Sunday, February 17 at 9:00 PBS viewers will be treated to an historical account of the famous Scopes Trial called Monkey Trial. According to the advance billing, “Monkey Trial explores the dramatic moment when a new fault line opened in society as scientific discoveries began to challenge the literal truth of the Bible. Often humorous and at times frightening, the Read More ›
A native of New York City, former Washington state Rep. John Miller attributes his relocation to Seattle to a fourth-grade geography book. In the book, there was a page on each section of the country, recalled Miller. The page on the Puget Sound showed a picture of trees with misty rain coming down. The paragraph on the Puget Sound area Read More ›
A GREAT DEFICIENCY in the media’s reporting of debates about public policy is their tendency to reduce messy democratic discourse to a sterile, never-ending face-off between “The Left” and “The Right.” One year, The Right launches an offensive and advances a half-mile. The next year, The Left counterattacks and regains the lost ground. This caricature has certainly dominated the reporting Read More ›
In a press release issued by Discovery Institute on February 6, I stated that researchers at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) had produced a mutant shrimp and exaggerated its significance to evolutionary biology. I was mistaken. No mutant shrimp were produced. Alan Gishlick of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) was quick to point this out, Read More ›
A mutant shrimp is being claimed as “a landmark in evolutionary biology” that proves Darwin’s critics wrong. But its nothing of the sort, says biologist Jonathan Wells. A research team headed by William McGinnis at the University of California at San Diego has reported discovering a DNA mutation that produces shrimp without hind legs. Their report is being published in Read More ›
SEATTLE — There’s an unusual coalition of train lovers here determined to ensure at least some passenger rail survives along the American West Coast even if Amtrak dies. What is interesting for British Columbians is that some of the strongest proponents of passenger rail on the U.S. West Coast are trying to “internationalize” the rail corridor. They want fast, efficient Read More ›
I’ve never been able to fathom evolution OR the Genesis story of creation, so I am amused by the controversies that still erupt over how schools teach the origin of life on planet Earth.At the moment, attention — most of it mocking — is on Cobb County, Georgia, where the School Board wants to expose students to alternative theories of Read More ›
Congressional Conferees Language on Controversies Such as Evolution (Revised Santorum Amendment): 2001-107th Congress-1st Session-House of Representatives Report-107 334 NoChild Left Behind Act of 2001 Conference Report to accompany H.R. 1 The Conferees recognize that a quality science education should prepare students to distinguish the data and testable theories of science from religious or philosophical claims that are made in the Read More ›
After months of rock ’em, sock ’em public debate followed by a quiet summer, the vote on new science standards for Ohio public schools is coming down to the wire. The fight — as in several other states — centers on what students will learn about the origins of life. On Monday, the standards committee of the Ohio Board of Read More ›