Friday, April 7, 2006

1. MISSING LINK: FILLING IN ALL THOSE "GAPS" IN DARWIN'S THEORY.

Every attempt to require public schools to teach alternatives to evolution has emphasized the "gaps" in Darwin's theory. In 1859, when Darwin published "The Origin of Species," it was all gaps. It was Darwin's theory that gave organization to the collecting of fossils, creating the science of paleontology. The only surprise is how complete the fossil record has gotten in only 150 years. Two reports in yesterday's issue of Nature, beautifully bridged a remaining gap. Fossils of a 375-million-year-old fish were found in the Canadian arctic, 600 miles from the North Pole. It was a fish with a swivel head, a wrist and an elbow, clearly a transition between fish and land-dwelling animals. It seems to be a perfect candidate for the hypothesized intermediate species.

2. MISSING GENES: FINDING THE KEY THAT OPENS DARWIN'S BLACK BOX.

It was a lousy day for intelligent design, which has had a lot of bad days lately. Even as a missing link showed up on the pages of Nature, a report in Science from the University of Oregon showed how a new hormone-receptor pair evolved. An existing molecule, created for a different role, was recruited to do the new job. The lead author, Joseph Thornton, believes this may be common in the evolution of complex systems. Hormone-receptor pairs would seem to be an example of what intelligent-design guru Michael Behe calls "irreducible complexity" (ID). One without the other would be useless. However, Behe scoffed to the NY Times that Hormone-receptor pairs aren't really ID. Either he's still a little cranky from the Dover trial, or he just prefers miracles (WN 21 Oct 05) .

3. MIRACLES: A "SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION" OF WALKING ON WATER?

According to yesterday's Wash Post, Israeli and U.S. scientists suggest that when Jesus walked on water he may have just been on floating ice from a cold snap. I don't know who these scientists are, but is this what scientists do? Let's see, he might also have been walking on a submerged UFO. Or maybe it didn't happen.

4. BELOW THE BIBLE BELT: IS A BIBLE THEME PARK LIKE A CHURCH?

Florida is considering exempting them from taxes. Could you leave your nativity scene up all year round and deduct it?

4. GLOBAL WARMING: THE HEAT IS COMING FROM THE BUSH WHITE HOUSE.

Two months ago, NASA climate scientist James Hansen was pressured to cool it (WN 10 Feb 06) . The White House appointee in NASA public relations who pressured him has since been fired for inflating his resume. Michael Griffin has now issued a new policy allowing NASA scientists to speak their minds as long as they give their bosses notice. Yesterday, however, a Wash Post story reported that other scientists doing climate research for the government complain that they're also being muzzled by the Bush administration.

Bob Park can be reached via email at whatsnew@bobpark.org
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the University, but they should be.