[extropy-chat] FWD (PvT) Science, Not Science (a juxtaposition)

[Terry W. Colvin]

[ SCIENCE ]

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050815/evolution.html Climate
Change Fueled Human Evolution? By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News Aug.
18, 2005 — Climate changes that affected Africa over a million years
ago may have profoundly influenced human evolution, according to a new
study published in this week's Science. Overall, the findings support
the "variability hypothesis" of human evolution, which holds that
alternating humid and dry periods provided the stresses essential for
species divergence, meaning that our ancestors had to change and adapt
so much over time that they evolved into new species. Previously, some
researchers theorized that modern humans, and our ancient hominid
relatives, evolved in an increasingly arid environment in East Africa.
The researchers discovered that large, deep lakes, which are
indicators of humidity and higher rainfall patterns, existed between
2.7 to 2.5 million, 1.9 to 1.7 million and 1.1 million to 900,000
years ago in East Africa. "We believe that these humid episodes could
have had important impacts on the speciation and dispersal of hominins
because they correlate with important events in human evolution," said
Martin Trauth, who led the research. Trauth, a paleoclimatologist at
the University of Potsdam in Germany, explained to Discovery News that
around 2.6 million years ago, Australopithecines, or our earliest
known direct ancestors, emerged in Africa. Homo erectus, the first
upright human ancestor, emerged 1.8 million years ago and hominids
began their "out of Africa" migration to settle other parts of the
world. During the final humid period, at around 1 million years ago,
Homo erectus began a second major migration and Paranthropus, a
small-brained descendent of Australopithecines, went extinct. Trauth
and his team discovered the climate changes by studying diatoms, which
are tiny silica algae that live in bodies of water off of sunlight.
The researchers analyzed sediments from ancient lakebeds in East
Africa that contain diatom fossils at various levels. Since diatoms
need sun, they are not present at the bottom of deeper lakes. The
researchers, however, found a lot of evidence for surface-dwelling
diatoms in the deep ancient lake sediments over the three identified
periods. That suggests that the lakes fluctuated widely during times
of drought or heavy rainfall. The researchers ruled out volcanic and
tectonic causes for the lake depths, which leaves climate change as a
possible reason for the increased water levels. Richard Potts, who
formulated that theory and is director of the Human Origins Program at
the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of Natural History, told
Discovery News that he agreed the climate history of East Africa has
been complex, but that more work was needed to prove that
environmental changes in that region were due to broad climate change.
Potts, however, does still believe that environmental changes fueled
human evolution. Environmental variability leads to the expansion,
contraction, and fragmentation of habitat zones," Potts explained.
"This process of habitat change tests the ability of populations to
diverge, experiment in their adaptations, and then meet up again — at
which time populations of what may have once been the same species
could have become distinct enough to hinder effective reproduction
between members of those populations."

[ NOT SCIENCE ]

http://www.onion.com/news/index.php?issue=4133&n=2 Evangelical
Scientists Refute Gravity with New 'Intelligent Falling Theory' KANSAS
CITY, KS—As the debate over the teaching of evolution in public
schools continues, a new controversy over the science curriculum arose
Monday in this embattled Midwestern state. Scientists from the
Evangelical Center For Faith-Based Reasoning are now asserting that
the long-held "theory of gravity" is flawed, and they have responded
to it with a new theory of Intelligent Falling. Above: Rev. Gabriel
Burdett (left) explains Intelligent Falling. "Things fall not because
they are acted upon by some gravitational force, but because a higher
intelligence, 'God' if you will, is pushing them down," said Gabriel
Burdett, who holds degrees in education, applied Scripture, and
physics from Oral Roberts University. Burdett added: "Gravity—which is
taught to our children as a law—is founded on great gaps in
understanding. The laws predict the mutual force between all bodies of
mass, but they cannot explain that force. Isaac Newton himself said,
'I suspect that my theories may all depend upon a force for which
philosophers have searched all of nature in vain.' Of course, he is
alluding to a higher power." Founded in 1987, the ECFR is the world's
leading institution of evangelical physics, a branch of physics based
on literal interpretation of the Bible. According to the ECFR paper
published simultaneously this week in the International Journal Of
Science and the adolescent magazine God's Word For Teens!, there are
many phenomena that cannot be explained by secular gravity alone,
including such mysteries as how angels fly, how Jesus ascended into
Heaven, and how Satan fell when cast out of Paradise. The ECFR, in
conjunction with the Christian Coalition and other Christian
conservative action groups, is calling for public-school curriculums
to give equal time to the Intelligent Falling theory. They insist they
are not asking that the theory of gravity be banned from schools, but
only that students be offered both sides of the issue "so they can
make an informed decision." "We just want the best possible education
for Kansas' kids," Burdett said. Proponents of Intelligent Falling
assert that the different theories used by secular physicists to
explain gravity are not internally consistent. Even critics of
Intelligent Falling admit that Einstein's ideas about gravity are
mathematically irreconcilable with quantum mechanics. This fact,
Intelligent Falling proponents say, proves that gravity is a theory in
crisis. "Let's take a look at the evidence," said ECFR senior fellow
Gregory Lunsden."In Matthew 15:14, Jesus says, 'And if the blind lead
the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.' He says nothing about some
gravity making them fall—just that they will fall. Then, in Job 5:7,
we read, 'But mankind is born to trouble, as surely as sparks fly
upwards.' If gravity is pulling everything down, why do the sparks fly
upwards with great surety? This clearly indicates that a conscious
intelligence governs all falling." Critics of Intelligent Falling
point out that gravity is a provable law based on empirical
observations of natural phenomena. Evangelical physicists, however,
insist that there is no conflict between Newton's mathematics and Holy
Scripture. "Closed-minded gravitists cannot find a way to make
Einstein's general relativity match up with the subatomic quantum
world," said Dr. Ellen Carson, a leading Intelligent Falling expert
known for her work with the Kansan Youth Ministry. "They've been
trying to do it for the better part of a century now, and despite all
their empirical observation and carefully compiled data, they still
don't know how." "Traditional scientists admit that they cannot
explain how gravitation is supposed to work," Carson said. "What the
gravity-agenda scientists need to realize is that 'gravity waves' and
'gravitons' are just secular words for 'God can do whatever He
wants.'" Some evangelical physicists propose that Intelligent Falling
provides an elegant solution to the central problem of modern physics.
"Anti-falling physicists have been theorizing for decades about the
'electromagnetic force,' the 'weak nuclear force,' the 'strong nuclear
force,' and so-called 'force of gravity,'" Burdett said. "And they
tilt their findings toward trying to unite them into one force. But
readers of the Bible have already known for millennia what this one,
unified force is: His name is Jesus."



-- 
"Only a zit on the wart on the heinie of progress." Copyright 1992, Frank Rice


Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1 at mindspring.com >
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