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A fish that uses its fins to walk across the floor is causing scientists to rethink the evolution of walking on land, according to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers at the University of Chicago observed an African lungfish using its pelvic fins "as hind legs to propel itself along the bottom of the tank," reports Victoria Gill and Jason Palmer at BBC News. This could mean that our ability to walk developed underwater—before creatures grew toes or limbs necessary to move on land—essentially rewriting hundreds of millions of years of...

New planet discovery excites scientists: the discovery of a new planet 600 light years away with roughly the right temperature for plant and animal habitation is causing a buzz in the science community. Though much larger than Earth, scientists haven't ruled out the possibility of life being discovered. A newly discovered planet is eerily similar to Earth and is sitting outside Earth's solar system in what seems to be the ideal place for life, except for one hitch. It is a bit too big. The planet is smack in the middle of what astronomers call the Goldilocks zone, that hard...

In this exclusive video, Nobel-laureate F. A. Hayek discusses the evolution of morality and social norms, arguing that they result from unplanned, emergent processes. He contrasts this conclusion with other philosophical accounts of law and morality.

For the last several months there has been a flurry of discussion—mostly online, of course—about the impossibility of a literal Adam & Eve (see, e.g., here and here and here). This ruling-out has been accomplished recently by the Human Genome Project, which indicates that anatomically modern humans emerged from primate ancestors about 100,000 years ago, from a population of something like 10,000. In short, science has confirmed what many of us already knew: there was not a literal first couple. So what else can we learn from this story? Plenty, it turns out. Peter Enns, a biblical scholar who blogs...

Muslim students, including trainee doctors on one of Britain's leading medical courses, are walking out of lectures on evolution claiming it conflicts with creationist ideas established in the Koran. Professors at University College London have expressed concern over the increasing number of biology students boycotting lectures on Darwinist theory, which form an important part of the syllabus, citing their religion. Similar to the beliefs expressed by fundamentalist Christians, Muslim opponents to Darwinism maintain that Allah created the world, mankind and all known species in a single act. Steve Jones emeritus professor of human genetics at university college London has questioned...

I am surprised the headline wasn't 'Darwin hate speech incites Muslim extremism. The idea that they reject that which conflicts with their belief system is consistent with everything we have suffered in this war on the West. They rewrote the history on Israel and the Middle East (not to mention taking credit for "scientific inventions" invented by others)  and the left swallowed it whole - let's see where this goes.Muslim medical students boycotting lectures on evolution... because it 'clashes with the Koran' By Daily Mail Reporter (hat tip Phillipa)   Conflict: An increasing number of Muslim biology students are boycotting...

h/t Speedunque

Dinosaur fossils don't come much more impressive than this. With 98 per cent of its skeleton preserved, this young predatory theropod from southern Germany may be the most complete dinosaur ever found. Oliver Rauhut, curator of the Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology in Munich, announced the find yesterday. Although Chinese bird and dinosaur fossils are famed for delicate details such as their feathers, they don't match this 72-centimetre-long theropod in terms of clarity and completeness of preservation. The young dinosaur has been dated at 135 million years old, putting it in the early Cretaceous, but it has yet...

Even in relatively modern societies, humans are still changing and evolving in response to their environment, new research indicates. The study was published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers found a genetic push toward younger age at first reproduction and larger families while studying an island population in Quebec. The study used data from 30 families who settled on île aux Coudres, located in the St. Lawrence River outside of Quebec City, between 1720 and 1773. The researchers analyzed the data from women who married between 1799 and 1940, comparing their family relationships,...

WASHINGTON (RNS) White evangelicals and Tea Party members are less likely to believe in evolution and climate change than most Americans, a finding that could pose a particular problem for Republican presidential hopefuls. A new poll released Thursday (Sept. 22) also showed that a majority of Americans (57 percent) believes in evolution, and an even larger majority (69 percent) believes in climate change—though many still disagree that the phenomenon is based on human activity. But most Americans do not insist that their presidential candidates share their views on these issues, nor do they believe scientists have come to a consensus...

The purpose of this column is not to endorse a political contender for the Republican presidential race but rather to point out the strategy of the leftist media to undermine any candidate who shows the potential of being the alternative choice to their false prophet in the White House. The nation was recently treated to yet another child being exploited by a parent offering her son as a sacrifice of dignity on behalf of Barack 0bama. It came not in the usual third world dictator tactic of forcing the clueless child to sing praise to the tyrant but this time...

One of the world's most famous fossil creatures, widely considered the earliest known bird, is getting a rude present on the 150th birthday of its discovery: A new analysis suggests it isn't a bird at all. Chinese scientists are proposing a change to the evolutionary family tree that boots Archaeopteryx off the "bird" branch and onto a closely related branch of birdlike dinosaurs. Archaeopteryx (ahr-kee-AHP'-teh-rihx) was a crow-sized creature that lived about 150 million years ago. It had wings and feathers, but also quite un-birdlike traits like teeth and a bony tail. Discovered in 1861 in Germany, two years after...

In the last few months, in the run-up to the Republican primary, the press (and others) have made quite a bit of noise about the beliefs of the candidates on the issue of evolution. The goal of this post is to elucidate why the question of origins is important within politics at all. Even more so, my hope is that this will help parents understand and teach the practical consequences of our beliefs within everyday life. It may seem to some people that the position of a political candidate on an issue like evolution is like asking them what their...

Professor of Atheism Richard Dawkins grows increasingly shrill. His outbursts include the following, not very recent, but typical: __________________________________ It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I'd rather not consider that). __________________________________ You can, of course, make any point you like providing you don't care about first premises. One thing which evidently fails to enter Professor Dawkins' mental universe is the idea -- accepted by many scientists -- that the theory of evolution is broadly correct, but as an...

A new study suggests that Homo erectus, a precursor to modern humans, was using advanced toolmaking methods in East Africa 1.8 million years ago, at least 300,000 years earlier than previously thought. The study, recently published in Nature, raises new questions about where these tall and slender early humans originated and how they developed sophisticated tool-making technology. Homo erectus appeared about 2 million years ago, and ranged across Asia and Africa before hitting a possible evolutionary dead-end, about 70,000 years ago. Some researchers think Homo erectus evolved in East Africa, where many of the oldest fossils have been found, but...

Their deaths two million years ago have breathed new life into our understanding of the way human beings evolved. Two primitive ape-like creatures, believed to be a mother and her young son, plunged through the roof of a cave and suffered a slow death from starvation. Now scientists believe their fossilised skeletons show they could be our direct ancestors, the long-sought ‘missing link’ between apes and humans.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry said that evolution was “just a theory” and that it had “some gaps in it.” Paul Krugman thinks that Republicans are dumb, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals. In the not-too-distant future he sees a Republican half-wit delivering his acceptance speech as presidential nominee at the convention in grunts, beating his chest, and bopping his wife over the head with the a club as he drags her on to the stage by her hair. Writing in The New York Times, Krugman says, “One of these years the world’s greatest nation will find itself ruled by a party that is...

'Creationism' is a confusing term.  In science, militant atheists will intentionally call all religious people 'creationists' and then complain creationists are anti-science, even about the religious people who are not anti-science at all.   'Young Earth' creationists think we were created in whole form 6,000 or so years ago and believe paleontology and biology are some test of faith but commingling the terms is intellectually dishonest.   Politics makes even otherwise smart scientists do bad things. It's the same scam progressive militants pulled regarding 'stem cell research'.   No Republican had objected to 40 years of 'stem cell research' but...

By the U-Bomber’s concept of justice, one he shares with millions of jihadists around the world, an aggressive act is a permissible “defensive” act when waged against anyone defaming Muhammad. So fundamental a truth is this in the U-Bomber’s mind that he sees no need to include in his motion any details, real or invented, of any wrongdoing or provcative behavior on the part of the officers that could explain his outbrust of violence. He never says the officers flushed his Koran, or called him an Islamophobic name, or tried to read to him from the polytheist Bible. What he...

National Public Radio recently interviewed Trinity Western University biologist Dennis Venema, who stated his belief that humans did not descend from Adam and Eve.1 Venema, an evangelical evolutionist, claimed that genetics studies show "there is no way we can be traced back to a single couple."2 Do the data really contradict the biblical account of human history? "Given the genetic variation of people today, [Venema] says scientists can't get that [starting] population size below 10,000 people at any time in our evolutionary history," NPR reported.2 But this claim fails for three reasons. First, it relies on the presumption of "evolutionary...