Reflectorites
Below are web article links, headlines and paragraphs for the period 17-22
February, with my comments in square brackets.
Steve
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http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/022200sci-observatory.html
The New York Times February 22, 2000 ... The Moon at Full Tilt ... By
HENRY FOUNTAIN ... Four and a half billion years ago, the vicinity of
Earth was a mess. According to the commonly accepted theory, the young
planet had just been broadsided by a Mars-size object, creating a huge
disc of orbiting debris. It was this junk that eventually coalesced into the
Moon. A fine theory, except for one thing: according to it, the Moon's orbit
should be close to, if not aligned with, the plane of Earth's equator. That is
not the case. Early on, the orbit was inclined by about 10 degrees, and is
still about 5 degrees off kilter. Now, two scientists...have developed a
model to explain how the Moon's orbit got that way. It started off with only
a slight inclination, about one degree... but quite rapidly developed its full
tilt. It did so, this new theory holds, because only part of the debris disc
formed the Moon. The inner part of the disc was close enough to Earth
that the planet's gravity prevented it from coalescing. So for a while, the
new Moon coexisted with this inner disc (until the debris in it was grabbed
by Earth or the Moon). And elaborate gravitational interactions between
the Moon and the disc made the Moon's orbit more inclined. The scientists
estimate that the Moon hit full tilt, about 10 degrees, in about a century, a
phenomenally short amount of time in the celestial scheme ... [More
confirmation of the Collision Hypothesis, which "was shrugged off for
decades because it seemed too unlikely" (Ross H., "Lunar Origin Update",
http://www.reasons.org/resources/faf/95q1faf/95q1moon.html) which
required a fantastic degree of fine-tuning to obtain the large moon that we
have and all the consequences for life on Earth as we know it.]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/022200sci-evolution-sperm.html
The New York Times February 22, 2000 ... Competition Is Discerned in
Sperm ... By NICHOLAS WADE In the battle of the sexes, there are the
formal rules -- the rich variety of variously heeded laws and customs by
which each society tries to constrain reproductive behavior. Then there
are the other rules, often in conflict with the first, which govern love and
desire and the delicate games men and women play with one another. ...
If these other rules, the ones built into human nature, could be specified,
they would not tell what is right -- that is the province of the first set of
rules -- but they would help understanding of how human sexual and
social behavior have evolved. Primatologists, who study the group of
mammals that includes monkeys, apes and people, have developed some
surprising ideas about the nature of the human mating system, suggesting
that women may not be as faithful as their mates may suppose. And some
biologists think that the deceits of the mating game may even be reflected
in the hapless spermatozoon... [More confusion among the primatologists.
They remind me of the verdict passed on 19th century liberal theologians
in their failed so-called "search for the historical Jesus": they were like
men staring down a deep, dark well, and all they saw was their own pale
reflection! It is bizarre when you think about it that, considering there is no
shortage of *human beings* to study, they insist on studying apes who are
on the verge of extinction and whose behaviour therefore may not even be
what it normally was, and who, apart from their lack of anything like a
comparable culture, even on the evolutionists own terms have diverged
biologically from each other by a combined total of 10-14 million years.]
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000221/sc/science_cloning_2.html Yahoo! ...
February 21 ... Europe Patent Covering Human Cloning Was 'Mistake' By Adam
Tanner BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Patent Office said Monday it made a
mistake in recently granting a patent to a process that could include the cloning of
humans. The ... office granted Edinburgh University a patent on altering cells and
human embryos in December, but the decision only came to public attention after
the environmental group Greenpeace issued a critical statement .... "It's a mistake,
yes," patent office spokesman ... said. "It could be seen to embrace the cloning of
humans. ... Greenpeace said the environmental group would challenge the decision.
"Living organisms and parts of living organisms are not inventions, and only
inventions can be patented," ... The mistake came when patent officials ...
overlooked a passage -- deep inside the description -- referring to humans. ... "In
the context of this invention, the term 'animal cell' is intended to embrace all animal
cells ... including human cells," ... Patents on genetically altered organisms go back
at least 20 years, when the U.S. Supreme Court gave the green light to a patent on
an altered bacteria used in treating oil spills. Since then, governments have
extended patents to animal modifications as well. .... The problem comes in regard
to human alterations, he said, citing a 1998 European directive on biotechnical
inventions. "The human body, at the various stages of its formation and
development, and the simple discovery of one of its elements, including the partial
sequence of a gene, cannot constitute patentable inventions," the directive reads.
.... Also: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000222/sc/germany_cloning_1.html
Yahoo! ... February 22 ... German Official Protests Human Cloning Patent
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's health minister said on Tuesday she wanted the
government to protest formally against a European Patent Office decision granting
a patent to a process that could include the cloning of humans. ... Health Minister
Andrea Fischer said she would propose at a cabinet meeting Wednesday that the
German government formally oppose the patent. ... Only a formal protest from
outside can reverse the decision, and appeals can drag out the process for years ...
Germany, especially sensitive to the issue because of Nazi-era efforts to create a
master race, bans any human cloning procedure and has tight rules on scientific
research. ... And: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000224/sc/health_cloning_1.html ... Yahoo!
... February 24 12:29 ... Italian PM Urges Consultations on Human Cloning By
Amelia Torres BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Massimo
d'Alema Thursday called for urgent discussions on genetic engineering after the
European Patent Office granted a patent which could result in the cloning of
humans. "There is considerable concern in public opinion regarding the use of
biotechnology for unacceptable manipulation; manipulation which is unacceptable
in ethical and legal terms," d'Alema said after talks with European Commission
President Romano Prodi on a range of EU issues. ... " [On materialistic
philosophical grounds humans are just another kind of animal. Therefore It is most
interesting to see Greenpeace arguing that parts of *all* living things cannot be
patented. It is even more interesting that the EEC has decreed basically a Judeo-
Christian position that "The human body, at the various stages of its formation and
development" cannot be patented. Maybe this is the start of a backlash?]
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000221/sc/science_algae_3.html Yahoo! ...
February 21 ... Algae May Be 'Green' Fuel of Future - Experts WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - Microscopic green algae may soon be pumping out clean and efficient
hydrogen gas to fuel the world's cars, power industry and keep the lights on,
scientists said on Monday. Several teams have abandoned high-tech ways to
produce energy and turned to nature, which long ago figured out how to make
energy from water and sunlight. In this case algae, known as Chlamydomonas
reinhardtii, have a special trick that allows them to make hydrogen -- an enzyme
called hydrogenase, which can split water into its component parts of hydrogen
and oxygen. ... scientists found that when they starved the algae of sulfur, they
switched into hydrogenase mode. ... It takes about 20 hours, but the algae switch
into back-up mode, which the scientists believe may be a relic from times when the
Earth was less clement and what little life there was had to adjust to harsh
conditions. .... Melis said not to expect algae-produced natural gas any time soon.
"We are not ready to go forward commercially with this process," he said. "We are
not happy with the yields that we get." ... Scientists at the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory are working to make a mutant version of the bacteria that can
work more efficiently and under less stringent conditions. ... Also at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=000113078204876&rtmo=r3QmDStX&atmo=lllllljx&pg=/et/00/2/24/ecngas24.html
Electronic Telegraph 24.02.00 ... Pond algae can make energy gas By Roger
Highfield COMMON green algae can be used to create hydrogen gas for fuel from
sunlight and water. ... The alga culture, which resembles a lime-green soft drink,
first builds up a supply of carbohydrates and other energy sources through
photosynthesis when it is exposed to sunlight and oxygen. It is then put in a
sulphur-free environment and can generate hydrogen for about four days. ...
[Amazing that this algae has maintained the dual machinery for this backup mode
after what must be trillions of generations. Now that is *stasis*! But I can't work
out why a hydrogen environment is regarded as harsher than a sulphur one.]
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000221/sc/australia_sunscreen_1.htm
l Yahoo! ... February 21 ... World's First Coral Sunscreen on the Way
CANBERRA (Reuters) - A sunscreen using coral's natural defense against
ultra- violet rays (UV) could be on the market within five years, Australian
scientists said .... The sunscreen was the first of its type in the world and
was based on the natural ultra-violet blocking compound used in coral
reefs.... Corals have developed natural sunscreens to cope with long-term
exposure to the high-intensity ultraviolet radiation penetrating shallow
reefs. "We have copied and modified nature's own defensive product,
evolved by marine animals over millions of years, to ward off the effects of
UV-B and have come up with a stable and efficient sunscreen suitable for
commercial use," .... [It is not clear why coral needs UV protection. UV
penetration is less under water and I would have thought there are plenty
of other animals which spend more time in the sun than coral and which
don't have UV protection?]
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000220/sc/health_pain_1.html Yahoo! ...
February 20 ... Some of U.S. Feel Our Pain More, Scientists Say WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The same mechanism that let a stone-age hunter sprint away from a
lion despite a sprained ankle may help 21st century scientists find better treatments
for pain, researchers said ... They described research that is aimed at nailing down
genetic differences not only in the response to pain, but the actual perception of
pain. ... they have found not only that people vary greatly in how they feel pain,
but that men and women seem to have different mechanisms for it. ... studies show
that 50 percent of the differences in feeling pain are genetic. Mogil's team has bred
mice that are extremely sensitive to pain or that are virtually resistant to it. "The
differences are just heroic,".... Mogil ... has confirmed, in rats and mice, the long-
held belief that males and females feel pain in different ways. "Both feel pain, but
they are responding differently, by activating different circuitry in the brain," ....
Evolution could explain this. "We evolved as hunter- gatherers," he said. "Perhaps
men are more adapted to trauma, you know, lion bites and spear points." ...
humans consciously control their responses to pain. ... the brain can rewire itself to
make sure pain gets felt. ... "The pain's not in the spinal cord, the pain's not at the
injury site -- the pain's in the brain," .... Also at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=000113078204876&rtmo=r3QmDStX&atmo=lllllljx&pg=/et/00/2/24/ecnwom24.html
Electronic Telegraph 24.02.00 ... Why a woman's pain is different By Roger
Highfield WOMEN are not only more sensitive to pain than men but a painkiller
that works for a husband may not work for his wife. This is because the sexes rely
on different molecular pathways to modulate pain. The difference could reflect
how the pain responses of men and women were honed by different forces in
ancient hunter-gatherer societies, the association was told. ... [This might shed
some light on the Biblical depiction in Genesis 3:16 of women's pain in childbirth
increasing after the humankind's rebellion against God? I left in the `just-so' story
about 'lion bites and spear points" for a laugh. One could just as easily argue the
opposite-that those men who most felt pain *avoided* trauma and hence survived
to pass on their genes! Darwinism can explain everything and its opposite.]
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000220/sc/science_oceans_1.html
Yahoo! ... February 20 ... We Only Have a Billion Years of Beach Time
Left WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Earth's oceans are going to dry up
and disappear much sooner than anyone thought -- in about a billion
years, .... But any surfers who would have mourned the loss will be long
gone by then, because much of the carbon dioxide will have been used
up, killing off many of the plants that not only sustain the rest of the living
world but manufacture the oxygen we breathe. Researchers had
predicted that the oceans would boil off in about five billion years when
the Sun starts to burn up its fuel and grow bigger, enveloping Mercury
and roasting Venus and the Earth. ... But the planet will become
unsuitable for life as we know it long before then ... because as rocks
weather, the elements in them combine with the carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere to create calcium carbonate, which gets stored in the
oceans. "The silicate weathering cycle stabilizes the Earth's climate for a
time," .... "Eventually, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels will become so
low that it will not be able to do so, but before then, there will not be
sufficient carbon dioxide to sustain most plants." That means a planet like
Earth can only sustain life for a limited period of time -- an important
factor to keep in mind in searching for other planets where life might
exist. "If we calculated correctly, Earth has been habitable for 4.5 billion
years and only has a half billion years left," ... [This "silicate weathering
cycle" is a design feature I hadn't heard of. But it is one with a `use by'
date!]
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000218/sc/food_biotech_1.html
Yahoo! ... February 18 ... Scientists Launch Petition to Support Biotech
Foods WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 1,000 scientists, including
two Nobel Prize winners, have endorsed genetically modified foods as
safe, environmentally- friendly and a useful tool to help feed the
developing world. ... The scientists said ... genetically modified crops have
worked well, and encouraged the development of plants that require fewer
pesticides and herbicides. "Through judicious deployment, biotechnology
can also address environmental degradation, hunger and poverty in the
developing world by providing improved agricultural productivity and
greater nutritional security," the declaration said. ... [The trouble is that the
public doesn't fully trust the impartiality of scientists who are in the pay of
biotech companies. If they make a mistake in this area it could be
catastrophic.]
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000218/sc/abortion_pill_1.html Yahoo!
... February 18 ... French Abortion Pill Moves Closer to U.S. Market
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The French abortion pill, for years kept out of
the United States by political controversy, moved a step closer to the U.S.
market ... The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said ... that the drug
was "approvable." However, "remaining questions need to be resolved
before final marketing approval can be granted," the agency said in a
statement. ... The pill, known as RU-486 in Europe, induces an abortion
when administered early in pregnancy with another drug, misoprostol....
..Abortion rights supporters say it would transform the debate by
decreasing the number of surgical abortions and giving women more
privacy over their decisions. ... Abortion , who have campaigned against
the allowing the drug into the United States...consider using the drug just
as morally wrong as a surgical abortion... [It will be interesting to see if this
will eventually be approved in the USA or whether it will signal a decline in
materialistic values which regards human life as disposable, and a
resurgence of Judeo-Christian values which regard human life as sacred.]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=000113078204876&rtmo=wQK0no0b&atmo=FFFFFFtX&pg=/et/00/2/17/ecnstar17.html
Electronic Telegraph. 17.02.00 ... Starfish points the way ahead.
TOXINS made by bacteria cause havoc worldwide shigella and
cholera claim millions of lives in the Third World, while one recent
outbreak of the 0157 strain of E coli in Scotland resulted in 20
deaths. Now scientists have designed a soluble molecule -
"Starfish" - that neutralises these toxins up to 10 million times more
efficiently than previous inhibitors. ... Starfish, named because of its
appearance: ... has two docking points at the tips of each of five
"arms" that can stick to toxin molecules, rendering them harmless,
because they are unable to latch on to cells in the body. ... Starfish
could be developed into a treatment that can potentially prevent
kidney damage that occurs after serious cases of toxin poisoning,
for instance caused by meat contaminated by E coli 0157. ... [This
could be good news if it means that it is an alternative to
increasingly antibotic-resistant bacteria. This may be a good
example of how intelligent design can invent something which is
inaccessible to stepwise natural processes to circumvent?]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=000113078204876&rtmo=wQK0no0b&atmo=FFFFFFtX&pg=/et/00/2/17/ecnbug17.html
Electronic Telegraph 17.02.00 ... Scientists crack food bug's gene code By
Roger Highfield THE genetic code of a bug responsible for more food
poisoning outbreaks than salmonella has been cracked by researchers,
paving the way for new treatments. ... A team ...has now read every
"letter" of the genetic code of campylobacter jejuni ... It is the first food-
borne infectious bug to have the whole of its genetic make-up identified,
revealing many novel mechanisms by which the organism survives and
causes disease. Found in half the poultry destined for human
consumption, it is responsible for around 60,000 reported cases of food
poisoning in the UK each year. ... [Another genome sequenced and more
novel genes discovered!]
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000217/sc/environment_climate_1.html
Yahoo! ... February 17 ... New Study Reports Heating Up of Earth's
Surface WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Earth's surface has heated up
appreciably over the past 20 years. ... The new study in "Science"
magazine supports a National Academy of Sciences panel that concluded
that strong evidence showed an "undoubtedly real" warming of the Earth's
surface. ... the contention that the Earth's surface had warmed up
appreciably over the past 20 years was proven in their research. The
Earth's surface was warming up at 0.05 to 0.08 degrees Celsius per
decade ... [but] John Christy, professor of Atmospheric Science at the
University of Alabama... said..."The behavior of the surface temperatures
and the atmosphere over the past 21 years is at odds with the theories
that explain how human-induced climate changes should occur,"... "This
suggests that what has happened in the past 21 years is not an example
of human-induced climate change." [It will be interesting to see how this
holds up. 20 years would not seem to be a long enough baseline to
extrapolate reliable predictions about future climatic trends. Global
warming might be a normal cyclical trend that is influenced little by human
actions.]
HIV/AIDS:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000219/sc/aids_trees_1.html Yahoo!
... February 19 ... Tree Bark Yields Two Possible AIDS Treatments
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists mining the world's forests for
potential new drugs said on Saturday they had found two new possible
treatments for AIDS patients in the bark of trees. A tree in Argentina has
yielded a compound that attacks the AIDS virus, while a tree found across
Africa makes an anti fungal compound that might work against the mouth
infections that plague HIV patients, researchers said ... their findings show
the world's forests are still a rich source of new drugs ... Kurt
Hostettmann...said his team had found an anti fungal compound in a tree
known as Bobgunnia madagascariensis, which is found across Africa. "...It
acts against Candida albicans, responsible for many fungal skin conditions
and for the mycosis that affects the mouths, eyes and other parts of AIDS
patients. It also can kill ... several other species of fungi that infect people.
... It seems to be produced by the tree to protect itself against fungal
infestations. ... they have linked up with a U.S. drug company to
synthesize the compound. ... Mahabir Gupta ... described an extract found
in a tree in Argentina that "shows remarkable anti-HIV activity." His team
is now working with experts ... in Spain to develop it. .... [The first anti-
fungal compound sounds good. Another example of the enormous
resources that the Designer has gifted creation with for man's benefot.
The "extract found in a tree in Argentina that `shows remarkable anti-HIV
activity'" sounds a bit dodgy!]
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"To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting
the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light,
and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have
been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the
highest degree." (Darwin C.R., "The Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection", [1872], Everyman's Library, J.M. Dent & Sons:
London, 6th Edition, 1928, reprint, p167)
Stephen E. Jones | sejones@iinet.net.au | http://www.iinet.net.au/~sejones
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