Let there be LIFE!

My sister and brother in law told us the story of their camping trip to Glencoe. They arrived at the campsite and began unpacking the car… At a certain stage in the unpacking process they realised that they had brought the tent but not the poles!

All the independent forms of life that have been investigated so far are found enclosed within a membrane. This defines the edges of something which is alive. Inside is the cytoplasm…the essential living mass of molecules and reaction. Outside is the great environment with all its blessings and curses.

The membrane seals.

When the membrane seals then you need everything necessary for life to be on the inside of the membrane to make the little creature living. This includes all the materials and structures for a functioning life cycle. This turns out to be rather a large amount of nanotechnology!

Don’t shut the lid until you are sure you have got everything!

A question about defining the borders of science.

Looking across the atlantic to the debate in the USA about intelligent design and particularly the court case in Dover…one question occurred to me this morning as I was trying to summon up the will power to start my sit ups….it was this…

If there are to be clear boundaries defining what is science and what is not science (which the Panda’s thumb-ites seem to want…. If we don’t exclude intelligent design from science then the whole world of science and technology will fall apart don’t you know!) then where does the debate about what science is take place? Does the debate about what science is take place within science or outside science? Is the debate about what science actually is a scientific debate or not?

If the new NCSE/AAAS rules of science are to be applied rigorously…do they apply to the debate about making the science rule book? Are the new rules of science to be scientific or not? Can the new rules of science be taught in science lessons or not?

Molecular Mousetrap?

For more of these lovely animations take a look at this page.

This is the hook of that famous little engine that is causing all this stir!

Does this look designed?

Do you fancy building it from lego?

How about building it from lego blindfolded?











What is it? It is a protein structure that provides a little tunnel through a membrane in a “simple” bacterium.

Elegance? Beauty? Majesty?
The ribbons that are shown represent chains of amino acids that are put together each in the correct location to produce this exquisite masterpiece of protein technology.

Here is another view from above:

Christianity the cause of societal dysfunction?

Ms Ruth Gledhill set the Blogs buzzing with her article in the Times. She reports on a study by Gregory Paul (a dinasaur palaeontologist and an anti ID man) available here. It seems that the study was of a poor quality and that Ms Gledhill misrepresented the study in her article. (See a Christian Statistician's view here.) What is more interesting is that the Times editor made the decision to print such an article... are the major players in the MSM nailing their colours to the mast? I wonder what discussion went on at the Times HQ over this?

How is all this related to ID you may ask... well interestingly about a third of Gregory Paul's article is about evolution and creation. He makes the link himself. He is seeking to debunk the idea that religion is the determining factor in the development of moral behaviour.

Darwinists want to claim that their doctrines are morally benign... both to society and to Christianity. This (to most fair minded people) is a huge error. Every clear view of the universe results in a particular view of morality. King David of Israel wrote a Psalm about it.... The fool said in his heart ... No God.....they are corrupt... Human goodness and purity is related to our distance from God and the character of our chosen King.

How many countries founded on atheism and Darwinism would you have liked to live in?

As G.K Chesterton put it..."even if I was an atheist I would still want my doctor, my lawyer and my banker to believe in God."