Godless Girl

… and her adventures in Atheism

Archive for category science

I Apologize to Science!

Aug 11

Posted by Godless Girl in Your Daily Woo, randomness, science, skepticism and freethought | 11 Comments

May I present you with today’s episode of Your Daily Woo, brought to you—very unfortunately—by me. Try to figure out why I’m ashamed to have bought the following product:
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I swear I didn’t know! It was 2009! I didn’t even use them! If I had realized what the label claimed, I wouldn’t have bought the silly things.

Dear science, please forgive me for purchasing homeopathic “medicine.”

The label says “No risk of side effects. No expiration date.” Of course there are no side effects and no expiration date. There’s nothing in them to cause a reaction! The main ingredient is bullshit.

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Louisiana School Board Considers Adding Creationism to Science Class

Jul 26

Posted by Godless Girl in christianity, science, the bible | 5 Comments

creationismWhat is it about the South and teaching creationism in school? Here comes another one:

The Livingston Parish School Board will begin exploring the possibility of incorporating the teaching of “creationism” in the public school system’s science classes.

During the board’s meeting Thursday, several board members expressed an interest in the teaching of creationism, an alternative to the study of the theory of evolution, in Livingston Parish public school classrooms.

Benton said that under provisions of the Science Education Act enacted last year by the Louisiana Legislature, schools can present what she termed “critical thinking and creationism” in science classes.

Board Member David Tate quickly responded: “We let them teach evolution to our children, but I think all of us sitting up here on this School Board believe in creationism. Why can’t we get someone with religious beliefs to teach creationism?”

Fellow board member Clint Mitchell responded, “I agree … you don’t have to be afraid to point out some of the fallacies with the theory of evolution. Teachers should have the freedom to look at creationism and find a way to get it into the classroom.”

(source)

This “Science Education Act” is basically a way to legalize a rape of the scientific process to get creationism into schools under the guise of “critical thinking”…  My ass. Basically, it’s a shortcut to give religious mythology a way into the classroom without requiring any evidence, testable theories, peer-reviewed research, or any science at all, actually.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Creationism in the Classroom

Jul 6

Posted by Godless Girl in christianity, god, religion, science, the bible, videos | 13 Comments

This is what it’s like when you teach that believing an illogical and impossible myth by faith is better than observing the real world and not making shit up.

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Why Doesn’t God Heal Amputees? We May Have the Answer.

Mar 16

Posted by Godless Girl in christianity, god, news, science | 11 Comments

amputee

Photo by The Cambodia Trust (flickr.com)

There is no god. Even if there were, it clearly doesn’t give a damn about you missing some bodily tissue. If it did, it could fix it! How do we know this? Science!

The fabulous website whywontgodhealamputees.com is based on the challenge that if a god is all-powerful, all-loving, and promises to answer prayer, then why won’t this god heal someone who has a missing limb? It’s never happened, and we know it never will. At least, not through prayer.

An exciting landmark has been reached in regards to a gene that may regulate tissue regeneration in mammals (that means humans too, Creationists!). This ability to replace damaged flesh with healthy, scar-free flesh seems to be triggered by the loss of the p21 gene. When the p21 gene is lacking, cells behave more like embryonic stem cells rather than adult cells.

“Much like a newt that has lost a limb, these mice will replace missing or damaged tissue with healthy tissue that lacks any sign of scarring,” said the project’s lead scientist Ellen Heber-Katz, Ph.D., a professor in Wistar’s Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis program. “While we are just beginning to understand the repercussions of these findings, perhaps, one day we’ll be able to accelerate healing in humans by temporarily inactivating the p21 gene.”

[Andrew Snyder, Ph.D. stated,] “In normal cells, p21 acts like a brake to block cell cycle progression in the event of DNA damage, preventing the cells from dividing and potentially becoming cancerous,” Heber-Katz said. “In these mice without p21, we do see the expected increase in DNA damage, but surprisingly no increase in cancer has been reported.”

(Read the rest over at PhysOrg)

If it may work on a mouse, could tissue regeneration be available to humans in the future? Do you think this would encourage or stifle the superstitions about divine healing?

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