ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 203

Secular Democrats Are the New Normal

By Peter Beinart Were a Democrat from the Clinton, Bush, or Obama eras to watch the presidential-announcement video that Beto O’Rourke released on Thursday, they would likely be struck by how it ended. Or, more specifically, by how it didn’t end. O’Rourke did not close with any mention of God. Until recently, farewells that invoke God were …

Meet Scotty, the New T. Rex Heavyweight Champion of the World

By Laura Geggel The mightiest Tyrannosaurus rex on record is a behemoth named Scotty, who — during its lifetime on Earth about 65 million years ago — weighed a honking 19,555 lbs. (8,870 kilograms), or about as much as 6.5 Volkswagen Beetles, a new study finds. Scotty was so massive, it edged out Sue, the famous T. rex at the Field …

The Adult Brain Does Grow New Neurons After All, Study Says

By Karen Weintraub If the memory center of the human brain can grow new cells, it might help people recover from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), delay the onset of Alzheimer’s, deepen our understanding of epilepsy and offer new insights into memory and learning. If not, well then, it’s just one other way people …

Brunei Set to Install Sharia Law and Punish Gay Sex With Stoning

By Jeff Taylor Advocates are spreading word of Brunei’s plans to implement Sharia law, which would punish gay sex by stoning. The small Asian nation became the first in the region to put the Muslim religious law into effect, back in 2014. Gay sex is already punishable by up to ten years in prison, but …

Trump Officials Attend Hungarian Conference to Promote Women Having More Babies

By Katelyn Burns Trump administration officials and prominent anti-choice activists appeared at a conference hosted by the Hungarian Embassy earlier this month designed to promote government policies to encourage women to have more babies. The “Make Families Great Again” conference, which was held at the Library of Congress on March 14, promoted far-right Hungarian Prime …

Uri Geller: I Will “Telepathically” Stop Brexit by Sending Energy to Theresa May

By Hemant Mehta Self-proclaimed paranormalist Uri Geller, the famously debunked “psychic” who “predicted” Donald Trump‘s 2016 victory because he has 11 letters in his name, has found a new way to get attention. He says he will “telepathically” stop British Prime Minister Theresa May from following through with Brexit. He plans to transmit his psychic energy into May’s brain at the “very mystical time” of …

Astronomers Find Fossils of Early Universe Stuffed in Milky Way’s Bulge

By Brandon Specktor Astronomers peered into the dusky bulge of the Milky Way and found some of the oldest known stars in the universe. In a study to be published in the April 2019 issue of the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers analyzed a cluster of old, dim stars called HP1, located about 21,500 …

Defrocked Jersey priest who molested boys now teaches kids English in Dominican Republic

By Evelyn Gruber, Nicole Acevedo, and Corky Siemaszko PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic — A former Roman Catholic priest who was defrocked and convicted of molesting two boys in New Jersey has found a new vocation in a new location — teaching children English at a private school in this resort town. The former priest, Hadmels …

Michigan will no longer fund adoption agencies that deny LGBT parents

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey Michigan will no longer fund adoption agencies that turn away parents who are LGBT because of religious objections, a move that was part of the terms of a legal settlement announced Friday. President Trump highlighted faith-based adoption agencies during his keynote at the National Prayer Breakfast in February. He drew attention to a family that …

A Secret Database of Child Abuse

By Douglas Quenqua In March 1997, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the nonprofit organization that oversees the Jehovah’s Witnesses, sent a letter to each of its 10,883 U.S. congregations, and to many more congregations worldwide. The organization was concerned about the legal risk posed by possible child molesters within its ranks. The letter laid …