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REAL Science Blog
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Monday, December 28, 2009 What Darwin Never Knew  One hundred and fifty years later, scientists decode nature's greatest mysteries in a two-hour NOVA special. 
Saturday, December 19, 2009 The Known Universe Thursday, December 17, 2009 Laugh of the Day  The Discovery Institute whines, "Why Are Darwinists Scared to Read Signature in the Cell?", Stephen Meyer's latest ID promo. Wanted: Research Scientist. Duties: Communicate our vision of science to the public through church lectures, popular books published by religious publishers, opinion pieces, and staged debates. Perks: No long hours in the lab. No submissions to peer-reviewed science journals required. No presentations of data at science conferences necessary. Requirements: Good hair & smile. Ability to utter contradictory and absurd statements without flinching is a must. Education: B.A. in Marketing, Leadership Studies or Political Science preferred. Will accept a J.D. if we get really desperate. Previous Experience: Positions in used-car sales, ambulance chasing, or advertising are helpful. Salary: Commensurate with experience, and dependent on the generosity of our donors. Contact:1-800-BUL-LSHI
Monday, December 14, 2009 Infestation, part II  A few weeks ago, I noted an upcoming Campus-Ministry-sponsored pro-ID lecture at Indiana University-Purdue University, Ft. Wayne (IPFW) to be presented by IPFW associate professor of science education Dr. Jeffrey Nowak. A colleague informed me that Dr. Nowak requested that the CATV 56 (campus cable network) destroy all copies of his talk because he felt that some of his colleagues would misrepresent his talk. I called CATV 56 and they confirmed that they no longer have any copies and do not intend on broadcasting the talk on CATV 56. One would think that if Dr. Nowak is concerned about the content of his talk being misrepresented he would want the tape of the talk to be widely available so that others could judge the content for themselves. Funny how he - unlike other scientists and scholars - isn't willing to have the public scrutinize his ideas . . . I always thought that the academy and scholarship were all about? Ah, but when a movement's primary goals are political and religious, not scientific, censorship is *exactly* what you'll find as we've found time and again. Now Nowak can spin the experience any way he wants regardless of the accounts of onlookers; not exactly a new tactic for the DI's supporters. Pity poor Dr. Nowak, who has evidently learned he's not even competent to carry water for the Discovery Institute. It does make one wonder why he's entrusted with training trusting young souls who'll soon be teaching science to elementary kids. It's sad that a young professor has chosen to place his ministry ahead of his conscience. Strange how a scholar is so intent on persuading the public that ID should infest science education that he's ready to exterminate any evidence of his attempt at persuasion. On the other hand, for an example of someone doing REAL science and communicating it to the public, meet Dr. Richard C. Sutter:
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 Crystalline Precipitation!  This image of a freshly-fallen snowflake was captured with Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy. As snowflakes form, air is trapped within the lattices of the crystal. If the snow doesn't melt, and instead accumulates and packs down, the structure of the snowflakes changes in all kinds of interesting ways. By drilling into Arctic & Antarctic glaciers and examining the ice cores brought up, researchers can look at snow that has built up over tens of thousands of years. The air that was trapped can be analyzed to help figure out what the climate was like at the time the snow fell. The evidence is there, regardless of how nasty a few scientists get toward denialists. (Those scientists have since received "torrents" of death threats.) Here in semi-arid western Kansas, we usually don't have to worry about that much snow. In fact, we're grateful for whatever precipitation we get - except for ice.
Saturday, December 5, 2009 There's No Comfort in the Truth  If you follow the creation/evolution debate, you've probably heard of Ray Comfort. In case you haven't, Ray is a Christian apologist who is probably best known for his hilarious comedy routine in which he argues that the characteristics of a banana provide evidence for the existence of God. "I am party to a scam," Guffey says. "The introduction begins with a nice, sweet little biography, then degenerates into intellectually lame, lazy distortions, selective reading of the literature, picking and choosing of facts, and misreadings of the historical record." He says Comfort "gently moves folks into the notion that they don't want to read what comes after the introduction. He just wants his 50 pages read, 47 of which are anti-intellectual, dishonest drivel, the first three of which are pretty good because I wrote them." See? There's no Comfort in the truth. Even worse, according to the Metro Pulse article linked above, Comfort and his publisher were confronted about the apparent plagiarism months ago and apparently chose to do nothing about it. As I said before, I wish people like Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron would stop harming Christianity by making such fools of themselves in public. They're bumbling attempts at evangelism are self-defeating. HT: NCSE
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Blog Contributors What is REAL science?  Disclaimer: The thoughts and opinions expressed on this blog are solely our own. They do not necessarily represent the views of our employers or any other organization with which we are affiliated. Comment Policy: One of the goals of this website is to foster constructive dialogue concerning science and science education. Comments not in line with this goal may be deleted. Our Visitors:
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