ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 202

New Strategies Take On the Worst Cancer—Glioblastoma

By Bret Stetka The most common form of malignant brain cancer—called a glioblastoma—is notoriously wily and considered the deadliest human cancer. Glioblastomas charge their way into normal brain tissue diffusely and erratically, making them surgical nightmares. And they mutate at such a rapid rate that most currently available cancer treatments can’t keep up with them. …

Cory Booker: “I Would Rather Hang Out With a Nice Atheist Than a Mean Christian”

By Hemant Mehta During a CNN Town Hall tonight, Democratic presidential candidate (and New Jersey senator) Cory Booker was asked how faith would influence him if he were in the White House. That’s always a dangerous question, certainly among progressives. I don’t want faith influencing his policies, but obviously religious beliefs are going to influence their outlook. When similar …

Penn. Legislator’s Jaw-Dropping Prayer Showcases America’s Christian Nationalism Problem

By Andrew L. Seidel Earlier this week, Rep. Stephanie Borowicz chose to deliver a “Jesus”-laden prayer to the state house on the same day Pennsylvania’s first Muslim legislator, State Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, was sworn in. The prayer was jaw-dropping—literally. Watch Speaker Turzai, who introduced Borowicz. As she begins, his jaw drops, and then it drops …

Fastest-Thinning Greenland Glacier Threw NASA Scientists for a Loop. It’s Actually Growing.

By Laura Geggel Greenland’s fastest-flowing and fastest-thinning glacier recently threw a real brain bender at scientists, who realized that instead of shrinking, the glacier is actually growing thicker, they reported in a new study. The glacier — known as Jakobshavn, which sits on Greenland’s west coast — is still contributing to sea level rise, but …

Why NASA’s historic all-female spacewalk isn’t happening

By Lindsey Bever, Kayla Epstein, and Allyson Chiu NASA has aborted its first all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station because there are not enough spacesuits of the best size to fit both female astronauts, the agency said. Astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch had planned to conclude Women’s History Month with a spacewalk Friday …

Survey: Most Americans continue to oppose religious service refusals to LGBT people

By Yonat Shimron A new survey finds that Americans continue to oppose the idea that small-business owners should be able to refuse products or services to gay or lesbian people due to their religious beliefs. The survey by the Public Religion Research Institute follows up on findings released last week that show strong majorities within all religious groups also support …

Tom Cruise’s Daughter Comes Out as Top Scientology Recruiter

By Amy Zimmerman Tom Cruise’s daughter Isabella has recently surfaced in a promotional email espousing the benefits of Scientology training. The historically private Isabella shared a lengthy testimony about her “auditing adventure,” urging fellow Scientology London followers, “WE ALL NEED TO DO THIS.” Journalist and Scientologist whistleblower Tony Ortega published the promotional email Sunday on his blog, The …

Spectacular new fossil bonanza captures explosion of early life

By Michael Greshko A wealth of ancient remains found by chance on the banks of a river in China are some of the most astoundingly preserved fossils now known on Earth, researchers report today in the journal Science. The 518-million-year-old site, called Qingjiang, joins just a few places around the world where fossil preservation is so extraordinary, …

Federal appeals court OKs tax-free housing for clergy

By Scott Bauer MADISON, Wis. — A federal appeals court ruled Friday that a law giving clergy tax-free housing allowances is constitutional, overturning a ruling in Wisconsin that said it was an unconstitutional benefit and delivering a huge win to religious leaders who had fought to keep the substantial benefit. The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion …

Modern atheism’s Mount Rushmore comes together in ‘The Four Horsemen’

By Andy Norman “The Four Horsemen: The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution” is a transcript of a 2007 conversation among four prominent public intellectuals, each the author of a best-selling book challenging the intellectual and moral credentials of religion. Its participants were the celebrated evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (“The God Delusion”), the grandfatherly philosopher …