ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 782

Marine Animals Found Thriving In One Of World’s Most Extreme Environments

Plants and Animals





Photo credit:

NSF / WISSARD / Deep-SCINI UNL Andrill SMO team

From barren mountains to sweltering deserts, freezing polar regions to deep-sea hydrothermal vents; there’s no shortage of extreme environments on Earth. Although life’s tough in these harsh habitats, organisms always seem to find a way, cropping up in even the most surprising environments.

TTA Podcast 202: In The Wake Of Charlie Hebdo

Sponsored by: http://www.evolvefish.com

On January 7, 2015, two masked gunmen killed 12 people, 11 of whom worked for the French satirical newspaper, “Charlie Hebdo,” a publication with a reputation for lampooning Islam and its prophet.

Terror alerts remain high, and in the wake of the killings, Charlie Hebdo remained defiant, publishing a caricature of Muhammad on its very next issue. Millions of copies immediately sold.

Soon after, Pope Francis declared his condemnation of the attack and hi support for free speech, but also declared that “you cannot insult people’s faith.”

Did these attackers truly represent the religion of Islam? Should the attack have been expected because it was provoked? Should satire expect protection in all of its forms? And what should responsible media outlets do in regard to religion, free speech and the safety of its employees.

Guests include Brian Dalton (Mr. Deity), Ali A. Rizvi, Faisal Saeed Al Mutar and others. Plus your calls and emails (podcast@thethinkingatheist.com)f

Brian Dalton’s response to the Pope: http://youtu.be/6xDnxv6eFNg

Ali A. Rizvi’s blog archive: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-a-rizvi

Faisal Saeed Al Mutar’s website: http://www.faisalalmutar.com

Tory MP James Arbuthnot reveals pressure to hide atheism

By BBC

There is pressure on Conservative politicians to keep quiet about not being religious, a Tory MP has claimed – as he revealed his atheism for the first time in his 28-year career.

James Arbuthnot said he felt he could only now say that he is an atheist because he is not seeking re-election.

The North East Hampshire MP likened the need to keep quiet to the pressure that has been faced by people who are gay.

His was speaking in a debate on a bill to allow prayers in council meetings.

Mr Arbuthnot predicted that his public acknowledgement that he is “not in the least bit religious” was likely to “disappoint” some of his constituents and family members.

Read the full article by clicking the name of the source located below.

SciShow Talk Show: The Mice of Riddle Place and & Bindi the Bearded Dragon

This week on the SciShow Talk Show Andrij Holian and Paulette Jones talk about the development of a new video game designed for middle school students in order to increase their interest in STEM careers. Then Jessi from Animal Wonders joins the show with Bindi, the bearded dragon.

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Geese Fly Over Himalayas Using Rollercoaster Strategy

Plants and Animals





Photo credit:

Bar-headed geese Anser indicus on Terkhiin Tsagaan Lake, Mongolia / Bruce Moffat Photography

The Himalayan Mountains rise several thousand meters above sea level, yet somehow bar-headed geese (Anser indicus) migrate over them and the Tibetan Plateau every year. Now, researchers tracking these high-flying birds reveal that they ride those peaks and valleys like the lifts and drops of a rollercoaster. This flight pattern helps them conserve more energy than flying steadily at extreme heights—even if it means they repeatedly lose that hard-earned altitude.

See-Through Shrimp-Like Creature Has a Dozen Retinas in Each Eye

Plants and Animals





Photo credit:

Gravid female P. gacilis. Eggs are visible as a white mass in the brood pouch. White arrow indicates the photosensory portion of an ommatidial group. Scale bar = 2 mm / J.L.B. Fergus et al., Current Biology 2015

Sunlight is only visible in the top one thousand meters of the ocean, and the pressures of living in the dim, blue deep has led to some bizarre adaptations. A tiny shrimp-like critter called Paraphronima gracilis lives in intermediate, or mesopelagic, habitats—depths that are totally dark to our eyes.

Nearby Star Has Three Planets Slightly Larger Than Earth, With One In Habitable Zone

Space





Photo credit:

NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T Pyle

Score another one for Kepler: the repurposed equipment has observed three planets transiting a nearby star. The most distant of the planets resides in the star’s habitable zone, where liquid water—and potentially life—could exist. Ian Crossfield from the University of Arizona is lead author of the paper, which has been submitted to The Astrophysical Journal, yet can be read on arXiv.

NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft Begins First Stages of Pluto Encounter

 

By NASA

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft recently began its long-awaited, historic encounter with Pluto. The spacecraft is entering the first of several approach phases that culminate July 14 with the first close-up flyby of the dwarf planet, 4.67 billion miles (7.5 billion kilometers) from Earth.

“NASA first mission to distant Pluto will also be humankind’s first close up view of this cold, unexplored world in our solar system,” said Jim Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington. “The New Horizons team worked very hard to prepare for this first phase, and they did it flawlessly.”

The fastest spacecraft when it was launched, New Horizons lifted off in January 2006. It awoke from its final hibernation period last month after a voyage of more than 3 billion miles, and will soon pass close to Pluto, inside the orbits of its five known moons.

In preparation for the close encounter, the mission’s science, engineering and spacecraft operations teams configured the piano-sized probe for distant observations of the Pluto system that start Sunday, Jan. 25 with a long-range photo shoot.

Read the full article by clicking the name of the source located below.

Pope Francis Blames Charlie Hebdo Victims

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Pope Francis victim-blames by saying a violent response is “normal” when you provoke religion. Apparently freedom of speech should have limits. A holy man, indeed.

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Dual-Sex Butterfly and the Risks of … Oxygen

SciShow News shares the latest science headlines, including a newly-found butterfly that’s half male and half female, and new insights into the association between cancer and … breathing.

And for more from audible, go to http://www.audible.com/t1/30DayGoldFT_at?source_code=PDTGB0009PD010214

Hosted by: Hank Green

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Sources:

http://static.peerj.com/press/previews/2015/01/705.pdf

https://peerj.com/articles/705 (link will work after embargo)

http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/misc_topics/radicals.html

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/prevention/antioxidants

http://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2015-01/p-cio010715.php

http://www.anspblog.org/extremely-rare-find/