Two centuries after Charles Darwin’s birth on Feb. 12, 1809, people still argue passionately about his theory of evolution. Was Darwin right? Should schoolchildren be exposed to contrary views in science class? These two controversies continue to rage, partly because both sides are evenly matched. Most scientists and courts that have ruled on the matter say that overwhelming evidence backs Darwin’s explanation of the origin and evolution of species, including humans, by natural selection. Many people, especially religious and social conservatives, strongly disagree. Among them are ‘creationists,’ who take literally the Genesis story that God created the world and mankind in six days no more than 10,000 years ago. Others support ‘intelligent design,’ the idea that life is too complex to have arisen without a supernatural ‘designer,’ presumably God. Public opinion surveys consistently have shown that Americans are deeply divided over evolution. The most recent Gallup poll on the issue, in June 2007, found that 49 percent of those surveyed said they believed in evolution and 48 percent said they didn’t. Those percentages have stayed almost even for at least 25 years. Gallup found a political angle to the split. Two-thirds of Republicans rejected […]
NEW DELHI — India is planning to produce a laptop computer for the knockdown price of about $20, having come up with the Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car at about $2,000. The project, backed by New Delhi, would considerably undercut the so-called ‘$100 laptop,’ otherwise known as the Children’s Machine or XO, that was designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology of the US. The Children’s Machine, which received a cool reception in India, is the centrepiece of the One Laptop Per Child charity initiative launched by Nicholas Negroponte, the computer scientist and former director of MIT’s Media Lab. Intel launched a similar product, called Classmate, in response. India’s $20 laptop would also undercut the EeePC, made by Taiwan’s Asustek. The EeePC was the first ultra-cheap, scaled-down laptop (a new category known as a netbook) launched worldwide through commercial channels. It does not have a hard drive and sells for $200-$400. India’s ‘Sakshat’ laptop is intended to boost distance learning to help India fulfill its overwhelming educational needs. It forms part of a broader plan to improve e-learning at more than 18,000 colleges and 400 universities. However, some analysts are sceptical that a $20 laptop […]
A senior family planning official in China has noted an alarming rise in the number of babies with birth defects, a Chinese media report says. Jiang Fan, from China’s National Population and Family Planning Commission, said environmental pollution was a cause of the increase. The coal-mining heartland of Shanxi province had the biggest problem. China has reported the trend before, and it was not clear if Mr Jiang was commenting on new or old statistics. A 2007 commission report said the rate of defects had risen 40% since 2001, from 104.9 per 10,000 births to 145.5 in 2006. Officials blame emissions from Shanxi’s large coal and chemical industry for the problems there. ‘The problem of birth defects is related to environmental pollution, especially in eight main coal zones,’ said An Huanxiao, the director of Shanxi provincial family planning agency. ‘Prevention plan’ Mr Jiang said a child was born with physical defects every 30 seconds because of the degrading environment. Correspondents say the report suggests there is a human cost to China’s rapid economic development. Researchers also blamed exposure to nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulates for the increase. ‘The […]
WASHINGTON — Chief Warrant Officer James Brad Smith broke five ribs, punctured a lung and shattered bones in his hand and thigh after falling more than 20 feet from a Black Hawk helicopter in Baghdad last month. While he was recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, his doctor suggested he add acupuncture to his treatment to help with the pain. On a recent morning, Col. Richard Niemtzow, an Air Force physician, carefully pushed a short needle into part of Smith’s outer ear. The soldier flinched, saying it felt like he ‘got clipped by something.’ By the time three more of the tiny, gold alloy needles were arranged around the ear, though, the pain from his injuries began to ease. ‘My ribs feel numb now and I feel it a little less in my hand,’ Smith said, raising his injured arm. ‘The pain isn’t as sharp. It’s maybe 50 percent better.’ Acupuncture involves placing very thin needles at specific points on the body to try to control pain and reduce stress. There are only theories about how, why and even whether it might work. Regardless, the ancient Chinese practice has been gradually catching […]
The income of the 400 wealthiest Americans swelled in 2006, soaring nearly 23 percent from the previous year, to an average of $263 million, according to data released Thursday by the Internal Revenue Service. Since 1996, this group has nearly doubled its share of all income earned in the United States. The top 400 paid just more than $18 billion in federal income taxes in 2006, or an average of $45 million, on a record $105 billion in total income – the lowest effective tax rate in the 15 years since the agency began releasing such data. That compares with nearly $1 trillion paid by all other individual taxpayers in 2006. The gains for the richest took place amid a booming economy, in which hedge funds and private equity firms blossomed and the subprime lending machine went into high gear. The rising wealth of the nation’s richest taxpayers will most likely intensify debate among tax and policy analysts about the equitability of the tax code, which analysts say favors the ultrawealthy. Tax cuts enacted by the Bush administration that benefit the wealthy are set to expire by 2011. ‘Until recently, we had a financial […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
