The Watchmaker And Other Creationist Arguments FFreeThinker 2008-10-14 | http://www.facebook.com/ScienceReason ... The Watchmaker And Other Creationist Arguments - Richard Dawkins @ UC Berkeley.---Please subscribe to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV---Richard Dawkins is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science author. He was formerly Professor for Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. He was voted Britain's leading public intellectual by readers of Prospect magazine and was named one of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People" for 2007.Dawkins came to prominence with his 1976 book "The Selfish Gene", which popularised the gene-centred view of evolution and introduced the term "meme". He is a prominent critic of creationism and intelligent design. In his 1986 book "The Blind Watchmaker", he argued against the watchmaker analogy, an argument for the existence of a supernatural creator based upon the complexity of living organisms. Instead, he described evolutionary processes as analogous to a blind watchmaker. He has since written several popular science books, and makes regular television and radio appearances, predominantly discussing these topics.Richard Dawkins is an atheist, secular humanist, sceptic, scientific rationalist, and supporter of the Brights movement. In his 2006 book "The God Delusion", he contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that faith qualifies as a delusion − as a fixed false belief.• http://www.richarddawkins.net• http://www.youtube.com/richarddawkinsdotnet• http://tinyurl.com/DawkinsVideosIf you enjoy the video and would like to support the work of The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, please purchase the program on DVD at http://richarddawkins.net/store.
How much would you pay for the Universe? (Neil deGrasse Tyson) FFreeThinker 2012-08-11 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Neil deGrasse Tyson: "We stopped dreaming! How much would you pay for the Universe?"Video by Evan Schurr.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---The intention of this project is to stress the importance of advancing the space frontier and is focused on igniting scientific curiosity in the general public.• http://www.penny4nasa.org• http://www.youtube.com/Scrunchthethird---Music: "Arrival of the Birds" & "Transformation" by The Cinematic Orchestra.---Tags: neil degrasse tyson universe nasa space program budget moon mars scientists engineers congress economy sputnik.
CERN Update: The Higgs Boson - Is it the God Particle? FFreeThinker 2012-07-08 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... CERN/LHC Update: "The Higgs Boson - Is it the God Particle?"CERN confirms existence of new particle consistent with Higgs boson. Is the Higgs boson the long-sought "God Particle"? And what do scientists think about the metaphor "The God Particle"? The ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN presented their latest results in the search for the long-sought Higgs boson. Both experiments see strong indications for the presence of a new particle, which could be the Higgs boson, in the mass region around 126 gigaelectronvolts (GeV).---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---CERN experiments observe particle consistent with long-sought Higgs boson"We now have more than double the data we had last year," said CERN Director for Research and Computing, Sergio Bertolucci, "that should be enough to see whether the trends we were seeing in the 2011 data are still there, or whether they've gone away. It's a very exciting time."If and when a new particle is discovered, ATLAS and CMS will need time to ascertain whether it is the long sought Higgs boson, the last missing ingredient of the Standard Model of particle physics, or whether it is a more exotic form of the boson that could open the door to new physics."It's a bit like spotting a familiar face from afar," said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer, "sometimes you need closer inspection to find out whether it's really your best friend, or actually your best friend's twin."The Standard Model gives an extraordinarily precise picture of the matter that makes up all the visible universe, and the forces that govern its behaviour, but there are good reasons to believe that this is not the end of the story. For example, we know from observation that the visible universe is just 4% of what seems to be out there."It's hard not to get excited by these results," said CERN Research Director Sergio Bertolucci. " We stated last year that in 2012 we would either find a new Higgs-like particle or exclude the existence of the Standard Model Higgs. With all the necessary caution, it looks to me that we are at a branching point: the observation of this new particle indicates the path for the future towards a more detailed understanding of what we're seeing in the data.""We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature," said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer. "The discovery of a particle consistent with the Higgs boson opens the way to more detailed studies, requiring larger statistics, which will pin down the new particle's properties, and is likely to shed light on other mysteries of our universe."Positive identification of the new particle's characteristics will take considerable time and data. But whatever form the Higgs particle takes, our knowledge of the fundamental structure of matter is about to take a major step forward.• http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2012/PR17.12E.html---Tags: "god particle" "higgs boson" "higgs particle" god particle higgs boson new higgs-like cern lhc cms atlas experiments physics standard model supersymmetry susy mass matter universe results videos.
Historic Milestone: CERN Discovers Higgs-like Boson FFreeThinker 2012-07-06 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... New particle observed at LHC! CERN Physicists are sure they have found a boson particle -- but is it the long-sought Higgs boson of the Standard Model?The ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN presented their latest results in the search for the long-sought Higgs boson. Both experiments see strong indications for the presence of a new particle, which could be the Higgs boson, in the mass region around 126 gigaelectronvolts (GeV).---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---CERN experiments observe particle consistent with long-sought Higgs bosonAt a seminar and a press conference held at CERN on 4 July 2012 as a curtain raiser to the year's major particle physics conference, ICHEP2012 in Melbourne, the ATLAS and CMS experiments presented their latest preliminary results in the search for the long sought Higgs particle. Both experiments observe a new particle in the mass region around 125-126 GeV."We observe in our data clear signs of a new particle, at the level of 5 sigma, in the mass region around 126 GeV. The outstanding performance of the LHC and ATLAS and the huge efforts of many people have brought us to this exciting stage," said ATLAS experiment spokesperson Fabiola Gianotti, "but a little more time is needed to prepare these results for publication.""The results are preliminary but the 5 sigma signal at around 125 GeV we're seeing is dramatic. This is indeed a new particle. We know it must be a boson and it's the heaviest boson ever found," said CMS experiment spokesperson Joe Incandela. "The implications are very significant and it is precisely for this reason that we must be extremely diligent in all of our studies and cross-checks.""It's hard not to get excited by these results," said CERN Research Director Sergio Bertolucci. " We stated last year that in 2012 we would either find a new Higgs-like particle or exclude the existence of the Standard Model Higgs. With all the necessary caution, it looks to me that we are at a branching point: the observation of this new particle indicates the path for the future towards a more detailed understanding of what we're seeing in the data."The results presented today are labelled preliminary. They are based on data collected in 2011 and 2012, with the 2012 data still under analysis. Publication of the analyses shown today is expected around the end of July. A more complete picture of today's observations will emerge later this year after the LHC provides the experiments with more data.The next step will be to determine the precise nature of the particle and its significance for our understanding of the universe. Are its properties as expected for the long-sought Higgs boson, the final missing ingredient in the Standard Model of particle physics? Or is it something more exotic? The Standard Model describes the fundamental particles from which we, and every visible thing in the universe, are made, and the forces acting between them. All the matter that we can see, however, appears to be no more than about 4% of the total. A more exotic version of the Higgs particle could be a bridge to understanding the 96% of the universe that remains obscure."We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature," said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer. "The discovery of a particle consistent with the Higgs boson opens the way to more detailed studies, requiring larger statistics, which will pin down the new particle's properties, and is likely to shed light on other mysteries of our universe."Positive identification of the new particle's characteristics will take considerable time and data. But whatever form the Higgs particle takes, our knowledge of the fundamental structure of matter is about to take a major step forward.• http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2012/PR17.12E.html---CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Romania is a candidate for accession. Israel and Serbia are Associate Members in the pre-stage to Membership. India, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have Observer status.• http://cern.ch/---Tags: "higgs boson" "higgs particle" higgs boson new higgs-like particle "god particle" observed discovered found cern lhc cms atlas experiments physics standard model results mass matter universe videos lecture press conference july 2012.
Simon Singh and the Fight for Free Speech FFreeThinker 2012-06-21 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Simon Singh: The Fight for Freedom of Speech and Against Pseudoscience. Simon Singh is being interviewed by Julia Offe (GWUP) at the 6th World Skeptics Congress in Berlin 2012.Simon Singh talks about his fight for freedom of speech and against pseudoscience in the UK regarding the chiropractic lawsuit: In 2008, The Guardian published Singh's column "Beware the Spinal Trap", an article that was critical of the practice of chiropractic and which resulted in Singh being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA). When the case was first brought against him, The Guardian supported him and funded his legal advice, as well as offering to pay the BCA's legal costs in an out-of-court settlement if Singh chose to settle.Court case: In 2009, Mr Justice Eady ruled in a preliminary hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice that merely using the phrase "happily promotes bogus treatments" meant that Singh was stating, as a matter of fact (rather than as a matter of personal opinion or metaphor), that the British Chiropractic Association was being consciously dishonest in promoting chiropractic for treating the children's ailments in question. Singh denied he intended any such meaning.Singh decided to appeal the ruling, which raised substantially the potential financial liability that he would face if he lost the case. Leave to appeal was granted in October 2009.The pre-trial hearing took place in February 2010 before three senior judges at the Royal Courts of Justice. In April 2010, they allowed Singh's appeal, ruling that the high court judge had "erred in his approach". The Court of Appeal overturned the previous ruling that Singh's comments were an assertion of fact and instead ruled that Singh was entitled to defend his comments as legally permissible fair comment.BCA withdrew their libel action shortly after this ruling, resulting in the end of the legal case.---More videos of the World Skeptics Congress 2012 will be uploaded to the following channels:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism• http://www.youtube.com/WissensMagazinPlease don't forget to subscribe!---Simon Singh is an author, journalist and TV producer, specialising in science and mathematics. His written works include "Fermat's Last Theorem" (in the United States titled "Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem"), "The Code Book" (about cryptography and its history), "Big Bang" (about the Big Bang theory and the origins of the universe) and "Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial" (about complementary and alternative medicine; co-authored with Edzard Ernst, the world's first professor of complementary medicine.).In 2006, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Design degree by the University of the West of England "in recognition of Simon Singh's outstanding contribution to the public understanding of science, in particular in the promotion of science, engineering and mathematics in schools and in the building of links between universities and schools".This was followed up by his receipt of the Kelvin Medal from the Institute of Physics in 2008, for his achievements in promoting Physics to the general public. In 2008, he was also awarded a degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by Royal Holloway, University of London. In 2011, he was awarded another degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by the University of Kent for services to Science.Simon Singh is a member of the Advisory Council for the Campaign for Science and Engineering. He is the maiden winner of the Lilavati Award. In February 2011 he was elected as a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.• http://simonsingh.net• http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Singh---6th World Skeptics Congress, Berlin 2012: Promoting science and critical thinking in a world of uncertainty.Why do people turn to pseudoscience for help? What makes alternative medicine so attractive - and how can we find out what really works? Why is it so difficult for us to deal with risk and uncertainty in a rational way? Can we teach children to think critically and scientifically? And how can academic disciplines like biology or psychology protect themselves from pseudoscientific contamination?• http://www.gwup.org• http://www.facebook.com/gwup.org• http://www.worldskeptics.org• http://www.facebook.com/worldskepticscongress2012---Keywords: Simon Singh Fight for Free Freedom of Speech Science Pseudoscience Chiropractic Lawsuit Legal Case Court Justice Sued For Libel Law UK The Guardian BBC Critical Article Bogus Treatments British Chiropractic Association BCA Critical Thinking Complementary Alternative Medicine Mathematics Physics Fermat's Last Theorem Enigma Code Book Big Bang Theory Trick or Treatment on Trial.
STOP ACTA - International Day of Action against ACTA FFreeThinker 2012-06-07 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... STOP ACTA - International Day of Action against ACTA. Fight for digital civil rights, freedom of speech and a free Internet! Europe-wide action against ACTA on June 9th 2012 in many European cities.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---While ACTA was negotiated behind closed doors, hundreds of thousands dicussed copyright issues on the Internet. While content industry lobbyists push to limit our fundamental rights, a movement for a free and open Internet is coming to life.We support fair compensation for artists and creators, but we oppose the repressive demands of the content industry! We are fed up with lobbying and want our voice to be heard!The European Parliament is likely to vote on ACTA in June or July 2012. One June 9th, there is a Europe-wide action day against ACTA. Join uns on the streets. Against ACTA. For a new copyright agenda. For digital civil rights, freedom of speech and a free Internet.---More information: https://pad.lqdn.fr/ro/r.b5zUnGTuykwDUwEYMap: http://g.co/maps/j4grcThis video is available in many languages: http://youtube.com/stopactaeurope---Saturday the 9th of June 2012 will be an Europe-wide protest day against ACTA. While the European Commission is desperately trying to extend the deadline for the vote on ACTA, the event aims to remind the members of Parliament the importance of the mobilization against this trade agreement.The European Commission has finally released the details of its referral on ACTA to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In a press release, Commissioner De Gucht calls on MEPs not to vote until the Court renders its decision. This would suspend the procedure indefinitely.It took several weeks for the Commission to come up with its question although it is composed of only about two dozen words and knowing that its object could not have been other than the evaluation of the compatibility of the agreement with the treaties. The question to be asked is therefore no surprise:"Is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) compatible with the European Treaties, in particular with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union?" Given the fact that there are several important events on ACTA in the European Parliament this week, the European Commission seems to have chosen a good moment for the publication of its question. However, the referral will not be the answer to all concerns regarding ACTA, since it can legally only address compatibility with the EU Treaties. The Court of Justice will not be able to neither address the relevance or value of such policies nor the compatibility of ACTA with the full body of EU law. No comment will be made ??on the relevance of such a treaty in the current context of copyright; no assessment will be made on the effectiveness of measures promoted by ACTA and their impact on fundamental rights and freedoms. The Court will decide on the sole issue raised by the Commission.At this stage of the procedure, the referral has no other interest than to delay the deadline of the vote as the current political climate, would undoubtedly result in a strong rejection of the agreement.In this context, it is essential that Members of the European Parliament show political courage and ensure the independence of their institution in the decision making processes in the European Union - in particular with regard to the European Commission. It is crucial that Parliament retains its role, not only regarding ACTA, but also in the future, for all legal instruments that are related to our fundamental rights and freedoms.Since the main commission responsible in the European Parliament for ACTA has opposed to a seperate ECJ referral, it is likely that the Parliament will stick to the current agenda and put ACTA to vote in June / July.This protest will be an occasion for citizens to show their opposition to ACTA and speak up for their rights and freedoms, hoping it will show their representatives how they feel about the Agreement, and how urgent it is to boldly dismiss it without further delay. Let's tell the Parliament to support European citizens and itself!More information: https://pad.lqdn.fr/ro/r.b5zUnGTuykwDUwEY---Keywords: acta stop protest 2012 international day of action against copyright issues claims for free internet fundamental civil rights freedom of speech against content industry lobbyists agenda europe european parliament commission court justice decision politics anti counterfeiting trade agreement pipa sopa.
A Brief History of the Skeptical Movement FFreeThinker 2012-05-25 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... World Skeptics Congress 2012 (2): "A Brief History of the Skeptical Movement" with James Alcock. More videos of the World Skeptics Congress will be uploaded to the following channels:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism• http://www.youtube.com/WissensMagazinPlease don't forget to subscribe!---James E. Alcock is a Professor of Psychology at York University (Canada). He has been a professor at York since 1973. Alcock received his BSc (Honours Physics) from McGill University and a PhD in Social Psychology from McMaster University. Alcock is also an amateur magician and is a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.James Alcock is a noted critic of parapsychology. He is a Fellow and Member of the Executive Council for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI). As a member of the Editorial Board of "The Skeptical Inquirer", he is a frequent contributor to the magazine.In October 2010 CSI announced James Alcock (and others) as a part of their policy-making Executive Council, he will also serve on Skeptical Inquirer's magazine board. In 1999, a panel of skeptics named him among the two dozen most outstanding skeptics of the 20th Century.• http://www.csicop.org/author/jamesalcock• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Alcock---World Skeptics Congress: Promoting Science and Critical Thinking in a World of Uncertainty.Why do people turn to pseudoscience for help? What makes alternative medicine so attractive - and how can we find out what really works? Why is it so difficult for us to deal with risk and uncertainty in a rational way? Can we teach children to think critically and scientifically? And how can academic disciplines like biology or psychology protect themselves from pseudoscientific contamination?The 6th World Skeptics Congress in Berlin was an intellectually stimulating three-day event dealing with paranormal and supernatural claims, fringe science issues, and scams. Major topics at this event were science and pseudoscience in education, in particular anti-evolution claims and origin myths, and the problems of risk and benefit assessment, especially in alternative medicine.Gerd Antes, Wim Betz, Johan Braeckman, Edzard Ernst, Chris French, Luigi Garlaschelli, Harriet Hall, Ray Hyman, Chris Mooney, Simon Perry, Massimo Polidoro, James Randi, Gita Sahgal, Eugenie Scott, Simon Singh, Samantha Stein, Kylie Sturgess, Rebecca Watson, Tomasz Witkowski are just some of the world-renowned presenters who took part, taking apart the claims and conspiracies of the modern world.• http://www.worldskeptics.org• http://www.facebook.com/worldskepticscongress2012• http://www.gwup.org• http://www.facebook.com/gwup.org---Keywords: Brief History of the Skeptical Movement World Skeptics Congress 2012 James Alcock critic parapsychology Fellow Member Executive Council Committee Skeptical Inquiry CSI The Skeptical Inquirer magazine Professor of Psychology University International Brotherhood of Magicians science pseudoscience Critical Thinking paranormal supernatural GWUP Berlin.
Science vs. Pseudoscience FFreeThinker 2012-05-24 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... World Skeptics Congress 2012: Science vs. Pseudoscience - Opening with Amardeo Sarma. More videos of the World Skeptics Congress will be uploaded to the following channels:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism• http://www.youtube.com/WissensMagazinPlease don't forget to subscribe!---Amardeo Sarma is the founder and chairman of the German Society for the Scientific Investigation of Para-Sciences (GWUP), chairman of the European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO), and fellow and Executive Council member of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI). Sarma has written, lectured, and debated on dowsing, methods of investigation, the Shroud of Turin, homeopathy, and the goals of skeptical organizations.• http://tinyurl.com/gwup-sarma• http://tinyurl.com/csi-sarma---World Skeptics Congress: Promoting Science and Critical Thinking in a World of Uncertainty.Why do people turn to pseudoscience for help? What makes alternative medicine so attractive - and how can we find out what really works? Why is it so difficult for us to deal with risk and uncertainty in a rational way? Can we teach children to think critically and scientifically? And how can academic disciplines like biology or psychology protect themselves from pseudoscientific contamination?The 6th World Skeptics Congress in Berlin was an intellectually stimulating three-day event dealing with paranormal and supernatural claims, fringe science issues, and scams. Major topics at this event were science and pseudoscience in education, in particular anti-evolution claims and origin myths, and the problems of risk and benefit assessment, especially in alternative medicine.Gerd Antes, Wim Betz, Johan Braeckman, Edzard Ernst, Chris French, Luigi Garlaschelli, Harriet Hall, Ray Hyman, Chris Mooney, Simon Perry, Massimo Polidoro, James Randi, Gita Sahgal, Eugenie Scott, Simon Singh, Samantha Stein, Kylie Sturgess, Rebecca Watson, Tomasz Witkowski are just some of the world-renowned presenters who took part, taking apart the claims and conspiracies of the modern world.• http://www.worldskeptics.org• http://www.facebook.com/worldskepticscongress2012• http://www.gwup.org• http://www.facebook.com/gwup.org---Keywords: Science Pseudoscience World Skeptics Congress 2012 fringe scams education critical thinking alternative western eastern traditional chinese medicine paranormal supernatural claims national political religious Berlin Opening Amardeo Sarma founder chairman GWUP ECSO European Council of Skeptical Organisations CSI Committee for Skeptical Inquiry WSC.
James Randi and the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge FFreeThinker 2012-05-23 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge: Benecke "challenges" Randi. James Randi and Mark Benecke are being interviewed by Julia Offe (GWUP) at the 6th World Skeptics Congress in Berlin 2012.More videos of the World Skeptics Congress 2012 will be uploaded to the following channels:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism• http://www.youtube.com/WissensMagazinPlease don't forget to subscribe!---6th World Skeptics Congress, Berlin 2012: Promoting science and critical thinking in a world of uncertainty.Why do people turn to pseudoscience for help? What makes alternative medicine so attractive - and how can we find out what really works? Why is it so difficult for us to deal with risk and uncertainty in a rational way? Can we teach children to think critically and scientifically? And how can academic disciplines like biology or psychology protect themselves from pseudoscientific contamination?• http://www.gwup.org• http://www.facebook.com/gwup.org• http://www.worldskeptics.org• http://www.facebook.com/worldskepticscongress2012---James Randi is a stage magician and scientific skeptic, best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF).Randi began his career as a magician named The Amazing Randi, but after retiring at age 60, he began investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims, which he collectively calls "woo-woo".Although often referred to as a "debunker", Randi rejects that title owing to its perceived bias, instead describing himself as an "investigator". He has written about the paranormal, skepticism, and the history of magic.The JREF sponsors The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge offering a prize of US$1,000,000 to eligible applicants who can demonstrate evidence of any paranormal, supernatural or occult power or event under test conditions agreed to by both parties.• http://www.randi.org• http://www.facebook.com/jamesrandi---Mark Benecke is a German forensic biologist. After receiving a Dr. rer. medic. at Cologne University in 1997, he worked in the Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Manhattan, New York from 1997-1999. As of 2008, he works internationally on forensic cases as a freelance expert witness. He also teaches at various police academies and acts as a visiting professor to universities in Germany, England, Vietnam, Colombia, and the Philippines.Benecke has worked on the identification of Adolf and Eva Hitler's skull and teeth in Moscow, and is the only forensic scientist to work with Columbian serial killer and rapist Luis Garavito. Some of his forensic cases have been covered by the National Geographic Channel and the History Channel.Mark Benecke has published several popular science books about the biology of aging, criminal cases and forensic biology. He is a member of the editorial board of the "Annals of Improbable Research" (Cambridge, USA), guest editor for Forensic Science International (Forensic Entomology Special Issue), and scientific advisor to the German skeptic organization GWUP, where he publishes skeptical articles on various topics, including his attempt to explain alleged signs of vampirism.• http://www.benecke.com• http://www.facebook.com/markbenecke---Keywords: James Randi JREF One Million Dollar Challenge 6th World Skeptics Congress 2012 Berlin promoting science critical thinking world uncertainty magician scientific skeptic paranormal claims pseudoscience educational foundation interview Mark Benecke Julia Offe GWUP WSC.
European Atheist Convention 2012 FFreeThinker 2012-04-16 | http://www.facebook.com/ScienceReason ... European Atheist Convention 2012: Atheism is on the rise. More and more people are getting organised in groups to promote secularism and skepticism. In 2012 there will be more atheist conventions worldwide than in any prior year. The publications of the "Four Horsemen" (Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and the late Christopher Hitchens) in particular have received attention beyond the English-speaking world and encouraged secularists everywhere to advocate for change.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---What will the future bring? Can the secular movement become a worldwide power to effectively challenge organised religion? These and other questions will be discussed at the 2012 European Atheist Convention, 25 -- 27 May in Cologne, Germany.• http://www.ibka.org/en/convention2012 (English)• http://www.ibka.org/tagung2012 (German)• http://www.facebook.com/pages/2012-European-Atheist-Convention/300798196637127Confirmed speakers include:• Michael Schmidt-Salomon, Executive Spokesman of the Giordano Bruno Foundation• PZ Myers, biologist and author of the Pharyngula science blog• Annie Laurie Gaylor, Founder and Co-President of the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF)• Dan Barker, former evangelical preacher, author and FFRF Co-President• Taslima Nasrin, physician, author and international human rights activist• Michael Nugent, chair of Atheist Ireland• Rebecca Watson, Skepchick blogger and promoter of critical thinking• Carsten Frerk, author and editor of the German Humanist Press Service• Philipp Möller, press officer of the Giordano Bruno Foundation• Rolf Bergmeier, historian• Lukas Mihr, author• Gunnar Schedel, publisher• Valentin Abgottspon, teacher and secular aktivist• Joachim Kahl, philosopher• Colin Goldner, author• Leo Igwe, human rights campaigner• Tanya Smith, president of Atheist Alliance International (AAI)• Ingrid Matthäus-Maier, politician and jurist• Arzu Toker, journalist.
Great Minds: Stephen Hawking - The Grand Design Of The Universe FFreeThinker 2010-09-12 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Great Minds, Great Words: Stephen Hawking - The Grand Design Of The Universe---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Stephen Hawking is a British theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific career spans over forty years. His books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity and he is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and in 2009 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.Hawking was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge for thirty years, taking up the post in 1979 and retiring on 1 October 2009. He is also a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and a Distinguished Research Chair at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. He is known for his contributions to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity, especially in the context of black holes. He has also achieved success with works of popular science in which he discusses his own theories and cosmology in general; these include the runaway best seller A Brief History of Time, which stayed on the British Sunday Times bestsellers list for a record-breaking 237 weeks.Stephen Hawking's key scientific works to date have included providing, with Roger Penrose, theorems regarding gravitational singularities in the framework of general relativity, and the theoretical prediction that black holes should emit radiation, which is today known as Hawking radiation (or sometimes as Bekenstein--Hawking radiation).Hawking has a neuro-muscular dystrophy that is related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a condition that has progressed over the years and has left him almost completely paralysed.Stephen Hawking has repeatedly used the word "God" (in metaphorical meanings) to illustrate points made in his books and public speeches. His ex-wife, Jane said during their divorce proceedings that he was an atheist. Hawking has stated that he is "not religious in the normal sense" and he believes that "the universe is governed by the laws of science. The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws." Hawking compared religion and science in 2010, saying: "There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, [and] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works."On September 2010, The Telegraph reported, "Stephen Hawking has declared that his latest work shows there was no creator of the universe" and that the new m-theory "accounts for the birth of the universe...and replaces the need for religious accounts in Hawking's mind." Hawking wrote in his new book "The Grand Design" that "Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going."• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking.
Common Misconceptions About Atheism FFreeThinker 2010-09-04 | http://www.facebook.com/ScienceReason ... 'Common Misconceptions About Atheism' by DonExodus2.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---These common misconceptions about atheism are mindlessly repeated, and need addressed.DonExodus2: 'Why I am no longer a Christian'• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX1CxxmA5R8---Correct definition:• Atheist (n.): one without a belief in, or one who lacks belief in, the existence of god or gods.---All clips/images used in this video are either copyright-free or covered under "fair use" for nonprofit educational purposes (Title 17 § 107 of the USC)..
Ground Zero Victory Mosque? FFreeThinker 2010-08-31 | Science & Reason on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/ScienceReason"Ground Zero Victory Mosque?" is a clip from The Atheist Experience #672 ("Viewer Calls") with Matt Dillahunty and Jeff Dee: http://blip.tv/file/4062884---Please subscribe to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceMagazine• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker---Related videos"There Is No 'Ground Zero Mosque'" (Keith Olbermann, MSNBC Countdown):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJhF26Zch0g"Bad faith at Ground Zero" (Pat Condell):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJQ4bwGPRuk"Tolerance' and the 'Ground Zero Mosque" (Thunderf00t)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQE4orNMDAw---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• Email: tv@atheist-community.org.
Heaven & Hell FFreeThinker 2010-08-25 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "Hell is an invention of the church ... The catholic church doesn't like the people to grow up." (John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal bishop from Newark, N.J., interviewed by Keith Morrison on Dateline, NBC, 8-13-2006) ---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---John Shelby Spong, whose books have sold more than a million copies, was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his retirement in 2001. His admirers acclaim him as a teaching bishop who makes contemporary theology accessible to the ordinary layperson — he's considered the champion of an inclusive faith by many, both inside and outside the Christian church. In one of his books, "The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Discover the God of Love" (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2005), this visionary thinker seeks to introduce readers to a proper way to engage the holy book of the Judeo-Christian tradition.A committed Christian who has spent a lifetime studying the Bible and whose life has been deeply shaped by it, Bishop Spong says he was not interested in Bible bashing. "I come to this interpretive task not as an enemy of Christianity," he says. "I am not even a disillusioned former Christian, as some of my scholar-friends identify themselves. I am a believer who knows and loves the Bible deeply. But I also recognize that parts of it have been used to undergird prejudices and to mask violence."A visiting lecturer at Harvard and at universities and churches worldwide, Bishop Spong delivers more than 200 public lectures each year to standing-room-only crowds. His bestselling books include Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, A New Christianity for a New World, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, and Here I Stand.Bishop Spong's extensive media appearances include a profile segment on 60 Minutes as well as appearances on Good Morning America, Fox News Live, Politically Incorrect, Larry King Live, The O'Reilly Factor, William F. Buckley's Firing Line, and Extra. Bishop Spong and his wife, Christine Mary Spong, have five children and six grandchildren. They live in New Jersey.• http://www.johnshelbyspong.com (c) 2006 NBC.
Stand Up For Fact-Based Education FFreeThinker 2010-08-18 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Secular Coalition for America: Action Alert - Tell Your Representative to Stand Up For Fact-Based Education• http://action.secular.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4621---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Secular Coalition YouTube Channel• http://www.youtube.com/user/secularcoalitionBy now, you've probably heard about the Texas State Board of Education's moves to impose educational standards into its textbooks intended to indoctrinate Texas public school students with a telling of U.S. history that is based in extremist religious ideology.You've probably also heard about some of the more jaw-dropping proposed changes to the curriculum, such as booting Thomas Jefferson off of a list of influential thinkers in place of explicitly religious figures, and the totally fabricated assertion that our system of government is based specifically on the laws of Moses. This comes from the same group of theocrats who famously fought to undermine evolution in science classes and delete from science textbooks the scientific consensus on the age of the universe because they conflict with the Bible.As terrible as this religious imposition is for Texas students, all Americans have reason to fear. Due to the size of the Texas textbook market (and because other highly populated states do not use statewide textbook contracts in the say way), the backward dictates of its theocratic school board effect textbooks used by public school students all across the country.Someone in Congress is finally standing up to this abuse of power and unconstitutional overreach by the religious extremists on the Texas State Board of Education. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (T-DX) recently introduced a resolution (H. Res. 1593) that supports fact-based curricula in public schools without meddling by those with an avowed religious agenda. Students in Texas and all across America need to know that Congress wants them to have an education based on facts and science, not myth and religious bias.TAKE ACTION NOW: Watch the video message above from Secular Coalition for America Executive Director Sean Faircloth supporting Rep. Johnson's resolution, and then tell your member of Congress to become a co-sponsor.---Secular Coalition Member Organizations:• American Atheists• American Ethical Union• American Humanist Association• Atheist Alliance International• Camp Quest• Council for Secular Humanism• Institute for Humanist Studies• Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers• Secular Student Alliance• Society for Humanistic JudaismSecular Coalition Advisory Board:Woody Kaplan (Chair), Robert Boston, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Bruce Flamm, Sam Harris, Jeff Hawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Susan Jacoby, Wendy Kaminer, Michael Newdow, Massimo Pigliucci, Steven Pinker, Salman Rushdie, Ellery Schempp, Todd Stiefel, Julia Sweeney.
The Language Of Science FFreeThinker 2010-08-13 | Science & Reason on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/ScienceReason"Discovering Religion: Ep. 1 - Ready-Made World" by• http://www.youtube.com/user/DiscoveringReligionThis is the first installment of the original series "Discovering Religion". In this episode DiscoveringReligion discusses the apparent conflicts that exist with our present observable reality and our past archaic religious traditions that not only seem to contradict one another, but all that we have discovered through the scientific method.---Please subscribe to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceMagazine• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker---Copyright Disclaimer: All clips/images used in this video are either copyright-free or covered under "Fair Use" for nonprofit educational purposes (Title 17 § 107 of the USC)..
Atheism is ... FFreeThinker 2010-08-06 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "Atheism is ...", a short poem written and read by Richard Coughlan.Atheist (n.): one without a belief in, or one who lacks belief in, the existence of god or gods. ---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---All clips/images used in this video are either copyright-free or covered under "fair use" for nonprofit educational purposes (Title 17 § 107 of the USC)..
Offensive Ideas FFreeThinker 2010-07-23 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Center for Inquiry (CFI): "Offensive Ideas" - Campaign For Free Expression.Center for Inquiry's Campaign for Free Expression Video Contest has begun! The right to freely express oneself is vital in a modern society; we would like you to tell the world why.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Participation is easy: create a short video public service announcement about the importance of free expression, upload the video to YouTube, and tag the video with "Campaign for Free Expression Video Contest". On International Blasphemy Rights Day, September 30th, 2010, CFI will announce the top three winners, with a grand prize of $2000! See the full instructions and rules before creating your entry.Center for Inquiry: http://www.centerforinquiry.netCFI YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/centerforinquiryCampaign for Free Expression: http://tinyurl.com/CFIcampaignContest rules: http://tinyurl.com/CFIcontest---About the Campaign for Free Expression:Some governments and institutions -- and even some individuals -- want to keep certain topics off limits. This is especially true with religion. In many places, discussions and questions about religion are discouraged, even punished. But how can we come to our own conclusions about religion if we can't freely examine and discuss it?The Campaign for Free Expression is a CFI initiative to focus efforts and attention on one of the most crucial components of freethought: the right of individuals to express their viewpoints, opinions, and beliefs about all subjects -- especially religion.Various United Nations bodies, including the UN's Human Rights Council, have recently adopted resolutions condemning so-called "defamation" of religion. These resolutions lend credibility to efforts to suppress dissent and criticism, especially in Islamic countries, but Western European countries are also debating, or have already instated, laws that would criminalize religiously offensive statements. For example, Ireland recently enacted a new blasphemy law that prohibits publication of material "insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion."CFI believes we must increase public awareness of these threats to freedom of expression, discuss and develop plans to prevent curtailment of free expression, and demonstrate that people care about their rights to free expression and are eager to exercise them.To support the Center for Inquiry and its efforts to promote science, reason, and freedom of inquiry, please donate at http://tinyurl.com/CFIdonations---Video by Adam Isaak and Tom Flynn..
You Must First Invent The Universe FFreeThinker 2010-07-19 | Science & Reason on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/ScienceReason ... You Must First Invent The Universe by UppruniTegundannaA general rebuttal to the claim that the earth and the universe is young, plus a comment on how much humanity has achieved since its relatively recent emergence in the grand scale of things.---Please subscribe to Science & Reason:• http://www.YouTube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.YouTube.com/ScienceMagazine• http://www.YouTube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.YouTube.com/FFreeThinker---Extracts from the following clips were used in the opening montage:Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen (R) says Earth is 6,000 years oldhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtzJhTfQiMARichard Dawkins on Q&A (1/6)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtVZ23GfmDoRe; Earth is 6,000 Years Old (1 of 5) (actually a response to John Pendleton by Dechha1981)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV_D7_SaVDcKent Hovind vs Hugh Ross (part 1, disc 2 of 2)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwL9voGV1oQReferences:1. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S10406182990001542. http://blogs.nature.com/climatefeedback/2009/08/timeline_ice_memory_1.html3. http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/antarctica/ideas/gondwana2.html4. http://es.ucsc.edu/~rcoe/eart206/Patterson_AgeEarth_GeoCosmoActa56.pdf5. http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso07236. http://news.discovery.com/space/the-universe-is-precisely-1375-billion-years-old.htmlClips: Light Fantastic, National Geographic: Born of Fire, National Geographic: In the Womb, National Geographic: Destructive Forces, The Cell, Planet Earth, Earth Shocks: Megavolcano, Walking with Cavemen, PBS Special: 400 Years of the Telescope, The Complete Cosmos, The Story of God, Spacetelescope, ESA/NASAMusic: Maximum - Dreadzone.
A Road Not Taken FFreeThinker 2010-07-07 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... In 1979, Jimmy Carter, in a visionary move, installed solar panels on the roof of the White House. This symbolic installation was taken down in 1986 during the Reagan presidency. In 1991, Unity College, an environmentally-minded centre of learning in Maine acquired the panels and later installed them on their cafeteria roof.In "A Road not Taken", Swiss artists Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller travel back in time and, following the route the solar panels took, interview those involved in the decisions regarding these panels as well as those involved in the oil crisis of the time. They also look closely at the way this initial installation presaged our own era.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---You may not remember this but in 1979, President Jimmy Carter installed solar panels on the roof of the White House West Wing. The panels, which were used to heat water for the staff eating area, were a symbol of a new solar strategy that Carter had said was going to "move our Nation toward true energy security and abundant, readily available, energy supplies." But in 1986, President Ronald Reagan removed the solar panels while the White House roof was being repaired. They were never reinstalled.In 1991, the panels were retrieved from government storage and brought to the environmentally-minded Unity College about an hour southeast of Bangor, Maine. There, with help of Academy Award winning actress Glenn Close, the panels were refurbished and used to heat water in the cafeteria up until 2005. They are still there, although they no longer function.Swiss directors Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller follow the route the panels took, using them as a backdrop to explore American oil dependency and the lack of political will to pursue alternative energy sources.In the movie "A Road Not Taken", the filmmakers took two solar panels from Unity, placed them in the back of two students' 1990 Dodge Ram pick-up truck (which had been retrofitted to run on vegetable oil) and delivered one of them to the Jimmy Carter Library & Museum in Atlanta and the other to the National Museum of American History in Washington.In 1979, Carter warned, "a generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people - harnessing the power of the sun to enrich our lives as we move away from our crippling dependence on foreign oil."It turns out Carter's warning was at least partially correct: two of his solar panels are now a museum piece.• http://www.roadnottaken.info---Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller started this project with a great deal of enthusiasm and little money. They where given a tremendous amount of support from people both in the States and in Switzerland. Up until now, however, it has not been possible to obtain the backing of a co-producer or distributor. So, if you know people who want this film to be completed on a professional level and would like it to find a wider audience, please let them know.When we talk about the factors which have influenced the history of humankind, one key issue claims more and more of our attention: energy. An invisible power with a wide range of sources and uses, energy is perceived as the driving force behind all life, from individual vitality and artistic creativity at one end of the spectrum to the geopolitical power struggles of the modern age for the last remaining oil reserves at the other.Hemauer/Keller have been investigating the concept of energy for several years and one of their main areas of interest has been the history of oil and competing alternatives to it, most notably solar energy. Thus they heralded the era of "Postpetrolism" in the sphere of the arts with a manifesto and a performance in 2006. The following year, our video installation "A Curiosity, a Museum Piece and an Example of a Road Not Taken" recalled Jimmy Carter's early and ultimately futile efforts to promote alternative forms of energy generation, embodied in the installation of solar collectors on the roof of the White House. On the opening day of their exhibition they received an interview appointment with the former president Jimmy Carter himself.• http://www.roadnottaken.info---Starting February 2010 several organizations try to raise awareness to the story of the Jimmy Carter solar installation and to force the White House to put solar panels back on the white House.• Sign the petition here: http://www.SolarOnTheWhiteHouse.com.
2012: Nibiru, Planet X & Mayan Calender - Science vs Fiction FFreeThinker 2010-06-20 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... 2012 -- A Scientific Reality Check: There apparently is a great deal of interest in celestial bodies, and their locations and trajectories at the end of the calendar year 2012. Now, I for one love a good book or movie as much as the next guy. But the stuff flying around through cyberspace, TV and the movies is not based on science. There is even a fake NASA news release out there... So here is the scientific reality on the celestial happenings in the year 2012.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---DECEMBER 2012 -- A SCIENTIFIC REALITY CHECK(Written by Don Yeomans, NASA senior research scientist)Nibiru, a purported large object headed toward Earth, simply put - does not exist. There is no credible evidence - telescopic or otherwise - for this object's existence. There is also no evidence of any kind for its gravitational affects upon bodies in our solar system.I do however like the name Nibiru. If I ever get a pet goldflish (and I just may do that sometime in early 2013), Nibiru will be at the top of my list.The Mayan calendar does not end in December 2012. Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period, but then -- just as your calendar begins again on January 1 - another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.There are no credible predictions for worrisome astronomical events in 2012. The activity of the sun is cyclical with a period of roughly 11 years and the time of the next solar maximum is predicted to occur in the period 2010 -- 2012. However, the Earth routinely experiences these periods of increased solar activity -- for eons - without worrisome effects. The Earth's magnetic field, which deflects charged particles from the sun, does reverse polarity on time scales of about 400,000 years but there is no evidence that a reversal, which takes thousands of years to occur, will begin in 2012. Even if this several thousand year-long magnetic field reversal were to begin, that would not affect the Earth's rotation nor would it affect the direction of the Earth's rotation axis ... only Superman can do that.The only important gravitational tugs experienced by the Earth are due to the moon and sun. There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades, Earth will not cross the galactic plane in 2012, and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. Each December the Earth and Sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.The predictions of doomsday or dramatic changes on December 21, 2012 are all false. Incorrect doomsday predictions have taken place several times in each of the past several centuries. Readers should bear in mind what Carl Sagan noted several years ago; "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."For any claims of disaster or dramatic changes in 2012, the burden of proof is on the people making these claims. Where is the science? Where is the evidence? There is none, and all the passionate, persistent and profitable assertions, whether they are made in books, movies, documentaries or over the Internet, cannot change that simple fact. There is no credible evidence for any of the assertions made in support of unusual events taking place in December 2012.For more information on the silliness surrounding December 2012, see:• Asteroid Watch: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch• The Planet X Saga: http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/nutshell.html• The Great 2012 Doomsday Scare: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-guest.html• 2012 FAQ: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html• Wikipedia: look under "Nibiru collision".
Vatican Reaches Out To Atheists FFreeThinker 2010-06-14 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Vatican: Pope reaches out to atheists - but not you, Richard Dawkins! Vatican excludes Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens from atheist debate guest list ... and other news stories.This is a clip from "Ask An Atheist #1: Atheists in Fiction" with Mike Gillis and Libbie Mistretta.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---'Ask an Atheist' is a weekly call-in educational program from the atheist perspective and focusing on issues of skeptical inquiry and the separation of church and state.• http://askanatheist.tv• http://www.youtube.com/user/AskAnAtheistTVWatch the live video stream at http://SCANtv.org (click the big grey button in the middle of the page that reads 'Watch the Online Stream')..
A Case For Intelligent Design? (4) FFreeThinker 2010-06-08 | Science & Reason on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/ScienceReason"A Case For Intelligent Design? (Part 4 of 4)". This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #660 ("Viewer Calls") with Matt Dillahunty and Martin Wagner.---Please subscribe to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceMagazine• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
A Case For Intelligent Design? (3) FFreeThinker 2010-06-08 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "A Case For Intelligent Design? (Part 3 of 4)". This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #660 ("Viewer Calls") with Matt Dillahunty and Martin Wagner.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
A Case For Intelligent Design? (2) FFreeThinker 2010-06-08 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "A Case For Intelligent Design? (Part 2 of 4)". This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #660 ("Viewer Calls") with Matt Dillahunty and Martin Wagner.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
A Case For Intelligent Design? (1) FFreeThinker 2010-06-08 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "A Case For Intelligent Design? (Part 1 of 4)". This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #660 ("Viewer Calls") with Matt Dillahunty and Martin Wagner.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
Positive Atheism FFreeThinker 2010-05-22 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "Positive Atheism" by• http://www.youtube.com/skeptheistAn ongoing series of videos in which The Skeptheist discusses the concepts of skepticism, science, and philosophy.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---1) 1:01 Religious need as parantal need2) 2:08 Connection with the atheist community3) 2:50 Secular humanism, critical thinking4) 4:12 Positive atheist memegineering5) 5:15 Creativity as a positive barrier breakerSites mentioned in this episode:• http://www.atheist-experience.com• http://www.nonprophetsradio.com• http://podcastlaboratory.libsyn.com• http://www.facebook.com/skeptheist.
New Atheist Fundamentalism? FFreeThinker 2010-05-14 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "Dear Atheist Community ..." - Richard Coughlan speaks out against 'fundamentalist' atheists who harass and threaten other atheists (and theists).• http://www.youtube.com/user/coughlan616---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Related videos:'Vote small, think big' by patcondell• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krybvOx-8Dk'Pat Condell is an Ignorant Hypocrite' by coughlan666• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul6oLw-a8uE'Hello angry atheists' by patcondell• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTKzg1K7Es'Hello you miserable old atheist git!!' by coughlan666• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhqRnrUINLc'Thunderf00t vs Islam & Humanity' by DawahFilms• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouRvHeMCLmk'Death Threats' from 'moderate Muslims' by Thunderf00t• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcJwRCv9g88Maybe this article should be updated due to recent events:Atheist fundamentalism• http://rationalwiki.com/wiki/Atheist_fundamentalism.
Draw Muhammad Day: Matt, The Infidel FFreeThinker 2010-05-10 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "Draw Mohammed Day: Matt, The Infidel". This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #656 ("Viewer Calls") with Matt Dillahunty and Jeff Dee: http://blip.tv/file/3601823---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---"Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!" is a drawing posted on the Internet on April 20, 2010, the suggestion in it that everybody create a drawing representing Muhammad, the founder of Islam, on May 20, 2010, as a protest against efforts to limit freedom of speech, and the movement in support of that protest. Cartoonist Molly Norris of Seattle, Washington, created the artwork in reaction to alleged Internet death threats that had been made against cartoonists Trey Parker and Matt Stone for depicting Muhammad in an episode of South Park. Depictions of Muhammad are explicitly forbidden by a few hadith (Islamic texts), though not by the Quran.Postings on RevolutionMuslim.com had said that Parker and Stone could wind up like Theo van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker who was brutally murdered and mutilated by a Muslim extremist. The individuals running the website later denied that the postings were actual threats, although they were widely perceived as such.Norris said that if millions of people draw pictures of Muhammad, Islamist terrorists would not be able to murder them all, and threats to do so would become unrealistic. Within a week, Norris' idea became popular on Facebook, was supported by numerous bloggers, and generated coverage on the blog websites of major U.S. newspapers. As the publicity mounted, Norris and the man who created the first Facebook page promoting the May 20 event disassociated themselves from it. Nonetheless, planning for the protest continued with others taking "up the cause".• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everybody_Draw_Mohammed_Day---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
Why Creationists Deny Scientific Evidence FFreeThinker 2010-05-09 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Why Creationists Deny Scientific Evidence For Evolution.TEDtalks: Simon Sinek - How great leaders inspire action."As an ethnographer, we are in search of why but we actually ask what." (Simon Sinek)---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Transcript:None of what I'm telling you is my opinion. It's all grounded in the tenets of biology. Not psychology, biology. If you look at a cross-section of the human brain, looking from the top down, what you see is the human brain is actually broken into three major components that correlate perfectly with the golden circle. Our newest brain, our homo sapien brain, our neocortex, corresponds with the "what" level. The neocortex is responsible for all of our rational and analytical thought and language. The middle two sections make up our limbic brains. And our limbic brains are responsible for all of our feelings, like trust and loyalty. It's also responsible for all human behavior, all decision-making, and it has no capacity for language.In other words, when we communicate from the outside in, yes, people can understand vast amounts of complicated information like features and benefits and facts and figures. It just doesn't drive behavior. When we can communicate from the inside out, we're talking directly to the part of the brain that controls behavior, and then we allow people to rationalize it with the tangible things we say and do. This is where gut decisions come from. Sometimes you can give somebody all the facts and figures, and they say, "I know what all the facts and details say, but it just doesn't feel right." Why would we use that verb, it doesn't "feel" right? Because the part of the brain that controls decision-making, doesn't control language. And the best we can muster up is, "I don't know. It just doesn't feel right." Or sometimes you say you're leading with your heart, or you're leading with your soul. Well, I hate to break it to you, those aren't other body parts controlling your behavior. It's all happening here in you limbic brain, the part of the brain that controls decision-making and not language.---Watch the entire video at http://www.TED.com:Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership all starting with a golden circle and the question "Why?" His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers -- and as a counterpoint Tivo, which (until a recent court victory that tripled its stock price) appeared to be struggling.With an undergraduate degree in anthropology, most of Simon Sineks career has been spent in advertising. Although he began law school in London, he shortly left the program, moving to New York where he joined Euro RSCG, with a stint at Ogilvy & Mather, working on accounts for Oppenheimer Funds, MCI, NASDAQ and DISH Network. In 2002, he started his own company, Sinek Partners. His book, Start With Why, outlines the basis of his current work in leadership consulting.Sinek also contributes to several efforts in the non-profit sphere: He works with Count Me In, an organization created to help one million women-run businesses reach a million dollars in revenue by 2012, and serves on the Board of Directors for Danspace Project, which advances art and dance. He writes and comments regularly for several major publications and teaches a graduate-level class in strategic communications at Columbia University.• http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html.
Rationalist Anthem FFreeThinker 2010-05-06 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "Off That" is a Geek Pop Festival exclusive produced by Mr Simmonds, lyrics by Baba Brinkman, animation by Tommy Nagle, special thanks to Caspar and Paul at New Humanist Magazine for consultation and images. Oh yeah, and thanks to Jay-Z and Timbaland for the inspiration : )---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Download the mp3 for free from:• http://www.babasword.com• http://www.myspace.com/mr.simmonds• http://www.tommynagle.com• http://www.geekpop.co.uk• http://www.newhumanist.org.uk• http://www.badscience.net• http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk• http://www.libelreform.org• http://www.1023.org.uk.
Arguments From Ignorance (2/2) FFreeThinker 2010-04-27 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "Arguments From Ignorance (Part 2/2)". This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #654 ("Viewer Calls. Jen & Matt take viewer calls on this 60 minute episode.") with Matt Dillahunty and Jen Peeples: http://blip.tv/file/3538527---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
Arguments From Ignorance (1/2) FFreeThinker 2010-04-27 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "Arguments From Ignorance (Part 1/2)". This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #654 ("Viewer Calls. Jen & Matt take viewer calls on this 60 minute episode.") with Matt Dillahunty and Jen Peeples: http://blip.tv/file/3538527---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---NATURALISMNaturalism (as distinct from Naturalist, Nature and Natural) refer to various topics within philosophy and science, environmental movements, and other areas.• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalism---OCCAM'S RAZOROccam's razor (or Ockham's razor), is the meta-theoretical principle that "entities should not be multiplied beyond what is necessary" and the conclusion there of, that the simplest solution is usually the correct one.• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor---KALAM COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENTThe Kalām cosmological argument is a variation of the cosmological argument that argues for the existence of a Sufficient Reason or First Cause for the universe. Its origins can be traced to both medieval Christian and Muslim thinkers, but most significantly to Islamic theologians of the Kalām tradition. It has been revived in recent years most predominantly in the works of Christian philosopher William Lane Craig.• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalam_cosmological_argument---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
The Real News: The Age Of Science And Discovery FFreeThinker 2010-04-25 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... TED2010: And now, the real news - The age of discovery."Some stories are more important than others." (Kirk Citron)How many of today's headlines will matter in 100 years? 1000? Kirk Citron's "Long News" project collects stories that not only matter today, but will resonate for decades -- even centuries -- to come. At TED2010, he highlights recent headlines with the potential to shape our future.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Why you should listen to him:Kirk Citron seems to have an innate understanding of all things media. He began his career in advertising at Ogilvy & Mather in New York, but soon started his own agency with Matt Haligman. Citron Haligman Bedecarré landed major clients and was named Adweeks West Agency of the Year. Citron then transformed the company into AKQA -- a digital advertising agency that has won awards on both sides of the Atlantic with offices around the world.Today, Citron continues to write and innovate. He is the editor of 'The Long News', finding news stories that will continue to matter as many as a thousand years from today, and consults for a number of non-profit organizations. He is also the author of the play But Not For Lunch, which has been staged at theaters in Maine, Miami and Pennsylvania.• http://www.ted.com/speakers/kirk_citron.html• http://www.longnews.org---Transcript:We are drowning in news. Reuters alone puts out three-and-a-half million news stories a year. That's just one source.My question is: How many of those stories are actually going to matter in the long run? That's the idea behind 'The Long News'. It's a project by The Long Now Foundation, which was founded by TEDsters including Kevin Kelly and Stewart Brand. And what we're looking for is news stories that might still matter 50 or 100 or 10,000 years from now. And when you look at the news through that filter, a lot falls by the wayside.If you take the top stories from the A.P. this last year: Is this going to matter in a decade? Or this? Or this? Really? Is this going to matter in 50 or 100 years? Okay, that was kind of cool. But the top story of this past year was the economy. And I'm just betting that, sooner or later, this particular recession is going to be old news.So, what kind of stories might make a difference for the future? Well, let's take medicine. Someday, little robots will go through our bloodstreams fixing things. That someday is already here if you're a mouse. Some recent stories: Nanobees zap tumors with real bee venom. They're sending genes into the brain. They've built a robot that can crawl through the human body.What about resources? How are we going to feed nine billion people? We're having trouble feeding six billion today. As we heard yesterday, there's over a billion people hungry. Britain will starve without genetically modified crops. Bill Gates, fortunately, has bet a billion on ag research.What about global politics? The world's going to be very different when and if China sets the agenda, and they may. They've overtaken the U.S. as the world's biggest car market. They've overtaken Germany as the largest exporter. And they've started doing DNA tests on kids to choose their careers.We're finding all kinds of ways to push back the limits of what we know. Some recent discoveries: There's an ant colony from Argentina that has now spread to every continent but Antarctica. There's a self-directed robot scientist that's made a discovery. Soon, science may no longer need us. And life may no longer need us either. A microbe wakes up after 120,000 years. It seems that with or without us life will go on.• http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/kirk_citron_and_now_the_real_news.html.
Dont Believe Your Lying Eyes! (2/2) FFreeThinker 2010-04-13 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Don't Believe Your Lying Eyes! (Part 2/2). TED talks - Beau Lotto: Optical illusions show how we see (Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK).A fascinating demonstration of how our visual system is conditioned by what we perceive as 'Reality', with unexpected conclusions about what we call Illusions.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Beau Lotto's color games puzzle your vision, but they also spotlight what you can't normally see: how your brain works. This fun, first-hand look at your own versatile sense of sight reveals how evolution tints your perception of what's really out there.Neuroscientist and artist Beau Lotto is founder of Lottolab, a hybrid art studio and science lab. With glowing, interactive sculpture -- and good, old-fashioned peer-reviewed research -- he's illuminating the mysteries of the brain's visual system.Why you should listen to him:"Let there be perception," was evolution's proclamation, and so it was that all creatures, from honeybees to humans, came to see the world not as it is, but as was most useful. This uncomfortable place -- where what an organism's brain sees diverges from what is actually out there -- is what Beau Lotto and his team at Lottolab are exploring through their dazzling art-sci experiments and public illusions.Their Bee Matrix installation, for example, places a live bee in a transparent enclosure where gallerygoers may watch it seek nectar in a virtual meadow of luminous Plexiglas flowers. (Bees, Lotto will tell you, see colors much like we humans do.) The data captured isn't just discarded, either: it's put to good use in probing scientific papers, and sometimes in more exhibits.Outside the studio work, the brain-like (that is, multidisciplinary) organization is also branching out to bigger public engagement works. It's holding regular "synesthetic workshops" where kids and adults make "color scores" -- abstract paintings that computers interpret into music, as with scrolls fed to a player piano. And lately they're planning an outdoor walkway of color-lit, pressure-sensitive John Conway-esque tiles that react and evolve according to foot traffic. These and Lotto's other conjurings are slowly, charmingly bending the science of perception -- and our perceptions of what science can be.Beau Lotto teaches at University College London."All his work attempts to understand the visual brain as a system defined, not by its essential properties, but by its past ecological interactions with the world. In this view, the brain evolved to see what proved useful to see, to continually redefine normality." (British Science Association)• http://www.ted.com/speakers/beau_lotto.html• http://www.lottolab.org.
Dont Believe Your Lying Eyes! (1/2) FFreeThinker 2010-04-12 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Don't Believe Your Lying Eyes! (Part 1/2). TED talks - Beau Lotto: Optical illusions show how we see (Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK).A fascinating demonstration of how our visual system is conditioned by what we perceive as 'Reality', with unexpected conclusions about what we call Illusions.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Beau Lotto's color games puzzle your vision, but they also spotlight what you can't normally see: how your brain works. This fun, first-hand look at your own versatile sense of sight reveals how evolution tints your perception of what's really out there.Neuroscientist and artist Beau Lotto is founder of Lottolab, a hybrid art studio and science lab. With glowing, interactive sculpture -- and good, old-fashioned peer-reviewed research -- he's illuminating the mysteries of the brain's visual system.Why you should listen to him:"Let there be perception," was evolution's proclamation, and so it was that all creatures, from honeybees to humans, came to see the world not as it is, but as was most useful. This uncomfortable place -- where what an organism's brain sees diverges from what is actually out there -- is what Beau Lotto and his team at Lottolab are exploring through their dazzling art-sci experiments and public illusions.Their Bee Matrix installation, for example, places a live bee in a transparent enclosure where gallerygoers may watch it seek nectar in a virtual meadow of luminous Plexiglas flowers. (Bees, Lotto will tell you, see colors much like we humans do.) The data captured isn't just discarded, either: it's put to good use in probing scientific papers, and sometimes in more exhibits.Outside the studio work, the brain-like (that is, multidisciplinary) organization is also branching out to bigger public engagement works. It's holding regular "synesthetic workshops" where kids and adults make "color scores" -- abstract paintings that computers interpret into music, as with scrolls fed to a player piano. And lately they're planning an outdoor walkway of color-lit, pressure-sensitive John Conway-esque tiles that react and evolve according to foot traffic. These and Lotto's other conjurings are slowly, charmingly bending the science of perception -- and our perceptions of what science can be.Beau Lotto teaches at University College London."All his work attempts to understand the visual brain as a system defined, not by its essential properties, but by its past ecological interactions with the world. In this view, the brain evolved to see what proved useful to see, to continually redefine normality." (British Science Association)• http://www.ted.com/speakers/beau_lotto.html• http://www.lottolab.org.
Why Christians Might Go To Hell FFreeThinker 2010-04-02 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... wiristians Might Go To Hell" This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #650 ("Apologetics FAIL. Martin and Tracie talk about the ways Christian apologetics are failures.") with Tracie Harris and Martin Wagner: http://blip.tv/file/3413711---Please subscribe to Science & Reason:• http://www.YouTube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.YouTube.com/ScienceMagazine• http://www.YouTube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.YouTube.com/FFreeThinker---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
Project Reason Video Contest Winners FFreeThinker 2010-03-28 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Project Reason Video Contest Winners. The primary goal of Project Reason is to spread scientific thinking and secular values.• http://www.project-reason.org/contests/video_contest---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---1 Grand Prize Winner: "The Values We All Stand For"Created by http://www.youtube.com/Evid3nc3An argument for a change in our national symbols to include atheists by not presuming a belief in God among Americans at the level of our federal government. The goal is not necessarily immediate action, but rather to raise consciousness about where these references to God came from and why they shouldn't be a part of a government that is supposed to represent all of us.2 Second Place Winner: "Imagine No Religion"Created by moran ( http://www.youtube.com/BornInThe70s )In a post-religion world, it would be difficult to convince people to build bombs, worship a person, teach creationism, tell people who to marry, or feel justified in owning other people. And when we look up for inspiration wed have to find it in ourselves.3 Third Place Winner: "Just a Book"Created by http://www.youtube.com/Stobal32A Bible thumper learns his lesson ...---Project Reason is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society. The foundation draws on the talents of prominent and creative thinkers in a wide range of disciplines to encourage critical thinking and erode the influence of dogmatism, superstition, and bigotry in our world.In 2007, Sam Harris and his wife, Annaka Harris, founded Project Reason.The Project Reason Advisory Board: Clifford S. Asness, Peter Atkins, Jerry Coyne, Richard Dawkins, Daniel C. Dennett, Brent Forrester, Rebecca Goldstein, Anthony Grayling, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Christopher Hitchens, Lawrence Krauss, Harold Kroto, Bill Maher, Ian McEwan, Dan Pallotta, Steven Pinker, Salman Rushdie, Lee M. Silver, J. Craig Venter, Ibn Warraq, and Steven Weinberg.• http://www.project-reason.org• http://twitter.com/projectreason.
Stand Up For Jesus! FFreeThinker 2010-03-25 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "Stand Up For Jesus!" This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #649 ("Faking It. Jen and Matt explore the issue of ministers who lose their faith, but continue promoting God.") with Matt Dillahunty and Jen Peeples: http://blip.tv/file/3379075---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
The Moral Landscape FFreeThinker 2010-03-23 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Sam Harris @ TEDtalks (Part 2/3): The moral landscape. Can science answer moral questions?---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Questions of good and evil, right and wrong are commonly thought unanswerable by science. But Sam Harris argues that science can -- and should -- be an authority on moral issues, shaping human values and setting out what constitutes a good life.• http://www.ted.com---Sam Harris has been identified as one of the "Four Horsemen of Atheism" -- company he shares with Richard Dawkins, Dan Dennett and Christopher Hitchens. An outspoken proponent of skepticism and science, his two books -- "The End of Faith" and its follow-up "Letter to a Christian Nation" -- have become best-sellers. In "The End of Faith", Harris showed "a harrowing glimpse of mankinds willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when these beliefs inspire the worst of human atrocities."After receiving thousands of angry letters in response, he wrote "Letter to a Christian Nation", which centered on religious controversies in the United States: stem cell research, intelligent design, and links between religion and violence. Harris received a degree in philosophy from Stanford and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA. He is the co-founder and CEO of Project Reason, a nonprofit devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society.• http://www.ted.com/speakers/sam_harris.html• http://www.samharris.org• http://www.project-reason.org.
How Science Can Determine Human Values FFreeThinker 2010-03-22 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Sam Harris @ TEDtalks (Part 1/3): How science can determine human values. Can science answer moral questions?---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Questions of good and evil, right and wrong are commonly thought unanswerable by science. But Sam Harris argues that science can -- and should -- be an authority on moral issues, shaping human values and setting out what constitutes a good life.• http://www.ted.com---Sam Harris has been identified as one of the "Four Horsemen of Atheism" -- company he shares with Richard Dawkins, Dan Dennett and Christopher Hitchens. An outspoken proponent of skepticism and science, his two books -- "The End of Faith" and its follow-up "Letter to a Christian Nation" -- have become best-sellers. In "The End of Faith", Harris showed "a harrowing glimpse of mankinds willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when these beliefs inspire the worst of human atrocities."After receiving thousands of angry letters in response, he wrote "Letter to a Christian Nation", which centered on religious controversies in the United States: stem cell research, intelligent design, and links between religion and violence. Harris received a degree in philosophy from Stanford and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA. He is the co-founder and CEO of Project Reason, a nonprofit devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society.• http://www.ted.com/speakers/sam_harris.html• http://www.samharris.org• http://www.project-reason.org.
Did God Create Earth And Universe At The Same Time? FFreeThinker 2010-03-21 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Did God Create Earth And Universe At The Same Time?" This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #648 ("Interview with YouTube celeb AronRa. Matt chats with AronRa, who goes after those pesky creationists via YouTube.") with Matt Dillahunty and AronRa: http://blip.tv/file/3345967---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
No Conflict Between Religion And Science? FFreeThinker 2010-03-18 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "No Conflict Between Religion And Science?" This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #648 ("Interview with YouTube celeb AronRa. Matt chats with AronRa, who goes after those pesky creationists via YouTube.") with Matt Dillahunty and AronRa: http://blip.tv/file/3345967---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
Cornerstones Of Religion [Special Guest: AronRa] FFreeThinker 2010-03-16 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "The Cornerstones of Religious Beliefs". This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #648 ("Interview with YouTube celeb AronRa. Matt chats with AronRa, who goes after those pesky creationists via YouTube.") with Matt Dillahunty and AronRa: http://blip.tv/file/3345967---Please subscribe to Science & Reason:• http://www.YouTube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.YouTube.com/ScienceMagazine• http://www.YouTube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.YouTube.com/FFreeThinker---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
If Atheists Ruled The World [Special Guest: AronRa] FFreeThinker 2010-03-15 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "If Atheists Ruled The World". This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #648 ("Interview with YouTube celeb AronRa. Matt chats with AronRa, who goes after those pesky creationists via YouTube.") with Matt Dillahunty and AronRa: http://blip.tv/file/3345967---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
Facts Of Evolution FFreeThinker 2010-03-14 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Facts of Evolution (Part 1): Introduction.---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---EVOLUTION IS REAL SCIENCE:1. Does The Evidence Support Evolution?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1R8w_QEvEU2. Vitamin C And Common Ancestryhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF2N2lbb3dk3. Are We Descended From Viruses?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIsWZCSMSSs4. Does The Fossil Record Support Evolution?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWVoXZPOCGk5. Where Are The Transitional Forms?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfTbrHg8KGQFACTS OF EVOLUTION:1. Introductionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43SskX-pEqA2. Universal Common Descenthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0UGpcea8Zg3. Good Design, Bad Designhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mtr3Cum74A4. Speciation And Extinctionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5kumHLiK4A5. How Fast Is Evolution?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XgeSi1EGkU---In biology, evolution is the change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms through successive generations. When a population splits into smaller groups, these groups evolve independently and develop into new species.Anatomical similarities, geographical distribution of similar species and the fossil record indicate that all organisms are descended from a common ancestor through a long series of these divergence events, stretching back in a tree of life that has grown over the 3,500 million years of life on Earth.Evolution is the product of two opposing forces: processes that constantly introduce variation in traits, and processes that make particular variants become more common or rare. A trait is a particular characteristic such as eye color, height, or a behavior that is expressed when an organism's genes interact with its environment. Genes vary within populations, so organisms show heritable differences (variation) in their traits. The main cause of variation is mutation, which changes the sequence of a gene. Altered genes are then inherited by offspring. There can sometimes also be transfer of genes between species.Two main processes cause variants to become more common or rare in a population. One is natural selection, which causes traits that aid survival and reproduction to become more common, and traits that hinder survival and reproduction to become more rare.Natural selection occurs because only a few individuals in each generation will survive, since resources are limited and organisms produce many more offspring than their environment can support.Over many generations mutations produce successive, small, random changes in traits, which are then filtered by natural selection and the beneficial changes retained. This adjusts traits so they become suited to an organism's environment: these adjustments are called adaptations.Not every trait, however, is an adaptation. Another cause of evolution is genetic drift, an independent process that produces entirely random changes in how common traits are in a population. Genetic drift comes from the role that chance plays in whether a trait will be passed on to the next generation.• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution.
Great Minds: Richard Feynman - The Uncertainty Of Knowledge FFreeThinker 2010-03-04 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Great Minds, Great Words: Richard Feynman - The Uncertainty of Knowledge ... The Nature and Purpose of the Universe.Playlist "Great Minds, Great Words":• http://www.youtube.com/user/FFreeThinker#grid/user/CC4F721030F8D4D1---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Richard Feynman (1918-1988) was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics (he proposed the parton model).For his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman, jointly with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. He developed a widely used pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions governing the behavior of subatomic particles, which later became known as Feynman diagrams. During his lifetime, Feynman became one of the best-known scientists in the world.He assisted in the development of the atomic bomb and was a member of the panel that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. In addition to his work in theoretical physics, Feynman has been credited with pioneering the field of quantum computing, and introducing the concept of nanotechnology (creation of devices at the molecular scale). He held the Richard Chace Tolman professorship in theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology.Feynman was a keen popularizer of physics through both books and lectures, notably a 1959 talk on top-down nanotechnology called "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" and "The Feynman Lectures on Physics". Feynman also became known through his semi-autobiographical books ("Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" and "What Do You Care What Other People Think?") and books written about him, such as "Tuva or Bust!"He was regarded as an eccentric and free spirit. He was a prankster, juggler, safecracker, proud amateur painter, and bongo player. He liked to pursue a variety of seemingly unrelated interests, such as art, percussion, Maya hieroglyphs, and lock picking.Feynman also had a deep interest in biology, and was a friend of the geneticist and microbiologist Esther Lederberg, who developed replica plating and discovered bacteriophage lambda. They had several mutual physicist friends who, after beginning their careers in nuclear research, moved for moral reasons into genetics, among them Leó Szilárd, Guido Pontecorvo, and Aaron Novick.• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman.
Sufficient Evidence To Believe In God? FFreeThinker 2010-03-01 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... "The God Virus (Part 8): Sufficient Evidence To Believe In God?" This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #645 ("Dr. Darrel Ray talks about his new book, 'The God Virus'") with Matt Dillahunty, Martin Wagner, and guest Dr. Darrel Ray: http://blip.tv/file/3254265---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Dr. Darrel W. Ray is a writer, psychologist and business owner. He enjoys challenging people to think in different ways about their world. At the same time, he does not delight in others' discomfort when challenged. He thinks that many major life changes can be achieved with minimal harm if people have the right cognitive and perceptual skills.• http://www.youtube.com/damon132• http://recoveringreligionists.com---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
Great Minds: Richard Dawkins - We Are Going To Die! FFreeThinker 2010-02-27 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... Great Minds, Great Words: Richard Dawkins - 'We Are Going To Die'.In March 2008, Richard Dawkins gave this lecture on "The God Delusion" during his US Tour. The event took place on the UC Berkeley campus in Wheeler Auditorium.Playlist "Great Minds, Great Words":• http://www.youtube.com/user/FFreeThinker#grid/user/CC4F721030F8D4D1---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Richard Dawkins is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science author. He was formerly Professor for Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. He was voted Britain's leading public intellectual by readers of Prospect magazine and was named one of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People" for 2007.Dawkins came to prominence with his 1976 book "The Selfish Gene", which popularised the gene-centred view of evolution and introduced the term "meme". He is a prominent critic of creationism and intelligent design. In his 1986 book "The Blind Watchmaker", he argued against the watchmaker analogy, an argument for the existence of a supernatural creator based upon the complexity of living organisms. Instead, he described evolutionary processes as analogous to a blind watchmaker. He has since written several popular science books, and makes regular television and radio appearances, predominantly discussing these topics.Richard Dawkins is an atheist, secular humanist, sceptic, scientific rationalist, and supporter of the Brights movement. In his 2006 book "The God Delusion", he contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that faith qualifies as a delusion − as a fixed false belief.• http://www.richarddawkins.net• http://www.youtube.com/richarddawkinsdotnetIf you enjoy the video and would like to support the work of The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, please purchase the program on DVD at http://richarddawkins.net/store.
The God Virus: How To Treat Infected People FFreeThinker 2010-02-24 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... The God Virus (Part 4): How To Treat Infected People. This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #645 ("Dr. Darrel Ray talks about his new book, 'The God Virus'") with Matt Dillahunty, Martin Wagner, and guest Dr. Darrel Ray: http://blip.tv/file/3254265---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Dr. Darrel W. Ray is a writer, psychologist and business owner. He enjoys challenging people to think in different ways about their world. At the same time, he does not delight in others' discomfort when challenged. He thinks that many major life changes can be achieved with minimal harm if people have the right cognitive and perceptual skills.• http://www.youtube.com/damon132• http://recoveringreligionists.com---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives And Culture FFreeThinker 2010-02-23 | http://facebook.com/ScienceReason ... The God Virus (Part 1): How Religion Infects Our Lives And Culture. This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #645 ("Dr. Darrel Ray talks about his new book, 'The God Virus'") with Matt Dillahunty, Martin Wagner, and guest Dr. Darrel Ray: http://blip.tv/file/3254265---Please SUBSCRIBE to Science & Reason:• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker• http://www.youtube.com/ScienceTV• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience• http://www.youtube.com/RationalHumanism---Dr. Darrel W. Ray is a writer, psychologist and business owner. He enjoys challenging people to think in different ways about their world. At the same time, he does not delight in others' discomfort when challenged. He thinks that many major life changes can be achieved with minimal harm if people have the right cognitive and perceptual skills.• http://www.youtube.com/damon132• http://recoveringreligionists.com---What is The Atheist Experience?The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at an atheist and non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin (ACA), a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.• http://www.Atheist-Experience.com• http://www.Atheist-Community.org• http://www.NonProphetsRadio.comWatch The Atheist Experience live:• Ustream: http://tinyurl.com/TAEshow• Channel Austin: http://tinyurl.com/TAEstudio(Sundays 4:30 to 6:00 pm CST / 22:30-24:00 UTC)Support the ACA (donations/membership):• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/join/• http://www.Atheist-Community.org/donate/• Blog: http://AtheistExperience.blogspot.com• Wiki: http://www.IronChariots.org• DVDs: http://atheist-community.org/products• Blip.tv: http://atheistexperience.blip.tv• Cartoons: http://Atheist-Community.org/atheisteve/• E-mail: tv@atheist-community.org.
