PLEASE NOTE:
*
CCNet, 09/2000 - 24 January 2000
--------------------------------
QUOTES OF THE DAY
"[We] witnessed an extraordinary
bright light in the sky. It
got very dark, then very bright, then it
went pitch black and
returned to an orange pink colour.
Seconds later, a
massive explosion was felt, and it was
rather traumatic.”
-- Gina Nagano, on the
Yukon impact event
"While there is much doubt by many
other scientists that the flu
comes from space, Hoyle and
Wickramasinghe are
generating a lot of interest with their
idea.”
-- Robert Roy Britt
"It should be noted that these
particles are of such sizes that
they would not be destructively heated
whilst being stopped in
the stratosphere. Thus some 10^25 or
more bacterial/viral
particles would be available annually
for descent through the
troposphere to serve as the nuclei of
raindrops, and thence to
fall to ground level. In a typical
influenza pandemic with 10^9
people shedding some 10^11 viral
particles each throughout an
year, the total number of viruses exuded
by humans will be 10^20
- several orders of magnitude less than
the number of
viral/bacterial particles from comets
reaching the surface of the
Earth."
-- Sir
Fred Hoyle & Chandra Wickramasinghe
(1) AIRCRAFT TRIES TO COLLECT METEOR DATA OVER CANADA
ASTRONOMY NOW, 23 January 2000
(2) SKY-HIGH DRAMA MESMERIZES YUKONERS
WHITEHORSE STAR, 21 January 2000
(3) GERMS FROM OUTER SPACE
Robert Roy Britt
(4) HOW COMETARY BIOMOLECULES CAN INFLUENCE OUR HEALTH
Sir Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe <xdw20@dial.pipex.com>
(5) EARLIEST TERRESTRIAL LIFE RECORDS AND THE
PANSPERMIA HYPOTHESIS
Andrew Glikson <geospectral@spirit.com.au>
(6) STARDUST COMPLETES MOST CRITICAL MANEUVER OF
COMET-CATCHING MISSION
Space.com, 21 January 2000
(7) NEAR MISSION STATUS REPORT, 21 January 2000
NEAR Mission Status Reports <pettee@jhuapl.edu>
(8) MEME WARS: WHY DARWINISTS ARE AT EACH OTHERS THROATS -
ABOUT NEO-CATASTROPHISM, GOD AND RELIGION
http://www.nonzero.org/newyorker.htm
(9) AND FINALLY: WEST WARNED ON CLIMATE REFUGEES
BBC Online News, 24 January 2000
===============
(1) AIRCRAFT TRIES TO COLLECT METEOR DATA OVER CANADA
From ASTRONOMY NOW, 23 January 2000
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/0001/23nasaer2meteor/
NASA/DFRC NEWS RELEASE
Posted: Jan. 23, 2000
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., participated
in a
data recovery mission for one of the largest meteor events of the
past
10 years.
One of Dryden's Airborne Sciences ER-2 aircraft flew to the Yukon
Territory of northwestern Canada on January 21, 2000, in an
effort to
collect atmospheric samples of a very large meteor that exploded
at an
altitude of 25 kilometers (15.6 miles) on January 18, 2000. The
region,
near the town of Carcross, is predominantly unpopulated.
Samples of the debris cloud and vapor trail were gathered at an
altitude
of 65,000 feet with an instrument called the Aerosol Particulate
Sampler
(APS). The APS is a system of two small five-inch by four-inch
paddles
that deploy simultaneously from the ER-2's left wingtip. The
paddles
have silicone oil on them that, when exposed to the airstream for
a
sufficient amount of time, collect particles from the
stratosphere. Then
the paddles are withdrawn into hermetic enclosures to avoid
contamination during the aircraft's return to Dryden. The paddles
will
be removed and sent to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston,
Texas for
analysis.
Dryden's ER-2 also carried a camera, called the Dual RC-10,
capable of
taking black and white photos of eight-mile wide swaths of the
region in
an effort to locate any impact craters and other scarring of the
earth,
such as flattened areas of forest, that may have been caused by
the
explosion and impact of meteorites that separated from the
meteor.
Scientists are very interested in discovering the composition of
the
meteor in an effort to learn more about its origins and makeup.
The Department of Defense is interested in knowing the
composition of
the meteor in order to calibrate sensors that detected the
fireball.
Collection of cosmic dust or meteorite samples would permit this.
The meteor detonated with the energy of two to three kilotons of
TNT.
The extremely bright fireball was detected by defense satellites
and
recorded on seismic monitoring instruments. The meteor produced
twin
sonic booms and a sizzling sound over Alaska and northwestern
Canada.
The unexpected visitor ionized the atmosphere as it entered,
leaving a
glowing vapor trail that could be seen up to one and a half hours
afterwards. Two bright green flashes were observed. A foul odor
could be
detected in the region in the hours following the event.
On June 30, 1908, a huge explosion occurred in the sky above the
central
Siberian wilderness near the Tunguska River in Russia. The
concussion
from the blast, estimated at 20 megatons of TNT, leveled trees in
an
area nearly 40 miles in diameter. Oddly, the explosion produced
no
crater or other evidence of impact.
Scientists at NASA and the University of Wisconsin conducted a
computer
simulation that strongly suggests that the Tunguska culprit was
an
asteroid, the most common class of meteorite. The simulation
indicated
that an asteroid about 100 feet in diameter and moving at a speed
of 10
miles per second would disintegrate at a height of about five
miles
above the ground - approximately the same altitude at which the
Tunguska
object is believed to have exploded. Information gleaned from the
January 18 meteorite in Canada might enhance understanding of the
Tunguska event.
© 2000 Pole Star Publications Ltd
==============
(2) SKY-HIGH DRAMA MESMERIZES YUKONERS
From WHITEHORSE STAR, 21 January 2000
http://www.whitehorsestar.com
By Sigrun Maria Kristinsdottir
Many Yukoners, Alaskans and northern British Columbians were
rattled
and mesmerized by a light in the dark morning sky at
approximately
8:44. Drivers stopped their vehicles to to alight and gape, and
school students and staff emptied their classrooms to watch the
drama.
“What you’ve seen is a very bright meteor of the class
known as a
fireball,” said Dr. Jeremy Tatum, a representative of
Meteorites and
Impact Advisory Committee to the Canadian Space Agency in
Victoria.
“The description of this light going through the sky, the
noises
that were heard to accompany it and the trail that was left
behind,
that’s all typical of a bright fireball.”
One witness to the meteorite described sitting in his car,
perplexed
by what appeared to be an instant change in the amount of
daylight.
And then it was dark again. But almost instantaneously, there was
another flash, as though a street light had blown out. And then
another, before the last in the pulsating flashes of light lit up
the sky as if it was mid-day. Looking skyward, the burning streak
shot southward across the sky and disappeared as quickly as it
came.
It was probably a few meters in size, and travelled at 10 times
the
speed of sound, said Tatum. He said he did not know yet if it or
any
fragments of the meteorites hit the ground. The committee will be
getting satellite pictures and infra-sound records, said Tatum.
“If something did land, it’s almost impossible to find
it unless
someone actually saw it land.”
In a press release from the Yukon government, it says that
reports
from NAV Canada and seismic information from the Pacific Geo
Science
Centre indicate a suspected meteorite hit the ground near
Carcross
this morning. No reports have been filed of any damage or injury,
and it appears to have landed away from settled areas, says the
press release.
The Yukon’s Emergency Measures Organization is working with
Emergency Preparedness Canada, Natural Resources Canada and the
RCMP
to gather more information on the object.
Air traffic controller Gerry Kuhn was on duty in the Whitehorse
control tower. “I was up here, and I saw it actually ...
coming down
through the sky down the Carcross Valley. It just lit up the
whole
sky,” said Kuhn. He added he got reports from the Takhini
Hot
Springs Road and Haines Junction that the object had been seen
there.
“So it must have come from that direction,” he said.
“(We don’t
know) much at this point,” Doug Caldwell, an emergency
communications officer, said late this morning.
“I’m waiting for some other information to come in. Our
main concern
right now is anybody who is going to go looking for this object,
whatever it may be, that they look after their own safety as a
priority.”
EMO officials have said the object landed somewhere in the
Carcross
area, near or at Caribou Mountain, and Caldwell said there are
always
avalanche threats and other mountain related dangers that can
occur.
Cpl. Gina Nagano of the Carcross RCMP said the light pulsated.
“Carcross RCMP witnessed an extraordinary bright light in
the sky. It
got very dark, then very bright, then it went pitch black and
returned to an orange pink colour,” said Nagano. “Seconds
later, a
massive explosion was felt, and it was rather traumatic.”
Nagano added geologists are looking in the area for the object,
and
that she understood a helicopter was dispatched this
morning.
Caldwell said EMO anticipates this was a meteor.
“I’m assuming this is (a meteor). We’re not going
to know until
somebody’s got something that can show us what it is. All
indicators
right now are following the basic premise of being a meteorite,”
said Caldwell, adding that it was probably not a very big one.
Meteor is a rock, a piece of a comet or asteroid, that travels
through space. It dispatches energy as it comes through the
atmosphere, and that’s the reason for the light meteorites
cast,
Caldwell explained.
“Where we’re at astronomy wise, the planet is orbiting
right now
through a known belt of debris,” he added. “January 4
(was) the
largest meteor shower of the year.”
If the meteorite landed, it would have burned up all of the hot
material on the way, and would have been cold when it hit the
ground, Tatum explained. “People see meteorites in the sky
almost
every night,” said Doug Davidge, an environmental assessment
officer
with Environment Canada. He added they were trying to figure out
where the object landed, if it did in fact hit the ground.
Davidge
explained the loud noise heard seconds after it passed over could
mean either that it hit the ground or it could simply be the
noise
the object made as it passed through the air.
A smoke trail similar to contrails left by passenger jets, but
much
more colourful and mystic, could be seen in the sky for many
minutes
after the object passed over.
The light from the fireball was also seen in Atlin, B.C., said
RCMP
Cpl. Mike Stewart, who heard the noise it made. “This is the
second
one we’ve had in a week here reported to us.... We had a
report on
the 11th (of January) at 4 a.m. Some people south of Atlin, about
30
km, they reported a very similar thing as you’re hearing
this
morning,” said Stewart.
“They saw the tail of a meteorite, a big flash. Then they
heard a
big crash, a ‘boom’ and then it shook their cabin,”
said Stewart.
Martin Jasek is one of Yukon’s UFO investigators. Although
he didn’t
see the object personally, he said he had gotten reports of it.
“(This is) fairly common. There was a similar one that was
seen by
six people in ... December 1998. That was later at night, so not
as
many people saw it,” said Jasek. That meteor was seen all
the way
from Lake Laberge to Whitehorse, heading in more or less the same
north-to-south direction as this one was.
Jasek said that often meteors simply vaporise before they hit the
ground, but if they do crash, they can cause damage. Caldwell
stressed that if people are going to look for the object, they
should let someone know where they’re going; go with another
person;
and be prepared for the winter conditions.
Copyright, Whitehorse Star 1999.
http://www.whitehorsestar.com
=======================
(3) GERMS FROM OUTER SPACE
From Space.com, 21 Janaury 2000
http://www.space.com/science/planetearth/flu_in_space_000121.html
Germs From Outer Space! Researchers Say Flu Bugs Rain Down From
Beyond
By Robert Roy Britt
Your stomach cramps up. Fever skyrockets. Your whole body aches.
And
it's not just you. An influenza pandemic has broken out.
Everybody
is passing it to everybody. Right?
Maybe not. It could be that increasingly frequent sunspots are
driving the virus out of the stratosphere and into your body.
So say Sir Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe of the
University
of Wales at Cardiff. And while there is much doubt by many other
scientists that the flu comes from space, Hoyle and
Wickramasinghe
are generating a lot of interest with their idea.
In a new paper, to be published in an upcoming issue of the
Indian
journal Current Science, the researchers present data that show
how
previous periods of high sunspot activity coincided with flu
pandemics (large-scale epidemics). A roughly 11-year cycle of
solar
activity is increasing now and is expected to peak soon, other
scientists agree.
Hoyle and Wickramasinghe say we can expect another flu pandemic
to
accompany the solar peak "within weeks." By that claim,
perhaps
debate over their research will soon be settled.
Injecting the flu into our atmosphere
The researchers say that the virus, or a trigger that causes it,
is
deposited throughout space by dust in the debris stream of
comets,
which are thought by many researchers to harbor organic material.
As
Earth passes through the stream, dust (and perhaps the virus)
enters
our atmosphere, where it can lodge for two decades or more, until
gravity pulls it down.
"The intense solar activity at sunspot maximum that causes
bright
displays of aurorae also has the effect of driving viral
particles
or their triggers rapidly to ground level," the researchers
say.
Ionized gas from solar flares is channeled to Earth along
magnetic
field lines. The flow of charged particles emanating from the sun
generates electrical fields across stratosphere, accelerates the
downflow of virus or triggering mechanisms, Wickramasinghe
explained
in a telephone interview. In lower levels of the atmosphere, the
particles condense, ultimately coming down in raindrops.
They cite previous global epidemics as evidence that human
contact
does not account for the spread of influenza. In 1918, an
outbreak
occurred on the same day in Bombay and Boston, yet took another
three weeks to spread to New York. This occurred, Hoyle and
Wickramasinghe argue, because the virus can float down in
patches.
While Hoyle and Wickramasinghe have their supporters, some
researchers say the idea is flat wrong.
"There is scant evidence of any science going on here,"
said
Stanford University physicist Christopher Barrington-Leigh, who
studies the upper atmosphere and lower ionosphere.
"According to the
authors, solar activity 'will undoubtedly assist in the descent
of
charged molecular aggregates,' but this is unphysical and
unfounded."
"Despite addressing a possibly interesting topic, the
authors have
several factual errors, inconsistent and completely undeveloped
theories, a distinct lack of logic, and an alarmist rather than
scientific perspective," Barrington-Leigh told space.com.
Panspermia
Among those who support the idea of panspermia -- that the seeds
of
life are everywhere -- Hoyle and Wickramasinghe have their
supporters.
"In the 1970s, Hoyle and Wickramasinghe began to suspect
that life
on Earth could have come from space," says Brig Klyce, who
studies
cosmic ancestry and panspermia. "If so, wouldn't it still be
coming?
They decided to look for evidence that the germs causing plagues
and
epidemics come from space."
Klyce notes that several studies point to the presence of complex
organics in space. "Mainsteam science scoffs, but biology is
a
possible source for these chemicals," he says. "If
there is life,
like bacteria and viruses in space, some of it would naturally
fall
to Earth."
Other researchers agree that comet dust may harbor organic
matter,
and that it could transport it into Earth's atmosphere. But
during a
fiery entry, the organic matter's survival is questionable.
Touched by space dust
Matthew Genge, of the Department of Mineralogy at the London
Natural
History Museum, has estimated the amount of comet dust that
survives
entry into the lower atmosphere, and thus how frequently an
average-sized human might be struck.
Genge figures that if you live to be 5,000 years old, you'll
likely
encounter one comet dust particle. Were it to harbor a virus, you
would presumably have to inhale the particle, further reducing
the
odds of infection.
"Comet dust particles constantly rain from the skies --
around a
hundred thousand billion particles per year -- and some of these
will fall on people," Genge told space.com, adding that the
extremely light particles would probably not be noticed. Genge
said
that some of the dust particles could contain biomolecules.
"Although these chemicals are the basic building blocks of
DNA and
thus life, they are far from being viruses," Genge said.
"Coughs and
sneezes are thus unlikely to be a sign of a close encounter with
a
tiny visitor from space."
Copyright 2000, Space.com
=================
(4) HOW COMETARY BIOMOLECULES CAN INFLUENCE OUR HEALTH
From Sir Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe <xdw20@dial.pipex.com>
M.T. Genge's attempt to ridicule the possibility of cometary
biomolecules influencing humans at the Earth's surface ((CCNet,
21/01/00)
is regrettably flawed. The 40,000 tonnes of cometary debris
reaching the Earth
will not all be in the form of microgramme sized siliceous grains
of the
type considered by Genge. A fraction would inevitably be
comprised of
cometary organic particles that form part of the volatile
outgassing of
a comet. With an average mass per particle of some 4x10^15 g,
appropriate for small bacteria, the total number of
bacterial/viral
sized particles entering the Earth annually will be in excess of
10^25.
It should be noted that these particles are of such sizes that
they
would not be destructively heated whilst being stopped in the
stratosphere. Thus some 10^25 or more bacterial/viral particles
would
be available annually for descent through the troposphere to
serve as
the nuclei of raindrops, and thence to fall to ground level. In a
typical influenza pandemic with 10^9 people shedding some
10^11 viral
particles each throughout an year, the total number of viruses
exuded
by humans will be 10^20 - several orders of magnitude less than
the
number of viral/bacterial particles from comets reaching the
surface
of the Earth.
Fred Hoyle
Chandra Wickramasinghe
=======================
(5) EARLIEST TERRESTRIAL LIFE RECORDS AND THE PANSPERMIA
HYPOTHESIS
From Andrew Glikson <geospectral@spirit.com.au>
Dear Benny,
The following comments relate to observation and computer
modeling of
organic substances in stellar dust and nebulae, reported in CCNet
(22.1.00), with reference to geological and palaeontological
evidence
on the oldest terrestrial life forms known to date:
Oldest possible traces of life may be represented by isotopically
light
carbon in apatite (calcium phosphate) crystals in 3.8 billion
years
Greenland gneisses. In this case, panspermia would have
occurred during
the so-called Late Heavy Bombardment, represented by mare basins
on the
Moon, a time during which life anywhere in the solar system would
be
difficult to sustain, particularly if the earliest organisms were
devoid
of cell walls. No reasons have ever been given why
stromatolitic
bacteria - which constitute the oldest fossils recognized to date
(3.46
billion years-old - Hoffman et al., 1999, Bulletin of the
Geological
Society of America, 111, 1256-1262), are anything but Earthlings.
Principal proponents of space transport and panspermia come from
physics
and astronomy, while most biologists and palaeontologists view
the
panspermia hypothesis with skepticism.
Given a DNA breakdown temperature of about 150 degrees Celsius,
bacteria
would have been likely destroyed upon sun grazing of comets,
although it
is not impossible they were retained within interplanetary
meteorites.
Viruses, which can occur in a frozen crystallized state, contain
either
DNA or RNA but never both, and can therefore only reproduce
within a
living host. The essential molecules of life - DNA, RNA, ATP and
ADP
(adenosine tri- and di-phosphate) are not found in meteorites,
whose
carbon isotopic composition is heavier than those of biological
kerogen,
in similarity to the heavy carbon isotopic composition of the
Earth
mantle. PAH molecules (Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons) occur
ubiquitously in
a wide range of environments and are products of combustion of
organic
material and not necessarily evidence for pre-existence of
nucleic
acids. To date, despite intensive search, no bacterium spores
were found
in meteorites.
The reality of sub micron "nano bacteria" fossils,
claimed to occur in a
Mars-derived Antarctic meteorite ALH84001, is questioned by most
scientists (see recent books by W.J. Schopf - The Cradle of Life,
1999,
and by M.R. Walter - The Search for Life on Mars, 1999).
Doubts on the
reality of "nano bacteria" arise from observed
biological lower limits
on the size of living cells, and from the high temperature origin
of the
carbonate of which the putative fossils are made. The ubiquitous
amino
acids are abiologic building stones of nucleic acids, which could
only
be synthesized under restricted temperature and moisture
conditions.
Amino acids found in carbon-rich chondritic meteorites -
isobutaric acid
and racemic isovaline, believed to have been shock-modified
during deep
space impacts, and only occur on Earth in conjunction with impact
deposits such as at the K-T boundary:
THE LATTER OBSERVATION CONSTITUTES DEFINITIVE EVIDENCE FOR
TERRESTRIAL
ORIGIN OF THESE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, AND IS INCONSISTENT WITH
PANSPERMIA.
Andrew Glikson
Australian National University
Canberra, ACT 0200
geospectral@spirit.com.au
22.1.00
======================
(6) STARDUST COMPLETES MOST CRITICAL MANEUVER OF
COMET-CATCHING
MISSION
From Space.com, 21 January 2000
http://www.space.com/space/stardust_update_000122.html
By Andrew Bridges
Chief Pasadena Correspondent
22 January 2000
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Stardust successfully completed on
Saturday the most critical maneuver of its seven-year mission to
return comet samples to Earth, firing its thrusters for the third
time in a week to change the shape of its orbit.
Flight engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said the
$165-million Stardust fired its rockets for 33 minutes and 36
seconds around 1:30 p.m. EST, all during a communications
blackout
with Earth.
The operation was the last of a three-part move called a Deep
Space Maneuver designed to change the spacecraft's velocity by
561
feet (170 meters) per second. The change was so large, engineers
chose to break in up in three parts, performed on Dec. 18, 20 and
Saturday.
"It went nearly perfectly," said Tom Duxbury, the
Stardust deputy
project manager and flight director at JPL, of the final
maneuver.
"It was a nice conclusion to the three burns, so we are
quite
happy."
Engineers still need to perform a clean-up maneuver to compensate
for extremely small errors resulting from the Deep Space
Maneuver.
Any cleanup burn would involve changing Stardust's velocity by
less than 3 feet (1 meter) per second, engineers said.
Stardust will also have to perform two more Deep Space Maneuvers
during its mission, although both will be much smaller. One will
put it on target to the comet Wild-2; the second to Earth to
return samples of the dirty snowball..
"This was by far, by orders of magnitude, more
difficult," Duxbury said.
Stardust will fly by Wild-2 on Jan. 2, 2004, collecting the
first-ever samples of cometary material to be returned
robotically
to Earth.
Beginning Feb. 22, and again in July 2002, the spacecraft will
also collect samples of interstellar dust streaming through
space.
The spacecraft will trap the minuscule particles in a collector
plate packed with lightweight aerogel, a glass foam.
Saturday's move put Stardust right on track to start collecting.
"The idea is to get maximum exposure of the collector to the
stream," said Ken Atkins, the Stardust project manager.
The spacecraft will then jettison a capsule containing the
samples
in 2006, allowing it to parachute to a soft landing in Utah.
Copyright 2000, Space.com
====================
(7) NEAR MISSION STATUS REPORT, 21 January 2000
From NEAR Mission Status Reports <pettee@jhuapl.edu>
NEAR Mission Status Reports - http://near.jhuapl.edu
MISSION OPERATIONS:
The NEAR spacecraft continued to operate nominally in Operational
Mode with Flight Computer #1 and Attitude Interface Unit #2 in
control. All instruments remained "ON" during this
week. S/C
Attitude pointing continues to alternate between Eros pointing,
Earth pointing, and Sun pointing as required to conduct Eros
approach operations.
NEAR is presently 29,532 Km from Eros (18,351 miles).
The second test of the Eros rendezvous sequence was completed
successfully on January 20. Review of the engineering data
indicates
this second flight test of the 30 hour sequence leading up to
Eros
orbit insertion (includes NIS Low Phase Flyby) was
successful.
The MSI Eros Light Curve 2 was conducted as planned on January
18.
It should be mentioned that no significant problems with DSN
supports have occurred since the start of Eros approach
operations.
Many thanks to those at the DSN for the reliable support.
Regular Eros OpNav images were taken this week.
Final preparations and testing of the NEAR command load to start
on
January 24 are completed. This command load includes all
activities
planned through January 30. It will be uplinked during
tomorrow's
DSN track.
Upcoming Spacecraft Activities:
In addition to regular DSN tracking and taking of OpNav images,
the
following are operationally significant activities planned
through
Eros orbit insertion. Please consult the NEAR Flight
Timeline for
more details regarding upcoming science activities.
Jan 21 Flight
Test of NLR/MSI Co-timing
Jan 28 Eros
Satellite Search B
Feb 2
Rendezvous Maneuver
Feb 4 Eros
Satellite Search C
Feb 8
Rendezvous Maneuver and Momentum Bias
Feb 9 Eros
Satellite Search D
Feb 14 Eros
Orbit Insertion
=============
(8) MEME WARS: WHY DARWINISTS ARE AT EACH OTHERS THROATS -
ABOUT NEO-CATASTROPHISM, GOD AND RELIGION
From http://www.nonzero.org/newyorker.htm
THE ACCIDENTAL CREATIONIST.
Why Stephen Jay Gould is bad for evolution.
BY ROBERT WRIGHT
[...] In truth, though, Gould is not helping the evolutionists
against
the creationists, and the sooner the evolutionists realize that
the
better. For, as Maynard Smith has noted, Gould “is giving
nonbiologists a largely false picture of the state of
evolutionary
theory.”
Over the past three decades, in essays, books, and technical
papers,
Gould has advanced a distinctive view of evolution. He stresses
its
flukier aspects—freak environmental catastrophes and the
like— and
downplays natural selection's power to design complex life forms.
In
fact, if you really pay attention to what he is saying, and
accept
it, you might start to wonder how evolution could have created
anything as intricate as a human being.
[...] Gould also performs a more subtle service for creationists.
Having bolstered their caricature of Darwinism as implausible, he
bolsters their caricature of it as an atheist plot. He depicts
evolution as something that can't possibly reflect a higher
purpose, and thus can't provide the sort of spiritual consolation
most people are after. Even Gould's recent book "Rocks of
Ages,"
which claims to reconcile science and religion, draws this moral
from the story of evolution: we live in a universe that is
"indifferent to our suffering."
[..] Gould's writings on punctuated equilibrium have been a
particular gift to creationists. He dwells on gaps in the fossil
record to argue that evolution works fitfully; creationists then
quote him to argue that it doesn't work at all. (They love the
conspiratorial aura of Gould's description of these gaps as the
"trade secret of paleontology.")
FULL ARTICLE at http://www.nonzero.org/newyorker.htm
================
(9) AND FINALLY: WEST WARNED ON CLIMATE REFUGEES
From the BBC Online News, 24 January 2000
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_613000/613075.stm
By Alex Kirby, BBC News Online Environment Correspondent and
presenter of Costing the Earth
The Bangladeshi Environment Minister, Mrs Sajeeda Choudhury, has
said that if climate change causes sea levels to rise in line
with
scientific predictions, her country will have millions of
homeless
people. And she said the rich world would have to find room for
them.
FULL STORY AT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_613000/613075.stm
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