ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 79

Tracing the trajectory of a 66 million-year-old asteroid impact

By Scott K. Johnson You know that scene in every forensic crime drama where someone works out the angle the bullet was fired from and points back to the source? In the case of the Chicxulub asteroid impact and the end-Cretaceous mass extinction 66 million years ago, there’s no mystery about the shooter. (Space did …

In Mideast, religion looms large in coronavirus misinformation blitz

By the AFP Mass conversions, immunity for Muslims: in the global maelstrom of disinformation spurred by the coronavirus, many of the more outlandish claims that went viral in the Middle East were religious-themed. Some analysts see this as the natural result of a society trying to come to terms with an unprecedented health pandemic. “At …

United Methodists reschedule meeting — and decision on splitting — to 2021

By Emily McFarlan Miller The United Methodist Church has rescheduled its General Conference for Aug. 29-Sept. 7, 2021, at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis. And it’s looking into ways to use technology to ensure delegates can participate in the quadrennial meeting, according to the Commission on the General Conference. The General Conference — during …

In New Book, a Prominent Jehovah’s Witness Trashes the Faith’s “Governing Body”

By Hemant Mehta Dr. Rolf Furuli is a celebrity in parts of the Jehovah’s Witness world. The religious group has abysmal rates of formally educated members — 63% of JW adults have “no more than a high school diploma” — and that’s partly because the organization says higher education is spiritually dangerous. But Furuli, who lives in …

Ask Ethan: Have We Finally Found Evidence For A Parallel Universe?

By Ethan Siegel For some of us, the idea of parallel Universes spark our wildest dreams. If there are other Universes where certain events had different outcomes — where just one crucial decision went a different way — perhaps there could be some way to access them. Perhaps particles, fields, or even people could be transported …

Behind Trump’s demand to reopen churches: Slipping poll numbers and alarm inside his campaign

By Gabby Orr A sudden shift in support for Donald Trump among religious conservatives is triggering alarm bells inside his reelection campaign, where top aides have long banked on expanding the president’s evangelical base as a key part of their strategy for victory this November. The anxiety over Trump’s standing with the Christian right surfaced …

Storytelling at the Supreme Court

By Linda Greenhouse Every Supreme Court decision tells a story, its author attempting to marshal the facts and the law in such a way as to make the conclusion appear not only obvious but inevitable. A divided decision will tell two or more competing stories, which is why I usually read dissenting opinions first. That …

The Prophecies of Q

By Adrienne LaFrance If you were an adherent, no one would be able to tell. You would look like any other American. You could be a mother, picking leftovers off your toddler’s plate. You could be the young man in headphones across the street. You could be a bookkeeper, a dentist, a grandmother icing cupcakes …

Algae is now growing on melting Antarctic snow due to climate change

By Michael Marshall Part of Antarctica is already green due to blooms of algae living on the snow. As the continent warms, more of it may turn green, but it isn’t clear what this will mean for the climate. Patches of “snow algae” have been known about for decades in the Arctic. But we know much …

MBBS student in Rishikesh held for objectionable post on Hindu religion

By PTI RISHIKESH: A fourth-year MBBS student of AIIMS hospital here was held on Wednesday for making objectionable comments on social media post against the Hindu religion. Adil Ahmad was arrested following a complaint which accused him of making highly objectionable comments on Facebook against the Hindu religion and hurting sentiments, police inspector Ritesh Shah …