|
|
|
|
filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 10/23/2010 : 14:28:29
|
Articles:
1. Pitious whine about Neandertals and carbon dating. ScienceNOW: “A Setback for Neandertal Smarts?”
Radiocarbon dating of an archaeological site in France has some researchers claiming that Neanderthals weren’t as smart as we thought. But the evidence can more easily be interpreted as both confirming Neanderthal intelligence and casting doubt on radiocarbon dating methods.
|
2. Recap of what we already knew and another cheap shot at carbon dating.
ScienceNOW: “The Cavemen’s Complex Kitchen”
The idea of caveman hunter-gatherers is an oversimplification, according to new research into the diet of some of our ancestors.
A team led by Anna Revedin of the Italian Institute of Prehistory and Early History has cast doubt on the popular idea of prehistoric “man the hunter,” reports ScienceNOW. The team’s research instead turned up evidence for human flour-making farther back in time than old-earth scientists previously believed.
The scientists studied grinding tools found at “prehistoric” human sites in Italy, Russia, and the Czech Republic. Although some scientists have hypothesized that the tools were used to grind plants for meals, an alternative explanation is that the tools were used to grind up pigment used in face painting.
|
3. Cane toads and "micro-macro" evolution sniveling. BBC News: “Cane Toads Are Evolving into Super-Invaders”
Is the cane toad invading Australia the latest example of “evolution” in action?
BBC News reports on a “runaway evolutionary effect” that is helping invasive cane toads take over an ecological niche in Australia. James Cook University scientist Ben Phillips made the discovery by tracking cane toads with radio tags, letting his team determine which toads headed away from the release site most quickly.
Phillips had collected the toads from several locations in Australia: some close to the center of where cane toads had spread, and others from near the edge of cane toad territory. As it turns out, those collected from the edge traveled farthest and fastest from a release point, indicating that they carried a gene allowing them to travel quickly. Moreover, since the toads mate with toads nearby, the fast-traveling toads on the frontier perpetuate their quickness, while the slow-moving toads near the center of toad territory maintain their slower speed.
|
4. Gay penguins; AiG cares, don't ask me why. BBC News: “Penguins Flirt with Homosexuality”
After previous reports of homosexual penguins, the birds seem to be an icon of aberrant sexual practice. But headlines aside, new research shows there’s relatively little to the idea of penguin homosexuality.
The study of “homosexuality” in king penguins is the first of its kind, revealing that nearly thirty percent of penguin “displays”—a courtship behavior—occur in homosexual contexts. That proportion is important because some scientists have previously suggested that penguin homosexual displays are simply due to difficulty the penguins may have in telling their male and female peers apart. But the proportion of homosexual displays is lower than what would be expected were all encounters by chance, suggesting that something else is at play.
|
5. Again, what we already knew, and AiG tries to cram it into a micro/macro footlocker. New Scientist: “The Chaos Theory of Evolution”
Only time will tell whether Keith Bennett’s “chaos theory of evolution” will catch on, but we’ll at least give his new idea a listen.
Writing in New Scientist, Queen’s University Belfast palaeoecologist Bennett points out that “[b]ecause of the way evolution works, it is impossible to predict how a given species will respond to environmental change.” He goes on,
But the neat concept of adaptation to the environment driven by natural selection, as envisaged by Darwin in On the Origin of Species and now a central feature of the theory of evolution, is too simplistic. Instead, evolution is chaotic.
|
No shit, Sherlock! I will remind once again that Darwin only began the study of evolution; he was just the starting point. He was followed up and improved upon by his heirs, the scientists of latter years and today.
|
"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
|
|
|
The Rat
SFN Regular
Canada
1370 Posts |
 Posted - 10/23/2010 : 16:35:04 [Permalink]
|
Originally posted by filthy
No shit, Sherlock! I will remind once again that Darwin only began the study of evolution; he was just the starting point. He was followed up and improved upon by his heirs, the scientists of latter years and today.
|
Darwin is a minor god, but using him to buttress evolutionary theory is like explaining supersonic flight by quoting the Wright brothers.
|
Bailey's second law; There is no relationship between the three virtues of intelligence, education, and wisdom.
You fiend! Never have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the Church? - The Bishop of Bath and Wells, Blackadder II
Baculum's page: http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=3947338590 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
AiG’s Nooze to Note
