ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 180

Women sex abuse survivors tell Southern Baptists: ‘Our family is sick’

By Adelle M. Banks BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) — Three women who experienced sexual abuse took center stage on Monday (June 10) to address how the nation’s largest Protestant denomination should deal with the issue. And they didn’t mince words. Susan Codone, a Birmingham native, said she was abused by her youth pastor while growing up …

Stephen Hawking Was Right: Black Holes Can Evaporate, Weird New Study Shows

By Meredith Fore In 1974, Stephen Hawking made one of his most famous predictions: that black holes eventually evaporate entirely. According to Hawking’s theory, black holes are not perfectly “black” but instead actually emit particles. This radiation, Hawking believed, could eventually siphon enough energy and mass away from black holes to make them disappear. The theory is …

World’s largest plant survey reveals alarming extinction rate

By Heidi Ledford The world’s seed-bearing plants have been disappearing at a rate of nearly 3 species a year since 1900 ― which is up to 500 times higher than would be expected as a result of natural forces alone, according to the largest survey yet of plant extinctions. The project looked at more than 330,000 species …

Vatican rejects gender change to alarm of LGBT Catholics

By Nicole Winfield VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican issued an official document Monday rejecting the idea that people can choose or change their genders and insisting on the sexual “complementarity” of men and women to make babies. The document, published during LGBT Pride Month, was immediately denounced by LGBT Catholics as contributing to bigotry …

Three priests accused of enabling W.Va. bishop’s ‘predatory and harassing conduct’ resign

By Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Shawn Boburg Three high-ranking priests who allegedly enabled “predatory and harassing conduct” by Bishop Michael J. Bransfield when he was leader of the Catholic Church in West Virginia have resigned from their leadership posts, church officials announced Monday. A statement from Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore gave no reason for …

To Map a Coral Reef, Peel Back the Seawater

By Paul Tullis Coral reefs comprise just 1 percent of the ocean floor yet they are home to 25 percent of the world’s marine fish, a growing source of protein for people. But reefs are imperiled by a range of threats including warming waters, acidifying seas, destructive fishing methods, and agricultural and other runoff. Moreover, scientists …

Scientists Take First-Ever Image of a Faint Swirling Ring of Hydrogen Around Our Galaxy’s Black Hole

By Yasemin Saplakoglu Astronomers, for the first time, have snapped an image of a cool, gassy ring swirling around the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. This ring is part of the so-called accretion disk — stars, dust and gases — that surround most black holes. These materials are held close by …

This archbishop called on the pope to resign. Now he’s in an undisclosed location.

By Chico Harlan and Stefano Pitrelli ROME — In the instant he became one of the most controversial figures in modern Catholic Church history, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò went dark. The retired Vatican ambassador to Washington wrote a bombshell letter last summer calling on Pope Francis to resign on the grounds that he had tolerated a known sexual …

Her Evangelical Megachurch Was Her World. Then Her Daughter Said She Was Molested by a Minister.

By Elizabeth Dias HURST, Tex. — Christi Bragg listened in disbelief. It was a Sunday in February, and her popular evangelical pastor, Matt Chandler, was preaching on the evil of leaders who sexually abuse those they are called to protect. But at the Village Church, he assured his listeners, victims of assault would be heard, …

Microplastics Have Invaded The Deep Ocean — And The Food Chain

By Christopher Joyce The largest habitat for life on Earth is the deep ocean. It’s home to everything from jellyfish to giant bluefin tuna. But the deep ocean is being invaded by tiny pieces of plastic — plastic that people thought was mostly floating at the surface, and in amounts they never imagined. Very few …