TresSugar

Diamonds Could Mean Comets Caused Killer Cold Spell

CitizenSugar — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:01:50 -0800

Teeny tiny diamonds that are scattered across North America have some scientists believing a "swarm" of comets hit Earth about 13,000 years ago and caused enough disruption to send the planet into a cold spell.

Scientists say that the freezing spell would have been enough to drive mammoths and other creatures into extinction and would transcend any biblical theories. In fact, the researches describe the comet pattern as a series of blinding explosions in the atmosphere equivalent to thousands of atomic bombs.

The nanodiamonds, as they are called, are made under high-temperature, high-pressure conditions created by cosmic impacts, similar to an explosion in Siberia that flattened trees for miles in 1908. Researchers found the little diamonds at sites from Arizona to South Carolina and into Alberta and Manitoba in Canada.

Do you think the theory is plausible, and if so, what will creationists say?

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Evolution Is Just a Theory: Top 10 List of Famous Creationists

CitizenSugar — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0700

Creationism is, pardon the expression, creating quite a stir this election. With 66 percent of the US believing that the world is less than 10,000 years old, and 16 percent of biology teachers being creationists, a vice presidential candidate who's been linked to the c-word, and even Obama rolling out faith-based merchandise, the issue of belief is big. One UK preacher says of the growth, "Science does not have to be taught in conflict with faith or religion. I believe the current debate over creationism versus evolution is beginning to draw more and people over to our side of the argument . . . evolution is a world-view that leads to futility. It's no wonder people are dissatisfied with it." Check out who else makes the list of high-profile creationists who agree with him.

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US Judge Upholds Separation of Church and Science

LibertySugar — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:35 -0700

The University of California can deny credit for high school courses that emphasize religious teachings over historic or scientific explanations, according to a federal judge. Yesterday's ruling upheld UC admission standards that do not recognize curriculum that declares the Bible infallible or that rejects evolution. The losing Christian schools and students will appeal the decision. Here are each side's positions:

The High Schools:

Denying credit is an attempt to secularize private religious schools.
It also violates freedom of expression and freedom of religion.

University of California:

The rejected material omits crucial topics in science and history.
UC is applying blanket admission standards without regard to religion.
UC has approved inclusive textbooks like Biology: God's Living Creation.

Course texts rejected include Biology for Christian Schools, whose first page says, "If (scientific) conclusions contradict the Word of God, the conclusions are wrong," and text published by Bob Jones University that, "instructs that the Bible is the unerring source for analysis of historical events." The UC attorney says, "We evaluate the courses to see whether they prepare these kids to come to college at UC."

Is it an attempt to secularize private religious schools? Whose side are you on?

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Expelled: The Movie - Ben Stein's New Creation(ism)

CitizenSugar — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:00:09 -0700

I shun all things made up, my personal f-word is fiction, so imagine my delight when I found out Ben Stein, the clever-skirting-genius host of Win Ben Stein's Money that guy in that Ferris Bueller movie, and a former speech writer for Nixon and Ford has cooked up a new documentary.

It's called Expelled and looks at the teaching of science in schools. Either I'm wildly dimwitted, naive, brainwashed, or a scootch of all three, but I assumed the movie would be about how the education system is squashing scientific thought and empirical enterprise in America. And then I watched the trailer. Mouth, agape.

Whoa! Ben Stein, savant who sat in the final round of his game show crushing anyone who dared challenge his mental prowess, has made a movie about the strangle hold Darwinism has on other schools of thought. In the trailer he says this of the treatment of academics who don't strictly subscribe to the theory of evolution, "This tells me Darwinists are afraid. They're hiding something."

I'm going to be first in line when it comes out April 18. Ben Smartypants Stein, presenting a civil case advocating for free thought that might lead to intelligent design? This I gotta see. Check out the trailer and see what I mean.

Could he be right? Are evolutionists taking over and crowding out other ideas?

Partisan Split on Creationism: Where Do You Stand?

LibertySugar — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:00:06 -0700

Republicans and Democrats differ sharply on creationism, according to a new Gallup Poll. Participants were asked which view came closest to their own:

Humans developed over millions of years, God guided
Humans developed over millions of years, God had no part
God created humans as is within the last 10,000 years

Sixty-percent of Republicans said humans were created in their present form by God within the last 10,000 years. Only 38 percent of Democrats, and 40 percent of Independents agreed with this Creationist view.

Cities are taking sides too. Philadelphia is definitely on the side of evolution - the city is holding a "Year of Evolution" event with nine academic and scientific institutions around the city celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin with lectures and exhibits. The citywide event is to increase understanding of evolution and science in general.

I'm pretty surprised by the numbers - the poll suggests that a significant amount of Americans do not believe in evolution. Are you buying the numbers? Do you think McCain might push for teaching Creationism in schools as a way to galvanize the Republican base?

What about you, CitizenSugar readers? Creationism or Evolution?

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Love: The Key to Creativity

TresSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:00:00 -0700

Love has been the driving theme of artistic creations stretching over generations. Researchers from the University of Amsterdam recently decided to verify that love can change the way we think. The study found that love makes us more creative, while sexual desire makes us more logical.

Subjects who thought about a romantic walk with the person they loved performed better on tasks that required creative thinking. When asked to think about a sexual encounter with someone they didn't love, the subjects performed worse on the creative tasks, but better on logical puzzles. Scientists reasoned that romantic love makes us see things from a long-term perspective (which is good for creativity), while sex makes us think short term (which is good for logical thinking).

So now we know that love makes us creative, while lust might have the opposite effect. I'd like to add heartbreak to the list of creative forces. Without that we wouldn't have Shakespearean tragedies or Kanye's amazing song "Heartless."

Does love make you more creative?

Scotland Says No to Massive Windfarm and Job Creation

LibertySugar — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:00:03 -0700

The Scottish government has refused a plan to build a massive windfarm, which would have produced significant amounts of renewable energy. Local authorities and businesses supported the plan, as a way to create at least 600 jobs and give Scotland a market edge in renewable-energy production. Around the world, individuals and corporations looking for a financial windfall are eager to invest in energy from the air.

So is the Scottish government anti-environment? Quite the opposite, actually. The 181 wind turbines - each 140 meters tall, mounted in concrete bases of up to 1,000 cubic meters - would have been build on the Lewis Peatlands Special Protection Area, a habit for legally-protected bird species. Thus, it did not comply with EU environmental protection laws.

When businesses push for environmental solutions that ironically have a negative impact on the environment, is greed, rather than green, behind the plans? If governments want to recruit industries and corporations, do they have to allow for some collateral damage?

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Oh Snap! Wedding Dreams Come True in Blue Hawaii

TresSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:20:31 -0700

Award-winning Elvis impersonator Steve Caprice married his fiancée in a re-creation of the Blue Hawaii wedding scene. The wedding went down in Porthcawl, Wales, a town that hosts the largest annual Elvis Festival in Europe.

A quick Google search reveals that chapels in Las Vegas offer Blue Hawaii wedding packages. So you too can have an Elvis-inspired wedding!

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Cute or Creepy? The Pygmy Jerboa

TresSugar — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:30:00 -0700

The Pygmy Jerboa (no, that is not a Pixar creation) is a small jumping desert rodent found in Asia and northern Africa. It looks like a cross between a chick and a mouse, has a long tufted tail and, as you can see, long hind legs. My favorite detail about this weird little critter? Its fur is "long, soft and silky."

Life Lessons Through Art

TresSugar — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:00:00 -0700

A graphic designer has taken life lessons and transformed them into art with impact in his book Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far. With the help of his talent (and clients around the world) borderline-banal maxims like Everybody Always Thinks They Are Right were transformed into interactive art exhibits.
Now anyone can turn their life lessons into art at his website. Of course, many user-submitted entries lack the impact and imagination of the originals, but just as many don't. Want to submit your own? To find out how, read more.

Consider what you have learned in your life so far. What are you sure about? What do you believe by now?
Pick one of those life lessons and write it down. Design it digitally. Photograph it. Draw it. Use paint, sculpture, film. We don’t care as long as it’s interesting.
Post a link to your creation. (Don’t embed. It makes us sad.)