ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 143

‘Cursed’ Primate Weirdos Have Extra Thumbs. Scientists Didn’t Know About Them Until Now.

By Mindy Weisberger There’s a little extra thumb-thing on the hand of the aye-aye, a strange-looking nocturnal lemur native to Madagascar. Tucked near each wrist is a small nub of bone and cartilage that’s like a miniature thumb — and until recently, scientists didn’t know this pseudothumb existed. Aye-ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) are considered by many to be the …

Queer and conservative students are clashing at a religious Texas university

By Daniel Villarreal A group of LGBTQ students at Baylor University in Waco, Texas has begun clashing with Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), a conservative student organization at the Baptist university. The LGBTQ students, united under the Greek letters Gamma Alpha Upsilon (GAY), say that YAF has made baseless accusations that GAY is “is violent …

At least 7 more people told the Vatican they were sexually abused as boys by Theodore McCarrick, according to sources

By Michelle Boorstein Theodore McCarrick, a former D.C. archbishop and cardinal who was defrocked this year amid allegations that he sexually abused two minors and sexually harassed seminarians, is facing new accusations that he abused at least seven boys from about 1970 until 1990, according to three sources, including a person with direct knowledge of …

More than 60 men and boys freed from ‘inhumane’ Islamic school, police say

By Bukola Adebayo Police in Nigeria have rescued 67 men and boys who were subjected to “inhumane and degrading treatments” at an Islamic school in the northern state of Katsina, a police spokesman said Tuesday. The religious school, which also served as a rehabilitation center, was run by a 78-year-old Muslim cleric in Daura, the …

Russian ‘CRISPR-baby’ scientist has started editing genes in human eggs with goal of altering deaf gene

By David Cyranoski Russian biologist Denis Rebrikov has started gene editing in eggs donated by women who can hear to learn how to allow some deaf couples to give birth to children without the genetic mutation that impairs hearing. The news, detailed in an e-mail he sent to Nature on 17 October, is the latest in a …

Bevin’s promotion of Christianity violates the Constitution, devalues people

By Monica L. Miller In the four years he has served as the governor of Kentucky, Matthew G. Bevin has flouted his state and federal constitutional obligations to keep church and state differentiated. As legal director at the American Humanist Association, I sent a letter to the governor, admonishing him for repeatedly running afoul of the …

United Methodist clergyman accused of sexual misconduct, says UMNS report

By Emily McFarlan Miller A formal church complaint accusing a United Methodist clergyman of sexual misconduct has drawn the United Methodist Church into the #MeToo movement. Four women have filed a formal complaint against the Rev. Donald “Bud” Heckman — an elder in the denomination’s West Ohio Conference who is well known in interfaith circles …

In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace

By the Pew Research Center The religious landscape of the United States continues to change at a rapid clip. In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated …

NASA’s First All-Female Spacewalk Set For Friday

By Rachel Treisman The first all-female spacewalk in NASA’s 61-year history is finally happening and will even take place a few days ahead of schedule. Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir, who were initially supposed to venture beyond the International Space Station on Oct. 21, are now slated to make their historic excursion this Friday. …

Your Neighbor’s Christian Education, Courtesy of Your Tax Dollars

By Emma Green One of the persistent disappointments of media coverage in the Trump era is how the eye-popping daily headlines about the president obscure slower-moving, equally important developments at all levels of government. This term, the Supreme Court is set to consider cases that could have momentous implications for the future of abortion and LGBTQ rights. …