1. Seven new deadly sins: are you guilty?

Comment #141643 by The Energist on March 11, 2008 at 2:28 am

I reached level 9 - Cocytus. I must say I'm quite surprised - I really am quite a nice person! I think it's the cocktail of homosexuality, treason and lack of self-hatred that does it. However, I am quite proud (that might not help, either) that I've got a place next to Lucifer himself.

2. A natural phenomenon

Comment #138166 by The Energist on March 4, 2008 at 2:50 am

David Attenborough has been and is a big influence on my life; I'm studying life sciences at university and it is really thanks to him and his infectious enthusiasm. I have watched his programmes throughout my life, and from this come a feeling that there is something constant about him that I find very reassuring.

I am very glad to hear that he is preparing a programme on evolution by natural selection. The respect that he has will be invaluable in promoting an understanding of this theory.

I have also read somewhere that he is among the most well-traveled people of all-time, which is an achievement to proud of in itself.

3. Machines 'to match man by 2029'

Comment #128514 by The Energist on February 17, 2008 at 9:19 am

Given that this was said by Ray Kurzweil, I expect that this is another way of saying that he predicts that the technological singularity will occur in 2029 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity).

I really hope so, I can't wait to have my intelligence and physiology in general augmented, we might even face the prospect of biological immortality... However, I think it's at least equally likely that we'll either be extinct or regressed to barbarism by that time.

4. A match made on RichardDawkins.net?

Comment #128434 by The Energist on February 17, 2008 at 2:20 am

Jaf,

I agree that the conclusion is optimistic, but this is found more in individuals finding strength in their love of one another in order to face what is portrayed as the almost inevitable destruction of our civilization. Although sometimes difficult, I try to have confidence in our species' ingenuity and adaptability to deal with the crises of our times. Thinking like this gives us the resolve to do what we must in order to continue as a species. Just my point of view, anyway...

Also, let's not start talking about atheist children. Objectively, this is no better than calling a child a catholic or a marxist.

5. A match made on RichardDawkins.net?

Comment #128173 by The Energist on February 16, 2008 at 12:07 pm

I would like to give Veronique and Yorker my congratulations, and wish them the very best for a future together.
I find this message somewhat pessimistic about the future of humanity, although perhaps I should be an optimist and call pessimism realism.
I'll also take this splendid opportunity to be sentimental and say that although I am more of a lurker than an active participator, this website and its denizens are very important to me if only because of our shared aspiration to rationality and a more enlightened world.

6. Inventor Doesn't Dare Say 'Perpetual Motion Machine'

Comment #124155 by The Energist on February 8, 2008 at 1:55 pm

In Devon, emmet means ant.

7. Mandrake: Charles's letter in support of Islamic 'fundamentalism'

Comment #113756 by The Energist on January 20, 2008 at 12:51 pm

I don't worship technology, but I find it significantly more worthy of worship than that imaginary sky bully. For one thing, it exists and is really quite awesome.

8. The battle of the butterflies and the ants

Comment #108081 by The Energist on January 6, 2008 at 1:50 am

You can see this in action in David Attenborough's Life in the Undergrowth. Perhaps even more amazing is that there is a wasp that parasitizes the caterpillar that parasitizes the ant. The wasp can tell which ant nests contain caterpillars and it breaks in using a pheromone that confuses the ants. It then lays its eggs in the caterpillars.

9. The art of the soluble

Comment #95711 by The Energist on December 9, 2007 at 2:57 am

How irritating. As Conrad says, do these people read? Every one of these arguments has been comprehensively dealt with, not least in The God Delusion but many times elsewhere too.

The thing that gets me is that even if the 'transcendental' were required to explain the universe, or the origin of life for example, this in no way indicates the existence of the Abrahamic God, which is what they are not-so-subtly insinuating.

Of course the universe could not function 'properly' if the physical constraints had not been 'right' but is it possible for them to be any other way? They are in balance with one another, keeping each other in check. And of course, suggesting a god of some sort carefully balanced them all at the beginning of the universe does nothing but push the question back onto this god.

As a scientist-in-training, it's the fact that there is still so much left to understand that drives me. We can only see such a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum with our eyes, and then you have the postulated dark matter and energy. In time and with effort these things will be better understood, and I expect they are more astounding than we can imagine, but there is no need to invoke the supernatural to explain them.

Maybe these apologists would get together and actually think up a novel argument instead of restating the same old stuff time and time again.

10. Man-sized sea scorpion claw found

Comment #90350 by The Energist on November 24, 2007 at 12:50 pm

You're very welcome, bluebird. I have Walking With Monsters and Walking With Beasts on DVD, and I watched the other on TV in England. I'd like to see Sea Monsters, I hope it comes out over here.

I have been interested in prehistoric life since I was a young child, like many people I guess, but it just never left me! To think of all that time and all that life on this planet, it just leaves me in awe. Young-Earth creationists don't know what they're missing!

11. Man-sized sea scorpion claw found

Comment #90333 by The Energist on November 24, 2007 at 10:41 am

To be pedantic, this animal is not a true scorpion (it is a eurypterid, not an arachnid, but both are chelicerates) as such, you could say it is somewhere between a scorpion and a horseshoe crab.

Here is the fossilized trackway of a similar eurypterid:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bd/Hibbertopteroid_track.jpg

This trackway was made on land by an animal about two meters long. It appears to have been moving very slowly.

Living around the same time as these eurypterids were also true scorpions, such as Brontoscorpio, which was also quite large (about one meter) and also aquatic.

Here is an episode of the BBC's Walking With Monsters series, depicting a eurypterid (Pterygotus), Brontoscorpio and some other animals. It takes some artistic license and is therefore a bit inaccurate, but the depictions are nice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7niMVm7xxLk

12. Crisis of faith in first secular school

Comment #72924 by The Energist on September 23, 2007 at 2:22 pm

Hi everyone, I remember when I was at primary school in England (about 17 to 10 years ago), we had to sing hymns in assembly everyday, then some days we had so-called hymn practice after that. I think most of us hated it (I know I did) and we envied the two Jehovah's Witnesses in the school who were permitted to sit the assembly out. Unfortunately, I can still remember the words to many of the hymns today! We were regularly told to pray and we even had to say grace before lunch!

I remember watching that episode of "Qui Veut Gagner Des Millions?" with the audience asked the question of which object revolves around the Earth. I was already astounded that the contestant did not know, but I was shocked that the audience gave the wrong answer, as was Jean-Pierre Foucault (the presenter). To me, and my French partner, the question was clear enough... It reminds me of another time on French TV, on the talk show "On A Tout Essayé" discussing the discovery of the exoplanet Gliese 581 d (about 20 light years from Earth), one of the co-presenters asked the presenting astronomer how many hours it would take to travel there. Personally, I'm astounded by the average person's lack of understanding of even basic science.
Regarding the French, remember that although France is secular, your typical français(e) is likely to be catholic (or muslim, ever more commonly).