David Gelernter, the well-known professor of computer science at Yale, grew up believing Darwin’s theory of the origin of life. Well, he doesn’t believe it any more: “There’s no reason to doubt that Darwin successfully explained the small adjustments by which an organism adapts to local circumstances: changes to fur density or wing style or beak shape. Yet there are many reasons to doubt whether he can answer the hard questions and explain the big picture—not the fine-tuning of existing species but the emergence of new ones. The origin of species is exactly what Darwin cannot explain.”
[…]
It is not uncommon for scientists to believe that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. After all, if “the ingredients for life are everywhere, and there are astronomically large numbers of stars and planets where it’s possible for life to have arisen, then we’d expect many instances in which intelligent aliens rose to prominence well before the advent of human life on Earth.” But maybe that’s all wrong. Maybe life is extremely rare, Ethan Siegel writes, and maybe it doesn’t exist anywhere else in the complexity that it exists on Earth:
“While we certainly owe it to ourselves to look for their presence with all the resources we can muster, we must confront the possibility that perhaps we’ve got it all wrong about just how common life in the universe is. Perhaps the ingredients and conditions on Earth don’t inevitably lead to life arising on a potentially habitable world beyond our planet. And even if life does arise elsewhere, it may be the case that it frequently fails to thrive. Maybe it’s the case that even successful life only rarely becomes complex, differentiated, or intelligent as we understand those terms. Or, quite possibly, it’s exceedingly rare that even intelligent life becomes technologically advanced. In all of space, as far as intelligent life goes, perhaps humanity is truly alone.”
Category Archives: “science”
A couple interesting science links from Prufrock
Israel least concerned nation about global warming
Kate Beckinsale Boasts About Facials from Foreskin of South Korean Infants
WTF?
Actress Kate Beckinsale took to social media to boast about a procedure to improve her skin that involves “liquefied cloned foreskins” from South Korean infants.
“After a long flight I do like to lie down and be covered in a mask of liquified cloned foreskins-frankly who doesn’t?Thank you @georgialouisesk for an amazing facial. I especially liked you reassuring me it would be ‘light on penis’ as it was my first time x,” Kate Beckinsale wrote in an Instagram post.
According to Daily Mail, the Pearl Harbor actress “underwent a facial for the first time last week that uses an epidermal growth factor serum containing stem cells cultivated from the discarded tissue of Korean baby boys.”
The article also reports, “Experts claim rubbing these stem cells onto the face activates ageing cells, producing more collagen and making fine lines disappear. The secret ingredient is sourced from South Korea because it has a large supply of foreskins obtained during circumcision, the general custom for young boys.”
The 45-year-old actress is far from the first celebrity to undergo this strange facial treatment. Breitbart News has previously reported on the trend, with Cate Blanchett and Sandra Bullock making headlines for using the cream, which they called a “penis facial” in 2016.
I’m surprised that Israel and the Muslim countries haven’t gotten a ‘piece of the action’ regarding foreskin sales; why only South Korea? 😉
Pepsi CEO generates publicity for Doritos by pretending to considering releasing a female version, with less crunchiness and messiness
Smart gal; as usual, social media did her work for her.
Brilliant PR move; let the SJW extremists do your campaign for you… 😉
