ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 222

Cryptic DNA sequences may help cells survive starvation

By Michael Marshall Patches of seemingly meaningless DNA dotted throughout the genome might actually have a function: helping cells to survive starvation. Two studies published in Nature on 16 January suggest that these stretches of non-coding DNA called introns help to control the rate at which cells grow, conserving energy when food becomes scarce. Genes carry the information …

NY Legislators Must Help Orthodox Jewish Kids and Rescind the Felder Amendment

By Hemant Mehta As we’ve posted about before, New York State Sen. Simcha Felder — a “Democrat” who caucused with the Republicans, giving them a one-vote majority — essentially held the state’s budget hostage until it agreed not to interfere with the curriculum at yeshivas, the schools for Orthodox Jews. That meant there could be no oversight of …

A Christian Homeless Shelter is Suing Over the Right to Reject Trans People

By Sarahbeth Caplin The same conservative legal group that said it was okay for a baker to deny services to a gay couple is suing the city of Anchorage, Alaska over a Christian-run women’s shelter that wants to deny help to transgender clients. Alliance Defending Freedom says Hope Center should have the ability to say no to trans …

Earth’s Tilt May Exacerbate a Melting Antarctic

By Stephanie Pappas As levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide rise and warm the globe, Antarctica’s ice will become more vulnerable to cycles on an astronomical scale, particularly the tilt of our planet is as it spins around its axis. New research finds that over 30 million years of history, Antarctica’s ice sheets responded most strongly …

Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo belong to a doomsday cult — and may be trying to bring on the apocalypse

By Travis Gettys President Donald Trump’s vice president and secretary of state appear to have a conflict between their private religious beliefs and their public duties, according to a financial journalist. Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo are each a “genuine, end-of-days, believer in the apocalypse,” and Financial Times journalist Edward Luce said their religious beliefs about the …

Karen Pence Is Working At A School That Bans LGBTQ Employees And Kids

By Rebecca Klein Karen Pence, wife of Vice President Mike Pence, started at a job this week teaching art at Immanuel Christian School in Northern Virginia. It’s not a school where everyone is welcome. In a “parent agreement” posted online, the school says it will refuse admission to students who participate in or condone homosexual …

Gov. Kevin Stitt Plans to Use His Office to Align ‘With What God Is Doing in Oklahoma’

By Kyle Mantyla Newly elected Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma attended an “Inaugural Prayer Service” today, during which declared that it is his mission to align the state “with what God is doing in Oklahoma,” while his wife proclaimed that it is their responsibility as Christians to use their position in elected office “to …

Genetically modified food opponents overestimate their knowledge, according to CU researchers

By Cassa Niedringhaus People who most oppose genetically modified foods know the least about the science behind them, according to new research by University of Colorado scholars and researchers at other universities. In a representative survey of U.S. residents, researchers measured three things: respondents’ attitudes about genetically modified foods, their scientific literacy, and their self-assessment …

Plan B: A Revised Strategy to Battle Idaho’s Faith-Healing Exemptions

By George Prentice “Maybe,” said Bruce Wingate. “Maybe this is the year.” Wingate took a long breath and looked down at the draft of a measure that’s certain to trigger a fierce debate in the coming weeks of the 2019 Idaho Legislature. “You know what? Forget I said ‘maybe.’ It can’t be ‘maybe’ anymore. It …

Indiana GOP Legislator Sponsors Bill to Teach Creationism in Public Schools

By Hemant Mehta Indiana State Sen. Dennis Kruse is one of the most anti-science, pro-forced Christianity legislators in the country. This is a guy who co-authored a bill to require recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in public schools, wanted Creationism taught in science classrooms, and tried making it illegal for kids to learn sex ed in school without their parents’ permission. He’s just full …