SMR blog

Who are more stubborn? Fundamentalists or atheists?

Recently (on 12 Feb 2013), well-known MIT physicist Max Tegmark, together with co-authors Eugene Lee and Meia Chita-Tegmark, released results of a new study on science, religion and origins. See also Max Tegmark’s Huffington Post article summarizing these findings.

It is well-known that, according to a recent Gallup poll, approximately 46% of Americans believe that

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Have scientists found any evidence for the origin of life?

A MORE COMPLETE AND UP-TO-DATE VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE HERE.

How accurate are radioactivity-based geological dates?

A MORE COMPLETE AND UP-TO-DATE VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE HERE.

Academic plagiarism and evolution

Introduction

Plagiarism, namely the copying of text or ideas of others, without explicit citation and/or permission, is considered a serious breach of ethics in the academic world. Even copying with permission is a breach of ethics in many environments, such as classroom instruction, where original, independent work is required of each individual. Nowadays many leading

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About the SMR blog

The objective of this website is to collect high-quality, authoritative information on topics in the arena of science and religion, and to present this information in a rigorous, intellectually honest, well-documented and non-partisan manner. Topics include evolution, creationism, intelligent design, physics, cosmology, philosophy, theology, biblical scholarship and related issues. These articles are updated periodically as

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Is nature entirely “red in tooth and claw”?

Introduction

One aspect of nature in general and evolutionary theory in particular that gives many Judeo-Christian believers some pause is its reliance on forms of competition that in many cases we would consider cruel. Parasites often destroy their living hosts from within. Female spiders, in many cases, devour their mates. And anyone who has watched

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Alarm bells sound over latest international test scores

The latest (2011) results of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which asses reading, and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which tests mathematics and science, are in, and they aren’t pretty, particularly for the U.S., Canada and Australia.

In the 4th grade PIRLS reading tests, the United States ranked

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Is believing in climate change “an insult to God”?

With movements such as young-earth creationism, we certainly have seen examples of religion being shanghaied into the service of anti-science. But some recent rhetoric in opposition to environmentalism and climate change science takes the cake.

For example, E. Calvin Beisner, leader of the Cornwall Alliance (a consortium of evangelical clergy) has declared that environmental movement

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Life on Mars!? Maybe we are all Martians

Curiosity Rover: Nominee for Time’s “Person of the Year” for 2012. Image courtesy NASA.

In an announcement today, NASA poured cold water on rumors that its Curiosity rover had found life on Mars. Curiosity found evidence that it had landed on an ancient riverbed, and it identified some interesting chemical species involving chlorine,

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Study released on Dutch researcher’s “culture of fraud”

In a previous Math Drudge blog, on the growth in scientific fraud, we described the case of Netherlands social psychologist Diederik Stapel, who, based on an initial investigation, had been accused of serious and serial fraud in his work in the field of social psychology.

Now a more detailed report has been released on the

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