Paleontologists brought to tears, laughter by Creation Museum

PETERSBURG, Kentucky (AFP) — For a group of paleontologists, a tour of the Creation Museum seemed like a great tongue-in-cheek way to cap off a serious conference.

But while there were a few laughs and some clowning for the camera, most left more offended than amused by the frightening way in which evolution — and their life’s work — was attacked.

“It’s sort of a monument to scientific illiteracy, isn’t it?” said Jerry Lipps, professor of geology, paleontology and evolution at University of California, Berkeley.

“Like Sunday school with statues… this is a special brand of religion here. I don’t think even most mainstream Christians would believe in this interpretation of Earth’s history.”

The 27 million dollar, 70,000-square-foot (6,500-square-metre) museum which has been dubbed a “creationist Disneyland” has attracted 715,000 visitors since it opened in mid-2007 with a vow to “bring the pages of the Bible to life.”

Continue here…. http://tinyurl.com/nxa97t

Michael Shermer of Skeptic magazine presents the Baloney Detection Kit

Missing Link Found? 47 Million-Year-Old Primate Fossil Revealed

Scientists announced on Tuesday in New York the discovery of a 47 million year old human ancestor. For the past two years, an international team of scientists, led by world-renowned Norwegian fossil scientist Dr Jørn Hurum, University of Oslo Natural History Museum, has secretly conducted a detailed forensic analysis of the extraordinary fossil, studying the data to decode humankind’s ancient origins. At 95% complete, Ida is set to revolutionize our understanding of human evolution.

Discovered in Messel Pit, Germany, the fossil is twenty times older than most fossils that explain human evolution. Known as ‘Ida’, the fossil is a transitional species showing characteristics from the very primitive non-human evolutionary line (prosimians, such as lemurs), but she is more related to the human evolutionary line (anthropoids, such as monkeys, apes and humans). This places Ida at the very root of anthropoid evolution – when primates were first developing the features that would evolve into our own.

Why We Believe in Gods – Andy Thomson – American Atheists 2009

Andy Thomson gives his talk titled ‘Why We Believe in Gods’ at the American Atheist 2009 convention in Atlanta, Georgia.

Primate Fossil Could Be Key Link in Evolution

Young Female Had Thumbs, Fingernails, May Have Walked

By NED POTTER

May 16, 2009

Scientists say a 47-million-year-old fossil found in Germany may be a key link to explain the evolution of modern human beings.

The fossil, of a young female that probably resembled a modern-day lemur, is described as “the most complete primate fossil ever found.” It is small — with a body about the size of a raccoon — but it has characteristics that suggest a relationship both to primates and humans.

It has, among other things, opposable thumbs, similar to humans’ and unlike those found on other modern mammals. It has fingernails instead of claws. And scientists say they believe there is evidence it was able to walk on its hind legs.

Continue here… http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=7603618&page=1

2008 Nobel Prize for Medicine to HPV and HIV Experts

The scientists who discovered HIV will share the Nobel prize for medicine with the expert who linked human papilloma virus (HPV) to cervical cancer.

French team were recognised for their groundbreaking work in uncovering the virus responsible for Aids.

Harald zur Hausen, from Germany, received the prize for making the link between HPV and cervical cancer.

More than 25 million people have died of HIV/Aids since 1981.

Globally, more than 33 million people are living with HIV.

Following medical reports of a new immunodeficiency syndrome in 1981, Professor Barre-Sinoussi, of The Institut Pasteur, and Dr Montagnier, director of The World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, were the first to identify HIV as the culprit.

In its citation, The Nobel Assembly said their discovery was vital in enabling scientists to begin to understand the biology of a virus which continued to pose a huge public health threat throughout the globe.

Their work led to the development of methods to diagnose infected patients and to screen blood products, which has limited the spread of the pandemic.

It has also led to new treatments.

Dr Adriano Boasso of The Imperial College said: “The availability of a vaccine against HPV is now a reality thanks to the original discovery of the virus by Harald zur Hausen”.

There is still no cure for HIV. However, for many the disease is no longer an imminent death sentence thanks to the major advances in research and drug development over recent years.

With treatment, people with HIV can live for decades with the condition.

However, HIV medicines are not widely available in many poor countries around the world.

The citation said: “Never before have science and medicine been so quick to discover, identify the origin and provide treatment for a new disease entity.

“Successful anti-retroviral therapy results in life expectancies for persons with HIV infection now reaching levels similar to those of uninfected people.”

Nick Partridge of the HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust said: “Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier are very deserving winners of the Noble Prize for Medicine.

“Their work was hugely significant, leading to enormous progress in the understanding and treatment of HIV.”

Both Dr Montagnier and a US researcher Dr Robert Gallo are co-credited with discovering that HIV causes Aids, although for several years they staked rival claims that led to a legal and even diplomatic dispute between France and America.

The Nobel jury made no mention of Dr Gallo in its citation.

Professor Barré-Sinoussi said the award was “a great honour that I wasn’t expecting.“

Professor zur Hausen, of the University of Duesseldorf, was praised by the Nobel committee for going “against current dogma” to discover that HPV infection caused cervical cancer.

HPV can be detected in 99.7% of all women with cervical cancer, and persistent infection with the virus is estimated to be responsible for more than 5% of all cancers worldwide.

Professor zur Hausen’s work helped others to develop vaccines against HPV, which are now routinely given to millions of teenage girls in many countries to prevent cervical cancer.

Dr Adriano Boasso, research fellow at Imperial College and Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellow, said: “Isolating the causing agent of an infectious disease is the single most important step toward developing a vaccine.

“The availability of a vaccine against HPV is now a reality thanks to the original discovery of the virus by Harald zur Hausen.

“HIV vaccine research has instead recently suffered the failure of promising clinical trials, but there is no doubt that the discovery of HIV by Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier will be the pillar on which an efficient vaccine will eventually be built.”

Professor zur Hausen, 72, received half of the prize with Professor Barré-Sinoussi, 61, and Dr Montagnier, 76, splitting the other half.
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…this post forwarded by Windsor Humanist, Matt Achine, after an October 6, 2008 article from BBC News

The Ontario College of Physicians & Surgeons: MDs’ Religious Views Trump Health Care Measures

The regulating body for Ontario physicians has backed off a controversial proposal that would have forced doctors to put aside their religious views when dealing with patients.

Protests from The Ontario Medical Association and numerous religious groups appear to have tempered the thinking of The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

The new document, released on Wednesday, has removed provisions that would have potentially seen doctors face more misconduct charges for putting their own conscience before the convenience of patients.

For example, it could have applied to doctors who not only refuse to prescribe birth control pills, or do fertility treatments for same-sex couples, but also to those who refuse to offer referrals to doctors who do those things.

“Referring is just a way of sloughing off your responsibility,” Rabbi Reuven Bulka of Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Ottawa, said last week. “If you’re opposed to these things, referring is the same as taking part in the evil.”

The College of Physicians and Surgeons released its first draft policy in August. It warned doctors that they could see more charges being filed through The Ontario Human Rights Commission for withholding services. But it also indicated that doctors would face misconduct charges by the college as well, something that happens in no other province.

The new policy, which is scheduled to be voted on today, now serves as more of a warning about what doctors may face from the Human Rights Commission.

“The draft policy was always meant as a basis for discussion,” said Jill Hefley, a spokeswoman for the college.

Last week, The Ontario Medical Association asked the college to abandon the draft policy because it “interfered with physicians’ existing rights and freedoms.” It said the draft failed to note that doctors are also protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, like any other citizen.

“We believe it should never be professional misconduct for an Ontarian physician to act in accordance with his or her religious beliefs.”

Thomas Collins, Archbishop of the Dioceses of Toronto, also told the college that many physicians feared they would be “brought before human rights tribunals for following their consciences.” But he saw no reason why it would then be necessary for the college to add sanctions of its own. “Is that the cost of being true to one’s conscience?” he asked.

Sean Murphy of The Protection of Conscience Project, a group that tries to protect the rights of health workers, said the new document appears to be much improved from the original draft.

“It’s more clear in this document that the bogey man is the Ontario Human Rights Commission,” he said.

But he is concerned that one clause remaining in the policy could hurt doctors who exercise conscience.

It says the “college has its own expectations for physicians who limit their practice, refuse to accept individuals as patients, or end a physician-patient relationship on the basis of moral beliefs.”

He said this provision still needs to be clarified by officials.
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…this post forwarded by Windsor Humanist, Alexander Neil, after a Sept 17, 2008 article by Charles Lewis in The National Post

Genetic Coding in Meteorite Played Key Role in Life on Earth

Genetic material from outer space found in a meteorite in Australia may well have played a key role in the origin of life on Earth, according to a study to be published Sunday.

European and U.S. scientists have proved for the first time that two bits of genetic coding, called nucleobases, contained in the meteor fragment, are truly extraterrestrial.

Previous studies had suggested that the space rocks, which hit Earth some 40 years ago, might have been contaminated upon impact.

Both of the molecules identified, uracil and xanthine, “are present in our DNA and RNA,” said lead author Zita Martins, a researcher at Imperial College London.

RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is another key part of the genetic coding that makes up our bodies.

These molecules would also have been essential to the still-mysterious alchemy that somehow gave rise, some four billion years ago, to life itself.

“We know that meteorites very similar to the Murchison meteorite, which is the one we analyzed, were delivering the building blocks of life to Earth 3.8 to 4.5 billion years ago,” Zita Martins said.

Competing theories suggest that nucleobases were synthesized closer to home, but Zita Martins counters that the atmospheric conditions of early Earth would have rendered that process difficult or impossible. A team of European and U.S. scientists showed that the two types of molecules in the Australian meteorite contained a heavy form of carbon — carbon 13 — which could only have been formed in space.

“We believe early life may have adopted nucleobases from meteoric fragments for use in genetic coding, enabling them to pass on their successful features to subsequent generations,” Zita Martins said.

If so, this would have been the start of an evolutionary process leading over billions of years to all the flora and fauna — including human beings — in existence today. The study also has implications for life on other planets. “Because meteorities represent leftover materials from the formation of the solar system, the key components of life – including nucleobases – could be widespread in the cosmos,” said co-author Mark Sephton.
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…this post forwarded by Windsor Humanist, Matt Achine, after a June 14, 2008 article in Agence France-Presse

Scientists Bid Farewell To Space Probe ‘Ulysses’

European and U.S. scientists will bid a fond farewell on July 1 to the space probe Ulysses, which has circled the Sun gathering data for 17 years, almost four times its expected lifetime.

The first major collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, launched in 1990, “changed forever the way we view the sun and its effect on the surrounding space,” David Southwood, ESA’s director of science, said in announcing the end of mission.

Stuffed with 10 observational instruments, the 370-kilogram probe is the only satellite to have circled the sun’s poles.

Its principle objective was to explore the boundaries and impact of the sun’s sphere of influence, called the heliosphere.

One of its many findings was that the sun’s magnetic fields, thrust outward by solar wind, extends into the solar system in ways that were previously not suspected.

“This is very important because regions of the sun not previously considered as potential sources of hazardous particles for astronauts and satellites must now be taken into account,” noted the Paris-based ESA’s Richard Marsden.

Scientists originally thought that the speed of solar wind – a constant stream of particles emitted by the sun – was about 400 kilometres per second.

But Ulysses proved that during much of the sun’s 11-year solar cycle, wind travels at nearly double that speed.

The probe also detected and analyzed cosmic dust flowing into our solar system from deep space, showing that it was at least 30 times more abundant than astronomers had thought.

Unexpectedly, new measurements of helium isotopes created in epochs billions of years apart also confirmed cosmological theories about the Big Bang — and the likely fate of the Universe.

The probe’s “measurements support the theory by which the initial density of matter corresponds to a universe that will not collapse on itself at the end of time,” explained Edward Smith, the Ulysses Project Scientist for NASA.

The Big Bang is thought to have occured some 16 billion years ago.

Hurtling through space at an average speed of 56,000 kilometres per hour, Ulysses has logged over 8.6 billion kilometers.

The mission was originally designed to last five years, but engineers were able extend the life of the on-board generators powering the equipment by more than 12 years.

Power has now dwindled, however, to the point where fuel will soon freeze in the spacecraft’s pipelines.

One of the challenges confronting space scientists at the outset was placing Ulysses into an orbit that passed over the sun’s poles.

In October 1990 the Discovery space shuttle lifted the probe into space and away from the sun toward Jupiter.

Sixteen months later, the giant planet’s gravity bent the spacecraft’s flight path downward and away from the ecliptic plane along which all planets circle the sun, catapulting Ulysses into an orbit that went over the top and and under the bottom of the sun.
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…this post forwarded by Windsor Humanist, Matt Achine, after a June 14, 2008 article in Agence France-Presse

Ottawa Valley Surgical Tool Firm Saving Limbs in Iraqi Conflict

An Ottawa Valley-designed method of quickly closing massive wounds is helping to save limbs in the war in Iraq, according to a study published last month in The American Surgeon.

U.S. military surgeons in Baghdad have been testing a system called dynamic wound closure, which uses elastic strands to apply constant tension to the wound, drawing the edges of the skin together.

The concept is at once simple and innovative, said Alden Rattew, executive vice-president of Canica Design, the Almonte-based surgical tool company and brainchild of Lee Valley Tool chairman Leonard Lee.

“We specialize in putting dynamic forces on soft tissues–muscle and skin–to get it to to where it didn’t used to go before,” Mr. Rattew said.

In Iraq, dynamic wound closure has been particularly effective in treating lower-body injuries inflicted by improvised explosive devices, the study said.

Those injuries often require fasciotomies, huge incisions to relieve pressure and fluid buildup in muscles which can cut off blood supply and lead to amputations.

While saving limbs, fasciotomy wounds are often too large to be stitched or stapled, and can only be closed by radical skin grafts, a painful procedure that results in extensive scarring. Between December 2006 and February 2007, 11 American soldiers were treated for leg fasciotomies using Canica’s device. Ten of the soldiers’ wounds closed within an average of 2.6 days, compared to the weeks and months it can take to recover from skin-graft surgery.

One soldier, however, had to have above-knee amputations after the onset of a blood platelet condition.

The doctors concluded the use of the device to treat wartime injuries is “extremely successful and expedient.”

While Canica is confident its device will become the new standard of care, most hospitals are still relying on skin grafts.

The Ottawa Hospital, however, has been using variations of dynamic wound closure for about five years, said Michael Bell, a plastic surgeon at The Ottawa Hospital and Canica researcher. “It’s reliable and safe and inexpensive, and sure reduces the pain and suffering and morbidity of the patients. It’s got many, many advantages over what was ever done before,” Dr. Bell said.

The device can save a hospital $6,000 to $8,000 per patient, he added.

Doctors are also treating other conditions using Canica’s tissue-stretching technology, including cleft lips and abdominal wall wounds.

After driving over an improvised explosive device in Iraq, a U.S. civilian worker was treated in Germany before being sent home, Mr. Rattew said.

By the time he got back to Michigan, however, he had eviscerated and his abdominal contents were coming out of the wound in his belly. Doctors used Canica’s abdominal wall closure device to realign his muscles.

The condition is often treated with a mesh tissue replacement, which impairs muscle function and can amount to a disability, Mr. Rattew said.

“This gentleman is now bench-pressing 300 pounds and he’s gone back over to Iraq to work again.”
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…this post forwarded by Windsor Humanist, Alexander Neil, after a May 14, 2008 article by Tim Shufelt in The Ottawa Citizen