ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 201

Fossil Site Reveals Day That Meteor Hit Earth and, Maybe, Wiped Out Dinosaurs

By William J. Broad and Kenneth Chang Sixty-six million years ago, a giant meteor slammed into Earth off the coast of modern-day Mexico. Firestorms incinerated the landscape for miles around. Even creatures thousands of miles away were doomed on that fateful day, if not by fire and brimstone, then by mega-earthquakes and waves of unimaginable size. Now, scientists …

Judge vacates former youth minister’s sex abuse convictions

By Bobby Ross Jr. (RNS) — A highly publicized Pennsylvania grand jury report last year identified more than 300 predator Catholic priests who had sexually abused more than 1,000 children going back decades. But because the crimes were hidden by the church hierarchy, “almost every instance of abuse we found is too old to be prosecuted,” the statewide …

When Maryland gave abuse victims more time to sue, it may have also protected institutions, including the Catholic Church

By Erin Cox, and Justin Wm. Moyer Two years ago, Maryland lawmakers made it easier for adults sexually abused as children to sue institutions that harbored predators. They may have also irreversibly granted some immunity to the Catholic Church. A provision tucked into a 2017 law now stands in the way of Maryland joining a nationwide …

In Nebraska, Atheists Now Have Their Own Caucus in the Democratic Party

By Hemant Mehta Over the past few years, the Democratic Party has approved the formation of a “Secular Caucus” in a handful of states. Texas, Utah, and Arizona have all said yes to taking into account atheists’ ideas when drafting platform measures and advising candidates. (The Libertarian Party has also done the same thanks to a former New Hampshire representative.) It’s …

OPEN DISCUSSION APRIL 2019

This thread has been created for discussion on themes relevant to Reason and Science for which there are not currently any dedicated threads. Please note it is NOT for general chat, and that our Comment Policy applies as usual. There is a link to this at the foot of the page. If you would like …

Why Saturn’s ‘Ring Moons’ Are Different Colors and Shapes

By Charles Q. Choi The bizarre shapes and diverse colors seen in some of Saturn’s moons may now be explained, with the help of data taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft before it plunged to its doom. These moons likely coalesced from the planet’s rings and get their color from either ice volcanoes or a mysterious …

Fresh look at Apollo Moon rocks reveals Solar System secrets

By Alexandra Witze The Woodlands, Texas At some point in the coming year, curators at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, will don protective suits and gloves, enter the high-tech laboratory that houses the United States’s trove of Moon rocks, and open a long metal tube that has been sealed since 1972. That’s when …

Christian or Nothing: Buddhist Prisoner to be Executed Without Buddhist Chaplain

By Andrew L. Seidel “It’s happening again.” American justice seems to favor Christians, everyone else be damned. Texas is set to execute Patrick Murphy, who became a Buddhist a decade ago, and the state gave Murphy a choice: he can have either “a Christian prison chaplain or no chaplain present.” “Die with our god or die alone,” the …

Georgia House Invocation Speaker Says Non-Christians Are “On Their Way to Hell”

By Hemant Mehta We now have Exhibit B this week in the case of why we need to eliminate invocations at government meetings. In Georgia, rather than giving an uplifting and inspirational speech to open the day in the State House, Doyle Kelley told the elected officials that anyone who wasn’t Christian would be tortured for all eternity. Kelley …

The Trump Administration Wants Astronauts on Moon by 2024. But What’s the Plan?

By Kenneth Chang American astronauts will walk on the moon again before the end of 2024 “by any means necessary,” Vice President Mike Pence declared on Tuesday at a meeting of the National Space Council. “It is the stated policy of this administration and the United States of America to return astronauts to the moon …