I hadn’t realized that Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day, exactly two-hundred years ago today. Alan Boyle is covering the bicentennial Darwin week all week. And in honor of the event, Charles Johnson points out a story debunking one of the most common ignorant accusations against evolution — that there are no “transition” fossils.
Category Archives: Science And Society
Dangerous For Your Health?
Yet another time bomb in the “stimulus” package, that won’t be debated:
One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.”
The last entity that I want monitoring my health care is the federal government.
This bill is apparently chock-a-block with stuff like this, each and every one of which should be discussed, debated and if passed, passed on its own merits with its own bill, and has nothing to do with stimulus. This is quite possibly the worst piece of legislation in the nation’s history, and it’s being rushed through with almost no debate, discussion, or even knowledge of its contents by those voting for it. The Founders would weep.
If they vote for the conference product, I hope that Collins, Snowe and Specter all lose their next races, even if they’re replaced by Dems. At least they’ll be honest Dems.
[Early evening update]
(Democrat) Mickey Kaus explains how this bill will roll back, if not completely undo, welfare reform.
What Do Men (And Women) Want?
An updated survey of desirable attributes between 1930 and now, with a lot of interesting discussion. I agree that in a more-free, secular culture, evolutionary traits are going to be more powerful. But I also agree that college students aren’t necessarily representative.
They Say That Like It’s A Bad Thing
Melting the Antarctic ice sheet could flood Washington DC.
And they say there are no up sides to climate change. I’d call it the “Augean Stables” strategy of government reform.
Time To Check My DNA
Is there a longevity gene? If true, this seems like good news. It shows that life extension is possible, and that it might even be achievable with genetic surgery.
Non-Vanishing Rain Forests
They’re actually increasing in size. I blame global warming. Or George Bush (is there a statute of limitations on being able to blame things on George Bush?).
Of course, the new growth doesn’t necessarily preserve the species that were being lost in the original cutting, but it’s unclear what, if anything, had actually gone extinct.
My Own Experience Confirmed
Alcohol improves men’s s3xual performance. When I’ve been drinking, my problem is not the so-called ED, unless by that one means the inability to…errrmmmm…attain…completion, yes, that’s the word…and get rid of the “E.” I can’t say that I’ve ever had a partner complain about it…
How Identical Are Identical Twins?
Not as much as you might think.
This has implications for cloning. People who expect an exact replica, whether person or pet, may be disappointed.
Missing The Point At The Economist
I just want to pull my hair, of which I have little to spare, when I read editorials like this:
Luckily, technology means that man can explore both the moon and Mars more fully without going there himself. Robots are better and cheaper than they have ever been. They can work tirelessly for years, beaming back data and images, and returning samples to Earth. They can also be made sterile, which germ-infested humans, who risk spreading disease around the solar system, cannot.
Here we go again. Humans versus robots, it’s all about science and exploration. It is not all about science and/or exploration. The space program is about much more than that, but the popular mythology continues.
Humanity, some will argue, is driven by a yearning to boldly go to places far beyond its crowded corner of the universe. If so, private efforts will surely carry people into space (though whether they should be allowed to, given the risk of contaminating distant ecosystems, is worth considering). In the meantime, Mr Obama’s promise in his inauguration speech to “restore science to its rightful place” sounds like good news for the sort of curiosity-driven research that will allow us to find out whether those plumes of gas are signs of life.
Hey, anyone who reads this site know that I’m all for private efforts carrying people into space. They also know that I don’t think that anyone has a right to not “allow them to do so,” and that I place a higher value on humanity and expanding earthly life into the universe than on unknown “distant ecosystems.” What have “distant ecosystems” ever done for the solar system?
I also question the notion that Obama’s gratuitous digs at the Bush science policy had anything whatsoever to do with space policy. And of course, to imagine that they did, is part of the confused policy trap of thinking that space is synonymous with science.
Not Just A Theory
Here’s a useful web site for those people who claim that evolution is “only a theory,” an argument that’s so ignorant that it’s not even wrong.