ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 211

Here Are Highlights from the Bladensburg Cross Case at the Supreme Court

By Hemant Mehta Earlier today, the American Humanist Association’s Monica Miller argued in front of the Supreme Court about how a giant Christian cross in Bladensburg, Maryland is an unconstitutional endorsement of Christianity by the government. USA Today‘s Richard Wolf says that the justices may opt for middle ground here because they know crosses like these are unconstitutional, but they also don’t …

Rome Has Spoken and Rome Is Finished: The Vatican’s Sexual Abuse Summit ‘Failed Miserably’

By Mary Hunt Roma locuta; causa finita est, attributed to Augustine, means: “Rome has spoken, the matter is closed.” So it is. Sordid details emerging of Australian Cardinal George Pell’s conviction on “multiple historical child sex offenses” are no great shock. They only confirm the general consensus that the recent Roman summit was a dismal failure …

A Troubling Discovery in the Deepest Ocean Trenches

By Ed Young Alan Jamieson remembers seeing it for the first time: a small, black fiber floating in a tube of liquid. It resembled a hair, but when Jamieson examined it under a microscope, he realized that the fiber was clearly synthetic—a piece of plastic. And worryingly, his student Lauren Brooks had pulled it from …

Ripples in Space-Time Could Help Solve Cosmic Mystery of How Fast Universe Is Expanding

By Charles Q. Choi Analyzing ripples in the fabric of space and time created by pairs of dead stars may soon solve a cosmic mystery surrounding how quickly the universe is expanding — if scientists are lucky. That’s the verdict of a new study, which may also shed light on the ultimate fate of the universe, the …

A year later: More than 100 Buffalo priests linked to sex allegations

By Mike McAndrew and Aaron Besecker It started with a victim holding a news conference on a street corner and a Buffalo News reporter knocking on a retired priest’s door. One year ago today, the Rev. Norbert F. Orsolits admitted to reporter Jay Tokasz that he had molested “probably dozens” of boys, sparking a scandal that has …

Supreme Court seems to seek narrow way to uphold cross that memorializes war dead

By Robert Barnes A majority of the Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed to be searching for a way — a narrow way, most likely — to allow a historic cross commemorating World War I dead to remain where it has stood for nearly 100 years. Two of the court’s four liberals suggested the unique history …

A World Without Clouds

By Natalie Wolchover On a 1987 voyage to the Antarctic, the paleoceanographer James Kennett and his crew dropped anchor in the Weddell Sea, drilled into the seabed, and extracted a vertical cylinder of sediment. In an inch-thick layer of plankton fossils and other detritus buried more than 500 feet deep, they found a disturbing clue about …

White House to set up panel to counter climate change consensus, officials say

By Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey, and Brady Dennis The White House plans to create an ad hoc group of select federal scientists to reassess the government’s analysis of climate science and counter conclusions that the continued burning of fossil fuels is harming the planet, according to three senior administration officials. The National Security Council initiative …

Inside the Secret Sting Operations to Expose Celebrity Psychics

By Jack Hitt When you’re setting up fake Facebook pages, it’s the little details that can mess things up. On a group computer call last winter, Susan Gerbic was going through her checklist of tips for her team’s latest sting operation — this one focused on infiltrating the audience of a psychic. It all started …

A Bumpy Ride to the Moon: Israeli Spacecraft Hits Technical Snag

By Asaf Ronel Genesis (“Beresheet” in Hebrew), Israel’s first spacecraft on its way to land on the moon, is having some complications. After the launch on Friday morning, engineers from the SpaceIL organization and Israel Aerospace Industries discovered that sensors on the craft needed for navigation are overly sensitive to sunlight. They discovered another problem with the robotic …