
in Matthew
24:2 that "not one stone will be left on another"? Do some dispensational
premillennialists believe this would be a sign of the end times?
The
Next Billy Graham May Be a Robot
Should
Internet evangelism use automated programs to spread the gospel?
By Todd Hertz. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/133/31.0.html
In God they trusted, but angry retirees say investment plan took millions How were hundreds of investors—many associated with Grand Rapids' leading employer—persuaded to give money to assist God's work on Earth, even as they hoped to earn tax-free riches? (The Grand Rapids [Mich.] Press) See http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news-3/1030270552196491.xml
Practicing
"Skillful Doubt"
Faith and doubt aren't
incompatible--they're complementary, says Buddhist author Sharon Salzburg, and
questioning your beliefs will help them grow. Beliefnet member Revinpitts quotes
a writer who said "doubt is the ants in the pants of faith. It keeps it
alive and moving!" See http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp?pageLoc=story/110/story_11045_1.html&boardID=44567
Passion
as Gift from God
By restoring passion to the
marriage bed, we can avoid adultery and broken marriages, says Rabbi Shmuley
Boteach. See
http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp?pageLoc=story/111/story_11160_1.html&boardID=44561
ITALY: EXPERTS ATTACK LATEST TESTS ON TURIN SHROUD: By Richard Owen. A FRESH
attempt by Catholic officials to prove that the Turin Shroud is
genuine and not a medieval fake has provoked a row after experts said that
the tests could damage the cloth. See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-3-389723,00.html
Science in the News
ASA Meeting: The fall meeting of the Eastern PA Section of the American Scientific Affiliation will be returning to Messiah College campus in Grantham, PA on September 28th. Please contact Alan McCarrick at admeam@aol.com for more information and to be put on our contact list. Our general topic this time around will be Astronomy (history and cosmology). We will have Dr. Owen Gingerich and Dr. Robert C. Newman. Dr. Gingerich's talk is entitled "Galileo: Hero or Heretic?" Dr. Newman's presentation is entitled "The Cosmos and the Bible: A Critical Examination of Modern Cosmological Theories."
Wagner Free Institute Classes:
Skeletons Do Tell Tales: Introduction to Forensic Anthropology. Meeting Wednesdays starting October 2 through November 6 at 7P.M. at the University of Penn Museum. Instructor is Janet Monge.
The Physics of Animal Locomotion. Meeting Tuesdays starting September 24 through November 26 at 6:30 P.M. at St. Joseph's University. The instructor is Paul Angiolillo.
An Introduction to Insects and Related Arthropods. Meeting Thursdays starting September 26 through November 14 at 6:30 P.M. at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Instructor is Robert Allen and Jon Gelhaus.
Creation/Evolution
NEW SCIENCE AND RELIGION SOCIETY TO HEAL DIVISIONS AMONG FAITHS
(Granada, Spain, August 23, 2002) -- Scientists and religious scholars
from
the world¹s major faiths voted today to form the International Society for
Science and Religion. Meeting at the historic Alhambra in Granada, Spain,
the society elected the Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne of Cambridge University
as its first president.
Center for Islam and Science: New Journal, Islam and Science, a
quarterly journal published by the Center for Islam and Science, explores
contemporary and historical issues related to Islam and science. See
http://www.cis-ca.org/journal.htm
Hugh Ross Exposé by AIG
http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/0823ross_full.asp?srcFrom=aignews
AiG's Commentary on the Intelligent Design Movement!
http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/0830_IDM.asp?srcFrom=aignews
What will the Discovery Institute think of next? Their evolving banners. See
http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/4116_evolving_banners_at_the_discov_8_29_2002.asp
'Jumping genes' create ripples in the genome - and perhaps species'
evolution
Laboratory experiments led by Hopkins scientists have revealed that
so-called "jumping genes" create dramatic rearrangement in the human
genome
when they move from chromosome to chromosome. If the finding holds true in
living organisms, it may help explain the diversity of life on Earth, the
researchers report in the current (Aug. 9) issue of Cell.
"Jumping genes," or retrotransposons, are sequences of DNA that are
easily
and naturally copied from one location in the genome and inserted elsewhere,
particularly in developing eggs and sperm. There are more than 500,000
copies in the human genome of the retrotransposon the scientists studied,
accumulated over the millions of years of human evolution.
But the sheer quantity of these elements isn't as striking as what else they
might be doing as they jump around, says Jef Boeke. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-08/jhmi-gc081502.php
Fossils Help Determine When Humans, Apes Diverged
Using advanced molecular techniques to analyze powdered bone fragments from
fossilized remains of Neandertals and other species, and comparing the
genomes of humans and apes, the researchers concluded that the mutation
occurred after the time when human ancestors stood upright‹about six to
seven million years ago‹but before their brains began to expand in size,
about 2.2 million years ago. See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0823_020823_humanorigins.html
The Museum of the Origins of Man
See http://www.museoorigini.it
Paul Raeburn reviews Of Moths and Men: An Evolutionary Tale: The Untold Story of Science and the Peppered Moth by Judith Hooper. See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/25/books/review/25RAEBURN.html
Archaeology
"Archaeology and the Religions of Canaan and Israel" by
Beth Alpert Nakhai (an ASOR publication). You read the first two chapters
at
http://www.asor.org/pubs/nakhai.pdf
Scrolls,
Scripts & Stelae
Hershel Shanks
Martin Schøyen only began buying antiquities 15 years ago, but he has made up
for lost time with a vengeance, amassing Mesopotamian law codes and Dead Sea
Scrolls. See http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/bswb_BAR/bswbBARFeature1.html
ReViews
Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, Volume XXXVI. By Stephen J. Pfann, et
al. See http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/bswb_BAR/bswbBARReViews.html
Astronomy
Charting
the reach of space
It was 25 years ago this month that optimistic American scientists launched
Voyager 2 into the celestial unknown, with its plaque depicting a human male and
female, a set of prime numbers, and a copper record with songs by Chuck Berry,
Beethoven and a whale - should it encounter intelligent life.
Microorganisms Grow At Low Pressures: And Maybe On Mars
Fayetteville - Aug 26, 2002 - Using a unique device known as the Andromeda
Chamber to simulate conditions found on Mars, University of Arkansas researchers
discovered that certain microorganisms called methanogens could grow at low
pressures. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life-02e.html
Hydrocarbon Wind Stirs On Titan
Moffett Field - Aug 26, 2002 - Researchers from NASA and other institutions have
developed an atmospheric model lending insights to decades-old mysteries
surrounding Saturn's moon Titan that could shed light on the chemical processes
that may have jump-started life on Earth. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/saturn-titan-02a.html
Cosmic airbag could save the planet
http://www.newscientist.com/exc/enews.jsp?id=ns99992730
Lifting The Veil On Planet Formation
Pasadena (JPL) Aug 27, 2002 - Early next year, the field of new planet
observations will be extended into space with the launch of the Space Infrared
Telescope Facility (SIRTF). See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/extrasolar-02u.html
Biology
Scientists shocked at GM gene transfer
Weeds have become stronger and fitter by cross-breeding with genetically
modified crops, leading to fears that superweeds which are difficult or
impossible to control may invade farms growing standard crops. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,774788,00.html
Longevity (2 Aug) - For the first time, researchers have found evidence suggesting people may live longer by eating fewer calories each day, a dietary restriction that already has shown in experiments to extend the lives of laboratory animals by up to 40 percent. See http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/3782911.htm
Essential Cell Division "Zipper" Anchors To So-Called Junk DNA: In a new study in the August 29 issue of Nature, researchers at The Wistar Institute identify a cohesin-containing protein complex that reshapes chromatin to allow cohesins to bind to DNA. In doing so, they also identified the locations on the human genome where the cohesins bind. Somewhat to their surprise, the binding sites were found to be a repetitive DNA sequence found throughout the human genome for which no previous role had ever been identified. These bits of DNA, known as Alu sequences, are liberally represented along those vast stretches of the human genome not known to directly control genetic activity, sometimes referred to as junk DNA. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020830072103.htm
Psychology
Schizophrenia (23 Aug) - Swedish scientists have found a tiny particle in the spinal fluid of people with schizophrenia that could be a marker for the disease, or even play some part in causing it. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2212766.stm
Technology
Amazing Magnetic Fluids
Huntsville - Aug 27, 2002 - If you don't see it for yourself, you might not
believe it. A grey blob oozes down the side of a laboratory beaker. It's heading
for the table, but before it gets there a low hum fills the air. Someone just
switched on an electromagnet. The goop stiffens, quivers, then carries on oozing
only after the hum subsides. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-02zd.html
Discovery Could Bring Widespread Uses For 'Nanocrystals'
West Lafayette - Aug 26, 2002 - Researchers at Purdue University have made a
surprising discovery that could open up numerous applications for metal "nanocrystals,"
or tiny crystals that are often harder, stronger and more wear resistant than
the same materials in bulk form. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-02v.html
Triassic Park Update!
We still need more help! Just recently, 14.9 acres in St. Peters, PA has been given to the Institute for Biblical and Scientific Studies. We would like to have a park where school groups, homeschoolers, and families can come to look for interesting rocks and fossils. They could hike trails and see amazing life both past in the rocks, and present in the woods. Also, our long range plan is to build a museum. We could use some benches, picnic tables, a boat or canoe for the pond. We could use youth groups or others willing to help pick up trash, clear trails, and spread out gravel for a parking lot. Your financial support will enable us to move this project forward. If you can help out you can e-mail me, Stephen Meyers at ibss1@aol.com or call 215-423-7374. See pictures of Triassic Park at http://bibleandscience.com/triassicpark.htm
Religion in the New
Assigned Reading on Koran in Chapel Hill Raises Hackles
A federal appeals court refused on Monday to halt a program
to expose new students at the University of North Carolina
to information about the Koran.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/20/national/20KORA.html?todaysheadlines also
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/132/12.0.html
Bidding Emotional Goodbye, Pope Ends Visit to His Past
With words that captured both how hard it was for him to
leave and, it seemed, how uncertain he was that he would
return, Pope John Paul II left Poland on Monday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/20/international/europe/20POPE.html?todaysheadlines
Planned Mini-Series on Hitler's Early Life Brings Criticism
Can a four-hour CBS mini-series based on the early life of
Hitler accurately depict his monstrousness?
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/20/arts/television/20HITL.html?todaysheadlines
Christian
Villages Burn Again in Central Indonesia
Protective
armed forces are withdrawn before the attack.
By Geoff Stamp, Compass Direct. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/132/23.0.html
The
Setting of the Age of Aquarius
Remember
the New Age movement? Now, even the New Agers want out.
By Ted Olsen. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/009/36.14.html
Does Islam foster extremism? Perhaps every belief system that lays claim to the ultimate truth carries the seeds of violent fanaticism and intolerance (Cathy Young, The Boston Globe). See http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/231/oped/Does_Islam_foster_extremism_+.shtml
Franklin
Graham on Islam, Jesus' Name, and More
In recent months, Billy
Graham's son has made strong statements about Islam, America as a Christian
nation, and why his prayer to Jesus at President Bush's inauguration caused such
a stir. In a Beliefnet interview, he talks about violence, the Qur'an, and his
new book, "The Name." See http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp?pageLoc=story/111/story_11117_1.html&boardID=44251
Self-proclaimed Messiah draws crowds in Siberia Thousands of pilgrims have converged on the hamlet of Petropavlovka, deep in Siberia, to hear the annual sermon today by a 41-year-old former traffic policeman who they believe to be Jesus (Sunday Telegraph, London). See http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-messiah18.html
'By the hand of Mormon': The gospel according to Joseph Smith Terryl L. Givens examines the life of the Mormon prophet and the book he presented to the world (The New York Times).
Flash, flourish, and faith Ladies and gentlemen, from the theme park capital of the world, behold: the Scriptorium, Bible study like you've never seen it before (The Orlando Sentinel). See http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/attractions/orl-livscriptorium15081502aug15.story
Books
& Culture Corner: After the Quake
Bedside
reading for the anniversary of 9/11. By John Wilson. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/132/11.0.html
Lisa Beamer is an author second Sept. 11 widow says being a mom comes before her memoir Let's Roll!, which is to be released this week (USA Today). See http://www.usatoday.com/life/2002-08-18-beamer_x.htm
Spurgeon
on Jabez
What
history's most prolific preacher said, in 1871, about the Prayer of Jabez.
By Chris Armstrong. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/132/53.0.html
Florida'a
adoption notification law under fire
The state of Florida requires that mothers who want to give their children up
for adoption must notify
the child's father. That sounds awfully family-friendly, doesn't it? But the
law goes further: mothers who don't know who the father is must place a
newspaper advertisement announcing she plans to do so. See http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id=%7BD32F94E9-BA69-4423-A32A-ECACBDDA3143%7D
Don't
Knock Christian Rock
The
author of the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music and a Lutheran
seminary professor says the genre deserves more respect.
An interview with Mark Allan Powell. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/132/31.0.html
The Secular Society Gets Religion
From vouchers for religious schools to wrangling over cloning, religion has been
re-entering the public arena in complex and unforeseen ways. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/24/arts/24RELI.html?todaysheadlines
Limited
Cloning Ban Disappoints Prolife Groups
President's
Council on Bioethics recommends a four-year moratorium on research cloning. By
Stan Guthrie. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/010/6.17.html
Turin Shroud Undergoes New Tests: Aug. 23 — New tests on the Shroud of Turin are being carried out this summer in a secret experiment in the Turin Cathedral's new sacristy. In an effort to solve the mystery shrouding one of the most controversial relics in Christendom, the Vatican confirmed that thirty triangular patches had been removed from the Shroud. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020819/shroud.html
Expert attacks latest tests on Turin Shroud A fresh attempt by Catholic officials to prove that the Turin Shroud is genuine and not a medieval fake has provoked a row after experts said that the tests could damage the cloth (The Times, London). See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-389723,00.html
Science in the News
US News & World Report: The Art of the Hoax
Creation/Evolution
Georgia School Board Requires Balance of Evolution and Bible
August 23, 2002. By KATE ZERNIKE.
Georgia's second-largest school district adopted a policy
last night that requires teachers to give a "balanced
education" about the origin of life. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/23/education/23EVOL.html?ex=1031125302&ei=1&en=5ca98ca3594b1fb4
http://apt.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpID=7&CategoryID=268&StoryID=10076975&show=localnews
Keep religion out of science education Just as we can help to create a more moral society without teaching religion in public schools, so can we help to create a more logical citizenry if we can get everyone to park their religion in the designated area (Beverly Carol Lucey, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. See http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/monday/opinion_d3067871737db16a0024.html
Cobb board to clarify how origin of life can be taught Faced with equally impassioned pleas to allow creationism to be taught in the classroom or to ban it, the Cobb County school board chose to do neither (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) See http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/0802/23evolution.html
ACLU sues over evolution disclaimers in textbooks The stickers, placed in new science books this month after requests from parents opposed to evolution on religious grounds, say evolution is a theory, not fact, and should be critically considered (Associated Press). See http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,61065,00.html
Intelligent
Design Battle Moves to Ohio
Opponents
say the movement is trying to do an end run around science.
By LaTonya Taylor. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/010/10.22.html
No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without Intelligence by William A. Dembski reviewed by H. Allen Orr. See http://www-polisci.mit.edu/BR27.3/orr.html
New Book: Bioinformatics by Lesk from Oxford University Press. The book explains the traditional classification systems. It compares the Indian elephant, African elephant and the Mammoth RNA. It also tells about the genes controlling eye development. You can download and read Chapter 1 at http://www.oup.co.uk/best.textbooks/biochemistry/bioinf/
Cosmic smog 'key to life in Milky Way'
http://www.newscientist.com/exc/enews.jsp?id=ns99992703
Archaeology
Herod's
Stadium
Israeli
archaeologists discover 2,000-year-old stadium. By Ted Olsen. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/009/35.14.html
Archaeology an Israeli obsession that could end in
loss of Palestinian history
. "The
search for evidence of ancient Jewish roots has become a national obsession for
millions of Israelis. For some, that evidence also has provided a
rationalization for claiming occupied territory held for centuries by Arabs.
Meanwhile, the Palestinians - relative newcomers to archaeology - are gearing up
to research their own origins in what is widely viewed as a cultural
counterstrike. Despite the pressures, most archaeologists remain committed to
scientific methods and principles, often putting them at odds with politicians
and religious leaders." See http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/news/world/3830513.htm
Astronomy
SpaceWatch Telescope Images Indicate Contour In Pieces
Los Angeles - Aug 16, 2002 - Telescope images indicate that the missing U.S.
Contour space probe may have been destroyed when it fired its engine to escape
Earth orbit on Thursday, a NASA official said Friday. Images from astronomers
working at SpaceWatch asteroid observation program at the University of Arizona
show the probe may have broken in two, the official said. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/contour-02h.html
Bass Still In Sync For Planned Space Trip: Russia
Moscow (AFP) Aug 16, 2002 - Teen pop idol Lance Bass of the boy band 'N Sync is
assured of a place on the next Russian flight to the International Space Station
and will resume training after Russia extended a deadline for paying the fare, a
Russian Space Agency spokesman told AFP Friday. See http://spacedaily.com/news/020816112020.vmbfsdk2.html
The 25-Year Space Odyssey Of Two Voyagers
Washington (AFP) Aug 17, 2002 - For the past 25 years, the twin Voyager probes
have been hurtling toward the outer edge of our solar system on a
ground-breaking journey that has yielded a wealth of scientific discoveries. See
http://spacedaily.com/news/020817121504.rc0x3jko.html
Asteroid To Pass Close To Earth, But No Danger: NASA
Washington (AFP) Aug 17, 2002 - A newly-discovered asteroid passed close to
Earth Sunday, giving astronomers and skywatchers a rare study opportunity, but
won't pose any danger, the US space agency NASA said Friday. Asteroid 2002 NY40
will be visible with binoculars or small telescopes as it passes within 455,000
kilometers (283,000 miles) of Earth, said Don Yeomans, of NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, California. See http://spacedaily.com/news/020816224920.iai1cvit.html
Mirror Matter And Interstellar Pioneers
Melbourne - Aug 19, 2002 - The interactions of the known elementary particles
(such as the electron, proton etc) violate mirror reflection symmetry, yet
respect just about every other plausible symmetry. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mirror-matter-02b.html
In Search Of A Universal Dark Secret
Boston - Aug 22, 2002 - Physics graduate student Taotao Fang's thesis
project in the late 1990s was to search for a hot, diffuse gas located between
galaxies. The gas forms a diffuse cosmic web connecting clusters of galaxies.
See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/darkmatter-02b.html
Bulk Source Of Universe's Gamma Rays Identified, Scientists Say
Greenbelt - Aug 19, 2002 - Scientists at Columbia University and Barnard College
have found that the majority of the gamma rays outside of our galaxy are likely
emitted by galaxy clusters and other massive structures. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gamma-02b.html
Galileo Team Continue To Prepare For Final Jupiter Flyby
Pasadena - Aug 20, 2002 - As the Galileo spacecraft continues its long trek
back in towards Jupiter for its final planned science pass in November, the pace
of activity picks up. In addition to the routine maintenance activities that
look after spacecraft health and safety, special tests are beginning in
preparation for the Amalthea flyby. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/galileo-02d.html
Breathing Life Into Old Martian Rocks
Houston - Aug 22, 2002 - In the latest study of a 4.5 billion-year-old Martian
meteorite, researchers have presented new evidence confirming that 25 percent of
the magnetic material in the meteorite was produced by ancient bacteria on Mars.
These latest results were published in the journal Applied and Environmental
Microbiology. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life-02d.html
Biology
Scientists Discover Anti-Cancer Bacteria. Aug. 15 — The genes of a bacteria commonly found in soil could have a knockout punch capable of killing off cancer cells, according to Friday's issue of Science magazine. See http://health.discovery.com/news/afp/20020812/anticanbac.html
Earth Science
Pleistocene Park? Japanese researchers hope to create live woolly mammoths, destined for a theme park. A team of researchers led by Akira Iritani at Kinki University, Osaka are renewing efforts to collect tissue samples that they might use to clone a woolly mammoth, The Times reported this week. Funded by Japanese businessman Kazutoshi Kobayashi, who plans to populate a Siberian safari park with mammoths, the scientists are awaiting authorization from Russian authorities to retrieve material from the leg of a young male mammoth that was frozen in the Siberian permafrost some 25,000–30,000 years ago. See http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20020823/05 and http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-3-387635,00.html
Huge Meteorite Hit Early Earth: Aug. 23 — A giant meteorite fell to Earth 3.47 billion years ago, causing heavy shock waves whose impact would have transformed the planet, according to a study by a team of U.S. geologists published Friday. Researchers have failed to locate the crater caused by the extra-terrestrial object. However, they managed to find evidence on two of the world's continents that the meteorite was 12 miles (20 kilometers) in diameter, twice the size of the asteroid blamed for the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20020819/meteor.html
Psychology
BEHAVIOR: Bipolar Youth — It used to be called manic depression. Now this volatile form of mental illness is increasingly showing up in children and teenagers. See http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020819/story.html
Inside The Bipolar Brain: Scientists can't point to one lobe that makes a person bipolar, but they have identified several areas that are involved in ways they are just beginning to understand. See http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101020819-335980,00.html
Triassic Park!
Just recently, 14.9 acres in St. Peters, PA has been given to the Institute for Biblical and Scientific Studies. We would like to have a park where school groups, homeschoolers, and families can come to look for interesting rocks and fossils. They could hike trails and see amazing life both past in the rocks, and present in the woods. Also, our long range plan is to build a museum. We need your help! We could use some benches, picnic tables, a boat or canoe for the pond. We could use youth groups or others willing to help pick up trash and clear trails. Your financial support will enable us to move this project forward. If you can help out you can e-mail me, Stephen Meyers at ibss1@aol.com or call 215-423-7374. See pictures of Triassic Park at http://bibleandscience.com/triassicpark.htm
Religion in the New
Pastor Tells Why Abducted Girls Went on TV
The two girls kidnapped last week in California agreed to
give a television interview on Monday out of a conviction
that their story could help other young women, according to
their pastor. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/06/national/06ABDU.html?todaysheadlines
Mother wants 'God' kept in pledge On Monday, the girl's mother, Sandra Banning, filed a court motion seeking to intervene in the case. If the court will not allow that, she asks that references to her daughter be taken off the lawsuit (Associated Press). See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020806/ap_on_re_us/pledge_mother_1
Rescued miners give thanks Bush to meet with miners, salute 'spirit of America' (CNN) See http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/08/04/miners.service/index.html
Franklin
Graham: Muslims should pay up
Franklin Graham, promoting
a new
book, continues to rile folks with his statements on Islam. "The
silence of the clerics around the world is frightening to me," he said.
"How come they haven't come to this country, how come they haven't
apologized to the American people, how come they haven't reassured the American
people that this is not true Islam and that these people are not acting in the
name of Allah, they're not acting in the name of Islam?" See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/15/national/15GRAH.html
Catholic Religious Orders Let Abusive Priests Stay
The Roman Catholic religious orders that include a third of
the nation's priests will not expel predators from
their ranks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/10/national/10PRIE.html?todaysheadlines
U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops: Don't evangelize Jews
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement Monday saying that
Catholics should evangelize non-Christians—but not Jews. See http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2002/02-154.htm
Pope Offers Mass Near Site Where He Toiled Under the Nazis
Pope John Paul II made poignantly clear that his visit to
Cracow was an opportunity to retrace the steps of his youth
and of his development. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/18/international/europe/18POPE.html?todaysheadlines
Ousted Members Contend Jehovah's Witnesses' Abuse Policy
Hides Offenses
Expelled members of Jehovah's Witness congregations are
accusing the group of actively covering up child
abuse within the church.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/11/national/11WITN.html?todaysheadlines
Ministers in crisis Distressed pastors find support to overcome the pitfalls of the pulpit (Ft. Worth [Tex.] Star-Telegram). See http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/3841483.htm
Son of a preacher man How John Ashcroft's religion shapes his public service (San Francisco Chronicle). See http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/08/04/IN136349.DTL
President signs bill on abortion procedures Move on Pa. visit reopens debate (The Washington Post). See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47938-2002Aug5.html
Do faith-based services work? As government has become involved in funding faith-based social programs, little attention is paid to tracking their effectiveness (The Baltimore Sun) See http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/bal-pe.charity11aug11.story?coll=bal%2Dpe%2Dopinion
Atheists get equal time on BBC Richard Dawkins gets experimental slot after protest (Associated Press) See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020814/ap_on_en_mu/britain_god_slot_3
Christian
school attacked in Pakistan
At least three masked men burst into Murree
Christian School in Pakistan this morning, killing two security guards, a
cook, a carpenter, a receptionist, and another person. Miraculously, none of the
146 missionary children attending the school were harmed, Reuters
reports. See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020805/wl_nm/pakistan_church_attack_dc
Pakistan frees Christian prisoner as country mourns attacks
After more
than five and a half years in prison for allegedly blaspheming Muhammad,
Pakistani Christian Ayub
Masih was freed
yesterday by the country's Supreme Court. "Ayub Masih is not
found guilty of committing blasphemy and allegations against Ayub are baseless
and false," the court said.
World
Vision hostages freed
A Sudanese militia group has freed
three World Vision aid workers taken hostage in a raid
last week. See http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/East_Africa/0,1113,2-11-997_1237510,00.html
Seeing God in crop circles Is Signs getting at God? (David Klinghoffer, National Review Online). See http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-klinghoffer081202.asp
Insight into a world of religions From facts to chats, sacred texts and a virtual tour, faith-based websites offer an abundance of information (The Washington Post). See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1039-2002Aug9.html
Nietzsche and The Prayer of Jabez: Both criticize Christian self-denial and boldly promote self-interest and a "will to power" (Brian Britt, Sightings)
Religion in the post-Enron marketplace: Check out, for example, Fortune magazine's new list of America's 25 Greediest Executives. At the top is Qwest's Philip Anschutz, who sold $1.57 billion worth of company stock in May 1999. Regular Weblog readers will remember Anschutz as the man financing the Narnia films who said he wanted to do "something significant in American Christianity." See http://www.marketplace.org/shows/2002/08/12_mpp.html
Pass the Collection Plate and Charge It
Churches across the country are embracing electronic giving,
a fund-raising tool that allows their members to tithe
electronically.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/11/technology/11TITH.html?todaysheadlines
I Wanted to Be the Next Britney - Campus Life: ZOEgirl's Chrissy Conway dreamed of being a rich and famous pop star, but God had bigger plans. See http://www.christianitytoday.com/cl/2002/003/7.30.html
Bring Out Their Best - Christian Parenting Today: How to build your child's character through loving, values-based discipline. See http://www.christianitytoday.com/cpt/2002/004/4.39.html
Pennsylvania eyes reducing home-school filings State lawmakers will soon decide whether to loosen the state's 14-year-old home-schooling law, which critics say requires "countless hours" of tallying at-home instruction. See http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020806-8732784.htm
Understanding, not indoctrination The author of Approaching the Qur'an speaks out on the controversy at UNC (The Washington Post) See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57379-2002Aug7.html
Christian
History Corner: History in a Flash
A
new CD-ROM offers quick access to the facts of church history, plus interactive
quizzes. By Elesha Coffman. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/131/53.0.html
How
the Early Church Saw Heaven -The first Christians had very specific ideas
about who they would meet in the afterlife. See
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2002/aug9.html
and Newsweek's cover story "Why We Need Heaven?" A Newsweek
poll found that 76% of Americans believe in a heaven,
and 71% of them believe it's a real, physical place. See http://www.msnbc.com/news/789252.asp
Swapping 'religion' for 'postsecularism' | Anyone who doesn't recognize the power of "post" in intellectual strategy just hasn't been watching. It can gel loosely related phenomena into a major intellectual movement or cultural vanguard without having to be very precise about what unites them or what they are rather than what they are not (Peter Steinfels, The New York Times) See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/03/national/03BELI.html
Believing scientists and peace More than 100 scientists from around the world -- all believing Christians, Jews or Muslims -- will apply their methods of dialogue to seek answers to today's political, moral and social issues ranging from peace to stem cell research and euthanasia (UPI). See http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020814-053607-1633r
Science in the News
ASA: The fall meeting of the Eastern PA Section of the American
Scientific Affiliation will be returning to Messiah College campus in
Grantham, PA on September 28th. Please contact Alan McCarrick at admeam@aol.com
for more information and to be put on our contact list. Our general topic this
time around will be Astronomy (history and
cosmology). We will have Dr. Owen Gingerich and Dr. Robert C. Newman. Dr.
Gingerich's talk is entitled "Galileo: Hero or Heretic?" Dr. Newman's
presentation is entitled "The Cosmos and the Bible: A Critical Examination
of Modern Cosmological Theories." For directions see http://www.messiah.edu/vistors/direction.shtml
For ASA see http://www.asa3.org
Christian Faith and Modern Science
A 4-part lecture series at Messiah College sponsored by the Department of
Philosophy, the Department of Natural Sciences, and the Messiah College
Philosophy Forum, with support from the John M. Templeton Foundation. All
lectures are free (except Part Four as noted) and open to the public.
The lecturers are:
Keith Ward, Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford, one of
Britain¹s foremost philosopher-theologians
Owen Gingerich, Research Professor of Astronomy and History of Science at
Harvard University and senior astronomer emeritus at the Harvard-Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory, a leading authority on the history of astronomy. See http://www.messiah.edu/
Creation/Evolution
Serendipity in Science: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/discover/archive_features/36.shtml
'A
Nuclear Bomb' For Evolution?
Critics
of Darwinism say skull's discovery isn't all it's cracked up to be.
By Todd Hertz. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/131/31.0.html
KC conference explores evolution debate
Until intelligent design is accepted by a majority of scientists, don't look for
it in public school science classes, a panel of evolution supporters said on
Saturday. See http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/3754954.htm
COMPUTATIONAL GENETICISTS REVISIT A MYSTERY IN EVOLUTION
Why, biologists first asked 60 years ago, do members of the same species have
such similar traits, or phenotypes, despite the fact that they have such diverse
genes, or genotypes? They couldn't fully explore that question until now - when,
aided by computers, they can sift through mountains of experimental data. In the
June 24 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, senior
research scientist Aviv Bergman of Stanford's Center for Computational Genetics
and Biological Modeling (CCGBM) and postdoctoral scholar Mark Siegal of the
Department of Biological Sciences provide a surprisingly simple answer. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020807065302.htm
JUMPING GENES CAN KNOCK OUT DNA; ALTER HUMAN GENOME
Results of a new University of Michigan study suggest that junk DNA
dismissed by many scientists as mere strings of meaningless genetic code
could have a darker side. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020809071852.htm
Language Gene Is Traced to Emergence of Humans
By NICHOLAS WADE.
A study of the genomes of people and chimpanzees has yielded a deep insight
into the origin of language, one of the most distinctive human attributes
and a critical step in human evolution.
The analysis indicates that language, on the evolutionary time scale, is a
very recent development, having evolved only in the last 100,000 years or
so. The finding supports a novel theory advanced by Dr. Richard Klein, an
archaeologist at Stanford University, who argues that the emergence of
behaviorally modern humans about 50,000 years ago was set off by a major
genetic change, most probably the acquisition of language. See http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/15/science/15LANG.html
The writings of Charles Darwin on
the web:
http://pages.britishlibrary.net/charles.darwin
Faith, Science and Understanding
by John Polkinghorne
http://www.tnr.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20020805&s=blackburn080502
Science-Faith.org on-line resource
The Center for Ethics and Values at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
provides an online resource for exploring Christian belief and ministry in
this challenging time of scientific and technological change.
Science and Christian Faith at www.science-faith.org
contains up-to-date
news and information regarding scientific and technological developments
that intersect with the foundations of contemporary Christian life.
Archaeology/Anthropology
Explorer: Legendary El Dorado Pinpointed: The fabled treasure of El Dorado may lie in tunnels and caves at the bottom of a lake in the Peruvian Amazon, according to a Polish-Italian explorer. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020805/eldorado.html
A
Civil War icon is recovered
Sixteen miles offshore, a yellow-helmeted diver made a final morning check
yesterday of metal cables running from a barge crane to the dimly lit ocean
floor - and the wreck of the once-mighty battleship USS Monitor, famed ironclad
of the Civil War. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/3807901.htm
and
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/3829500.htm
The
Other Pyramids
A tour of ancient Nubia where clusters of steep, topless "tombstones"
punctuate a remote desert landscape. by Bob Brier. http://www.archaeology.org/magazine.php?page=0209/abstracts/pyramids
Legacy
of the Crusades
The ruins of castles on hillsides throughout the Middle East are mute reminders
of a bloody chapter in medieval history.
by Sandra Scham. See http://www.archaeology.org/magazine.php?page=0209/abstracts/crusades
Astronomy
Antimatter: High above the Canadian plains, scientists have harvested
another crop of
antimatter particles, in the latest flight of a balloon-borne experiment
which has flown nearly every summer since 1993, searching for evidence of
an antimatter domain within our Universe. Story, and a nice picture of the
balloon launch, at http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20020809balloon.html
Long ago, a giant eruption occurred in a nearby galaxy. Now our
Chandra
X-ray Observatory has revealed the remains of that explosion in the form of
two enormous arcs of hot gas. This discovery can help astronomers better
understand the cause and effect of violent outbursts from the vicinity of
supermassive black holes in the centers of many so-called "active"
galaxies. http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/02_releases/press_080702.html
Martian meteorite: The science team that originally suggested that
Martian meteorite ALH 84001 contained fossils from bacteria recently published a
new study supporting
their initial findings. Latest volley in the Mars bug battle at
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2002/02-150.txt
STARDUST SPACECRAFT REACHES FOR COSMIC DUST
NASA's Stardust spacecraft, on a mission to collect and return the first samples
from a comet, began yesterday to collect tiny specks of solid matter, called
interstellar dust grains, that permeate the galaxy. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020807070048.htm
Europe Over The Moon With New Satellite
Paris (AFP) Aug 06, 2002 - The European Space Agency took delivery Tuesday of a
little device it hopes will unlock one of our biggest mysteries: is the Moon a
cleaved-off chunk of planet Earth, or was it a vagabond planetoid that got
caught in Earth's gravitational embrace? See http://spacedaily.com/news/020806162359.nmbqrnhh.html
Biology
A
mystery is solved on spread of cancer
Scientists have discovered how a key protein helps cancerous cells spread
through the body, in a finding that could pave the way for new drugs to slow the
progression of the disease. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/3807908.htm
Scientists Develop Cheap and Easy Cloning Method
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have developed a cheap and easy cloning method
to let technicians create cloned embryos with gear that could fit in a
trailer and costs only a few thousand dollars, New Scientist magazine
reported on Wednesday. See http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=570&ncid=753&e=9&u=/nm/20020814/
sc_nm/science_cloning_dc_1
Cow Clones Have Human DNA
By Paul Elias. Four cloned calves genetically engineered with human DNA and
currently
grazing in Iowa could hold the key to creating herds of identical cows that
produce medicines in their milk and blood. "Cows are ideal factories,"
said James Robl, president of Hematech LLC, which hopes to profit from
drug-producing bovines. "Cows are big and have a lot of blood and produce a
lot of milk." See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9150-2002Aug12.html
UCLA SCIENTISTS SHOW ANTIRETROVIRAL DRUGS CAN ERADICATE AIDS EPIDEMIC
UCLA AIDS Institute researchers have predicted that widespread use of
antiretroviral (ARV) drugs can eventually stop the HIV epidemic in its tracks --
even in African nations where a high percentage of people are infected. The
Lancet Infectious Diseases reports the findings in its August edition. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020807065600.htm
NEW METHOD OF DNA TESTING PROMISES TO TRANSFORM MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS
Researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) report in
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences a new method for detecting
DNA, which could transform medical diagnostics. Currently, tests for the
presence of DNA--to identify, for instance, the presence of a bacterium such as
anthrax, or a virus, or a specific gene--require that the DNA be amplified or
grown. The UCSB researchers combine the use of a light-emitting polymer with
peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes to make a test so sensitive that the costly
DNA amplification can be reduced and perhaps eliminated. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020807064838.htm
RESEARCH LINKS ADOLESCENT STEROID USE TO REDUCTION IN SEROTONIN, ALTERED
SIGNALING
With more than one in ten boys admitting to using steroids, muscle- and
strength-enhancing drug use among teenagers has caused considerable concern
among parents and researchers over the past decade, but until now, the
longer-term physiological and neurological effects of its use on the developing
brain have not been fully examined. Now, new research from Northeastern
University, published in the latest issue of the journal Pharmacology,
Biochemistry and Behavior, documents the link between adolescent anabolic
steroid use and aggression and partly associates the increases in aggression
with deficits in the brain"s serotonin system. The study will examine
longer-term deficiencies of serotonin levels in the brain as a result of damage
from steroid use, suggesting that a tendency toward aggression and impulsiveness
may actually linger long after both the steroid use and the muscles and strength
developed have waned. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020809071423.htm
DIETARY CHANGE MAY PREVENT THE MOST SERIOUS FORM OF PROSTATE CANCER
A fat-laden diet and high calcium consumption are both well-known suspected risk
factors for prostate cancer. However, new findings from the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center suggest that fat and calcium themselves may not cause
prostate cancer, as previously thought, but instead may fuel its progression
from localized to advanced disease. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020807063132.htm
STUDY FINDS A MOUSE MODEL FOR EPISODIC NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS
For years, physicians have noticed surprising similarities in the factors that
seem to trigger attacks in such episodic neurological disorders as migraine and
dyskinesia. Common triggers include psychological stress, caffeine or alcohol
ingestion, fatigue, hormonal fluctuations and exercise. A new study shows that a
mouse model can be used to investigate how these substances and environmental
factors trigger symptomatic attacks. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020805074206.htm
TIME-RELEASE STIMULANT EFFECTIVE FOR ONCE-DAILY TREATMENT OF ADHD
A research team led by a Massachusetts General Hospital investigator has found
that a long-acting form of the stimulant medication Adderall is effective in
controlling symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in
children when taken in a single morning dose. The standard form of Adderall,
which is made up of several amphetamine-based drugs, is only effective for four
hours. This new formulation joins other long-acting stimulants, such as
extended-release methylphenidate (Ritalin), in giving patients with ADHD a
greater choice of medication. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020805074555.htm
MUTATION IN "ELASTIC" GENE LINKED TO EARLY CORONARY HEART
DISEASE
A mutation in a gene that affects artery elasticity is associated with an
increased risk of early coronary heart disease, researchers report in
Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020806080700.htm
Earth Science
Pa.
researcher bringing an Arctic fossil to light
In a small room off Logan Circle, the fanged jaw of a 6-foot-long, meat-eating
fish is emerging from the dawn of time. Bit by bit, a tiny pneumatic hammer
reveals a 375-million-year-old fossil from what is now northern Canada, a
sluggish creature that used its knifelike teeth to chomp on smaller,
armor-plated fish. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/3829497.htm
Finders
keepers at Fossil Park
Fossil Park may not be Jurassic, but it still rocks.
The park is full of fossil-filled Devonian shale, and whatever you find you can
keep. See http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/travel/3889146.htm
Psychology
Homing in on the cells that may trigger schizophrenia: A particular
type of nerve cell, known as a glial cell, has been fingered as a cause of
schizophrenia. The theory could help explain an abundance of disparate evidence
for what triggers the disease.
http://www.newscientist.com/exc/enews.jsp?id=ns99992645
GENE MAY PROTECT ABUSED KIDS AGAINST BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS
New research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison identifies a genetic
variation that might protect abused children from developing antisocial
behavior. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020805075625.htm
PEOPLE WITH LOW SELF-ESTEEM LESS MOTIVATED TO BREAK A NEGATIVE MOOD
People with low self-esteem are less motivated than people with high self-esteem
to improve a negative mood, even when they are offered an activity that will
change their frame of mind, a team of American and Canadian psychologists has
found. The finding is contrary to the common belief that all people are
motivated to alleviate negative moods. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020806081023.htm
Technology
COGNITIVE HACKING WARNINGS: MORE INTERNET INFORMATION MEANS MORE
DISINFORMATION,WARNS DARTMOUTH PROFESSOR
Sometimes what seems to be a respected source of reliable information is
actually a clever scheme to manipulate people, suggests Dartmouth Thayer School
of Engineering Professor George Cybenko. This kind of "cognitive
hacking" on the Internet could be contributing to the stock market's
uncertainty, and it could shape our views in ways we don't even realize. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020805075441.htm
ATOMIC ANCHORS TO QUICKEN COMPUTER BOOT-UP; SIMPLE METHOD MAY IMPROVE
CATALYSTS, NANODEVICES
A way to help next-generation computers boot up instantly, making entire
memories immediately available for use, has been developed by researchers at
Sandia National Laboratories and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020806080248.htm
NANOPARTICLES USED IN SOLAR ENERGY CONVERSION
An enormous source of clean energy is available to us. We see it almost every
day. It's just a matter of harnessing it. The problem with solar energy is that
it has not been inexpensive enough in the past. David Kelley, professor of
chemistry at Kansas State University, developed a new type of nanoparticle -- a
tiny chemical compound far too small to be seen with the naked eye -- that may
reap big dividends in solar power. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020809071535.htm
Religion in the News
James Dobson's Focus on the Family completed its 25th anniversary celebrations. Gorski reports, "During the past two years, the ministry has hired or given new duties to a handful of rising stars. A successor to Dobson could be among them." The main names floated are Walt Larimore and Bill Maier. See http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/129/12.0.html
'Get
Our Kids Out'
Dobson
says pro-gay school curriculum has gone too far. By Corrie Cutrer.
See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/009/6.15.html
The
Good News About Generations X & Y
Watch
out, promiscuity! Out of the way, relativism! A wave of young Americans just
wants that oldtime religion. An interview with the author of The New
Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy. An interview by
Agnieszka Tennant. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/009/3.40.html
"You are the salt of the earth" The Pope's message to the youth of the world (Vatican).
BESIEGED CEO'S TURN TO PUBLIC PIETY, RELIGIOSITY FOR REDEMPTION: Disgraced, Implicated In Financial Scandal? "Show Up At Church" See http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/enron2.htm
You better believe it (but we don't) Are the pulpits of Anglican churches occupied by closet atheists? A new survey shows that many vicars do not believe in the Resurrection or Virgin Birth (The Times, London). See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-370712,00.html
In mine and church collapses, God was there If God gets the credit for what happened at Quecreek, does God get the blame for what happened in Memphis, Tenn., last week? (David Waters, Scripps Howard) See http://www.texnews.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=FAITH-FAITH-07-31-02&cat=LR
Did God really save the miners? | How we feel about the Somerset nine's rescue says a lot about what we think about God (Frederica Mathewes-Green, Beliefnet) See http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp?pageLoc=/story/110/story_11014_1.html&boardID=43436
After website sale to Salem, Crosswalk will focus on oil and real estate
Raid on World Vision camp leaves one dead, three captive
Jesse Ventura accidentally proclaims "Christian Heritage Week"
Religious morality, not laws, will change business ethics
Shrek director Andrew Adamson will direct The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe film
Christian rebels kill 42 in Uganda: Members of the Lord's Resistance Army attacked a village near the northern town of Kitgum Wednesday and killed the victims with machetes and clubs, Radio Uganda reported. (UPI). See http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020725-110606-3619rTruthQuest show: It's out there: Reality TV program exposes teens to cutting-edge ministries (The Dallas Morning News). See http://www.dallasnews.com/religion/stories/connect_27rel.ART.157dc.html
Breaking
Up a Monopoly
The
Supreme Court has put parents back in charge of their children's education.
A Christianity Today Editorial. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2002/009/22.28.html
Couples Who Live Together Split Faster: Couples who live together without marriage are twice as likely to split up 5 years after they move in together than couples who tie the knot, according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). See http://health.discovery.com/news/reu/20020722/split.html
Science in the News
Creation/Evolution
Toumai Discovery:
- Daniel Lieberman, "Upending the Expectations of Science," The New York Times, 14 July 2002. (This piece by Lieberman, an anthropologist at Harvard, is especially good, as he points out how the discovery of Toumai overturns accepted evolutionary theories.)
- Claude Canellas, "Man or Gorilla?: Experts at Odds over Ancient Skull," Reuters, 12 July 2002. (Original story on Brigitte Senut’s differing interpretation.)
- Bernard Wood, "Palaeoanthropology: Hominid Revelations from Chad," Nature 418, (11 July 2002): 133-35.
- Jimmy Davis and Harry Poe, Designer Universe: Intelligent Design and the Existence of God (Broadman and Holman, 2002).
- Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey, Developing a Christian Worldview of Science and Evolution (Tyndale, 1999).
Evolution critics meet to create strategy: Hundreds of evolution critics slipped into a quiet Missouri suburb over the weekend with a single-minded purpose: to shatter the lock Charles Darwin has had on science for 150 years (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland) See http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf//news/102793902985370.xml
RETROVIRUSES SHOWS THAT HUMAN-SPECIFIC VARIETY DEVELOPED WHEN HUMANS, CHIMPS
DIVERGED
Scientists in the past decade have discovered that remnants of ancient germ line
infections called human endogenous retroviruses make up a substantial part of
the human genome. Once thought to be merely "junk" DNA and inactive,
many of these elements, in fact, perform functions in human cells. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020802075138.htm
Journal of Human Evolution: For those wanting to keep up with the latest research on Evolution see http://www.academicpress.com/jhevol
Archaeology/Anthropology
Bringing
the head of John the Baptist
Richard Freund, an archaeologist at the University of Hartford (Conn.), says he
might have found the skeleton of John the Baptist. Even he admits it’s a
circumstantial case: while excavating caves in Qumran, near where the Dead Sea
Scrolls were found, Freund’s team discovered a male skeleton dating from the
first century. “Freund reported that the orientation of the body and its
accompanying grave goods suggest that the remains may be that of the ‘Teacher
of Righteousness,’ the founder of an ancient Jewish sect called the Essenes,”
a university press
release explained. “Scholars have long thought that this teacher may have
been the prophet John the Baptist.” But even members of the excavating team
say such a theory is preposterous. “No person in the world believes there is a
connection between the two. There is nothing to it,” Magen Broshi, one of the
heads of the expedition, tells the Associated
Press. “What we have unearthed is most probably a skeleton of a Bedouin
man from about two or three hundred years ago.” See http://www.ctnow.com/news/education/hc-skeleton0802.artaug02?coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Deducation
Christian designs found in tomb stones of Eastern Han Dynasty: Studies show that as early as 86 A.D., or the third year under the reign of "Yuanhe" of Eastern Han, Dynasty Christianity entered into China, 550 years earlier than the world accepted time (People’s Daily, Beijing). See http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200208/01/eng20020801_100750.shtml
SCIENTISTS DETERMINE AGE OF NEW WORLD MAP; "VINLAND MAP" PARCHMENT
PREDATES COLUMBUS'S ARRIVAL IN NORTH AMERICA
Scientists from the University of Arizona, the U.S. Department of Energys
Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Smithsonian Institution have used
carbon-dating technology to determine the age of a controversial parchment that
might be the first-ever map of North America. In a paper to be published in the
July 2002 issue of the journal Radiocarbon, the scientists conclude that the
so-called Vinland Map parchment dates to approximately 1434 A.D., or nearly 60
years before Christopher Columbus set foot in the West Indies. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020730075001.htm
Antiquity of Man Challenges Forbidden Archeology
A new book just out entitled The Antiquity of Man: Artifactual, Fossil and Gene
Records Explored by Michael Brass (PublishAmerica, 2002) will provide an
in-depth critique of Cremo and Thompson's Forbidden Archeology. Go to: http://www.antiquityofman.com
Anthropology - "The American Anthropological Association has just published the results of an extensive investigation into charges of abuse of the Yanomami Indians of Venezuela and Brazil that had been brought by its own members against their colleagues Napoleon Chagnon and James Neel. See http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i46/46b01101.htm
Astronomy
Chandra Discovers "Rivers Of Gravity" That Define Cosmic
Landscape
Boston - Aug 02, 2002 - NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has discovered part of
an intergalactic web of hot gas and dark matter that contains most of the
material in the universe. The hot gas, which appears to lie like a fog in
channels carved by rivers of gravity, has been hidden from view since the time
galaxies formed. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cosmology-02h.html
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/igm/index.html
First Evidence For Early Meteorite Bombardment Of Earth
Brisbane - Jul 26, 2002 - University of Queensland researchers have for the
first time discovered terrestrial evidence of a meteorite bombardment nearly 4
billion years ago. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deepimpact-02m.html
Asteroid Flyby Of Earth August 18
Huntsville - Jul 31, 2002 - A big space rock will soon come so close to Earth
that sky watchers can see it through binoculars. But relax, there's no danger of
a collision, but it will be close enough to see through binoculars: a big space
rock, not far from Earth. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/asteroid-02e.html
Asteroid Could Hit Earth In 2019? Not Likely, Says NASA
Los Angeles (AFP) Jul 30, 2002 - The odds that Asteroid 2002 NT7 could strike
Earth in 2019 are very small, and the prospect is "just not worth getting
worked up about," scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
said. "In fact, the threat is minimal. One in 250,000 is a very small
number," JPL's Near-Earth Object Program manager Don Yeomans said in an
interview on NASA's web page. See http://spacedaily.com/news/020730071311.z9v8eivu.html
Senate Looks To The Future As Pluto Probe Wins Key Funding Support
Los Angles - Jul 26, 2002 - Perhaps the single most significant chapter in the
long-running saga of the possible 2006 US probe to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt has
just been completed. On July 24, the Senate's Subcommittee for Appropriations to
VA, HUD and Independent Agencies (including NASA) voted to provide full funding
for the "New Horizons" Pluto mission - adding $105 million to NASA's
budget specifically for the purpose - and yesterday the full Senate
Appropriations Committee affirmed it. See http://spacedaily.com/news/outerplanets-02k.html
Work Starts On Assembling Beagle 2
London - Jul 31, 2002 - A joint UK and European mission to find evidence of life
on Mars took another giant leap forward this week when engineers started
assembling the Beagle 2 lander. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/marsexpress-02e.html
Disks Around Failed Stars - A Question Of Age
Heidelberg - Aug 02, 2002 - A team of European astronomers have observed eight
Brown Dwarfs, i.e., small and faint objects also known as "failed
stars", with the TIMMI2 infrared sensitive instrument at the ESO 3.6-m
telescope on La Silla. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/extrasolar-02t.html
Black Holes: Radio telescope images have uncovered evidence that
supermassive black
holes at the hearts of large galaxies collide when their host galaxies
merge. Those would be big events, and might be seen with future
gravity-wave detectors. Bending jets, once a year at
http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/epo/pr/2002/xmark/
Biology
DIET SUPPLEMENTS LINKED TO INCREASED FOOTBALL DEATHS
In a special editorial in the latest edition of the journal Neurosurgery, three
sports medicine experts contend that ephedrine and creatine use among football
players may be a factor in a surge of heat stroke deaths since 1995. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020729075552.htm
DIET SUPPLEMENT MAY HELP LOWER ELEVATED CHOLESTEROL
A relatively new dietary supplement called Basikol may lower total cholesterol
by about 15 percent, according to the August issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter.
See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020731081933.htm
NOGGIN MUTATION CAUSES RARE CONGENITAL HEARING LOSS
If hearing loss runs in your family and the doctor says it's otosclerosis, it
may be important to see a genetic counselor before you see a surgeon, according
to new research from the University of Michigan Medical School. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020729073756.htm
ADULT STEM CELLS SELECTIVELY DELIVERED INTO THE EYE AND USED TO CONTROL
ANGIOGENESIS
A team of researchers from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has discovered
a way to use adult bone marrow stem cells to form new blood vessels in the eye
or to deliver chemicals that will prevent the abnormal formation of new vessels.
See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020730075401.htm
UCSF ORTHOPEDIC SURGEONS TEST ARTIFICIAL BACK DISC
UCSF Medical Center orthopedic surgeons are investigating the effectiveness of
an implant that may replace damaged lower back discs. European patients who have
received the stainless steel and plastic assembly in place of degenerated discs
have reported significant improvement in back and leg pain after a minimum of
seven years of follow-up, according to the UCSF investigators. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020801075539.htm
CLEMSON RESEARCHERS FIND BACTERIA FIGHTER THAT DOES NOT PROMOTE BACTERIAL
RESISTANCE
Health officials fear that lifesaving drugs can lose their effectiveness when
overused. They are especially concerned about anti-microbial additives, found in
everything from kitchen cleaners to face soaps, because the bacteria they try to
kill are becoming resistant. Clemson University scientists have found a new
bacteria fighter that does not promote bacterial resistance. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020802074620.htm
DUAL ACTION DRUG FIGHTS HEART FAILURE
A dual-action drug, called omapatrilat, was found to be as good as a standard
ACE-inhibitor in reducing the risk of death and hospitalization from heart
failure, according to a report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart
Association. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020730075713.htm
Earth Science
Scientists stumped as the Earth takes on a slightly
new shape
North Sea crash site mirrors craters on Jupiter's moons
http://www.newscientist.com/exc/enews.jsp?id=ns99992622
Tomb of Mega Beasts Discovered: July 30 — The fossilized remains of giant lions and other ferocious monsters that once stalked the earth have been discovered in the Australian outback, scientists announced. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20020729/brief3.html
THE PREHISTORY OF NEOTROPICAL LOWLAND FORESTS
Although they have persisted for tens of millions of years, neotropical lowland
forests have changed greatly in extent and composition due to climatic variation
and to human impacts. In a symposium at the 2002 meetings of the Association for
Tropical Biology, hosted by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI),
Panama, scientists presented the latest results of research on neotropical
forests and their transformations up to the time of Columbus. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020801080424.htm
Psychology
Narcissism - For two decades, self-help books have hammered home a consistent theme for successful romantic relationships: first, you must love yourself. A new study, headed by a psychologist at the University of Georgia, may turn that wisdom on its head, though. See http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-07/uog-ncb072602.php
Self - The capacity to reflect on one's sense of self is an important component of self-awareness. Sterling C. Johnson and colleagues investigate some of the neurocognitive processes underlying reflection on the self using functional MRI. See
Neuroscience - Parts of the brain involved in judgment, planning and decision-making are different among teenagers with conduct problems, according to researchers Lance Bauer, Ph.D., and Victor Hesselbrock, Ph.D. See htt