[Due to this article's length, there is no podcast - do you really want to hear my voice for thirty minutes straight? Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go read my daughter a bedtime story. ...That poor kid. -Andy]
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By Andy Kaiser
Article ID: 144
As some of you know, I’m writing the first book in what will hopefully be a young adult mystery series called “The League of Scientists“. It takes place in the “real world” – it’s not fantasy or science fiction. It’s about the adventures of friends who use critical thinking and applied science to solve seemingly-supernatural mysteries.
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By Nicholas Covington
Article ID: 143
Can miracles occur today?
Let’s look at the evidence by examining three kinds of miracles: One type is “Marian apparitions”. Another is the spontaneous remission of cancer, in which malignant tumors reduce or disappear, and can’t be attributed to any standard medical treatment. The final type is what I call “mundane miracles”, seemingly inexplicable and fortunate events which people attribute to the supernatural.
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By Nicholas Covington
Article ID: 142
In my journey of skeptical thinking, I have gradually realized the quirks in human thinking that so often lead me astray. I want to share these habits of good skepticism so others may have a better chance of finding truth.
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By Andy Kaiser
Article ID: 1350
2009 has been an interesting year for skeptics.
Our skeptical partners-in-crime are busier than ever: late in 2008, Phil Plait took over as president of the James Randi Educational Foundation, but after a presidency lasting about a year, Phil passed on the reigns to D.J. Grothe. The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe continued their dual missions: 1) increase the prevalence and force of the skeptical mindset, and 2) put all other podcasts to shame.
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By Nicholas Covington
Article ID: 1349
Let’s examine the evidence for a god’s existence. Some arguments are well-known and very well covered, like the Problem of Evil, the First Cause Argument, the Argument from Design. Instead, let’s look at four lesser-known, overlooked oddities. Welcome to the strange world of religious apologizing. read more…
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By Andy Kaiser
Article ID: 1348
On October 9, 2009, NASA’s LCROSS mission (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) slammed a “Centaur” rocket into the moon, into a dark, ancient crater named “Cabeus”. After a silent explosion of moon guts, the rocket was destroyed. The resulting ejecta was huge, measuring six miles across. NASA then surveyed that moon plume, and found water. Even in the tiny section of the plume that the instruments could survey, they found about 27 gallons of water! H2O! Translucent gold!
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By Sandra L Hubscher
Article ID: 1347
[Editor’s note: The author submitted this article with the following private message. It’s important enough that, with the author’s permission, I’m posting it here:
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By Nicholas Covington
Article ID: 1346
I have just finished reading what is now one of my favorite books. At the time of this writing, it was published precisely 150 years ago. Ever since, it’s been a brilliant, revolutionary, and even dangerous work. The book I read is “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection” by Charles Darwin. I cherish this book for many reasons: Because I am an outspoken defender of Darwin’s ideas, because of the careful reasoning and observation Darwin showed in the book, because of the joy in learning about how living things came to be, because of the fascinating and airtight case Darwin had for evolution (even in spite of his ignorance of genetics and the meager fossil record of the time), and because this book has so much relevance today, even though it was written a century and a half ago.
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