Discussion


OPEN DISCUSSION FEBRUARY 2020
Feb 1, 2020 · 7 

This thread has been created for discussion on themes relevant to Reason and Science for which there are not currently any dedicated threads. Please note it is NOT for general chat, and that our Comment Policy applies as usual. There is a link to this at the foot of the page. If you would like …

OPEN DISCUSSION JANUARY 2020
Jan 1, 2020 · 112 

This thread has been created for discussion on themes relevant to Reason and Science for which there are not currently any dedicated threads. Please note it is NOT for general chat, and that our Comment Policy applies as usual. There is a link to this at the foot of the page. If you would like …

Originals


Can the Electoral College system be reformed?
Feb 9, 2018 · 319 

by Richard Dawkins Donald Trump was surely right when he said, in 2012, “The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy . . . A total sham and a travesty”. And he confirmed his sensible view on November 13th, 2016 (after winning the election by the Electoral College system, but losing the popular vote) …

News


Underwater robot reveals hidden base of Antarctica’s ‘doomsday’ glacier
Feb 3, 2020

By Paul Voosen Using a robot dropped through a 700-meter hole in the ice, scientists stationed on Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier have captured the first video of the glacier’s grounding line, the mysterious boundary where ice meets land and where warm ocean water could be slowly melting the glacier’s base—putting it at risk of collapse (above). Battling …

Except for devout Latter-day Saints, Utahns want to require churches to disclose their finances, poll shows
Feb 3, 2020

By Peggy Fletcher Stack and David Noyce It turns out that the very Latter-day Saints who may have the biggest stake in how their tithing contributions are spent have the least interest in forcing churches to disclose those finances. While a new poll for The Salt Lake Tribune shows that 54% of Utahns support the …

3 Leaders of Filipino Church Are Charged With Running Human Trafficking Ring
Feb 3, 2020

By Neil Vigdor Three leaders of a megachurch based in the Philippines were arrested on Wednesday in California and Virginia on charges that they ran a human trafficking ring, one that the Justice Department said had arranged for dozens of sham marriages in the United States to support a fraudulent charity. The arrests coincided with …

These lawmakers voted to protect abortion rights, so a priest says he’ll deny them Communion
Feb 3, 2020

By Teo Armus As legislative efforts across the country put abortion protections into doubt last year, Democratic lawmakers in Rhode Island decided to take matters into their own hands. Like their counterparts in other left-leaning states, legislators in Providence passed a bill that would enshrine safeguards at the state level. They wanted to make sure federal restrictions could not …

Warp factor: we’ve observed a spinning star that drags the very fabric of space and time
Jan 31, 2020

By Matthew Bailes and Vivek Venkatraman Krishnan One of the predictions of Einstein’s general theory of relativity is that any spinning body drags the very fabric of space-time in its vicinity around with it. This is known as “frame-dragging”. In everyday life, frame-dragging is both undetectable and inconsequential, as the effect is so ridiculously tiny. Detecting the …

Giving victims of religious trauma a voice
Jan 31, 2020

By Chrissy Stroop On Jan. 8, Cindy Wang Brandt, a podcaster and author of “Parenting Forward: How to Raise Children with Justice, Mercy, and Kindness,” tweeted: “Do not evangelize a child. Do not colonize a child’s spirituality. Do not threaten a child with religious control. Your religion does not have a right to stake claim to …

Social


Originals


Can the Electoral College system be reformed?
Feb 9, 2018 · 319 

by Richard Dawkins Donald Trump was surely right when he said, in 2012, “The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy . . . A total sham and a travesty”. And he confirmed his sensible view on November 13th, 2016 (after winning the election by the Electoral College system, but losing the popular vote) …

An exchange on abortion
Nov 1, 2017 · 261 

Richard Dawkins 24 Oct 2017   I had tweeted an invitation to attend lectures in various parts of Britain by Saba Douglas-Hamilton, who grew up among wild African elephants while her father, Iain Douglas-Hamilton was conducting his pioneering studies of their ecology and behaviour, and he and his wife Oria were fighting the poachers. Saba’s …

News


Underwater robot reveals hidden base of Antarctica’s ‘doomsday’ glacier
Feb 3, 2020

By Paul Voosen Using a robot dropped through a 700-meter hole in the ice, scientists stationed on Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier have captured the first video of the glacier’s grounding line, the mysterious boundary where ice meets land and where warm ocean water could be slowly melting the glacier’s base—putting it at risk of collapse (above). Battling …

Except for devout Latter-day Saints, Utahns want to require churches to disclose their finances, poll shows
Feb 3, 2020

By Peggy Fletcher Stack and David Noyce It turns out that the very Latter-day Saints who may have the biggest stake in how their tithing contributions are spent have the least interest in forcing churches to disclose those finances. While a new poll for The Salt Lake Tribune shows that 54% of Utahns support the …

3 Leaders of Filipino Church Are Charged With Running Human Trafficking Ring
Feb 3, 2020

By Neil Vigdor Three leaders of a megachurch based in the Philippines were arrested on Wednesday in California and Virginia on charges that they ran a human trafficking ring, one that the Justice Department said had arranged for dozens of sham marriages in the United States to support a fraudulent charity. The arrests coincided with …

These lawmakers voted to protect abortion rights, so a priest says he’ll deny them Communion
Feb 3, 2020

By Teo Armus As legislative efforts across the country put abortion protections into doubt last year, Democratic lawmakers in Rhode Island decided to take matters into their own hands. Like their counterparts in other left-leaning states, legislators in Providence passed a bill that would enshrine safeguards at the state level. They wanted to make sure federal restrictions could not …

Warp factor: we’ve observed a spinning star that drags the very fabric of space and time
Jan 31, 2020

By Matthew Bailes and Vivek Venkatraman Krishnan One of the predictions of Einstein’s general theory of relativity is that any spinning body drags the very fabric of space-time in its vicinity around with it. This is known as “frame-dragging”. In everyday life, frame-dragging is both undetectable and inconsequential, as the effect is so ridiculously tiny. Detecting the …

Giving victims of religious trauma a voice
Jan 31, 2020

By Chrissy Stroop On Jan. 8, Cindy Wang Brandt, a podcaster and author of “Parenting Forward: How to Raise Children with Justice, Mercy, and Kindness,” tweeted: “Do not evangelize a child. Do not colonize a child’s spirituality. Do not threaten a child with religious control. Your religion does not have a right to stake claim to …

Discussion


OPEN DISCUSSION FEBRUARY 2020
Feb 1, 2020 · 7 

This thread has been created for discussion on themes relevant to Reason and Science for which there are not currently any dedicated threads. Please note it is NOT for general chat, and that our Comment Policy applies as usual. There is a link to this at the foot of the page. If you would like …

Social