Fossil Friday: Chitinozoa — Enigmatic Microfossils from the Paleozoic Era

animal phyla, asexual reproduction, Cambrian Explosion, chitin, Chitinozoa, cocoon, Early Cambrian, egg cases, Evolution, Fossil Friday (series), fossil record, Gotland, great Ordovician biodiversification event, marine ecosystems, microfossils, paleontology, planktonic organisms, protists, SEM image, Silurian Period, single-celled organisms, sudden appearance, Sweden, testate amoebae, transitional fossils
We may now add the mysterious Chitinozoa to this ever-growing list of products of the burst of biological creativity in the Early Cambrian. Source
Read More

In Debate on Intelligent Design, Critic Cites Dragon Legend to Justify Evolution’s Failures

bacterial flagellum, debates, dinosaur bones, Dragon, English, Evolution, Fundacja En Arche, Holocaust, Intelligent Design, Kraków, Malgorzata Moczydlowska-Vidal, Michael Behe, Michael Ruse, micropaleontology, philosophers, Poland, Polish, pseudoscience, Richard Sternberg, scientists, Silesia, Smok wawelski, Sweden, Uppsala University, virgins, Vladimir Putin, Wawel Castle, Wawel Dragon
It is, as Professor Behe acknowledges, a charming tale, but not very relevant as far as the details of the scientific debate go. Source
Read More

The Fear of Suffering Is Driving Us Crazy

abortion, American Pediatric Association, animal rights, animal welfare, Belgium, bioethics, birth, California, Canada, Culture & Ethics, doctors, ethics, Finland, France, Gender Dysphoria, gender-affirming care, geographical features, glaciers, Holocaust, human exceptionalism, human life, insects, Jews, Journal of Medical Ethics, Life Sciences, mastectomies, Netherlands, Ontario, Oregon, organ donation, peas, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, plants, rivers, Sweden, unborn children, United Kingdom, Voluntary Human Extinction Movement
Our suffering phobia has triggered a harmful societal neurosis that has both subverted human exceptionalism and undermined societal common sense. Source
Read More

Will Earth BioGenome Project Vindicate Darwin?

agriculture, Big Data, bioindustry, biology, Canis familiaris, chihuahua, China, conservation, Darwin's Dilemma, Darwinism, Earth BioGenome Project, ecology, eukaryotes, Evolution, genomes, Intelligent Design, Life Sciences, Mark Blaxter, mastiff, Medicine, Paul Chien, phylogenetics, PNAS, sequencing, species, Sweden, United States
Compare the latest project to sequence everything to other megaprojects that may or may not answer evolutionary questions. Source
Read More

In Argentina, Doctor Sentenced to Prison for Refusing to Terminate Pregnancy

abortion, adoption, animal personhood, ape, Argentina, BioEdge, bioethics, Culture & Ethics, doctor, gynecology, habeas corpus, Hippocratic Oath, human exceptionalism, human life, Leandro Rodriguez Lastra, legal impossibility, medical conscience, Medicine, moral impossibility, orangutan, pregnancy, rape, Rodríguez Lastra, Sweden, zoo
In Sweden, midwives can be fired and deemed unemployable for refusing abortion. In Ontario, Canada, doctors can face professional discipline for refusing to administer (or refer for) euthanasia. Ditto to refusing an abortion in Victoria, Australia. In California, a Catholic hospital is being sued — with the explicit blessing of the courts — for refusing to allow a transgender hysterectomy. But now in Argentina, the right to obtain an abortion has been declared so fundamental that an objecting M.D. can be held criminally culpable for refusing to terminate a pregnancy. An Impossibility? That would seem to be a moral and legal impossibility. But Argentina just elevated the “medical conscience” controversy to a whole new level of concern — from the potential of not “only” having one’s professional license revoked, but…
Read More