http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/theory/ en-us Mon, 4 Aug 2008 05:04:18 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2056062/posts Religions thrived to protect our ancestors against the ravages of disease, according to a radical new evolutionary theory of the genesis of faith. Prof Richard Dawkins the atheist and sceptic, has condemned religion as a "virus of the mind" but it seems that people became religious for good reason - actually to avoid infection by viruses and other diseases - according to a study published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biological Sciences. Dr Corey Fincher and Prof Randy Thornhill of the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, come to this conclusion after studying why religions are far more... Telegraph.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2056062/posts#comment Mon, 4 Aug 2008 05:04:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2043264/posts CHICAGO (Reuters) - Some odd-looking fish fossils discovered in the bowels of several European museums may help solve a lingering question about evolutionary theory, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. The 50 million-year-old fossils -- which have one eye near the top of their heads -- help explain how flatfish such as flounder, sole and halibut developed the strange but useful trait of having both eyes on one side. For flatfish, which lie on their sides at the bottom of the sea, this arrangement gives them the use of two watchful eyes. But the trait has posed a problem for evolutionary... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2043264/posts#comment Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:23:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996891/posts There are many questions that this theory brings about. Not the least of which is who are the officials that were named in the report? Is there a continuing investigation on this drugs and weapons/ government officials link? If not, why not? This theory makes a wonder how many Congressmen/women are finding themselves in similar situations. Whether it be from an outside source or an inside source. Whether it be death threats or threats of assassination of character. associated content http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996891/posts#comment Fri, 4 Apr 2008 21:37:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1973590/posts Gene studies confirm "out of Africa" theories By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two big genetic studies confirm theories that modern humans evolved in Africa and then migrated through Europe and Asia to reach the Pacific and Americas. The two studies also show that Africans have the most diverse DNA, and the fewest potentially harmful genetic mutations. One of the studies shows European-Americans have more small mutations, while the others show Native Americans, Polynesians and others who populated Australia and Oceania have more big genetic changes. The studies, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, paint... Yahoo News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1973590/posts#comment Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:42:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1925926/posts The E8 pattern (left), Garrett Lisi surfing (middle) and out of the water (right) Garrett Lisi, 39, has a doctorate but no university affiliation and spends most of the year surfing in Hawaii, where he has also been a hiking guide and bridge builder (when he slept in a jungle yurt). In winter, he heads to the mountains near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where he snowboards. "Being poor sucks," Lisi says. "It's hard to figure out the secrets of the universe when you're trying to figure out where you and your girlfriend are going to sleep next month." Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1925926/posts#comment Thu, 15 Nov 2007 02:48:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1914411/posts New Theory Predicts Location Of Oil And Gas Reserves Science Daily (Oct. 21, 2007) — Researchers in Stavanger, Norway, have developed a theory which can be important for future oil and gas exploration. The Golden Zone is the name of a an underground zone where temperatures range between 60 and 120 C. The name refers to a new discovery that 90 per cent of the world's oil and gas reserves are to be found just there. The theory has been tested and verified against a global database containing 120 000 oil fields under production, This gives geologists a tool that... Science Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1914411/posts#comment Mon, 22 Oct 2007 01:54:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1902003/posts Contact: Lisa Nelson Lisa.Nelson@nau.edu 928-523-6123 Northern Arizona University Research team says extraterrestrial impact to blame for Ice Age extinctions A colorized scanning electron microscope image of a glassy carbon sphere that contains evidence of extraterrestrial impact. The sphere measures about .012 inches in width. What caused the extinction of mammoths and the decline of Stone Age people about 13,000 years ago remains hotly debated. Overhunting by Paleoindians, climate change and disease lead the list of probable causes. But an idea once considered a little out there is now hitting closer to home. A team of international researchers, including two Northern... Eureka Alert http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1902003/posts#comment Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:58:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1873848/posts Da Vinci's Last Supper: New conspiracy theory By Matthew Moore Last Updated: 9:35am BST 30/07/2007 It is a conspiracy theory worthy of a Dan Brown novel. The composite version of the Last Supper, created by superimposing the original with its mirror image New claims that Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper contains a hidden image of a woman holding a child are provoking a storm of interest on the internet. The figure allegedly appears when the 15th Century mural painting is superimposed with its mirror image, and both are made partially transparent. The 'woman' leans across the group in Christ's... The Telegraph (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1873848/posts#comment Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:22:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1844986/posts HUMINT: In terms of economics, a dollar is a unitized reference for value. Think about it; we trade value everyday in the marketplace; not widgets, services or currency but value. If you’re like me however, you seldom stop to think about the fact that a product’s price is just a reference of its actual value. In a truly free market, Adam Smith philosophically asserts “price is set by what consumers are willing to pay”. Beyond supply and demand, we can see value being traded in the market place when, for example, a customer chooses one tomato over a less appealing... human intelligence http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1844986/posts#comment Tue, 5 Jun 2007 04:38:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1831124/posts CROWD THEORY: If you want to understand crowds, you’ve got to immerse yourself in them. Not just one kind of crowd, but all kinds of crowds. There are a number of cross cultural similarities between crowds. As an observer, I’ve always enjoyed watching crowd mechanics in action. Concerts, demonstrations, games in stadiums, lines, speeches and parties are just a few examples of situations where crowds coalesce. Why study crowds? Why not? We move through them every day. Every crowd is a microcosm of society. Case in point, your government represents an institutionalized manifestation of crowd control theory. CROWD MEMBERS:... humint http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1831124/posts#comment Thu, 10 May 2007 03:57:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1813706/posts The doctrine of comparative advantage is perhaps the only settled doctrine in the discipline of Economics. It makes sense - if a country can produce something with less inputs relative to another country (note that comaparative advantage is relative, you can be better at producing everything, and it still works), if it specializes in producing that good or service, and other countries specialize in producing their goods or services, then they trade them back and forth, everyone's better off. But economists seem incapable of reading Ricardo's actual essay. Ricardo notes that because capital was relatively immobile in his time, relative... The Agonist http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1813706/posts#comment Sat, 7 Apr 2007 19:37:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1812194/posts A recently-observed supernova is making some astrophysicists doubt prevailing theories for how stars die. The massive star, located in galaxy UGC 4904 about 77 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Lynx, threw off a huge amount of material on October 20, 2004. This star, which may have been what's known as a Luminous Blue Variable (LBV), was mistaken for a supernova, as LBV's often are. In fact, some observers refer to them as "supernova imposters." Then, in the fall of 2006, the star exploded into a full supernova, much sooner than expected. Dubbed Supernova 2006jc, the dying star's blast... Space.com on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1812194/posts#comment Thu, 5 Apr 2007 01:13:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1784474/posts Some experts have questioned the alarmists theory on global warming leading to shrinkage of Himalayan glaciers. VK Raina, a leading glaciologist and former ADG of GSI is one among them. He feels that the research on Indian glaciers is negligible. Nothing but the remote sensing data forms the basis of these alarmists observations and not on the spot research. Raina told the Hindustan Times that out of 9,575 glaciers in India, till date, research has been conducted only on about 50. Nearly 200 years data has shown that nothing abnormal has occurred in any of these glaciers. It is simple.... Hindustan Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1784474/posts#comment Wed, 14 Feb 2007 05:41:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1776575/posts New Mexico State Senator Steve Komadina has introduced a bill into the New Mexico Senate which would protect the academic freedom of teachers to discuss scientific strengths and weaknesses of evolution. The bill requires that the New Mexico Department of Education adopt rules to “give teachers the right and freedom, when a theory of biological origins is taught, to objectively inform students of scientific information relevant to the strengths and weaknesses of that theory and protect teachers from reassignment, termination, discipline or other discrimination for doing so.” The bill would not only protect teachers, but also students: it requires the... Evolution News & Views http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1776575/posts#comment Wed, 31 Jan 2007 05:16:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1764632/posts TRWS: TGS and TSS – The various real and virtual elements of TGS and TSS are based upon the doctrine of Game Theory which relates that gaming can be, and in some cases should be, training for various Real World Capabilities. Therefore TGS and TSS are components of the Transferable Real World Skills Game Theory doctrine. TRWS (and the various components which comprise the Doctrine) is a Virtual Training and Gaming Protocol designed to allow the development, practice, and transmission of Real World Skills into a Training Scenario or Gaming Environment. Likewise the practice of Gaming and Virtual skills in... The Missal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1764632/posts#comment Tue, 9 Jan 2007 14:19:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1763953/posts MEXICO CITY - Mexicans have long been taught to blame diseases brought by the Spaniards for wiping out most of their Indian ancestors. But recent research suggests things may not be that simple. While the initial big die-offs are still blamed on the Conquistadors who started arriving in 1519, even more virulent epidemics in 1545 and 1576 may have been caused by a native blood-hemorrhaging fever spread by rats, Mexican researchers say. The idea has sparked heated debate in Mexican academic circles. One camp holds that the epidemics could have been spread by rats migrating during a drought cycle; others... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1763953/posts#comment Mon, 8 Jan 2007 05:19:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1761376/posts In short, the second, pragmatic, altruistic approach has failed. ... The reason for this failure is that every one of the ideas we used to evaluate our options is wrong. In every case, the opposite of today’s “conventional wisdom” is true. A strong offense does not create new enemies; it defeats existing foes. Were this not so, we would be fighting German and Japanese suicide bombers today, while North Korea—undefeated by America—would be peaceful, prosperous, and free. Poverty is not the “root cause” of wars. If it were, poor Mexicans would be attacking America, not begging for jobs at Wal-Mart.... The Objective Standard http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1761376/posts#comment Tue, 2 Jan 2007 19:02:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1760469/posts I shall refute here the proposition that “the economic value of all goods and services is derived from the cost of their production and ultimately from the labor expended on their creation—be it measured in terms of the time, effort, or disutility required to produce the goods or services in question—and the labor expended on the creation of goods necessarily endows them with economic value.” This proposition is the essence of the labor theory of value, a false view nonetheless embraced by such notable thinkers as Thomas Aquinas and Adam Smith and used by Karl Marx to justify socialism. I... Helium.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1760469/posts#comment Sun, 31 Dec 2006 02:06:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1753773/posts In the standard theory of gravity—general relativity—dark matter plays a vital role, explaining many observations that the standard theory cannot explain by itself. But for 70 years, cosmologists have never observed dark matter, and the lack of direct observation has created skepticism about what is really out there.Lately, some scientists have turned the question around, from “is dark matter correct?” to “is our standard theory of gravity correct?” Most recently, Fermilab scientists Scott Dodelson and former Brinson Fellow Michele Liguori demonstrated one of the first pieces of theoretical evidence that an alternative theory of gravity can explain the large scale... PhysOrg http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1753773/posts#comment Fri, 15 Dec 2006 03:52:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1745598/posts Environment Canada says such low temperatures unusual for this time of year. The arctic deep freeze trapping Calgary is on track to break a 110-year-old weather record today, but the bitter cold is expected to ease in the coming days. With a forecast low of -31C today, Calgary could break the -27C record set on this day in 1896. But factoring in the wind chill, it will feel even colder to people who have to brave the elements, said Environment Canada meteorologist Ross Macdonald. It's even been too frosty to ski, with Canada Olympic Park shutting the hill yesterday in... CALGARY SUN http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1745598/posts#comment Wed, 29 Nov 2006 06:18:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1745240/posts This thread is a continuation of the first thread "Questions For Atheists & Non-Atheists" Some points were brought up that I wish to address here. I look forward to the responses. Taken from one of my dictionaries in my personal library: "Occam's Razor. A principle devised by the English philospher William of Occam, which states that entities must not be multiplied beyond what is necessary. In a scientific context, Occam's Razor is the choice of the simplest theory from among the theories which fit what we know. In logic, Occam's Razor is the statement of an argument in its essential... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1745240/posts#comment Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:09:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1738894/posts Social Construction of Reality Theory and Emancipatory Theory: A Comparative Analysis By Kriztine Rosales-Viray A. Introduction Social Construction of Reality Theory (SCR) and Emancipatory Theory have strenuously influenced the way twentieth century scholars perceive things that surround them. The SCR of P. Berger and T. Luckmann, since it was introduced in the book Social Construction of Reality published in 1967, has made enormous impact upon the fields of Sociology and Social Sciences. Likewise, Klaus Krippendorf’s Emancipatory Theory has its own effect on the way contemporary theorists formulate their critics a and analyses. This paper tries to inquire whether there are... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1738894/posts#comment Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:45:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1691341/posts This is a reference thread with links to previous FR threads discussing the arrest of a suspect, John Mark Karr, in the decade-old cold case concerning the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, plus case resources for continued commentary on investigation of the crime. FRee Republic http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1691341/posts#comment Mon, 28 Aug 2006 16:01:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1689277/posts Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna said he thought Darwin's theories on evolution deserve to be studied in schools, along with the scientific question marks that remain. It is right to teach "the science of Darwin, not ideological Darwinism," Cardinal Schonborn said Aug. 23. He spoke at a meeting in Rimini sponsored by the Catholic lay movement Communion and Liberation, and his remarks were reported by Italian newspapers. In 2005, Cardinal Schonborn helped fuel the debate over evolution and intelligent design when he wrote in The New York Times that science offers "overwhelming evidence for design in biology." He later... Catholic News Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1689277/posts#comment Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:37:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/1681983/posts A comparison of peoples' views in 34 countries finds that the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to public acceptance of evolution. Only Turkey ranked lower. Among the factors contributing to America's low score are poor understanding of biology, especially genetics, the politicization of science and the literal interpretation of the Bible by a small but vocal group of American Christians, the researchers say. “American Protestantism is more fundamentalist than anybody except perhaps the Islamic fundamentalist, which is why Turkey and we are so close,” said study co-author Jon Miller of Michigan State University. The researchers combined... Live Science http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/1681983/posts#comment Fri, 11 Aug 2006 18:54:04 GMT