SAN DIEGO: Can life arise from nothing but a chaotic assortment of basic molecules? The answer is a lot closer following a series of ingenious experiments that have shown evolution at work in non-living molecules.
For the first time, scientists have synthesized RNA enzymes - ribonucleic acid enzymes also known as ribozymes - that can replicate themselves without the help of any proteins or other cellular components.
COMMUTERS at Melbourne Airport were agog yesterday when a flamboyant - and very tall - cabin crew strode through Terminal 3 towards the boarding gate for flight DJ 857. To celebrate Sydney's gay and lesbian Mardi Gras weekend, Virgin airlines had a special themed Melbourne-to-Sydney flight, complete with a drag queen cabin crew, dance routines and champagne at the boarding gate and the kind of in-flight entertainment one would normally find at the Greyhound Hotel.
Ugandan LGBTI activist, Frank Mugisha, speaks about persecution of gay people in Uganda, and the draconian penalities proposed under the new Bill which will further criminalise and stigmatise homosexuals in that country if passed.
It is heard to believe, yet a true story. A pregnant woman in Iowa (USA) had been jailed for "attempted feticide" because she told hospital staff that she once thought about having an abortion.
DALLAS - Investigators have seized books on demons and atheism as well as rifles and knives from in a home linked to one of the men charged with setting an east Texas church on fire and suspected in a string of similar blazes.
The Lord Chief Justice expressed surprise today at the BCA's libel suit against Simon Singh. Padraig Reidy reports
England's most senior judge today said he was "baffled" by the British Chiropractic Association's (BCA) defamation suit against science writer Simon Singh.
A Sydney priest who used a webcam to broadcast himself masturbating to a person he believed was a 13-year-old girl will be behind bars for at least six months.
Robert MacGregor Fuller, 54, has been sentenced to a maximum of 18 months in jail for grooming and procuring a child under the age of 16.
Today the Science and Technology Select Committee delivered its verdict on homeopathy and it was devastating. The committee has called for the complete withdrawal of NHS funding and official licensing of homeopathy.
"Wives are to submit to their husbands in everything in recognition of the fact that husbands are head of the family as Christ is head of the church," wrote the Reverend Angus MacLeay, rector of St Nicholas Church, Sevenoaks, Kent.
PRIMARY school children will be taught if it's OK to lie and will debate whether products should be tested on animals in the state's first ethics lessons.
Ten government schools, including Haberfield, Darlinghurst, Crown Street, Leichhardt and Hurstville, will start the landmark 10-week trial in late April.
Each week, for 30 minutes, students in Years 5 and 6 will discuss the ethics of issues such as bullying, graffiting, stealing and children's rights.
The classes, tipped to be extremely popular, will be offered to students who have opted out of scripture lessons.
NSW University philosopher Philip Cam developed the curriculum and said the classes would encourage children to consider a series of scenarios and make relative judgments.
"From time to time God reviews his creations (products), and he may decide to recall some of them after the review, which causes that particular creation (species) to go extinct. It's tough, but it's God's will." declared leading creationist Rich Hawkins, hoping that the theory will put an end to all kinds of speculations going on over dinosaur extinction.
As religious extremism grows, its opponents are getting organised. Jacqueline Maley reports.
Something you will never see: an atheist boarding a plane with a bomb strapped to him, waving a copy of On The Origin Of Species, before he blows himself up in a violent attempt to further his cause.
A gay couple jailed on charges of "gross indecency" for holding Malawi's first unofficial same sex wedding will be sentenced next month, a court says.
A study released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public life appears to bear that out. On the one hand, it finds that young Americans are significantly less religious than their parents and grandparents were when they were young.
As more victims of sexual abuse by priests in the German Catholic church in the 1970s and 80s come forward, their lawyers said on Tuesday that compensation could reach into the millions.
Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz of Paradise, California, were charged with murder and torture for allegedly beating their two adoptive daughters, causing injuries so severe that one of the two died. The other remains in critical condition.
"For the under one year old, a little, ten to twelve-inch long, willowy branch (stripped of any knots that might break the skin) about one-eighth inch diameter is sufficient. Sometimes alternatives have to be sought. A one-foot ruler, or its equivalent in a paddle, is a sufficient alternative."
A PASTOR seeking to bolster Uganda's anti-gay laws screened gay porn in a church in the capital Kampala overnight in a bid to gain support.
The screening in an evangelical church was attended by around 300 supporters after plans for a "million man march" were thwarted by police.
"The major argument homosexuals have is that what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms is nobody's business, but do you know what they do in their bedrooms?" pastor Martin Ssempa asked the crowd.
According to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, an amazing 92% of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit-even one in five of self-identified atheists believe in a higher power. Ardent secularist Sam Harris isn't deterred by those numbers, and in fact has made it his life's mission to force the faithful to question their religious faith-Harris would even argue that the future of civilization is dependent on it. Questioning commonly held assertions and wisdom found in the Bible; seeking out debates with theologists across the spectrum, from Judaism to Christianity to Islam; and all but picking a fight with God, Sam Harris takes his secular crusade to Patt's microphone.
The calls for censorship were quick to come. I think that we might need a limit on Catholic education. Wasn't a good Catholic education supposed to teach children how to be good? He probably spent more time at school than watching movies.
This, I understand, is a baseless claim but it illustrates the baseless nature of the claim that any violent movie leads to children killing each other. Could we have more facts before we start screeching for more censorship, please?
This is a very cynical attack on civil liberties by the Qld LNP party. Could we at least bury the poor child before we start using his death to leverage political and religious agendas?
A secularist group has lodged an official complaint against Cherie Booth QC after she spared a man from prison because he was religious.
Shamso Miah, 25, of Redbridge, east London, broke a man's jaw following a row in a bank queue.
Sitting as a judge, Ms Booth - wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair - said she would suspend his sentence on the basis of his religious belief.Well, it's true.
Westboro Baptist Church showed up to protest in front of Twitter's San Francisco office on Thursday, but found themselves severely outnumbered by a crowd of absurdist pranksters, including guest blogger EDW Lynch above.
WBC Tries to Protest at Twitter from Ed Hunsinger on Vimeo.
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