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News:
May 23, 2004
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Religion in the News
Why
the 'Lost Gospels' Lost Out
Recent gadfly theories about church council conspiracies that manipulated
the New Testament into existence are bad—really bad—history. By
Ben Witherington III.
Bush
speaks out on Iraq abuse
At Christian college, President says U.S. should show the world its 'good
heart' (The Washington Post)
On
war and Christianity
The war in Iraq is putting our Christianity to its toughest test (George
Plagenz, Williamson County Review Appeal, Franklin, Tenn.)
Showdown
at the Communion rail
When bishops threaten to deny the sacrament, they're hurting the church
(Andrew Sullivan, Time).
Surprise!
Most say change the pledge
Somewhat to my surprise, most of those responding to this week's Burning
Question want "under God" taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance
(David Horsey, Seattle Post-Intelligencer).
School-withdrawal
call raises concerns among local Baptists
Some local Baptist pastors have expressed opposition to a proposed Southern
Baptist Convention resolution that calls for removing all children of Baptists
from what it labeled "godless" public schools (The Allen American,
Tex.)
Newsweek
catches up to Left Behind
Plus: New religious violence in Nigeria, congressional Catholics on communion,
Gwen Shamblin's offices raided, and other stories from online sources around
the world. Compiled by Ted Olsen.
Culture clash
An Islam expert details her struggles with Christianity (Newsweek).
Ship
of Fools site rocked by rowdy parishioners
Organizers of the world's first virtual church have been forced to make
emergency adjustments after rowdy cyber parishioners shouted profanities
from the pews (The Daily Post, Liverpool, England).
Redeeming
Conflict
Boundaries Face to Face focuses on conversations for building the right
walls. Reviewed by Cindy Crosby.
The
Dick Staub Interview: TV's Spiritual Directors, Buffy and Angel
As Angel enters the TV afterlife, the author of What Would Buffy
Do? explores one of television's more spiritual shows.
Books
& Culture's Book of the Week: Your God Is Too Small
An ironic skeptic scolds believers for domesticating the deity. Reviewed
by Jeremy Lott.
Learning
from Our Kids
Fresh insights and conversational style makes Sacred Parenting ideal reading.
Reviewed by Cindy Crosby.
Biblical
or mythical?
Lots of Bible myths are mistaken for gospel truth: We think there's stuff
in the Good Book that simply isn't there (The Dallas Morning News).
Science in the News
Archaeology/Anthropology
Halley's
Comet Portrayed on Ancient Coin. May 19, 2004
A rare ancient coin may feature an early record of Halley's Comet, researchers
say. The coin features the head of the Armenian king Tigranes II the Great,
who reigned from 95 to 55 B.C. A symbol on his crown that features a star
with a curved tail may represent the passage of Halley's comet in 87 B.C.,
say the Armenian and Italian researchers.
Early man had
mining in mind
Flint analysis sheds light on our ancestors' digging skills. 18 May 2004.
Astronomy
Hubble snaps
new world
Is this the first photo of a planet beyond our solar system? 14 May 2004.
Sizing up the
Universe
Microwave mismatch proves our cosmos is a whopper. 18 May 2004.
Researchers confirm theory that universe in rapid expansion.
Cosmic
dark age found in shadows
The earliest structures in the universe may be visible by the shadows they
cast in the afterglow of the big bang.
Galaxy
cluster X-rays confirm dark energy
Space telescope observations show that 75 per cent of the Universe's energy
is in a repulsive form, driving accelerating expansion.
Venus Transit Of
Sun Live From The Backyard Or Online. Washington (SPX) May 17, 2004
"There will be no other till the twenty-first century of our era has
dawned upon the Earth and the June flowers are blooming in 2004. What will
be the state of science ? God only knows." - William Harkness, U.S.
Naval Observatory 1882.
Evidence That
Asteroids Change Color As They Age. Honolulu (SPX) May 19, 2004
In an article published this week in the journal Nature, a team led by Robert
Jedicke of the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy provides convincing
evidence that asteroids change color as they age.
Mars
Rover Inspects Stone Ejected From Crater. Pasadena (JPL) May 18, 2004
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has begun sampling rocks blasted
out from a stadium-sized impact crater the rover is circling, and the very
first one may extend our understanding about the region's wet past.
New Mars
rock hints at short-lived lakes
The dark rock may be a basaltic sandstone - if confirmed, it would mean
that any watery periods in Mars' past were cold and brief.
Biology
Corn syrup linked
to diabetes
Epidemic reflects rise in refined sugars. 12 May 2004
Plants purify
poisoned water
Ferns suck up arsenic quickly and cheaply. 12 May 2004
Zinc
Therapy Accelerates Recovery From Pneumonia
Treating young children with zinc in addition to standard antibiotics greatly
reduces the duration of severe pneumonia.
Regular
Mini Doses of Caffeine More Energizing Than Morning Mug
Many people start their day with a big cup of coffee, hoping that the jolt
of caffeine will invigorate them. But there might be a better way to stay
awake for long periods. Scientists say low doses of caffeine administered
at regular intervals provide improved pick-me-up benefits.
Longest
scientific study yet backs Atkins diet
New research supports the claimed benefits of the controversial low-carbohydrate
diet.
Creation/Evolution
Theory
Proposes New View Of Sun And Earth's Creation
A new theory challenges conventional wisdom, arguing instead that the Sun
formed in a violent nebular environment - a byproduct of the chaos wrought
by intense ultraviolet radiation and powerful explosions that accompany
the short but spectacular lives of massive, luminous stars.
Research
Vision | Rethinking Genetic Determinism. (must register)
With only 30,000 genes, what is it that makes humans human?
What
Kind of Revolution Is The Design Revolution?, by Jakob Wolf
In the essay below, Jakob Wolf, Department of Systematic Theology, University
of Copenhagen, reviews William Dembski's "The Design Revolution."
Wolf argues that Dembski's claim that Intelligent Design represents a scientific
revolution is inaccurate. The Intelligent Design "revolution"
is:
"a revolution of the presupposition and the regulative idea underlying biology and not a revolution of biology as a natural scientific project. Apparently Dembski thinks that all knowledge of nature that is not mere subjective belief is natural science. Such a definition is too broad, it conflates elements that should be kept apart and thereby causes confusion. We should distinguish between scientific knowledge of nature and analogical knowledge of nature, and we should distinguish between the natural science project and the presupposition and regulative idea underlying the natural science project. The natural science project is explaining natural phenomena in terms of natural, immanent causes alone, and this project should not be revolutionized by intelligent design theory. Rather, intelligent design theory should revolutionize naturalism and scientific materialism as the presupposition and regulative idea underlying biology as a natural science project."
Glen's Dinosaur Den.
Key links to information about dinosaurs.
Earth Science
Geophysicist
Discovers Why Earth 'Wobbles'
The earth wobbles in space. This has been known for over a century by
astronomers, and thanks to global positioning system (GPS) technologies,
this wobble has been tracked with a precision of a few millimeters over
the last decade. Until now, there were good theories as to why this happens,
but no one could really prove it. Now, however, Geoff Blewitt, University
of Nevada research geophysicist, has an explanation for this mysterious
geo-wobble. “The theory, which my colleagues and I have proven using
GPS observations of the Earth, is that it’s likely to be caused by
the surface matter being redistributed.”
Four-winged
birds may have been first fliers
A new study of Archaeopteryx supports the idea that the first birds
were four-winged gliders, not two winged flappers.
New
Geologic Period Officially Named. May 19, 2004
A crucial and mysterious 58-million-year period in Earth's history is finally
getting a name — the first new official geologic time period designated
in over a century. The Ediacaran Period, which ran from 542 million to 600
million years ago, started with the thawing of a super ice age, the Cryogenian
Period, and gave rise to soft-bodied jellyfish-like animals and sea-sluggish
beasts. Then the period ended suddenly and the Cambrian Period began, when
a dizzying array of new and diverse animals evolved, an event called the
Cambrian explosion.
A Bird's
Eye View Of Magnetic Earth. Blacksburg (SPX) May 17, 2004
Migratory birds, as well as many other animals, are able to sense the magnetic
field of the earth, but how do they do it? "A fascinating possibility
is that they may actually see the earth's magnetic lines as patterns of
color or light intensity superimposed on their visual surroundings,"
said John B. Phillips of Blacksburg, associate professor of biology at Virginia
Tech. The results of more than two decades of research allow him to let
such an image cross his mind.
Signs
of Crater Linked to Mass Extinction Said Found
The world was not a great place to be 250 million years ago. That's because
some 90 percent of the planet's marine life and 80 percent of life on land
had gone extinct at the end of the Permian period. Exactly what caused the
mass extinction is a matter of debate, with the two leading theories positing
massive volcanism in Siberia or a collision with a meteor much like the
one that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. New findings bolster
the impact hypothesis and argue that the resulting crater lies buried off
the coast of northwest Australia.
Physics
When Bosons
become Fermions. Munich (SPX) May 20, 2004
There are two fundamentally distinct families of particles in nature: bosons
and fermions. Being a boson or a fermion has profound consequences on the
'social behaviour' of a particle when it meets other partners. Whereas bosons
tend to socialize and want to be as close to each other as possible, fermions
are very independent and like to be on their own.
Zoology
Antifreeze
Flounder Reveals Secret. May 13, 2004
A remarkable "antifreeze" protein prevents the flounder from freezing
up in northern polar oceans, according to a study published on Thursday.
Scientists have known for some 30 years that some fish species flourish
in sub-freezing waters thanks to plasma proteins, which cling to microscopic
ice splinters in the blood, stopping the crystals from teaming up into larger
structures that could damage cells.