Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
Its an exciting find, there is now clear evidence that the common ancestor of both humans and Neanderthals hunted with stone tipped spears … half a million years ago. Let that number sink in. The specific news is that we knew that stone spears were in use 300,000 years ago, but a new study now pushes … Read more
Why oh why is always the religious who spout complete and utter bollocks on an almost regular basis by manifesting magical thinking. Today we have the Rev Dr Peter Mullen, a priest of the Church of England, writing in the Guardian yesterday about the solar eclipse. There he writes … The sun is huge and … Read more
The Irish Time reports today on the utterly tragic and completely needless death of Savita Halappanavar. At 17 weeks into her pregnancy she was admitted to hospital with chronic pain because she was having a miscarriage. There was no chance that the fetus would survive. In excruciating pain, Savita asked for an abortion. The hospital, University Hospital Galway in Ireland, refused. Why? … Read more
There are two specific Facebook groups I’m in that have rather similar names, but are dominated by very different views. One, entitled ATHEISM DEBUNKED BY MUSLIMEEN (their caps not mine) is dominated by various strands of Islamic thought, and rather bizarrely has a rule against logic and reason. No really, it reads, “Members are requested not to involve in … Read more
Seriously, he really did, it was not simply some chap with the same name, but the well-known author of “On the Origin of Species” and UK Naturalist, Charles Darwin, a non US citizen. Despite having died over 130 years ago he actually did get 4,000 votes in Athens-Clarke County in a congressional race last week, so apparently being dead is … Read more
Looking back in history there are clear, very obvious and well-known examples of confrontation between religious superstition and science, for example Galileo Galilei, arrested and hauled before the inquisition for heresy because he supported the observation that the sun stands still and that it is the earth that moves. Rome might indeed have truly “believed” but … Read more