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News:
February 8, 2004
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Religion in the News
Is
the National Prayer Breakfast unbiblical?
Addressing about three thousand attendees at the National Prayer Breakfast
yesterday, President Bush directed his praise to an
unlikely object. "All of us believe in the power of prayer. And
for a lot of people here in Washington, a prayer has been answered with
three words: Coach Joe Gibbs," he said. He went
on to praise U.S.
troops in Iraq for promoting
religious tolerance.
Context
muddled remarks, Warner says
Rams quarterback Kurt Warner has attempted to clarify and apologize for
remarks he made Sunday in which he suggested that his faith played a part
in his benching last season (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).
A
crossroad for the Catholic Church
What "issues" will frame the election to choose a successor to
Pope John Paul II? Chances are they're not what you might think (George
Weigel, The Washington Post).
Books
& Culture's Book of the Week: The Doom of Choice
Fate, free will, and moral responsibility in Tolkien. Reviewed by David
O'Hara.
Magnificence
in Wreckage
This series of essays finds hope among New York City lives. Reviewed by
Cindy Crosby.
In God's country
Thanks be to the American atheist: A review of Bryan F. Le Beau's The Atheist:
Madalyn Murray O'Hair (Tim Cavanaugh, Reason).
'The
Da Vinci Code' unscrambled
The blockbuster thriller has millions taking theology, art and history.
Yet many are unsure what's fact and what's fiction. We asked the experts
for their reactions and their explanations (Chicago Tribune)
Purpose
driven
Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Church is the best book on entrepreneurship,
business and investment that I've read in some time (Rich Karlgaard, Forbes.com).
The Dick
Staub Interview: Craig Detweiler Finds Faith in Film
The co-author of A Matrix of Meanings talks about spirituality on screen.
Christian
History Corner: The Blood-and-Fire Mission of the Salvation Army
Where did this tuba-playing, kettle-wielding social force come from, and
what's it all about? By Chris Armstrong
Film Forum: Does Saved! Condemn Christian High Schools?
Science in the News
Free Courses offered by Wagner Free Institute of Science:
- Expeditions in Paleontology: January 31 to April 3, 2004 Saturdays from 10 to 11:30 A.M. at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Use 19th Street entrance. Taught by William Gallagher.
- Other courses, Genetic Aspects of Infectious Diseases, Plant Anatomy, Changing Flora of the Philadelphia Area, and Natural History since Aristotle.
Creation/evolution
Ga.
school chief backs off evolution plan
School Superintendent Kathy Cox dropped plans Thursday to remove the word
"evolution" from Georgia's high school science curriculum, six
days after the idea became public and brought forth criticism and ridicule
(Associated Press).
'Evolution'
should stay in Georgia science standards, governor says
The word "evolution" should stay in the curriculum used for Georgia
students, Gov. Sonny Perdue said on Jan. 31 (Associated Press).
Darwinists
eager to avoid debate
Last year, in public comments before the Cobb County Board of Education,
I witnessed firsthand the danger that can come when personal opinions and
philosophical or religious prejudices are allowed into the science classroom
(Larry Taylor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
Understanding Evolution
The National Center for Science Education and the University of California
Museum of Paleontology are pleased to announce the new web site: Understanding
Evolution at http://evolution.berkeley.edu.
Codes
of conduct
In The Science of Good and Evil, professional skeptic Michael Shermer tries
to find evidence for morality in the natural order (The Washington Post).
The
searchers
On the importance of being dubious: A review of Doubt: A History (The Washington
Post).
Yeast
Mutations Offer Window Into Human Disease
Different combinations of genetic mutations may give rise to diverse human
traits, including complex diseases such as schizophrenia, say scientists
at the University of Toronto and McGill University in Montreal.
Archaeology/Anthropology
Well-known
Israeli Archeologist Casts More Doubt on Authenticity of James Ossuary.
by Dr. Eric Meyers. Ossuary spotted in dealer's shop lacking the “brother
of Jesus” element of the inscription.
Study:
Red Sea Parting Possible. Feb. 2, 2004
The parting of the Red Sea and the subsequent escape of thousands of Jewish
slaves, which is described in the Bible's book of Exodus, can be explained
by science, according to two Russian researchers.
Augustus
Takes the Cure
David Soren - According to the poet Horace, Augustus (27 B.C.-14 A.D.) bathed
in frigidly cold water to ease the pain of an abcessed liver. Since 1995
archaeologists have been excavating a large, spring-fed pool 90 miles northwest
of Rome that may well be the spot where the ailing emperor was restored
to health.
The Minoans
of Crete: Europe’s Oldest Civilization
Deciphering Cretan Scripts - Barry B. Powell. The decipherment of Linear
B in 1953, by the English architect Michael Ventris, was one of the great
intellectual accomplishments of the 20th century. But Linear B is just one
of the scripts known from Bronze Age Crete. Two earlier forms of writing—Cretan
hieroglyphics and Linear A—are found on the island. Why haven’t
they been deciphered?
Fossilized
footprints from Stone Age men found in South Korea. SEOUL
Fossilized footprints from Stone Age men have been discovered for the first
time in Asia in South Korea, cultural authorities said on Friday. Some 100
detailed footprints from the Paleolithic Age, which dates back 50,000 years,
were found on the southern coast of the southern island of Jeju last October,
the Cultural Properties Administration said.
Archeologists
Win Court Case. (AP)
Scientists can study the Kennewick Man - 9,300-year-old remains found in
Washington state - despite the objections of some American Indian tribes,
a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
Fabulous finds
as Saxon king's tomb is unearthed
Burial chamber, believed to date from the early 7th century, contain two
gold foil crosses, found which suggest king was a newly-converted Christian
(The Scotsman)
Astronomy
Hubble
Finds Oxygen, Carbon In Faraway Planet's Atmosphere. Washington (AFP)
Feb 03, 2004
The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the first planet outside the solar
system known to have oxygen and carbon in its atmosphere, scientists said
Monday. The findings showed that scientists can identify gases in the atmosphere
of planets lightyears away from Earth, which could eventually allow researchers
to find a planet with an atmosphere that could sustain life.
NASA
Gets New Funds For Space Shuttles And Moon Mission. Washington (AFP)
Feb 03, 2004
The new US public budget unveiled Monday gives a big boost to spending on
efforts to get the US shuttle back in space and to start moves to get manned
missions to the moon and Mars. Funding for NASA in fiscal 2005 will rise
by 5.6 percent to $16.2 billion. The $866 million increase for the year
starting October 1 comes after a decade of stagnation for the space program.
Most other government departments saw funding fall.
Planet gets solar
hammering
Astronomers propose new planet category for dying gas giants. 4 February
2004
Mars
Rover Opportunity Sees Tiny Spheres In Martian Soil.
NASA's Opportunity has examined its first patch of soil in the small crater
where the rover landed on Mars and found strikingly spherical pebbles among
the mix of particles there.
Biology
Migraines
Linked to Brain Lesions
Some migraine sufferers may be at an increased risk for brain lesions, according
to the results of a new study. The findings could indicate that the debilitating
headache is, in certain cases, a progressive brain disease.
Drug may give
cells a fresh start
A chemical could switch adult cells from one type to another. 30 January
2004
Protein points
to risk of colon cancer
Blood test might replace colonoscopies. 4 February 2004
Calcium Superchargers.
Foods such as yogurts supplemented with fiberlike sugars are developing
into the latest wave in functional foods—commercial goods seeded with
ingredients that boost their nutritiousness or healthfulness.
Researchers
Determine Reason For Deadly Spread Of 1918 Influenza
The explosive spread of the influenza virus during the 1918 pandemic that
killed some 20 million people worldwide was likely enabled by the unique
structure of a protein on the virus's surface, researchers are reporting.
The newly determined structure of the viral protein reveals that the 1918
strain of influenza underwent subtle alterations that enabled it to bind
with deadly efficiency to human cells, while retaining the basic properties
of the avian virus from which it evolved.
New
MS Research Shows Remarkable Findings. Montreal, February 5, 2004
New research findings from the Research Institute of the McGill University
Health Center (MUHC) provide hope for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).
"We have identified a key enzyme that triggers MS-like disease in an
animal model," says MUHC neuroscientist and Professor of Medicine at
McGill University, Dr. Sam David. "We also show that blocking this
enzyme has a remarkable effect in preventing disease and relapses."
University
Of Chicago Study Overturns Conclusion Of Historic Human Genome Data.
Researchers at the University of Chicago have discovered there is extensive
gene "traffic" on the mammalian X chromosome and overturn a conventional
theory about how the genes evolved on the sex chromosome.
Seeing
How Plants Split Water Could Provide Key To Our Future Energy Needs
The possibility of using the Earth's abundant supply of water as a cheap
source of hydrogen is a step closer thanks to researchers from Imperial
College London. By mimicking the method plants use to split water, researchers
say that a highly energy efficient way to form cheap supplies of hydrogen
fuel may be possible in the future.
Earth Science
Mountains
Buried Beneath Mississippi. Feb. 2, 2004
There are tremendous mountains to be found in Mississippi, if you dig deep
enough. Despite its modern mean elevation of just 300 feet, the state of
Mississippi has hidden underground "pristine" 300-million year-old
mountains that once towered thousands of feet and ranged all the way to
Mexico, say geologists who are getting a clearer picture of the buried Ouachita
Mountain range and the ancient collision that created it.
Biological 'Gold Rush' Threatens Antarctica, Experts Warn.
Physics
Researchers
Unveil New Form of Matter
Scientists have manufactured a new form of matter--a so-called fermionic
condensate, which is comprised of pairs of atoms in a gas at temperatures
close to absolute zero. Its creators hope it will inform the design of room-temperature
superconductors in the future.
Modern alchemists
make two new elements
Heavy elements approach fabled 'island of stability'. 3 February 2004
Particle
experiment produces abundant hypernuclei
Scientists will use them to learn more about the weak force, as well as
the first moments of the Universe's existence.
Psychology
'Mindsight'
could explain sixth sense
Some people are aware a scene has changed without being able to identify
what the change is, new psychological experiments suggest.