1. Did newborn Earth harbour life?

Comment #204169 by ridelo on July 4, 2008 at 9:15 am

My guess is that if we find life elsewhere it will also be RNA-based. I suppose that when replicating molecules started competing in the primeval soup RNA came out as the best and out competed the rest. In similar surroundings (like in Europa's ocean) RNA will also be the winner. But it's only a guess. Maybe I overlooked essential evidence.
And maybe it started elsewhere and spread trough a sort of 'pan-RNA-ia'. Have there ever been found shreds of RNA or DNA in meteorites?

2. Did newborn Earth harbour life?

Comment #203639 by ridelo on July 3, 2008 at 9:35 am

Decius,

Thanks for clearing me up. Nevertheless I'm a bit disappointed. Being there it would have been nice to look if anybody's at home. Even for a wee bit of DNA. Or something with the same function.

3. Did newborn Earth harbour life?

Comment #203631 by ridelo on July 3, 2008 at 9:16 am

As I see what difficult circumstances life has been trough here on Earth, I can't imagine that we will not find it elsewhere. Even in our own solar system. When the first deciding data from Mars?

4. Charles Darwin was not the father of atheism

Comment #202184 by ridelo on July 1, 2008 at 2:27 am

Even if Darwin by some cerebral anomaly would have reconverted to staunch creationism, he opened Pandora's box of Truth. And scientists are shovelling out still more of that stuff even if so many are trying to close the lid.
We're here to enjoy it!

5. A secular world is a sane world

Comment #200610 by ridelo on June 28, 2008 at 1:40 am

Well said, Pat!
The leaders of this world are afraid that we would become too 'pattological'.

6. How Darwin won the evolution race

Comment #198134 by ridelo on June 23, 2008 at 9:12 am

Unfortunately for Lamarck, it has not survived the scrutiny of science. Generations of cats which have had their tails docked have not evolved into tail-less cats. Acquired characteristics are not inherited, though the idea persisted as a serious scientific concept into the 20th century.

7. How Darwin won the evolution race

Comment #198127 by ridelo on June 23, 2008 at 8:58 am

I 'beleive' that the whole world with me, my memories and my PC in it was created 5 minutes and 12 seconds ago. Prove me wrong!

8. Richard Dawkins Public Lecture - Liverpool 08

Comment #197937 by ridelo on June 23, 2008 at 1:08 am

If simplicity was the criterion in Occam's razor then goddidit would be the best theory ever. Even with a walnut brain you can memorize that.

9. It Doesn't Take an Einstein

Comment #196108 by ridelo on June 19, 2008 at 9:59 am

Sometimes I long for immortality. Then Einstein could clarify his stance to the contemporary morons.

10. Charles Darwin: 'Is man an ape or an angel?'

Comment #196045 by ridelo on June 19, 2008 at 8:43 am

Thanks for the answers in comments 17, 18 and 22. But RNA is still a product of life. No other (simpler?) molecules who can do this? I've heard about auto catalytic reactions where chemicals produce more of themselves, but there's no mutation involved I suppose. If such reactions found place in the primeval soup and one such molecule could undergo mutation then the wagon was rolling. And those evolving molecules could even become 'better at evolving' in the long run (read about that somewhere!).

11. Charles Darwin: 'Is man an ape or an angel?'

Comment #195948 by ridelo on June 19, 2008 at 5:28 am

A bit wandering off the subject: Evolution occurs in living things and we can simulate it in computer programs. But does somebody knows if something like it occurs in purely chemical systems, I wonder? Like molecules that can copy themselves and have the capability of mutation. I suppose not because that would have been world news, I think.

12. Darwinmania!

Comment #195889 by ridelo on June 19, 2008 at 1:42 am

Comment #195346 by Steve Zara on June 18, 2008 at 5:16 am


I think we should celebrate Wohler, a great scientist, and the person who showed that biology was chemistry, and vitalism was false.

13. We Urgently Need Your Help Now!!

Comment #195882 by ridelo on June 19, 2008 at 1:05 am

From Belgium I sent this message to the governor. Hope it helps a bit.
Dear Mr. Jindal,
Not being a traveller I've never been in Louisiana. But I know through the media that you're living in a beautiful state. So it isn't difficult for me to believe in Louisiana as your device says. But now I hear you wont veto a bill for introducing creationism or ID in the science curriculum in your schools. I beg you to reconsider! To paraphrase a famous philosopher: "Not enough evidence, Mr. Jindal! Not enough evidence."
Don't make your beautiful state the laughing stock of the world!

Hope my English is a bit understandable.
(edited a few times...)

14. Scientists confirm that parts of earliest genetic material may have come from the stars

Comment #192936 by ridelo on June 14, 2008 at 9:47 am

Is it right if I word it like this? The molecules with "space-carbon" landed on earth and somehow started to replicate themselves using compounds with "earth-carbon". This way the bulk of terrestrial DNA incorporates mostly "earth-C" but the molecules in the Murchison meteorite were shielded against contamination with "earth-C" and thus of the "space-C" type.

15. Hints of structure beyond the visible universe

Comment #191165 by ridelo on June 10, 2008 at 10:06 am

"Seems like an awful waste of space", he said, originally.

Or: "Seems like an awful waste of real estate", he said, still more originally.

16. Opponents of Evolution Adopting a New Strategy

Comment #189012 by ridelo on June 5, 2008 at 7:59 am

Come to think of it. Why not also discuss the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics in physics class? Also a scientific 'weakness'. There ought to be more of such weaknesses in science. Let's see...
I suppose you're going to be about 50 before going to university.

17. Storm erupts over 'virginity' divorce

Comment #186410 by ridelo on May 30, 2008 at 9:00 am

If it was so important for the husband that his wife was a virgin, he only had to check her birth horoscope...

18. That's it. Texas really is doomed.

Comment #184834 by ridelo on May 26, 2008 at 9:21 am

If English is good enough for Jesus...

19. Surviving an unholy school war

Comment #181980 by ridelo on May 19, 2008 at 2:39 am

If all those brainwashed Catholics could become atheists, then there's hope for the Muslims and the creationist Christians too.

20. Richard Dawkins discusses Einstein's new letters

Comment #179939 by ridelo on May 14, 2008 at 2:47 am

What the use of deist, pantheist or atheist gods? I want a theist god to crush my enemies and to glorify myself and I want him now! Who cares what Einstein thought?
Err, just a bit of sarcasm, I suppose...

21. Computer game's high score could earn the Nobel Prize in medicine

Comment #179231 by ridelo on May 13, 2008 at 12:03 am

There has been at least one person who became famous for his contribution to physics by playing around with mathematics without really knowing what he was doing.
See:
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Balmer.html
Extract: The major contribution which Balmer made, however, depended much more on his mathematical skills than on his understanding of physics, for he produced a formula which gave the wavelengths of the observed lines produced by the hydrogen atom without giving any physical explanation. Balmer's famous formula is

lambda = hm2/(m2 - n2).

22. My Response to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #177368 by ridelo on May 9, 2008 at 1:44 am

Comment #177364 by Styrer- on May 9, 2008 at 1:33 am

...failure to properly condemn the manner in which faith-fuelled charlatans like Boteach attempt to make of every susceptible person they encounter a new recruit to their pernicious cult...

23. My Response to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #177357 by ridelo on May 9, 2008 at 1:06 am

The rabbi could make a fine comedian. But the joke about the woman checking the fridge etc. is at least 20 years old.
With some new jokes and no shrieking rants he could be a success as a stand-up comedian. He should be thinking about a new career.
And indeed some reading about the ways of science could be a help.

24. Bill Good Interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #175240 by ridelo on May 5, 2008 at 1:35 am

Bitsphere:

You're right. I should have said that before 9/11 religion was not much of an issue in my West European surroundings. I was an atheist but now I'm a conscious atheist. And often a pain in the ass because of that. ;-)

25. Bill Good Interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #174624 by ridelo on May 3, 2008 at 2:43 am

116. Comment #174171 by bitsphere on May 1, 2008 at 7:55 pm
On Fanny Kiefer's TV interview, next morning, I was shocked to hear Dr. Dawkins say that before 9/11 he sought religion as a harmless nonsense. With all respect to my hero Dr. Dawkins, but how could that be? harmless?!! one more time and I will be Adawkinsist :)

26. Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

Comment #166209 by ridelo on April 23, 2008 at 2:13 am

Look here all those arrogant astorkists preaching to the choir. Silly!

27. Richard Dawkins' secular army must be stopped. God is behind some of our greatest art

Comment #160358 by ridelo on April 14, 2008 at 1:43 am

It would certainly help if Mark Ravenhill could for a while become a reader in stead of a writer. His idea of Richard Dawkins could become a bit less nebulous.

28. Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher

Comment #159350 by ridelo on April 12, 2008 at 2:18 am

A copy of The God Delusion in every hotel room? Wont stay there very long, I guess. A bible yes. Who wants to pinch a bible?

29. Happy Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #150188 by ridelo on March 26, 2008 at 2:41 pm

A very happy birthday to you, Richard Dawkins.
May all the world understand what you are trying to say. Hope we'll all live long enough to see something of that.

30. Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90

Comment #146398 by ridelo on March 19, 2008 at 3:34 am

He learned me to read en enjoy English. He was one of my heroes long before '2001'. Without him I would probably never have read Dawkins and the other fellow atheists.
Thank you, A. C. Clarke!

31. Richard Dawkins on The Alan Colmes Show

Comment #144312 by ridelo on March 15, 2008 at 3:25 pm

Well if you want to know where religion is good for: I heard a nice anecdote today. A friend of mine has a yearlong hobby sniffing around in churches' archives in order to write the history of the village where he lives in Belgium. About 95% of those writings are about bills, donations etcetera.

32. Full house captivated by atheist Dawkins' take on religion

Comment #143155 by ridelo on March 13, 2008 at 2:36 pm

TGD is translated in 30 languages. Where can I find the list of those languages? Is Arabic among them?

33. Richard Dawkins' US Tour begins this week

Comment #138272 by ridelo on March 4, 2008 at 5:55 am

Sometimes I would like that Belgium was a bit more creationist. Then we had also a chance to attend a Dawkins lecture.
But I will follow it from here. Long live my PC!

34. Darwin's dangerous idea

Comment #137578 by ridelo on March 3, 2008 at 8:02 am

jo5ef:

"As to why Darwins ideas are so scary, i have said it before , but i think it comes down to hating the idea that we evolved from apes and are therefore apes ourselves. Many if not most people are really uncomfortable with where that line of thinking leads."

35. Berlin gallery in Islam art row

Comment #137550 by ridelo on March 3, 2008 at 6:24 am

al-rawandi,
Thanks for "the enlightenment".

36. Berlin gallery in Islam art row

Comment #137544 by ridelo on March 3, 2008 at 5:54 am

All this talk about the stone cube...

37. The Giant Tortoise's Tale

Comment #135443 by ridelo on February 29, 2008 at 1:23 am

I find the arms race between the tortoises and the cacti fascinating. How will they (if left alone) look in 5 million years? Two meter necks and stems?

38. Evolving Mistakes

Comment #134922 by ridelo on February 28, 2008 at 10:32 am

I was a bit confused about the terms "beneficial" and "harmful". Beneficial and harmful for the critters, not for us, their possible victims.
That's my anthropocentric vision of the world, I suppose.

39. Fleabytes

Comment #132043 by ridelo on February 24, 2008 at 2:26 am

Bit late for commenting, but: "What a splendid piece of writing!"
Well done, Paula. You can pose next to Dawkins in my personal hall of fame.

(Somebody who has to struggle to put down a single sentence in English)

40. Map reveals extent of human damage to oceans

Comment #127364 by ridelo on February 15, 2008 at 7:45 am

Well, I suppose we'll still be discussing the existence of our skygods when we'll be drowning in the oceanic sludge.

41. A Tyrannical Romance

Comment #126489 by ridelo on February 13, 2008 at 11:03 am

Well, I suppose a penis is as much apart of our body as our head. And in a kind off symmetrical place too...

42. The challenge of finding peace in Lourdes

Comment #125106 by ridelo on February 11, 2008 at 1:32 am

What never, absolutely never happens is a miracle that indeed cannot be explained: a woman with one leg walks into the water and after 5 minutes returns with two healthy legs.

43. Sharia fiasco

Comment #124935 by ridelo on February 10, 2008 at 12:45 pm

It's for people like this one that I'm a bit of an Anglophile. So to the point.
No wonder Darwin and Dawkins were sired there.

44. The New Atheist Movement

Comment #123678 by ridelo on February 7, 2008 at 1:56 pm

Thanks, Galactor.
But for a non native reader understanding jokes is way more difficult than understanding serious text. Suppose I miss the finesses. Have to live with that.

45. The New Atheist Movement

Comment #123520 by ridelo on February 7, 2008 at 9:51 am

I just pinched off an 'atheist movement' that was far less offensive and far more honest than this bit of video dross

Very good job I'd just put my drink down. Otherwise it would have been spilled and sprayed all over my laptop. Soooo funny!

46. Female Muslim medics 'disobey hygiene rules'

Comment #121699 by ridelo on February 4, 2008 at 2:26 am

Waitaminit!
This comes from The Onion, isn't it? Like the orientation of the hospital beds to Mecca.
This has to be 'gefundenes fressen' for muslim stand up comedians. Were are they hiding?
And... How does a long, sterile, disposable glove look when blown up? New fun material for paramedics parties?

47. God the psycho

Comment #121368 by ridelo on February 3, 2008 at 10:01 am

Man, would I run to church if I could hear there sermons like this one!
EDIT: Oh! liberalartist said that already. Sorry!

48. Morality and the 'new atheism'

Comment #120627 by ridelo on February 2, 2008 at 6:40 am

If the supernatural really existed, then is was natural!

49. Morality and the 'new atheism'

Comment #120578 by ridelo on February 2, 2008 at 3:32 am

If it waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, eats like a duck, call it anything you like but for Dawkins' sake don't call it a duck!

50. Morality and the 'new atheism'

Comment #120568 by ridelo on February 2, 2008 at 3:01 am

About in-groups and out-groups.
We live in a rather small town. We're registered as catholics but don't attend mass for a very long time. Except for the occasional funeral etc.
Sometime ago my wife went to the church to attend a remembrance mass for her deceased mother. There was some ritual whereby the attendants had to shake hands. She was ignored by the rest of "the flock". So much for Christian morality.