THE FINE-TUNING DESIGN ARGUMENT By Robin Collins From Reason for the Hope Within (1999) I. INTRODUCTION(1) The Evidence of Fine-tuning Suppose we went on a mission to Mars, and found a domed structure in which everything was set up just right for life to exist. The temperature, for example, was set around 70o F [...]
Something from Nothing? A Vacuum Can Yield Flashes of Light "Virtual particles" can become real photons--under the right conditions By Charles Q. Choi on February 12, 2013 A vacuum might seem like empty space, but scientists have discovered a new way [...]
Spontaneous Prebiotic Formation of a β-Ribofuranoside That Self-Assembles with a Complementary Heterocycle Abstract The RNA World hypothesis is central to many current theories regarding the origin and early evolution of life. However, the formation of RNA by plausible prebiotic reactions remains problematic. Formidable challenges include glycosidic bond formation between ribose and the canonical nucleobases, as [...]
A Critique of the Anthropic Principle Daniel J. Castellano (2000, 2006) The gradual separation of physics from philosophy over the last 400 years has had its advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, the autonomy of quantitative physics has enabled a robust development of mathematical theory which corresponds to repeatable empirical measurements to an astoundingly high [...]
Saudi Arabia to build world's tallest tower, reaching 1 kilometer into the sky By Daisy Carrington, for CNN Updated 0940 GMT (1740 HKT) April 18, 2014 Photos: The Jeddah tower rises from the desert Dubai, long champion of all things biggest, longest and most expensive, will soon have some competition from neighboring Saudi Arabia. Dubai's iconic Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest [...]
L. B. Flick and N. G. Lederman (eds): Scientific Inquiry and Nature of Science: Implications for Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education Springer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, 2004, ISBN 13 978-1-4020-5150-0, 453 pp, price: 69,95€ Mustafa Cakir Science & Education volume 20, pages381–387(2011)Cite this article 1165 Accesses 1 Citations Metricsdetails This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access. References American [...]
Spontaneous formation and base pairing of plausible prebiotic nucleotides in water Brian J. Cafferty, David M. Fialho, Jaheda Khanam, Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy & Nicholas V. Hud Nature Communications volume 7, Article number: 11328 (2016) Cite this article 3484 Accesses 57 Citations 225 Altmetric Metricsdetails Abstract The RNA World hypothesis presupposes that abiotic reactions originally produced nucleotides, the monomers of RNA and universal constituents of metabolism. However, [...]
Is consciousness just an illusion? By Anna Buckley BBC Science Radio Unit Published4 April 2017 Share IMAGE COPYRIGHTSCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY image captionIs the human brain really just a collection of complex machines? The cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett believes our brains are machines, made of billions of tiny "robots" - our neurons, or brain cells. Is [...]
Largest ever object put into quantum state. Geoff Brumfiel A team of scientists has succeeded in putting an object large enough to be visible to the naked eye into a mixed quantum state of moving and not moving. Andrew Cleland at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his team cooled a tiny metal paddle [...]
Abstract The emergence of the ribosome constituted a pivotal step in the evolution of life. This event happened nearly four billion years ago, and any traces of early stages of ribosome evolution are generally thought to have completely eroded away. Surprisingly, a detailed analysis of the structure of the modern ribosome reveals a concerted and [...]
