ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 210

A Pair of Gargantuan Space Bubbles Might Be Spitting Cosmic Rays at Earth

By Brandon Specktor Astronomers have discovered a distant galaxy that’s giddily blowing bubbles like a toddler with a glass of chocolate milk. Unlike milk bubbles, however, these two huge galactic balloons are filled with gas, stretch a few thousand light-years across and appear to be crackling with charged particles 100 times more energetic than any found on …

From Alito Activism to Sloppy Lemons: 3 Takeaways From the Bladensburg Cross Oral Argument

By Andrew L. Seidel The Supreme Court’s first big state-church separation case in years had a distinct David and Goliath feel—impossible to miss while sitting in the courtroom for the oral argument. On the side of the Constitution was a young attorney, one of only four women to speak in the court that day, representing …

Georgia Republicans are trying to pass an anti-LGBTQ “religious freedom” bill

By Daniel Villarreal This week, state Republicans in the Georgia Senate introduced Senate Bill 221, The Religious Freedom and Restoration Act, which would allow people to sue the government if any laws or ordinances “substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion.” Naturally, opponents of the bill worry that it’ll be used to allow religious organizations and business …

How the Icefish Got Its Transparent Blood and See-Through Skull

By JoAnna Klein The Southern Ocean around Antarctica was once warmer. Then about 30 million years ago, the temperature dropped. Few fish could survive temperatures that were just above seawater’s freezing point, and they either migrated to warmer waters or went extinct. One bottom-dweller held on. Through the power of natural selection, its descendants developed …

Why Americans Might Never Notice Climate Change’s Hotter Weather

By Robinson Meyer In the last 50 years, climate change has altered the weather of the United States, leading to milder winters, warmer nights, and sweltering summer heat waves. These changes will intensify in the decades to come: By the end of the century, cities like Philadelphia could feel a lot like Memphis. But a new …

Pro-Plague AZ GOP Lawmaker Says Requiring a Measles Vaccine is “Communist”

By Hemant Mehta Arizona State Rep. Kelly Townsend says that making people get vaccinated is what Communists do. Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, recently said he would veto any bills that might lower vaccination rates in his state, a wise move given all the outbreaks of measles lately. There are currently three such bills that could reach his desk, …

Critics of Christian Home Schooling Are Calling for Reform. Here’s Why.

By Hannah Brashers Last month, self-described “exvangelical” and writer Chris Stroop coined the hashtag #ExposeChristianSchools. The hashtag was in direct response to the news that Karen Pence had taken a job at a Christian school infamous for its discrimination against LGBTQ students. #ExposeChristianSchools quickly exploded on Twitter into a collection of personal stories, highlighting the dangers posed …

Open Discussion – March 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 all Terms of Use apply as usual. If you would like to refer back to previous open discussion threads, the three most …

Newfound ‘FarFarOut’ Is Most Distant Solar System Body Ever Seen

By Mike Wall The solar system has a new distance champ. Astronomers just found an object that lies 140 astronomical units (AU) from the sun. That’s 140 times the Earth-sun distance, which is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers). In case you want some more perspective: Pluto orbits the sun at an average distance of about …

How rovers are searching for alien life in the desert

By Ashley Strickland Before they go to Mars, rovers like NASA’s Mars 2020 and the European Space Agency’s ExoMars missions need to be equipped to study the Red Planet and collect samples. So where’s the best Mars on Earth? These researchers think the closest analog is Chile’s Atacama Desert. The Martian surface is harsh, a dry, cold, irradiated environment. …