Why Post-Soviet Math Glitters...

Masha Gessen of the Wall Street Journal writes on Nov. 6th "It may be no accident that, while some of the best American mathematical minds worked to solve one of the century's hardest problems—the Poincaré Conjecture—it was a Russian mathematician working in Russia who, early in this decade, finally triumphed. Decades before, in the Soviet Union, math placed a premium on logic and consistency in a culture that thrived on rhetoric and fear; it required highly specialized knowledge to understand; and, worst of all, mathematics lay claim to singular and knowable truths—when the regime had staked its own legitimacy on its own singular truth. All this made mathematicians suspect. Still, math escaped the purges, show trials and rule by decree that decimated other Soviet sciences. Three factors saved math. First, Russian math happened to be uncommonly strong right when it might have suffered the most, in the 1930s. Second, math proved too obscure for the sort of meddling Joseph Stalin most liked to exercise: It was simply too difficult to ignite a passionate debate about something as inaccessible as the objective nature of natural numbers (although just such a campaign was attempted). And third, at a critical moment math proved immensely useful to the state. ..."

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703740004574513870490836470.html

Disco Institute Laments Darwinian Influence on THEOLOGY...

The Southern Baptist Texan Online has the Nov. 3rd scoop: "Darwinian materialism has wreaked havoc on ethics, culture and the study of Scripture and theology, scholars said during an inaugural conference sponsored by the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, Oct. 23-24. The conference, titled 'Science and Faith: Friends or Foes?' was held on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. 'Many people who have a Christian faith have a sense that something is amiss in our culture,' said philosopher and geophysicist Stephen C. Meyer, who is director of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture and author of the 2009 publication, 'Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design.' Meyer made this comment on Oct. 22 during a chapel service at Southwestern Seminary prior to the conference. ... ..."

Source: http://www.texanonline.net/default.asp?action=article&aid=6470&issue=

New Fossil Sheds Light on Dinosaur Transition to Quadrupeds...

Robyn Dixon of the LA Times reports on Nov. 12th "... Johannesburg, South Africa - Before the dig started, it looked like any other patch of dinosaur dirt: gray soil, a few brownish fossilized bones exposed by erosion. Paleontologist Adam Yates thought his diggers would find a few bones from the massospondylus -- South Africa's most common dinosaur. ... But within days, it was clear that they were on to something big. In about 11 weeks spread over the years since, Yates' team members excavated about 300 bones from a site just over 20 feet long and 9 feet wide. They discovered three new dinosaurs and the fangs of a mysterious dinosaur eater, a likely fourth new species. The first to be named and researched is Aardonyx celestae. ... What makes A. celestae so exciting is that the species, like a crucial piece in a complicated jigsaw puzzle, helps explain how some of the earliest dinosaurs, two-legged herbivores known as prosauropods, evolved into the largest creatures that ever walked Earth: the sauropods, four-legged creatures with long necks and small heads that ripped foliage off trees with their cavernous jaws. Yates doesn't like the term 'missing link.' It upsets his scientific sensibilities because evolution doesn't unfold in a neat, linear fashion. But he says the term does at least convey the import of the discovery. 'It's one of the dinosaurs in a long, smeary continuum,' he said Wednesday. 'It shows us what we should already have pretty much guessed, which was that evolution was a messy, complicated affair.' ..."

Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-south-africa-dinosaur12-2009nov12,0,7392969.story

See Also: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111151237.htm

Chiropractors to get the Needle...

Actually, they getting the opportunity to stick the nedle into YOU. The Albuquirky Journal reports on Nov. 10th that "New Mexico chiropractors are moving into new realms of practice now associated with medical doctors and practitioners of alternative medicine. The New Mexico Board of Medicine is to consider this week a proposal that would allow chiropractors to dispense a variety of substances ranging from some prescription drugs to injected substances such as vitamins and trigger-point injections for treating pain. Some chiropractors already are allowed to inject a short list of substances under a law approved by state lawmakers earlier this year. The proposed list includes a variety of substances that are injected into joints and connective tissue to treat joint pain and weakness. "In New Mexico, it's a big change," said Bill Harvey, executive director of the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy, which helped negotiate the proposal. Chiropractors here "have never had prescriptive authority before." The proposal already has been approved by the Board of Pharmacy. ..."

Source: http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/102226540787newsstate11-10-09.htm

UFO "Modern Mythology" Slides Now On Line...

CSI (The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry) has posted presentations by NASA's David Morrison and NMSR's Dave Thomas on the Conference Website. The conference was held from October 9th-12th in Tucson, Arizona.

Source: http://ufocon.org/

NEW POSTINGS AT NMSR...

ROSS GOERES' SUDOKU CORNER - NEW PUZZLES FOR NOVEMBER!!!
Try a Standard, Seek Word, or Sudoku-X Puzzle; SOLVE ON-LINE (Or off-line, if you prefer...)
http://www.nmsr.org/sudoku.htm

NMSR's Science Watch, SATURDAYS at 2:00 PM on 1350 AM Progressive Talk

Science Watch is LIVE on November 14th, 2009! Hosts Dave Thomas and Lisa Durkin, on
"2012: The END of the WORLD! (NOT)"

We'll have our regular features: News of the Week, Trivia, Fumbles and Creation Corner.

MORE:
http://www.nmsr.org/goradio.htm

NMSR Science Watch is NOW ON PODCAST!!!
http://www.nmsr.org/podcast.htm