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Search found 29 matches

by Tom Rees
April 30th, 2008, 10:25 am
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Do you "believe" in evolution?
Replies: 13
Views: 2267

Re: Do you "believe" in evolution?

Am I the only one whose hackles rise at this question? To me it seems to be reducing evolution to the status of something fanciful like a religion or fung shui or the tooth fairy. It's a real communication problem because 'believe' and 'believe in' are two different things: I believe it will rain l...
by Tom Rees
April 24th, 2008, 1:49 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Replies: 7
Views: 1696

Re: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

I found this on YouTube for a new movie, called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGCxbhGaVfE&feature=related In an interview with Ben Stein he actually said he thinks the holocaust would not have happend if it wasn't for Darwinism. What I'd like to know is how these...
by Tom Rees
March 26th, 2008, 9:26 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Stem Cell Research and the definition of life
Replies: 20
Views: 3229

Re: Stem Cell Research and the definition of life

What if our horrified reaction to the idea of infant euthanasia is not so much "built-in" as learned, a consequence of powerful cultural (and in particular religious) influences? I think that's a fair point, and I think a large part (if not all) of it is learned. As we all know you can quite easily...
by Tom Rees
March 26th, 2008, 9:13 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Stem Cell Research and the definition of life
Replies: 20
Views: 3229

Re: Stem Cell Research and the definition of life

Thanks for the explanation, Tom. A further question if I may: A sperm and egg, united in the womb, will develop into a human of some sort, unless aborted naturally or artificially. What is the current and future theoretical maximum time stem cells could survive in the lab without being implanted? Y...
by Tom Rees
March 26th, 2008, 6:19 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Stem Cell Research and the definition of life
Replies: 20
Views: 3229

Re: Stem Cell Research and the definition of life

There obviously isn't an easy divide between embryo and human, but I would have thought that using a measure such as resemblance to a human would be fraught with difficulties and open to individual interpretation. Is this the same with brain function or is this more easily defined and therefore les...
by Tom Rees
March 25th, 2008, 9:13 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Stem Cell Research and the definition of life
Replies: 20
Views: 3229

Re: Stem Cell Research and the definition of life

However, once they turn into an embryo that would qualify it as a human life wouldn't it? It would if you're a catholic :) I wouldn't say that an early-stage embryo (i.e. a ball of cells) is a human life. According to the bill, you have to destroy the embryo by 14 days (and you're not allowed to im...
by Tom Rees
March 24th, 2008, 9:30 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Stem Cell Research and the definition of life
Replies: 20
Views: 3229

Re: Stem Cell Research and the definition of life

Whilst I don't accept that harvesting stem cells is equivalent to homicide ! i.e. killing a human person I am curious as to what the definition of life that is widely accepted by biologists would be. There is no generally accepted definition of life - they all fall down in some way. From a biologic...
by Tom Rees
October 30th, 2007, 4:33 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Anything but Elementary, Dr Watson
Replies: 11
Views: 2084

..so please advise if I have got the wrong end of the stick. Are you suggesting that researching intelligence should be illegal? Hi yes, sorry that’s not what I was trying to say. My basic point is that I can’t vote in your poll on whether Watson’s are illegitimate, because I don’t think it’s a mea...
by Tom Rees
October 30th, 2007, 12:35 pm
Forum: Humanist Vegetarian Group
Topic: NEW GOOGLE EMAIL GROUP
Replies: 4
Views: 2809

Re: NEW GOOGLE EMAIL GROUP

HVG has now set up a new Google email group to help its supporters keep in touch. Its purpose is somewhat different to this Forum, which is open to all, as can been seen from the Invitation Announcement which I have copied below. Good call - hope it works well. I'd like to do something similar with...
by Tom Rees
October 30th, 2007, 10:09 am
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Anything but Elementary, Dr Watson
Replies: 11
Views: 2084

Come, come, Tom. That won't do. His opinion is based on his interpretation of science. He may be wrong, but how can anyone say anything without it being reduced to a mere 'opinion'? That's exactly what I mean. You can't have an 'illegitimate' interpretation of the science - the word illegitimate im...
by Tom Rees
October 26th, 2007, 10:08 am
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Anything but Elementary, Dr Watson
Replies: 11
Views: 2084

What Watson was expounding was an opinion. Opinions aren't science, although science can (and should) inform them). Illegitimate science is science confounded by malpractice (i.e. cheating in your experiments), and scientific experiments that aren't approved by appropriate legal or ethical committee...
by Tom Rees
October 18th, 2007, 11:51 am
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: BHA Science Group Blog
Replies: 0
Views: 1511

BHA Science Group Blog

The BHA Science Group has a new(ish) blog. Come over and check it out fromm time to time. Anyone who's a member of the group can post.

http://bhascience.blogspot.com/

Cheers, Tom.
by Tom Rees
October 8th, 2007, 3:03 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Advertising Standards Authority
Replies: 103
Views: 36323

Re: Advertising Standards Authority

What do they mean by 'open minded'? Could you construct an argument that showed this was misleading? I think they may be entitled to discriminate against atheists because they are a private organisation (I think, but this is based on the what happened in the USA). I think they're entitled to exclud...
by Tom Rees
October 6th, 2007, 9:39 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Advertising Standards Authority
Replies: 103
Views: 36323

Re: Advertising Standards Authority

The Advertising Standards Authority's website is here . I'll occasionally publish interesting adjudications in this thread to show the kinds of things that can be successfully complained about. Hi Alan, I was at Sainsbury's today, where the scouts had a big poster up saying that you need to be 'ope...
by Tom Rees
September 28th, 2007, 9:20 am
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Air car
Replies: 46
Views: 5667

Alan C. wrote:Too late to edit :cross: so I'll add here, the guy that developed the car mysteriously disappeared last October, and hasn't been heard of since.
He's still listed as a Director at their website. So perhaps they found him?
by Tom Rees
September 26th, 2007, 9:08 am
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Do you BOINC?
Replies: 5
Views: 1989

Darn and damn, got the url wrong... http://boinc.berkeley.edu/ Well, we're up to number 1059 in the rankings :nod: But no new members :sad: And the Dawkins Foundation has come in with a rocket at number 772 :cross: Come on folks if you have computer on for a large chunk of the day then... well it's...
by Tom Rees
September 25th, 2007, 9:43 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Complementary therapies
Replies: 577
Views: 256769

I suspect the degree of personal attention is what really makes the difference. When it comes to pain, distraction is an extremely effective remedy, of course. There was an interesting study recently that showed that, for kids being given an injection, having mum present was better than analgesic a...
by Tom Rees
September 25th, 2007, 2:28 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Starch and human evolution
Replies: 3
Views: 1670

Re: Starch

Thanks for this response. I will pass it on to Stephen of the HVG as he has a particular interest and knoweldge (much more than mine) of evolution and should find both items of interest. :thumbsup: Hi Chris, bring him along to the forum! I tried tracking down some proper science on human brain evol...
by Tom Rees
September 25th, 2007, 2:25 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Complementary therapies
Replies: 577
Views: 256769

Talk about a misleading headline - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7011738.stm It's not until paragraph 4 that you get the telling sentence, " The Archives of Internal Medicine study also found fake acupuncture to work nearly as well as the real thing. " The fake acupuncture also involved stickin...
by Tom Rees
September 23rd, 2007, 9:15 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Starch and human evolution
Replies: 3
Views: 1670

Re: Starch and human evolution

There is a link to a BBC article on scientific research into the importance of starch, rather than meat, in human evolution ----- in the Humanist Vegetarian Forum. Chris The science itself is very interesting but the headline-grabbing 'speculation' seems to me to based on a misunderstanding of evol...