11th May 2008 :

11th May 2008 :

11th May 2008 : Weekend Edition Sunday, May 11, 2008. I believe evolution. It's easy. It's my life. I'm a paleoanthropologist. I study fossils of humans, apes and monkeys, and I teach college students about their place in nature.

Of course I believe evolution.

But that is different from believing in evolution.

To believe in something takes faith, trust, effort, strength. I need none of these things to believe evolution. It just is. My health is better because of medical research based on evolution. My genetic code is practically the same as a chimpanzee's. My bipedal feet walk on an earth full of fossil missing links. And when my feet tire, those fossils fuel my car.

11th May 2008 : Richard Dawkins pointed out that nature is Darwinian and dominated by the short-term greediness that is required within competitive ecosystems to pass on one's genes. Humans are no different and are dominated by those instincts, but with our complex brain-power we have the ability to rise above these destructive tendencies and be a good steward to the planet and ourselves.

11th May 2008 : Two weeks ago, The Observer revealed how 17-year-old student Rand Abdel-Qader was beaten to death by her father after becoming infatuated with a British soldier in Basra. In this remarkable interview, Abdel-Qader Ali explains why he is unrepentant - and how police backed his actions. Afif Sarhan in Basra and Caroline Davies report

11th May 2008 : The Church plans to hire independent 'peace-makers' to handle infighting between ministers and parishioners

10th May 2008 :

10th May 2008 : Which is better, giving more food to a few hungry people or letting some food go to waste so that everyone gets a share" A study appearing in Science finds that most people choose the latter, and that the brain responds in unique ways to inefficiency and inequity.

9th May 2008 :

9th May 2008 : ATHEISTS and agnostics are decent people whose tormented souls will burn for all eternity in the scorching fires of hell, Britain's biggest catholic said last night.

9th May 2008 : Monotreme's genome shares features with mammals, birds and reptiles.

9th May 2008 : BBC Radio 4, 'Today', Friday 9th May 2008,
Richard Dawkins interviewed by John Humphrys on Cardinal Murphy O'Connor

9th May 2008 : LOS ANGELES — California has awarded $271 million in grants to build 12 stem cell research centers in the state, even as one of the political rationales for the building program might soon disappear.

8th May 2008 : Church attendance in Britain is declining so fast that the number of regular churchgoers will be fewer than those attending mosques within a generation, research published today suggests.

8th May 2008 :

8th May 2008 : In this lecture I want to give a personal perspective on Faith in Britain today. And I do so with humility because everything I have, indeed everything I am, comes from how others have lived out their faith in Britain. No one generates their own faith: it always comes to us through the goodness, example and insight of others: that is the meaning of tradition and the roots of this tradition lie in the goodness, example and insight of our Lord Jesus, God's Word made flesh, the Jewish tradition on which he draws and the Christian tradition which he creates by his risen presence.

8th May 2008 :
NASHVILLE — President Bush delivered a rousing defense of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on Tuesday, mixing faith and foreign policy as he told a group of Christian broadcasters that his policies in the region were predicated on the beliefs that freedom was a God-given right and "every human being bears the image of our maker."

In a 42-minute speech to the National Religious Broadcasters convention, Mr. Bush called upon European allies to step up their efforts in Afghanistan, and conceded that recent security gains in Iraq "are tenuous, they're reversible and they're fragile." Still, he insisted his troop buildup there is succeeding.

8th May 2008 : AMERICAN science is in trouble, and if you wonder why, just go to the movies. Popular culture is gradually turning against science, and Ben Stein's new movie, "Expelled," is helping to push it along.

8th May 2008 :

7th May 2008 : In this excerpt from his new book, Matt Taibbi shares his experiences at a Hagee's boot camp for new converts.

6th May 2008 : Eyes are one of evolution's most useful and prevalent inventions, equipping approximately 95 percent of living species. They exist in many different forms across nature, having evolved convergently across different species. Learn how the ancestors of jellyfish may have been the first to evolve light-sensitive cells. In the pre-Cambrian era, insects, in particular the dragonfly, would take the compound eye to new heights. Find out how dinosaurs adapted their eyes to become such successful hunters of prey. And while dinosaurs remained at the top of the food chain for 150 million years, tiny early mammals developed night vision to populate the night as a survival technique. Finally, learn how primates underwent several adaptations to their eyes to better exploit their new habitat, and how the ability to see colors helped them find food.

6th May 2008 : He may not have been thinking about it at the time, but Pope Benedict, in the course of his recent U.S. visit may have dealt a knockout blow to the liberal American Catholicism that has challenged Rome since the early 1960s. He did so by speaking frankly and forcefully of his "deep shame" during his meeting with victims of the Church's sex-abuse scandal. By demonstrating that he "gets" this most visceral of issues, the pontiff may have successfully mollified a good many alienated believers — and in the process, neutralized the last great rallying point for what was once a feisty and optimistic style of progressivism.

6th May 2008 : The devil made Dr. William Bradshaw do it.

The retired minister and academic from St. Louis, Mo., recently released Sinister Among Us, a suspense novel about the president of a small American Midwest college who uncovers a group of Satanists at the centre of the school's problems.

6th May 2008 : It was only when Rachel Underhill was lying in a hospital bed, haemorrhaging, that she first realised the way of the Watchtower might not be for her.

5th May 2008 : Switches within DNA that govern when and where genes are turned on enable genomes to generate the great diversity of animal forms from very similar sets of genes

5th May 2008 : If there is life on Mars, it might soon be coaxed out of hiding by a new instrument designed to detect the subtle chemical traces of biological activity.

5th May 2008 : Scientists at the University of Konstanz in Germany and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated an ultrafast laser that offers a record combination of high speed, short pulses and high average power. The same NIST group also has shown that this type of laser, when used as a frequency comb—an ultraprecise technique for measuring different colors of light—could boost the sensitivity of astronomical tools searching for other Earthlike planets as much as 100 fold.

5th May 2008 : ScienceDaily (May 5, 2008) — Parents of children with autism were roughly twice as likely to have been hospitalized for a mental disorder, such as schizophrenia, than parents of other children, according to an analysis of Swedish birth and hospital records by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher and colleagues in the U.S. and Europe.

5th May 2008 : "Rock star physicist" Brian Cox talks about his work on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Discussing the biggest of big science in an engaging, accessible way, Cox brings us along on a tour of the massive complex and describes his part in it -- and the vital role it's going to play in understanding our universe.

5th May 2008 : For those who have the stomach, here's Glenn Beck interviewing Ben Stein from a few days ago. Stein mentions our site in it, which new visitor exp(2*i*pi) says directed him here, so I guess the show served some purpose! I'm sure most of us are a little worn out on the whole Expelled thing, so don't feel bad about quickly moving along to the next post....

5th May 2008 : Experimental results are beginning to shed light on the psychological foundations of our moral beliefs

5th May 2008 : PARIS (AFP) - A new, simplified family tree of humanity has dealt a blow to those who contend that the enigmatic hominids known as Neanderthals intermingled with our forebears.

5th May 2008 :

4th May 2008 : We are preparing to run another fMRI study of belief and disbelief, and we need volunteers to help us refine our experimental stimuli. This promises to be the first study of religious faith at the level of the brain. By responding to the four surveys I have posted online, you can make an enormous contribution to this work.

4th May 2008 : On April 29th, 2008, Richard Dawkins was interviewed by Fanny Kiefer on Vancouver, BC's Shaw TV.

3rd May 2008 : They have spent years working school boards, with only minimal success. Now critics of evolution are turning to a higher authority: state legislators.

3rd May 2008 : It starts off with a little boy getting a lesson in "evolution" from his mother. This version of evolution has nothing to do with what biologists teach, of course — it's bizarrely teleological, with everything striving towards becoming human.

3rd May 2008 : 27/4/08 : Devotees believe this ritual is good for the health of the child.

3rd May 2008 : 16 Apr 08: Neanderthal expert Dr Chris Stringer discusses new ideas of how neanderthals and early man co-existed with Telegraph Science Editor Dr Roger Highfield.

2nd May 2008 : The story of the man who re-grew a finger using "pixie-dust" has captured the imagination of many this week.

2nd May 2008 : Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Irshad Manji are two of the most prominent and outspoken critics of what they and others see as "mainstream Islam." Brilliant, dynamic women — the overused word "charismatic" is not inappropriate for either one — they have each rebelled against a Muslim upbringing to become public figures with large and devoted followings. Both are successful authors: Ms. Hirsi Ali's autobiography, "Infidel," was a New York Times best seller; Ms. Manji's combination memoir-polemic, "The Trouble With Islam Today," has been published in almost 30 countries. They are firm and unyielding in their support for the West, feminism, reason, freedom — and they have paid a price: both have been targets of death threats and have required protection; in Ms. Hirsi Ali's case, around-the-clock protection.

30th Apr 2008 : The Bill Good Show CKNW News Talk Radio AM980

29th Apr 2008 :

29th Apr 2008 : New York, NY, April 29, 2008 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today issued the following statement regarding the controversial film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.

29th Apr 2008 : Pat Condell rose to internet stardom in 2007 with a series of topical rants, posted to popular video-sharing websites. With topics usually centering on religion, politics, and current events, each of Pat's videos quickly caused a stir and racked up tens of thousands of views.

RichardDawkins.net has now compiled the first 35 of Pat Condell's videos onto this DVD collection, with an exclusive introduction by Pat. Enjoy this newly remastered collection, totalling 3 hours of video.

29th Apr 2008 : Author of The God Delusion in person is a lot more open-minded than his critics would have you believe

28th Apr 2008 : A 17-year-old Iraqi girl was murdered by her father in an honour killing after falling in love with a British soldier she met while working on an aid programme in Basra, it has been claimed.

Rand Abdel-Qader was stamped upon, suffocated and stabbed by her father, then given an unceremonious burial to emphasise her disgrace. Police released her father without charge two hours after his arrest.

28th Apr 2008 : Humans alone practice religion because they're the only creatures to have evolved imagination.

That's the argument of anthropologist Maurice Bloch of the London School of Economics. Bloch challenges the popular notion that religion evolved and spread because it promoted social bonding, as has been argued by some anthropologists.

28th Apr 2008 : A male orangutan, clinging precariously to overhanging branches, flails the water with a pole, trying desperately to spear a passing fish.

It is the first time one has been seen using a tool to hunt.

The extraordinary image, a world exclusive, was taken in Borneo on the island of Kaja, where apes are rehabilitated into the wild after being rescued from zoos, private homes or even butchers' shops.

27th Apr 2008 : What a vile little man. I sincerely hope that his career is dead now … and that the rest of his life will be spent eking out speaking fees at Christian fundamentalist conventions, before audiences who will cheer him while dreaming of the day the Jews are exterminated or converted, bringing on Armageddon.