TOP 100 SCIENCE SITES
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| On Our Radar: A Biofuels Land Grab The European Union's biofuels targets are driving an extensive "land grab" in Africa, a conservation group claims. feeds.nytimes.com |
Is God scraping the barrel for miracles? | Martin Robbins The Vatican's latest 'miracle' is further evidence of a worrying long-term decline in God's powersIf you read the BBC's coverage of Deacon Jack Sullivan this morning, you might be tempted to believe that something amazing had happened to him. Certainly the carefully crafted words of reporter Michael Hirst tell a compelling story, a story so convincing that after eight years of investigation the Vatican's experts have declared it a miracle, no less."Jack Sullivan was in agony. Bedridden after complicated surgery on his spine, the pain was so intense he was unable to sleep and had trouble breathing."Back in 2000, Sullivan, then in his early sixties, began suffering from a pain in his back. Told by doctors that he might have to quit his religious studies in order to receive an operation, he was dejected and unsure what to do when a documentary about Cardinal John Newman appeared on the telly. Sullivan prayed to him, and the next morning felt well enough to continue his studies, making it to the end of the academic year before he relapsed, and was sent for "complicated" surgery on his spine. Immediately afterwards he was apparently in all sorts of agony, as you'd expect, but just two days later, in defiance of doctors who told him he would take months to recover, he was able to walk again. Nine years later and the 71-year-old is able to stroll around pain-free like a young man (but with more wrinkles and whiter hair). Incredible stuff I'm sure you'll agree, but could there possibly be a reasonable explanation for this miracle? Well yes, but incredibly you won't find it until the 24th paragraph of the BBC's credulous article:"Michael Powell, a consultant neurosurgeon at London's University College Hospital, said a typical laminectomy took 'about 40 minutes, and most patients ... walk out happy at two days'".And so the story becomes thus: Deacon Jack Sullivan had a pain in his back. After a year it got bad enough that he consented to a fairly routine surgery from which most patients are able to return home in a couple of days. He had the surgery, he got better, and 10 years later he can still walk. Miraculous? Not really.The problem with these stories is that really it comes down to your word against a lot of wishful thinking. I suspect Deacon Sullivan is an honest man. My guess would be that he got the back pain, desperately wanted to get through his studies, and so pushed himself along until the summer break when surgery would be less disruptive. He might say God enabled him to achieve that; I'd say the old man had a lot of heart. No doubt he recovered well after surgery, but then so do lots of people.Even if this were a miracle, it would only reinforce a disturbing long-term trend. God used to be able to part seas and flood planets. By the end of the Old Testament he was turning people into pillars of salt and Aaron's rod into a snake. At the time of Jesus, God our omnipotent deity was basically down to party tricks, and now, what, easing an old man's backache for a few months? It's hardly the swaggering, all-conquering God of the glory days.So what's happened? Are we not devout enough? Is God getting old? Has he lost interest? Are his powers subject to some form of spiritual entropy, leaving him hot and spent in heaven? Perhaps this worrying decline in God's powers is what the Vatican's crack team of miracle investigators should really be researching.Martin Robbinsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Birdbooker Report 137 Compiled by an ardent bibliophile, this is a weekly report about nature, science and history books that have been newly published in North America and the UKBooks to the ceiling, Books to the sky,My pile of books is a mile high.How I love them! How I need them!I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. ~ Arnold Lobel [1933-1987] author of many popular children's books. Compiled by Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, the Birdbooker Report is a long-running weekly report listing the wide variety of nature, natural history, ecology, animal behaviour, science and history books that have been newly released or republished in North America and in the UK. The books listed here were received by Ian during the previous week, courtesy of their publishers. Featured titles: Kington, John. Climate and Weather. 2010. Collins. Paperback: 484 pages. Price: $50.00 U.S. (30 GBP). [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: Reviewing the history and causes of climatic change and evaluating regional models, this New Naturalist volume offers an important analysis of climatic variations. Much has happened in our knowledge of climate and weather over the past fifty years. The recording of relations between weather and natural history has continued to be of constant interest, with the weather providing a continual and essential backdrop to natural history accounts. But the significance of this backdrop has been very much widened by our better understanding of climate change and its effects on flora, fauna and biodiversity and also by our increased knowledge of historical climates and weather events. In this timely addition to the New Naturalist Library, leading climatologist John Kington offers a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the diverse climate of the British Isles. Examining the ways in which regional climates evolve from the interplay of meteorological conditions and geography of the British Isles, the author analyses the climatic characteristics and provides a historical overview of changing weather patterns, which is complemented by fascinating and never-before published photographs. Kington reviews the many ways in which people have observed and recorded weather conditions throughout the ages. It is a story based on a rich and varied resource stretching back 2,000 years. This approach has allowed climatic trends, anomalies and extremes to be identified over the past two millennia, putting our present experience of weather into striking perspective.IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: For those with an interest in British climate and weather or who collect the New Naturalist series. Scott, S. David and Casey McFarland. Bird Feathers: A Guide to North American Species. 2010. Stackpole Books. Paperback: 358 pages. Price: $34.95 U.S. [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: This guide teaches birders to use the characteristics of wing types and feather morphology to identify feathers - not only by species but also by their place on the bird's body.The introductory chapters give a detailed overview of the feather - how feathers developed, the parts of a single feather, and the variety of types of feathers on a bird. In the feather identification section, more than 400 color photographs show feather samples from 379 bird species from all over North America. Along with the wing type of the species and a map showing its range, several types of feathers are included for each bird; each feather is labeled with its type and its size.IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: North American birders will want to have this book! Other naturalists with a general interest in birds or feathers will find it useful. British and European books that are similar include: Feathers: Identification for Bird Conservation [NHBS] and The Tracks and Signs of the Birds of Britain and Europe: An Identification Guide. [Amazon UK] New and recent titles: Ayala, Francisco J. Am I A Monkey? Six Big Questions about Evolution. 2010. Johns Hopkins University Press. Hardbound: 85 pages. Price: $12.95 U.S. [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: Despite the ongoing cultural controversy in America, evolution remains a cornerstone of science. In this book, Francisco J. Ayala - an evolutionary biologist, member of the National Academy of Sciences, and winner of the National Medal of Science and the Templeton Prize - cuts to the chase in a daring attempt to address, in nontechnical language, six perennial questions about evolution:• Am I a Monkey?• Why Is Evolution a Theory?• What Is DNA?• Do All Scientists Accept Evolution?• How Did Life Begin?• Can One Believe in Evolution and God?This to-the-point book answers each of these questions with force. Ayala's occasionally biting essays refuse to lend credence to disingenuous ideas and arguments. He lays out the basic science that underlies evolutionary theory, explains how the process works, and soundly makes the case for why evolution is not a threat to religion.Brief, incisive, topical, authoritative, Am I a Monkey? will take you a day to read and a lifetime to ponder.IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: A very good introduction on the subject. Drisdelle, Rosemary. Parasites: Tales of Humanity's Most Unwelcome Guests. 2010. University of California Press. Hardbound: 258 pages. Price: $27.50 U.S. [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: Hidden away within living tissues, parasites are all around us - and inside us. Yet, despite their unsavoury characteristics, as we find in this compulsively readable book, parasites have played an enormous role in civilisations through time and around the globe. Parasites: Tales of Humanity's Most Unwelcome Guests puts amoebae, roundworms, tapeworms, mites, and others at the centre of the action as human cultures have evolved and declined. It shows their role in exploration, war, and even terrorist plots, often through an unpredictable ripple effect. It reveals them as invisible threats in our food, water, and luggage; as invaders that have shaped behaviors and taboos; and as unexpected partners in such venues as crime scene investigations. Parasites also describes their evolution and life histories and considers their significant benefits. Deftly blending the sociological with the scientific, this natural and social history of parasites looks closely at a fascinating, often disgusting group of organisms and discovers that they are in fact an integral thread in the web of life.IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: An interesting guide to what's eating you, literally! Not for the squeamish! Taylor, Richard Cachor. Birds of Southeastern Arizona. 2010. R.W. Morse Company. Paperback: 430 pages. Price: $19.95 U.S. [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: Birds of Southeastern Arizona is an identification guide for the birds that live in, or migrate through, Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise Counties, as well as southern Maricopa, Pinal, Graham, and Greenlee Counties, an area of approximately 25,000 square miles.The Species Account pages provide colour photographs of 640 birds and have a companion page with key information about birds. Elevation Charts (exclusive to this new title) show during which season and at what elevation most birds can be found.A Quick Guide to Local Birds provides an easy colour-coded means to find birds in the book.Common Local Birds shows photographs of the most common birds in southeastern Arizona.There are a number of sections of the book designed for the beginning and expert birder:· Identifying Birds (how to tell one bird from another)· Bird Habitats in Southeastern Arizona (habitat map and text describes ten primary habitats)· Elevation Charts (show elevation and seasonal occurrence)· Helpful Resources (where to get more information)· Index/Checklist (use this checklist to record your bird sightings) IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: A good introduction to the birds of the region. You can read the early Birdbooker Reports in the archives on my former ScienceBlogs site, and Ian has his own website, The Birdbooker Report, where you can read his synopses about newly published science, nature and animal books.GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Why do diseases love a good festival? | Riazat Butt The Lancet is holding a conference on mass gatherings and how to prevent the globalisation of infection. Appropriately, says Riazat Butt, the venue is Jeddah, gateway to the hajjLater this month the Lancet is holding a conference on mass-gathering medicine and biosecurity, looking at best practice and lessons learned from Obama's inauguration, the 2010 World Cup and the hajj.The location – the Saudi city of Jeddah – could not be more appropriate. It is the gateway for the millions who arrive in the country every year to perform the religious pilgrimage. The hajj is one of the largest, most frequent and most diverse mass gathering. It is also a field day for disease, mainly "hajj flu" – a combination of cold symptoms, exhaustion, dehydration and malnourishment – as well as cholera, polio and meningitis.While researching a story about the Foreign Office scrapping its medical delegation to the hajj, I came across a paper in the Lancet that raised a few of the many health issues thrown up by the Islamic pilgrimage. It said a study suggested the average pilgrim had a disproportionate number of pre-existing health problems and did not have "adequate health literacy" or advanced healthcare before the pilgrimage, and that the transmission of infectious disease during mass gatherings had a global effect when visitors returned home.The possibility of natural disasters and civil disturbances complicates the surveillance and management of communicable diseases.Biosecurity and mass gathering medicine concerns are not restricted to the hajj. Earlier this year the Hindu Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, India, attracted around 50 million pilgrims between January and April, with around 16 million people in attendance when the festival ended on 14 April.With no sign that people are losing their appetites to travel long distances and endure crowded, sometimes dangerous, conditions for sporting, religious or cultural events, the organisers hope the Jeddah conference will be a starting point for more internationally co-ordinated research into mass-gathering medicine.Infectious diseasesMedical researchMedical advice for travellersHealthDoctorsHealth policyRiazat Buttguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Australian's Ottoman treasure hunt stalled An attempt by a Greek-Australian prospector to find a hoard of Ottoman treasure in Greece has run into trouble. abc.net.au |