ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 89

The Neanderthal DNA you carry may have surprisingly little impact on your looks, moods

By Ann Gibbons If you think you got your freckles, red hair, or even narcolepsy from a Neanderthal in your family tree, think again. People around the world do carry traces of Neanderthals in their genomes. But a study of tens of thousands of Icelanders finds their Neanderthal legacy had little or no impact on most of …

Charisma Founder Defends Jim Bakker’s Corona Fraud: He’s “Trying to Help People”

By Beth Stoneburner The past two months have been a whirlwind for televangelist Jim Bakker. After one of his guests claimed his “Silver Solution” could cure coronavirus in under 12 hours, attorneys general from New York and Missouri came after him… and he stopped. But he’s spent the past week claiming none of that ever happened. When credit card companies stopped working with him, …

Myanmar COVID-19 Cases Reach 111, Most Traced to Pastor-led Gatherings

By Nan Lwin The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Myanmar surged to 111 late Sunday, with more than half of the cases traced to religious gatherings hosted by two Christian pastors in Yangon. The Ministry of Health and Sports (MOHS) confirmed 17 new cases in the past 24 hours, among them are nine …

Bisbee man confesses he’s molesting his daughter. Church tells bishop not to report abuse to authorities

By Mary Jo Pitzl When a Bisbee man told his Mormon bishop he was sexually abusing his own 5-year-old daughter, the bishop provided counseling. He involved the man’s wife in the sessions, apparently hoping that knowledge of her husband’s activities would prompt her to keep their children safe. What the bishop didn’t do was report the …

Untapped potential: More US labs could be providing tests for coronavirus

By Amy Maxmen A survey of more than 4,000 researchers in the United States suggests that better coordination at an institutional and national level could make hundreds of thousands more tests for coronavirus available. The survey was prompted by a Nature investigation published on 9 April, revealing that several top university laboratories that have received regulatory approval to process …

Ark Encounter Ticket Sales Plummeted in March Due to COVID-19

By Hemant Mehta Attendance at Ark Encounter dropped precipitously in March, compared to the same period last year, but at least this month we can attribute that to COVID-19. Thanks to a public record request by local paleontologist Dan Phelps, we now have the numbers for March. You can read more background about how it’s calculated here. The bottom …

Religious Group’s Mass Gatherings Across Asia Spark Virus Clusters

By Faseeh Mangi A conservative religious group’s gatherings have emerged as coronavirus hotspots in Malaysia, India and now Pakistan, with authorities tracking people who attended an event with as many as 70,000 worshipers that’s responsible for more than a quarter of all cases in the South Asian nation. The Sunni Muslim missionary group, Tabligh-e-Jamaat, hosted …

Louisiana Cops Arrest COVID-19-Defying Pastor Tony Spell for Aggravated Assault

By Hemant Mehta Earlier today, Pastor Tony Spell of Louisiana’s Life Tabernacle Church, who held in-person church gatherings and put countless people in harm’s way, was arrested on a charge of “aggravated assault with a deadly weapon” and taken to Baton Rouge Parish Prison. He allegedly backed a church bus in the direction of protester Trey Bennett on Sunday. I do appreciate how …

Coronavirus: Pakistan lifts bans on mosque prayers for Ramadan

By Ben Farmer Pakistan has lifted bans on congregational prayers at mosques ahead of Ramadan, prompting alarm from some health experts who are worried about the spread of Covid-19. The government bowed to calls from influential clerics and religious parties to relax the country’s pandemic precautions, which include a limit of three to five people …

Pat Robertson Blames COVID-19 on Gays, Abortion, and Those Who Are “Anti-Israel”

By Hemant Mehta During today’s episode of The 700 Club, televangelist Pat Robertson went full Christian bigot when he blamed COVID-19 on homosexuality. (The disease isn’t sexually transmitted, nor does it disproportionately affect people based on their sexual orientation.) Of course, he didn’t say the virus appeared because of gay people. He used the more standard evangelical excuse that God …