ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 168

Megadroughts could return to southwestern U.S.

By Jenny Howard Almost a thousand years ago, in the arid climate of the southwestern United States, the Chacoan culture flourished. Ancestors of southwest Native American tribes today, Chacoans built impressive multi-storied stone buildings with a far-reaching trade system selling colorful macaws for turquoise. But a desperate lack of water—a megadrought—caused the advanced civilization to seemingly vanish within a …

Anti-gay GOP state rep resigns amid allegations of Grindr hookups

By Daniel Villarreal Cari Wade Gervin — a longtime political reporter who covers Tennessee news, politics and gossip site The Dog and Pony Show — has accused 59-year-old Tennessee state Rep. Bill Sanderson of “openly soliciting sex” and sending “sexually explicit messages and pictures to men almost 40 years his junior” while voting repeatedly in favor of anti-LGBTQ legislation. …

Hamilton County (TX) May Install Ten Commandments Monument Outside Courthouse

By Hemant Mehta For some reason, the commissioners in Hamilton County, Texas think it’d be a great idea to install a stand-alone Ten Commandments monument outside the local courthouse, despite a very clear Supreme Court ruling that says that very thing is an illegal promotion of Christianity. There’s already an “In God We Trust” sign outside the courthouse which skirts …

Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months

By Matt McGrath Do you remember the good old days when we had “12 years to save the planet”? Now it seems, there’s a growing consensus that the next 18 months will be critical in dealing with the global heating crisis, among other environmental challenges. Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported …

The Milky Way Was an Adorable Cannibal, Cosmic ‘Baby Picture’ Reveals

By Mindy Weisberger Ah, babies. One day they’re crawling about, just an innocent mass of gas and cosmic fuzz. The next they’re standing on their own … swallowing another baby whole. They grow up so fast. That’s the gist of a new cosmic “baby picture” of the Milky Way galaxy, which reveals its humble origins, …

AL GOP Senate Candidate: We Must “Put Jesus and God Before Everything Else”

By Hemant Mehta Among the Republicans running for Senate from Alabama are alleged child molester Roy Moore and Secretary of State John Merrill, who thinks TV is unwatchable because of all the “homosexual activities.” There’s also Tommy Tuberville, the former head football coach at Auburn University. In 2015, Tuberville was highlighted by the Freedom From Religion Foundation as one of the …

Willow Creek elders preach reconciliation after allegations against Hybels

By Emily McFarlan Miller Battered. Weary. Divided. That’s how elder Shoji Boldt described Willow Creek Community Church at a service of worship and reflection on Tuesday night (July 23) on the church’s main campus in suburban South Barrington. “We are a house divided on whether we need to dig in and why can’t we just …

This Is an Image of Quantum Entanglement… Sort Of

By Ryan F. Mandelbaum A new quantum mechanics experiment shows the field’s spookiest concept, entanglement, in a whole new way. But, of course, it’s not as simple as that. Lots of other news outlets have covered what they’ve described as the first-ever image, or even a “photo,” of entanglement, sometimes called spooky action at a …

Until death or zombies do us part: The new wedding vows

By Vicky Allan Ten years ago, when Elizabeth and Bengtis Ericsson got married they shunned the traditional vows and made up their own. As well as penning some together they each created a “secret” vow that neither told each other before the ceremony. The result, hilarious and touching in an unplanned way, was that Bengtis …

What Americans Know About Religion

By the Pew Research Center Most Americans are familiar with some of the basics of Christianity and the Bible, and even a few facts about Islam. But far fewer U.S. adults are able to correctly answer factual questions about Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism, and most do not know what the U.S. Constitution says about religion …