Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science

Innovating for a Secular World

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  • Reproduction? Help me understand!

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    by ElBeto posted: 17 Jun 2013 Category: Science 21

    How is it that the first living organism had offspring? Wouldn't one expect, under undirected circumstances, that the first living organism that came into being accidently would eventually just die without having the foresight to reproduce? 

  • Evolution

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    by dinc12964 posted: 14 Jun 2013 Category: Science 169

    I shared (on Facebook) the post from RDFRS that said "Evolution is just a theory? Well, so is gravity and I don't see jumping out of buildings"  I received plenty of comments but was stumped by this one:...

  • Altruistic bees

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    by Roedy posted: 13 Jun 2013 Category: Science 12

    One one of the first discoveries about bees in the time of the ancient Greeks was that on any one flight, they confined themself to one particular species of plant. This is highly convenient for...

  • Mitochondrial Eve

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    by missbutton posted: 08 Jun 2013 Category: Science 25

    Could an evolutionary biologist out there settle an argument for me? The other party in this dispute says that Mitochondrial Eve keeps changing because of 'broken lines'.  My position is that everyone alive today has...

  • sci/fi question with hopefully sci answers

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    by poseyjt posted: 05 Jun 2013 Category: Science 21

    I was thinking the other day about science fiction/science and our future as a human species.  Already so much is possible if we just put our faith in God, :p jk had to throw that...

  • is DNA a code?

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    by cynic252 posted: 04 Jun 2013 Category: Science 35

    I have been having a running debate with a friend about whether DNA is a code...I believe it isnt but I cont convince of the idea and wondered whether I am wrong.

  • Compartmentalization and Double Lives

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    by InYourFaceNewYorker posted: 04 Jun 2013 Category: Science 8

    By now I'm sure almost everyone has heard about the three women in Ohio who were missing for about ten years and then found alive in the house of a guy named Ariel Castro. Details...

  • Genetically modified food

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    by Kristine Sackett posted: 27 May 2013 Category: Science 38

    This is something I have become increasingly concerned about and I was wondering where I could find some solid sience on the subject.

  • Abiogenesis , multiple times?

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    by degeus posted: 23 May 2013 Category: Science 24

    Hi there, Somebody asked me why Abiogenesis happened only once. My response was that it may very well have happened multiple times but that the Earth's atmosphere transitioned from...

  • Consciousness and Life

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    by Cairsley posted: 22 May 2013 Category: Science 74

    Having read Consciousness Explained by Daniel C. Dennett, I am very grateful to the author of this excellent book for setting out what amounts to a promising basis for furthering the understanding of consciousness, which...

  • Definition of pseudoscience

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    by ieva posted: 19 May 2013 Category: Science 29

    Could somebody suggest a definition of pseudoscience? Because, for example, it should not be difficult to explain why homeopathy is a pseudoscience. Just a few basic facts, but they take time. And this approach is...

  • The Amazing HIV virus

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    by Roedy posted: 10 May 2013 Category: Science 22

    I have had HIV since 1985. Every few years my personal strain of HIV develops an immunity to the drugs that I am taking, and I have to flip to a new cocktail of 3...

  • Is free will an illusion?

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    by alistair.scott.71 posted: 06 May 2013 Category: Science 217

    For this topic I came up with the following thought experiment: Imagine we were able to clone the early universe, an absolutely perfect clone, right down to the exact position of all its particles...

  • The Possible Evolution of the DNA Molecule

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    by LightSeeker posted: 03 May 2013 Category: Science 6

    My understanding is that all living things on earth contain the DNA molecule. As Dr. Dawkins has so eloquently revealed over the course of his studies, one can trace the evolution of...

  • The Contest: Creation and Evolution

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    by Stephen of Wimbledon posted: 30 Apr 2013 Category: Science 60

    I was intrigued by Joseph Mastropaolo's suggested contest, which he charaterizes as a way of "improving the quality of arguments between creationists and evolutionists".  His characterization, of course, immediately begins to set out the agenda...

  • Master thesis: Popular Science in Social Media

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    by larstee posted: 24 Apr 2013 Category: Science 10

    Hello everybody, My name is Lars and I’m a student at the University of Darmstadt in Germany. I’m currently preparing myself for my forthcoming Master thesis with the potential working title “Popular Science...

  • Debate stumped

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    by GilliReason posted: 22 Apr 2013 Category: Science 43

    Hello fellow reasoners. I was hoping you could help chip away at my ignorance. I found myself stumped the other day while having a friendly debate with a religious person about evolution. They were clearly...

  • promoting science

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    by siwel.trebor@bighpond.com posted: 18 Apr 2013 Category: Science 35

    I just saw the RD representative on our show Planet America here in Australia  I am fighting mad.  I do not believe in religion but would never stop anyone from having a personal belief in god.  This does...

  • Natural Selection in one generation

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    by lukesinq posted: 13 Apr 2013 Category: Science 19

    Is it possible for a mutation in a species to create a veeeery small advantage in just one generation?  For instance a mutation that makes a bird's beak slightly more curved in an advantages way, or maybe a...

  • What if it was a game?

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    by Sjoerd Westenborg posted: 10 Apr 2013 Category: Science 16

    I would like to introduce a little thought experiment we can have some interesting discussions about. Hopefully some fun too.Imagine that life was a game, and the goal was to leave as big a 'genetic...

  • Direct observations of evolution

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    by Sjoerd Westenborg posted: 02 Apr 2013 Category: Science 46

    I was wondering if, besides the Lenski Experiments and the island lizards in the South Adriatic Sea, you guys knew some more instances where evolution has been directly observed. Either by experiment or by 'accident'. It's...

  • The big brain

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    by sylwin1 posted: 30 Mar 2013 Category: Science 62

    I have always been bothered by the same question.Given that life has existed on this planet for 3.8 billion years (give or take a day or two) then why did evolution take nearly all that time...

  • i've got questions =/

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    by kangsj_ posted: 29 Mar 2013 Category: Science 31

    So it'ts kind of embrassed to ask..well first of all i'm korean and im studtying in america and im freshmen at lutheran high school at this moment. I came here 6 month ago ( my...

  • Unchanged organisms

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    by aydin posted: 26 Mar 2013 Category: Science 34

    Hello,It's a bit embarrassing but I was asked the following question and wasn't able to give a satisfactory answer;"Fossil record shows that certain animals that we see today have not changed for hundreds of millions...

  • Need some advice on evolution argument

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    by Possum-Pie posted: 26 Mar 2013 Category: Science 31

    Hi, I am currently working on my next book, and need a very simple explanation to give Creationists as to why we don't see neanderthals and Homo Erectus walking around today.   I grasp the...

  • Talk Origins Archive

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    by Sebastian878 posted: 21 Mar 2013 Category: Science 3

    I love the TalkOrigins Archive but is there another site that is similar but with more current information and updates.  The Archive doesn't seem like its being updated anymore.  In fact not for some time.

  • Evolutionary Biology and Horror Films?

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    by Jogre posted: 12 Mar 2013 Category: Science 36

    Hello all! As a recently awakened former preacher I was mindlessly watching late night programming, reading some scientific literature, when multiple commercials endorsing some new horror films flicked across the screen. As I watched, I couldn't help but...

  • Science and Morality - Conflict?

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    by utopia posted: 09 Mar 2013 Category: Science 87

    I've seen many arguments now where people are disagreeing about the nature or morality and right vs. wrong. Some say morality is: subjective (depends on the person, purely a cultural thing, based on preference, etc.) objective...

  • Starting simple and building up complexity over time

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    by Axulus posted: 23 Feb 2013 Category: Science 44

    I have often heard Richard say that the universe had a simple beginning, and that starting simple and building up to something more complex over time is a far simpler explaination than positing that something complicated...

  • macro evolution??

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    by Manjunath K posted: 22 Feb 2013 Category: Science 30

    I have people arguing with me about evolution based on this linkhttp://www.seekingtruth.co.uk/evolution.htm reasoning with religious people is so tough, they agree with micro evolution but not macro, but i cant find enough information or a website...

  • practically valid?

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    by sbijapure posted: 21 Feb 2013 Category: Science 33

    To begin with, can you create a simple replicator in a simple chemical soup of your choice?Can it be done in laboratory? You may not have the atmospheric conditions of the earth billions of years...

  • Books to relearn everything about everything

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    by Jogre posted: 17 Feb 2013 Category: Science 66

    Hello everyone! I am an ex-preacher recently 'converted' to atheism. That means I know nothing about everything. I want to change that. I am frustratingly inept in the most fundamental scientific areas.  I am the end...

  • Lesson Plan help

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    by crookedshoes posted: 15 Feb 2013 Category: Science 17

    I offered extra credit on a test today.  I asked the students to draw me a fish to earn a couple extra points on our first honors test of the year.  The kids responded with...

  • Advice on Animal Behaviour book

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    by Gil Henriques posted: 13 Feb 2013 Category: Science 5

    Hello,I realise that this might be a bit too narrow in scope to spark an interesting decision, but I find myself in need of some advice. I am graduating on Evolutionary and Developmental Biology and,...

  • Troubling search engine results

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    by TSM posted: 07 Feb 2013 Category: Science 35

    This topic may end up straddling to Education and Pseudoscience.As a matter of curiosity, I wanted to do a little research into the phenomena of chimpanzee DNA vs. Human DNA and the possibility of genetic...

  • Cheat Sheets of the Brain, and Evolution's Guessing Game

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    by Zeuglodon posted: 02 Feb 2013 Category: Science 23

    At present, I find most persuasive the philosophical notion of monism, which is the notion that the brain's activity is not just correlated with consciousness, but effectively is consciousness. From what I can tell, there's...

  • Questions about Life

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    by bob_e_s posted: 01 Feb 2013 Category: Science 14

     Hi all,I'm pretty new to this site, having found it after being given RD's wonderful book 'The Greatest Show on Earth' for Christmas, which opened my eyes further to the wonder of scientific discovery.Last night...

  • Can we choose what we believe?

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    by M69att posted: 24 Jan 2013 Category: Science 50

    To the moderators:  I have chosen the category 'science' because I believe it is a question which has been/will be answered by scientific inquiry but you might think it more appropriate to post as Atheism;...

  • The Age of the Earth.

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    by JayPii1994 posted: 23 Jan 2013 Category: Science 70

    I came across this website by the name of "Creation.com", which appears to present strong-worded and fairly supported articles. One of them is titled, "The Flood, the Ice Age and the age of the Earth".Throughout it are several...

  • Proud to be human

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    by Sjoerd Westenborg posted: 20 Jan 2013 Category: Science 28

    Dear friends, there are plenty of things going on in the world that make me weep for humanity, and I'm sure many of you feel the same. Issues like parents refusing vaccination for their children, YEC,...

  • Homosexuality and science

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    by Jc Pierre posted: 09 Jan 2013 Category: Science 52

    Hello everyone,I'm a new user and a admirer of Richard Dawkins for a long time, and I really love this website. Very complete, and very enriching. First of all, I must warn you : I am French,...

  • Are pinnipeds "living transitional" animals?

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    by draymunoz posted: 05 Jan 2013 Category: Science 23

    I have a question. Would an animal like a pinniped (seal) be considered a living transitional animal? That is to say an animal that harbors physical traits of two vastly different species, in the seals case...

  • Science Shedding Light on Morality

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    by astrum posted: 24 Dec 2012 Category: Science 43

    In WWII, Russian scientists sacrificed themselves so that millions could live. During the siege of Leningrad, September 1941 - January 1944, a seedbank was protected by a group of diligent and selfless scientists. A seedbank contains specimens that may...

  • Rates of species extinction/evolution

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    by OskarGonzalez posted: 21 Dec 2012 Category: Science 5

    I have heard of figures that state that X number of species go extinct everyday or year. I can imagine people researching extinction rates with organism on the endangered species list, but I have never...

  • Do we choose our beliefs?

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    by Julieana posted: 15 Nov 2012 Category: Science 68

    Hey Everyone, After just commenting on the 'Religion as Child Abuse' thread by Fredski, I wondered what your opinions were on how much control we have over choosing our own beliefs.  Obviously we're all products of our...

  • Cell renewal

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    by Lizzie1 posted: 31 Oct 2012 Category: Science 13

    Watching new series with pleasure. The point in the programme where cell renewal was discussed , esp the memory of a memory of a memory left me wondering. I know that some memories get distorted as...

  • Corrupted knowledge

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    by Raymond Sutcliffe posted: 24 Oct 2012 Category: Science 25

    Science is often thought of as the search for truth via experimental analysis, but if or when this "truth" eventually reaches the man on the street, it often bears little or no resemblance to its original form.  Can anything...

  • GMOs

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    by jamesgareth posted: 15 Oct 2012 Category: Science 105

    Hi there all,A close friend of mine recently said that GMO food is dangerous and cited the following research about this:GMO researchMy question is - what's the scientific consensus here? - in the US some...

  • Video Game to promote Evolution

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    by thekidrio posted: 14 Sep 2012 Category: Science 35

    I am a software developer and avid gamer. I am also very upset when I see YEC or any creationists gaining ground with younger people using comic books, cartoons, and other means of direct communication...

  • Adding stuff on!

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    by sheepcat posted: 04 Sep 2012 Category: Science 58

    It seems that creationism's big hitter these days is "Well, there is no known mechanism for an increase in the amount of information held  within a creature's DNA so animals can't get more complex".I have...