Mooove Over, Darwin

Creating cows in labs, and couching creationism in lessons

By M. Farbman Posted 01.21.2009 at 11:59 am 5 Comments

Cows Makro Freak

Also in today's links: crocodile deaths, sugar highs, and the pleasures of video games.

Myrtle, Buttercup and Ethel are some of the virtual cows created by New Zealand scientists from tubes, pumps and other equipment to replicate the bovine digestive process and monitor methane emissions. And apparently, the technical name for the poo jars is "the poo jars."
You didn't think all the Intelligent Design hoopla was over, did you? In Louisiana, teaching creationism just got easier.
As if crocodiles -- with their ancient, powerful bodies and long lines of teeth -- weren't already like something out of a comic book or a cartoon, they even suffer deaths that would appeal to Judge Doom. Scientists are searching for what triggered about 170 crocodiles to come down with a painful condition in which there body fat turns hard and rubbery.
You know that candy you just ate? It's going to continue to throw your metabolic responses out of whack for two weeks, according to a recent study.
A new study indicates gamers appreciate the sense of control and competence they get from playing video games, not the blood and guts and violence. Although there'll probably have to be a lot of chicken-and-egg discussions about video games and violence before this affects how parents, game developers and lawmakers see things.

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5 Comments

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Musson

01/22/09 at 3:07 pm

If you equate Intelligent Design with Creationism - you don't know what you are talking about.

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Ruri

01/22/09 at 3:27 pm

For some reason the virtual cow was by far the most interesting story here.

The candy thing though is junk science but doesn't surprise me since trash always finds it way into science sites these days.
I can point out about a half dozen mistakes he made in his research if he did any at all.

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Mike_R

01/22/09 at 8:08 pm

I'm from Louisiana, and I think I might just have to drop in on the local school board meetings if my kid ends up going to a school that pushes creationism as equal to natural selection. Religious instruction is the responsibility of churches and parents, whereas schools should teach the basics of science that will help our kids understand this world, and compete in a global marketplace where much of the new breakthroughs are based on understanding biological processes.

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thequestion

04/25/09 at 9:53 pm

How many Creationist or Intelligent Design books have you read?
[silence]
I have read material on both sides of the creation/evolution debate, and I have come to the conclusion that Intelligent Design has more evidence for it than Evolution does. Please stop slandering your fellow scientists with this whole "Intelligent Design is a fraud" thing.

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thinker35

10/26/09 at 5:55 pm

I also have done an extensive study into both creation and evolutionary concepts and in support of what thequestion has stated above I have found that, when setting all prejudices aside, the creationist view has far more raw science to support it. Can we say that the "Big Bang" is supported by science? No, not by any means. Could we say the same about Intelligent Design? No. So the core issue comes down to which one are you going to place your faith in? Which is why I am a "creationist." In my opinion creationism is far easier to believe than evolution.

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