ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 225

Blasphemy Laws Do Not Have A Place In The 21st Century

By Ewelina U. Ochab Last year has seen some positive developments in the fight against outdated blasphemy laws. For example, in Ireland, as part of a referendum, a majority voted against the remaining blasphemy laws. In Pakistan, although blasphemy laws still exist, the Supreme Court acquitted Asia Bibi who was held on the death row for …

Scientists despair as US government shutdown drags on

By Lauren Morello, Amy Maxmen, Sara Reardon & Alexandra Witze Karen Osborn was supposed to be exploring hidden worlds in the Turks and Caicos, cataloguing the mysterious creatures that thrive in pools connected to the ocean by deep underwater caves. But instead of barcoding blind crustaceans on a trip she’s planned for six months, the marine …

Impending Galactic Crash Could Rip Open the Black Hole at the Milky Way’s Center

By Brandon Specktor The end of the Milky Way as we know it may come a few billion years ahead of schedule. According to a new paper published Jan. 4 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, our home galaxy appears to be on a crash course with one of its nearest satellites, the spiral of …

Here Are the Worst Anti-LGBT Bills to Watch for in 2019

By Samantha Allen Like clockwork, anti-LGBT bills emerge every year. Only a handful become law—like 2015’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Indiana, North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” in 2016, and Mississippi’s infamous HB 1523 in 2017. Last year, two states—Kansas and Oklahoma—passed laws targeting LGBT adoption, carving out room for religious child welfare agencies to deny placement with same-sex couples. Legal challenges against those …

Religion Shouldn’t Get Free Rein in Federal Prisons

By Andrew Seidel As 2018 drew to a close, some on the political right and in the FOX News crowd raged because they discovered that the federal government funded the Nation of Islam, making it possible for the extreme group to go into prisons and minister to inmates. Well, if you’re angry about that — and …

Japan’s pioneering detector set to join hunt for gravitational waves

By Davide Castelvecchi Inside a house-sized scaffolding wrapped in thick plastic sheets, Takayuki Tomaru is in full clean-room attire. The physicist is performing one of the most delicate and crucial tasks in the construction of a gravitational-wave observatory: installing one of the machine’s four mirrors, each a 23-kilogram cylinder of solid sapphire known as a test …

The Hunt Is On for Moons Around Ultima Thule

By Mike Wall The most distant celestial object ever explored may well have moons, and astronomers are trying hard to find them. In the wee hours of Jan. 1, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft zoomed past the small, frigid object Ultima Thule, which lies more than 4 billion miles (6.4 billion kilometers) from Earth. The probe has …

Religious Freedom Battle Is Far From Over: Here’s What to Look for in 2019

By Patrick Hornbeck Arguments about religious freedom—who is entitled to it, and against whom their freedom should be protected—have in recent years come to the forefront in long-running disputes concerning social policy, morality, and civil rights. During the Obama administration, religious organizations unhappy with laws and administrative regulations sought religious exemptions in increasing numbers. The Little …

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Took Her Oath of Office on a Lawbook, Not the Bible

By Hemant Mehta When Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona was sworn into the U.S. Senate today, she placed her left hand on an Arizona “lawbook” (to use Getty’s terminology) instead of the Bible. It’s precisely what you’d expect from the only officially “Unaffiliated” member of the new Congress. ***Update***: A spokesperson for Sinema told the Arizona Republic that the senator specifically used …

China Makes 1st-Ever Landing on Moon’s Mysterious Far Side

By Mike Wall Humanity just planted its flag on the far side of the moon. China’s robotic Chang’e 4 mission touched down on the floor of the 115-mile-wide (186 kilometers) Von Kármán Crater Wednesday night (Jan. 2), pulling off the first-ever soft landing on the mysterious lunar far side. Chang’e 4 will perform a variety of science work …