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News:
February 23, 2003
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ASA Spring Meeting this Saturday: Dr. Thomas Davis will be speaking on March 1, 2003. He is a Palestinian archeologist and can speak on current issues in relating archeology to the scriptures. As usual with many topics, the real picture is neither the minimalist view that the Bible says nothing useful for the archeologist nor the overly idealist view that every detail of OT history has been proved. This should be another good one. We will be meeting at Emmanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church near Wilmington, Delaware at 12:30 PM. ( www.eopc.org ). Cost will be $10. For more information e-mail Alan at admeam@aol.com
Religion in the News
In
old Vatican papers, new light on Nazi era
The church's prewar archives show an appeal for help on behalf of the Jews,
and an apparent effort to intervene.
The first documents from newly opened Vatican archives dealing with the
Roman Catholic Church's relations with Germany on the eve of World War II
are beginning to emerge, including a letter seeking papal intervention against
the Nazis written by a famed Jewish convert to Catholicism, Edith Stein.
See
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/5218818.htm
Weeping Mary withdrawn from church display | A statue of the Virgin Mary - the subject of scientific tests after apparently "weeping" an oil-like substance—has been taken off display in a Catholic church south of Perth. (Sydney Morning Herald). See http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/17/1045330538903.html
Islamic Jihad says it won't strike at U.S.
The Islamic Jihad group said yesterday that it would not attack American
targets to retaliate for the U.S. arrest of four alleged members and the
indictment of four others on terrorism-related charges. See
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/5236479.htm
Why we should agree to disagree | Amid the continuing disagreements, though, it is easy to lose sight of things that both Muslims and Christians want to affirm. (The Guardian, London) See http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,897130,00.html
Mormon Scholar Under Fire: Anthropologist says Latter-day Saints' teaching wrong about Native Americans. By John W. Kennedy. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2003/003/14.24.html
Wheaton College Allows Dancing for All, Drinking and Tobacco for Non-Undergraduates Illinois law drives complete overhaul of school's conduct code. Compiled by Ted Olsen. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2003/107/32.0.html
Some May Be Offended by Biola Exhibit on Reaching Culture: Compiled by Ted Olsen. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2003/107/13.0.html
Focus on the Family calls for boycott of Big Brothers-Big Sisters
Focus on the Family devoted its radio program
yesterday to discussing mentoring (audio),
and one of its main points was
calling for a boycott of mentor program Big Brothers-Big Sisters for
its mandating local chapters to allow homosexuals to work with children
in the program. See
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=202167
Some voice concern over president's religious rhetoric | Both President Bush and Osama bin Laden fervently assert that God is on their side (The Boston Globe). See http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/047/nation/Some_voice_concern_over_president_s_religious_rhetoric+.shtml
Biblical animals return to the Holy Land | In 1969, the Israeli Nature Reserves Authority initiated a program to reestablish animal species into the areas where they once lived (CBN News). See http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/News/030217c.asp
Calvin goes to college | J. David Hoeveler's dense, fascinating Creating the American Mind is subtitled "Intellect and Politics in the Colonial Colleges," but it is religion that plays the largest role (The Wall Street Journal). See http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB1045536415679233343,00.html
Religion Matters, Says David Brooks: "It's now clear that the secularization theory is untrue," David Brooks writes in a must-read piece for The Atlantic Monthly. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2003/107/42.0.html
Bono's American Prayer: The world's biggest rock star tours the heartland talking more openly about his faith as he recruits Christians in the fight against AIDS in Africa. By Cathleen Falsani. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2003/003/2.38.html
Openness Season: Theologians Pinnock and Boyd like to take the Bible at "face value"--but is that enough? Reviewed by Christopher A. Hall. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2003/002/42.89.html
Getting Cynical About Ourselves: An interview with Mark Ellingsen, the author of Blessed Are the Cynical By David Neff. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2003/107/12.0.html
Books & Culture's Book of the Week: Another Third Way? The mixed record of Catholic social thought. By Christopher Shannon. See http://ChristianityToday.com/ct/2003/107/14.0.html
Science in the News
Creation/Evolution
In Texas, a Darwinian debate | Religious student protests professor's question on evolution (The Washington Post). See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13871-2003Feb15.html
Ministries say expeditions to archaeological sites support creationism (San Antonio Express-News). See http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=949924
State school board debates 'intelligent design' | One member calls it 'screwball science,' another finds it 'fascinating' (The Charleston Gazette). See http://www.wvgazette.com/news/News/2003021942/
Two Chemical Processes Point To Possible Origin Of Life: Tempe - Feb 17, 2003 - Some of the most important evolutionary events in Earth's history didn't just create new organisms -- they created new fundamental biochemical processes. And where do biochemical processes come from? They evolve from other biochemical processes. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-03m.html
Teeth Evolved Twice: Primitive jawed fishes had chompers of their own design. See http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2003/220/3?etoc
A Genetic Tryst in the Testes: New gene cobbled together from extra copies may have been important in human evolution. See http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2003/218/2?etoc
Squirrels' Evolutionary 'Family Tree' Reveals Major Influence Of Climate,
Geology
The first-ever genetic delineation of nearly all existing squirrel groups
suggests not only some surprising branchings in the squirrels' family tree.
The study also reveals strong evidence that geological and climatic change
influenced how their ancestors evolved and spread over 36 million years
from just one part of ancient North America to nearly all of today's world.
See
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030221080311.htm
A scientist searches for mysticism | A review of Rational Mysticism: Dispatches From the Border Between Science and Spirituality (Los Angeles Times). See http://www.calendarlive.com/books/cl-et-book11feb11,0,2815377.story?coll=cl%2Dbooks%2Dfeatures
Archaeology/Anthropology
A rare look at Bible history | Dead Sea Scrolls display in Grand Rapids is unique (The Toledo Blade). See http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030215&Category=NEWS10&ArtNo=102150106&Ref=AR
Joseph's Tomb destruction 'very serious,' says PM aide | Gissin gave no details as to how the tomb will be protected, but added that the desecration of holy sites cannot be taken lightly (The Jerusalem Post; must register).
The Columbus myth | What took Spain to the New World was unbridled political power claiming God's favor and approbation, supported by evangelical Christians, armed with overwhelming technological superiority, and driven by an insatiable need for oro (Chet Raymo, The Boston Globe). See http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/049/science/The_Columbus_myth+.shtml
Astronomy
NASA worker's e-mail warned of shuttle risk
A NASA safety engineer warned two days before Columbia broke apart that
the shuttle might be in "marginal" condition and that others in
the space agency were not adequately considering the danger of a breach
near its left wheels, according to internal e-mail NASA disclosed yesterday.
See
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/5236475.htm
Los Alamos Makes First Map Of Ice Distribution On Mars: Denver - Feb 17, 2003 - Lurking just beneath the surface of Mars is enough water to cover the entire planet ankle-deep, says Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Bill Feldman. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-science-03d.html
Odyssey Points To Melting Snow As Cause Of Gullies: Pasadena - Feb 20, 2003 - Images from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft, combined with those from Mars Global Surveyor, suggest melting snow is the likely cause of the numerous eroded gullies first documented on Mars in 2000 by Global Surveyor. The martian gullies were created by trickling water from melting snow packs, not underground springs or pressurized flows, as previously suggested, argues Dr. Philip Christensen, principal investigator for Odyssey's camera system. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-science-03f.html
Lunar Impact Mystery Solved: Pasadena - Feb 21, 2003 - In the early morning hours of Nov. 15, 1953, an amateur astronomer in Oklahoma photographed what he believed to be a massive, white-hot fireball of vaporized rock rising from the center of the moon's face. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/lunar-03b.html
Weather Cells Form Around Magnetic Storms On Solar Surface: Boulder - Feb 17, 2003 - Clusters of sunspots form their own weather patterns on the sun, according to new observations by a team of University of Colorado at Boulder researchers. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarscience-03d.html
Rivers Of Gas Could Provide Part Of Universe's "Missing" Matter: Columbus - Feb 13, 2003 - An Ohio State University astronomer and her colleagues have detected a type of hot gas in space that could account for part of the "missing" matter in the universe. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/darkmatter-03b.html
Extra Dimensions Showing Hints Of Scientific Revolution: Chicago - Feb 19, 2003 - The concept of extra dimensions, dismissed as nonsense even by one of its earliest proponents nearly nine decades ago, may soon help solve seemingly unrelated problems in particle physics, cosmology and gravitational physics, according to a panel of experts who spoke Feb. 15 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Denver. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cosmology-03c.html
Biology
Alcohol Researchers Identify A Genetic Basis Of Pain Response
A common genetic variant influences individual responses and adaptation
to pain and other stressful stimuli and may underlie vulnerability to many
psychiatric and other complex diseases, reports David Goldman, M.D., Chief,
Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism,
and colleagues at NIAAA and the University of Michigan. See
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030221075640.htm
First Population Study Of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Highlights Difficulties
Facing Malaria Control Technique
The first laboratory population study of genetically modified mosquitoes
identifies issues that need to be faced in the task of turning mosquitoes
from disease carriers into disease fighters. Scientists from Imperial College
London report that populations including genetically modified mosquitoes
quickly lose their test marker gene when they are bred with unmodified mosquitoes.
See
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030221080622.htm
Pavlov's Flies: Researchers Identify Fruit Fly Memory Mutants; Broad Implications
Seen For Treating Alzheimer's And Other Human Diseases
By teaching fruit flies to avoid an odor and isolating mutant flies that
can't remember their lessons, researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
in New York have identified dozens of genes required for long-term memory.
See
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030219080659.htm
Scientist Pursues Role Of Possible New Cell Type
A cell type with the potential for making the four major types of human
tissue has been found in the stomach and small intestine by a Medical College
of Georgia researcher. See
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030218085147.htm
Are You Sabotaging Your Own Sleep? See http://discoveryhealth.queendom.com/access_sleep_hygiene_abridged.html
Earth Science
Bugs From The Deep May Be Window Into The Origins Of Life: Denver - Feb 17, 2003 - Simple life forms are turning up in a surprising variety of below-ground environments, potentially making up 50 percent of the Earth's biomass, scientists said today at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-03k.html
An exceptionally preserved Lower Cretaceous ecosystem
ZHONGHE ZHOU, PAUL M. BARRETT & JASON HILTON
doi:10.1038/nature01420 See
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v421/n6925/abs/nature01420_fs.html
NASA Goes On-Line With Extra-Tropical Storm Tracks: Greenbelt - Feb 17, 2003 - If you're a weather fanatic, or if you've just ever wondered how stormy it was around the world on the day you were born, you can now find out. Scientists working with NASA have created a free on-line atlas that shows extra-tropical storm tracks between 1961 and 1998. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/weather-03b.html
Psychology
People Will Believe Almost Anything: Memories of impossible events can be implanted into people's minds. See http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2003/218/1?etoc also http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030217115223.htm
Memories of Space Alien Abduction: True believers react as though they really were kidnapped by little green men. See http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2003/217/1?etoc
Technology
Tiny Nanotrains Could Power Big Changes In The Future: Seattle - Feb 17, 2003 - For Viola Vogel, thinking big naturally comes coupled with the smallest objects imaginable. According to Vogel, director of the University of Washington's Center for Nanotechnology, understanding how nature does things at the molecular level and adapting those techniques into the synthetic world could drastically alter just about every aspect of our lives. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-03m.html