Florida Citizens for Science

Silly season in Seminole County

Brandon Haught — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:51:27 +0000

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board made its recomendations for various school board elections. Is it any surprise that evolution comes up at some point? Concerning the Seminole County school board district 4 seat:

We are hard-pressed to find a reason why Ms. [Sylvia] Pond should unseat him [Barry Gainer], given the school system’s success. We found a pretty good reason why she shouldn’t, though. In 2004, Ms. Pond said she wanted creationism taught alongside evolution. We don’t agree. Creationism might belong in a comparative religion class, but not in science class.

Teen’s letter revisited

Brandon Haught — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:34:28 +0000

Remember the homeschooled teen who wrote a letter to the editor taking evolution to task? FSU physics professor Paul Cottle wrote her back.

We cannot even have a meaningful discussion about ethical issues involving science unless we agree on what science is. If we agree that science is the means for building our understanding of the laws of nature through systematic observations, then we have a basis for discussion with all of society.

When we allow our beliefs about the purpose of life to blunt our willingness to observe nature and our God-given abilities to reason, then we lose the ability to discuss important issues of scientific ethics with those who do not share our beliefs.

Landmark discovery of ‘engine’ that drives cell movement

Jonathan Smith — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:01:39 +0000

ScienceDaily (Oct. 7, 2008) — How a cell assembles its internal machinery required for cell movement has been revealed for the first time. The researchers discovered a complex of three proteins that directly regulates the myosin network within a cell, thus generating traction force to propel the cell forward. (Myosin is the most common protein found in muscle cells, and is responsible for the elastic and contractile properties of muscle. A different form of myosin is involved in cell movement.) The findings have widespread implications in the fields of cancer growth and spread, wound- healing, learning and memory, and developmental biology.

The response from the Creationists (Behe and ilk) should make interesting reading.

Letter in TCPalm needs a response

Brandon Haught — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:43:21 +0000

Anyone else see this garbage printed in the TCPalm? Golly, do you think the letter writer has a bias of some type?

As far as imposing philosophies, the “cerebral” elites present their theories and philosophies as fact, mocking anyone who dares to disagree with them, especially concerning evolution.

Remember, there are many Christians who come from accomplished scientific backgrounds, and they possess far more knowledge concerning how we got here than Mr. Burton does. The geo-chronological evidence all points to a young Earth.

Every “missing link” ever “discovered” has been proven to be a fraud produced by overzealous “cerebrals” who hate God. The gospel can never be “imposed”; it’s the “cerebral” people who will not even allow it to be presented so that people can make up their minds based on the evidence.

Evolution in school board elections: Broward

Brandon Haught — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:40:27 +0000

It amazes me that one particular school subject — evolution — becomes an issue in school board elections. If you sit back and think about it, wouldn’t it be silly to see the issue of comma placement as taught in English composition class attract candidate attention? Nonetheless, evolution is a concern in Broward County. Florida Today mentions the candidates’ stances on evolution:

But she [Karen Henderson] lacks the experience to hit the ground running on difficult budget and school governance issues and favors unwise policies such as teaching faith-based intelligent design as an alternative to science-based evolution.

…

He’s [Stuart Rowan] also a firm believer in the separation of church and state and rightly says it’s very inappropriate to teach religious doctrine such as creationism or intelligent design in the science classroom.

“There are none so blind as those who cannot see”

Jonathan Smith — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:13:56 +0000

I know the above is a very well worn cliche, however, its relevancy becomes extremely appropriate when we consider the number of people who turn that “blind eye” toward science and particularly to the evidence for evolution. If I considered it important enough to defend my beliefs on any subject, my first course of action would be to study the conflicting evidence, which could possibly falsify my thinking. Why is it then — and I state my point rhetorically — that in the face of overwhelming evidence for evolution on a daily basis, these such individuals blatantly refuse to look? If we were to just waver subjects such as astronomy, astrophysics, and organic chemistry, there still remains a mountain of fresh new scientific papers on evolution which are being published at an amazing rate. In the last seven days we have seen fresh evidence for:
Gene Expression In Alligators Suggests Birds Have ‘Thumbs’
Primordial Fish Had Rudimentary Fingers
Short RNAs Show A Long History: MicroRNAs Found In Animals That Appeared A Billion Years Ago
… to name just a few.

The cognitive dissonance it must take to ignore all these facts can at best be considered totally outrageous. We can only hope that the students now attending school will benefit from the new Florida Science Standards and will, at least, be better equipped to open their eyes to ALL the evidence that surrounds them.

Response to teen’s letter

Brandon Haught — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:15:03 +0000

Jonathan had posted earlier about a 14-year-old getting a letter published that argued against evolution. Here is a response published today. It’s a thorough yet respectful refutation.

In her Sept. 19 letter ['Evolution Is Not Science'], Kelly Rebecca Freed, 14, cites century-old sources against today’s science. This would be laughable if I didn’t fear that this is the limits of her home schooling.

…

Ms. Freed sounds like a very intelligent young lady. I hope she’ll use her logical reasoning to understand the difference between science and faith.

Ig Nobles 2008

Brandon Haught — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:09:09 +0000

The Ig Nobles 2008 were recently awarded! Don’t know what I’m talking about?

“The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology.”

Here are some of the prize winners:

Massimiliano Zampini of the University of Trento, Italy and Charles Spence of Oxford University, UK, for electronically modifying the sound of a potato chip to make the person chewing the chip believe it to be crisper and fresher than it really is.

Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert,, and Michel Franc of Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse, France for discovering that the fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than the fleas that live on a cat.

Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tybur and Brent Jordan of the University of New Mexico, USA, for discovering that a professional lap dancer’s ovulatory cycle affects her tip earnings.

Sharee A. Umpierre of the University of Puerto Rico, Joseph A. Hill of The Fertility Centers of New England (USA), Deborah J. Anderson of Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School (USA), for discovering that Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide, and to Chuang-Ye Hong of Taipei Medical University (Taiwan), C.C. Shieh, P. Wu, and B.N. Chiang (all of Taiwan) for discovering that it is not.