It’s long been lost in the modern tug-of-war between science and religion, but the original concern over Darwin’s dangerous idea wasn’t purely about evolution. It was the dilemma an old Earth and universe posed for a literal Garden of Eden. Without that setting, there could be no original sin, therefore no way to blame suffering on humans, leaving God with the full blame and arguably making salvation pointless. That age old debate still echoes down to this day—in some places and states more than others:
Johnson and coauthors conducted a national analysis and found that between 2000 and 2012, anti-evolution bills were introduced 110 times in 26 states. … “The top three states where anti-evolution legislation was introduced were Oklahoma with 13 bills, Mississippi with 11 bills, and Alabama with 10 bills,” Johnson says. “These three states also have the highest numbers of conservative protestants (denominations diversely associated with fundamentalist, Pentecostal, charismatic, and evangelical religious movements) in the United States. In addition, more than two-thirds of the bills were introduced in states with more than 25 percent of the population identifying as conservative Protestants.”
- Really good question for programmers of driverless cars about life and death choices that was also briefly alluded to in the movie I, Robot:
A group of pedestrians are crossing the street, and the only way the car can avoid hitting them is by swerving off the road, which would kill the passengers inside. The participants generally agreed that the cars should be programmed to sacrifice their passengers if doing so would save many other people.
- We can’t seem to catch a break: you’ve heard of a strawberry moon, now learn about pink snow, or rather the alga that causes it, which is accelerating polar amplification caused by climate change:
Turns out, red snow algae have a non-trivial effect on the albedo of the snowy surfaces they colonize, reducing it by as much as 13 percent, according to the new study. And while it’s still unclear just how large these blooms can get, lead study author Steffi Lutz of the University of Leeds says … “The algae need liquid water in order to bloom,” Lutz said. “The more melting, the more algae. With temperatures rising globally, the snow algae phenomenon will likely also increase leading to an even higher bio-albedo effect.”