I woke up this morning to see headlines such as the following in my newsreader:Study Casts Doubt on Creationism … and St. Bernard Study Casts Doubt on Creationism….It turns out that the shape of the dog’s head has evolved over time, and that this can only be explained by evolution.The study looked at 47 St Bernard skulls over a 120 year period, and analyzed these in the context of ancient written specifications for the breed.
“We discovered that features stipulated in the breed standard of the St Bernard became more exaggerated over time as breeders selected dogs that had the desired physical attributes,” said Dr Klingenberg.”In effect they have applied selection to move the evolutionary process a considerable way forward, providing a unique opportunity to observe sustained evolutionary change under known selective pressures.”The findings, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences tomorrow (Wednesday), are based on studies of St Bernard skulls donated by Swiss breeders to the Natural History Museum in Berne.[source]
Well, I must say that is very cool, but it is about as intensive and insightful as the average undergraduate thesis that I’ve supervised, and much less impressive than the best, especially the most recent one done by Betsy Burr, which examines selected variation across a sample of several thousand rodents.What is nice about this study is the way it is reported. It is utterly obvious that this study defies the tenets of creationism, as does every single study involving evolutionary biology. I’d love to see this become the standard for science reporting in the future. For example, here is my version, using this new standard, of several other headlines that are sitting in my newsreader from the last 24 yours or so:Fossil record supports evidence of impending mass extinction: Major feature of Macro-Evolution True!
Fossil record supports evidence of impending mass extinction from PhysOrg.com
Global temperatures predicted for the coming centuries may trigger a new ‘mass extinction event’, where over 50 per cent of animal and plant species would be wiped out, warn scientists at the Universities of York and Leeds.[…]
Study proposes new theory of how viruses may contribute to cancer: Natural Selection Seems to Be A Bigger Factor than Divine Intervention!
Study proposes new theory of how viruses may contribute to cancer from PhysOrg.com
A new study suggests that viruses may contribute to cancer by causing excessive death to normal cells while promoting the growth of surviving cells with cancerous traits. Viruses may act as forces of natural selection by wiping out normal cells that support the replication of viruses and leaving behind those cells that have acquired defects in their circuitry.[…]
Bill O’Reilly joins the liberal Darwinist media: Both Darwin and Nixon Roll Over in Graves…
This is the funniest thing I’ve read all week. Yes, it’s even funnier than young-earth creationist and Discovery Institute fellow John Mark Reynolds attempting to argue that J. K. Rowling is wrong about Dumbledore being gay. (It’s fascinating to watch Reynolds blithely employ interpretive principles derived from the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy and apply them to the Harry Potter texts to argue against the very ‘deity’ that created them, J. K. Rowling. It’s a short circuit in Reynolds’s brain, just like young-earthism. But that’s another story.)[Panda’s Thumb]
Peppered moths are back: Turns out, they prove evolution, disprove creationism.
I don’t think this has been blogged yet. Earlier this month BBC Radio 4 broadcast a double interview with Michael Majerus, oft-mentioned on PT for his peppered moth research, and Jerry Coyne, a well known evolutionary biologist and regular critic of ID/creationism, and an oft-cited critic of aspects of the peppered moth research. [Panda’s Thumb]
Squids: Like other organisms they vary in size, fill diverse niches. Darwin was Right!
Some days, I just have to admit that Canada is cool…. [pharyngula]
Ben Stein expelled by ID? Creationists Blush, Evolutionists Chuckle.Read all about it…California Fires Out of Control as More Than 500,000 Flee. Turns out, fire-adapted ecology research is important! Creationists back down. Read about it in the NYT.Can You Feel The Heat? Tiny Hair-like Cell Structures, Your Cilia, Can. Turns out, adaptation has affected almost everything. Darwin vindicated, Paley was wrong!
Johns Hopkins researchers and colleagues have found a previously unrecognized role for tiny hair-like cell structures known as cilia: They help form our sense of touch. [Science Daily]
Stolen trailer finds its way back to Boy Scouts. Evolutionists not Surprised. “Trailers are kinda big, aren’t they?” says University Scientist
The theft of their camping trailer didn’t stop a Hmong Boy Scout troop from taking a weekend hike along Lake Superior, but the Scouts were happy to recover the trailer Tuesday, thanks to an honest citizen. [source: Star Tribune Web Site, BBS]
Transparent Zebrafish Help Researchers Track Breast Cancer. “This research could not be done were it not for common ancestry being true” admits creationists
What if doctors could peer through a patient’s skin and see a cancer tumor growing? They’d be able to study how tumor cells migrate: how they look, how they interact with the blood system to find nourishment to grow and spread through the body. [Science Daily]
[this is a repost from gregladen.com]
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