Atheists a dying breed as nature ‘favours faithful’
A study of 82 countries has found that those whose inhabitants worship at least once a week have 2.5 children each.
Atheists, watch out. Religious people have evolved to produce more children than non-believers, researchers claim, while societies dominated by non-believers are doomed to die out.
A study of 82 countries has found that those whose inhabitants worship at least once a week have 2.5 children each, while those who never do so have just 1.7 — below the number needed to replace themselves.
The academic who led the study argues that evolution, credited by atheist biologists such as Richard Dawkins as the process solely responsible for creating humanity, favours the faithful because they are encouraged to breed as a religious duty.
Full Story at RDF
US authorities investigate mystery death of 1,000 birds
Wildlife officials are trying to determine what caused more than 1,000 black birds to die and fall from the sky over an Arkansas town. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said it received reports about the dead birds about 11:30 p.m. the previous night. The birds fell over a 1-mile (2-kilometer) area, and an aerial survey indicated that no other dead birds were found outside of that area.
Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe said the birds showed physical trauma, and she speculated that “the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail.”
The commission said that New Year’s Eve revelers shooting off fireworks in the area could have startled the birds from their roost and caused them to die from stress. Officers estimated that over 1,000 birds had fallen out of the sky over the city before midnight. Most of the birds were dead, but some were still alive when officers arrived. The blackbirds fell over a one-mile area in the city.
More at Telegraph
110-year-old man finds 82-year-old willing to be his wife
Ahmad Mohamad Isa, who has 20 grandchildren and 40 great-grandchildren, told Malay-language newspaper Utusan Malaysia earlier this week that he wanted company and a wife to take care of him. The report grabbed the attention of 82-year-old Sanah Ahmad, a widow of 30 years and mother of nine, who said she was willing to do so and had asked her children to contact Ahmad’s family to make arrangements.
“It doesn’t matter who she is, as long as she can cook for me,” Ahmad told the paper Sunday. “It is lonely to live alone and I am afraid to sleep alone. If I have a wife she can take care of me,” the centenarian, who has five previous marriages and suffers mild hearing and vision problems, said in an earlier interview.
Four of his wives have died and he divorced the fifth. Mrs Sanah told the paper that she was attracted to Ahmad as he bears a striking resemblance to her late husband and both men shared the same name.
Herald Sun
Armageddon rescheduled for may 2011
Harold Camping lets out a hearty chuckle when he considers the people who believe the world will end in 2012. ”That date has not one stitch of biblical authority,” Camping says from the Oakland office where he runs Family Radio, an evangelical station that reaches listeners around the world. “It’s like a fairy tale.” The real date for the end of times, he says, is in 2011.
This is not the first time Camping has made a bold prediction about Judgment Day.
On Sept. 6, 1994, dozens of Camping’s believers gathered inside Alameda’s Veterans Memorial Building to await the return of Christ, an event Camping had promised for two years. Followers dressed children in their Sunday best and held Bibles open-faced toward heaven.
But the world did not end. Camping allowed that he may have made a mathematical error. He spent the next decade running new calculations, as well as overseeing a media company that has grown significantly in size and reach. ”We are now translated into 48 languages and have been transmitting into China on an AM station without getting jammed once,” Camping said. “How can that happen without God’s mercy?”
Read the full article at SFGate.com
What is the logic behind niceness, kindness and even self sacrifice?
RadioLab feature “The Good Show”, a one hour look in to the psychology of kindness. The standard view of evolution is that living things are shaped by cold-hearted competition. And there is no doubt that today’s plants and animals carry the genetic legacy of ancestors who fought fiercely to survive and reproduce.
In this hour, we wonder whether there might also be a logic behind sharing, niceness, kindness … or even, self-sacrifice. Is altruism an aberration, or just an elaborate guise for sneaky self-interest? Do we really live in a selfish, dog-eat-dog world? Or has evolution carved out a hidden code that rewards genuine cooperation?
In this episode, a question that haunted Charles Darwin: if natural selection boils down to survival of the fittest, how do you explain why one creature might stick its neck out for another?
Featuring Richard Dawkins, Robert Axelrod and Carl Zimmer it’s free to stream or download.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is fake
Acording to Wikipedia – sorry to have to break the news to you all now.
Achieve your New Year’s Resolutions!
Richard Wiseman has a great guide on how to achieve your new years resolutions. Here’s a taster:
“1. Make only one resolution – Many people make the mistake of trying to achieve too much. The chances of success are greater when people channel their energy into changing just one aspect of their behaviour at a time.
2. Plan ahead – Don’t wait until New Year’s Eve to think about your resolution. Last minute decisions tend to be based on what is on your mind at that time. Instead, take some time out a few days before and reflect upon what you really want to achieve.
3. Avoid previous resolutions – Deciding to re-visit a past resolution sets you up for frustration and disappointment. Choose something new, or approach an old problem in a new way. For example, instead of trying to lose 2 stone in weight, try exercising more.”
To see all 10 visit the 59 Seconds Blog
