Following on from the previous post, I wanted to pull out another couple of 'pointers to God' that Francis Collins and BioLogos like to present as part of their argument for belief. I like them because, far from being pointers to god, they are in fact powerful examples of the power of science and the weakness of religion as a tool to help us understand morality. They're great examples of how science is encroaching into what was once regarding as purely religious territory.

First example is this one - "Why is it wrong to torture an individual for the greater good?"

I have a confesson to make; I'm probably smarter than you. Don't take it badly, I am smarter than most people and I am not saying I am definitely smarter than you, because I don't know all of you and that would just be ridiculous hubris.

But I am smarter than most of you, yet I have been forced by societal norms to keep it quiet. Oppressed, even.   Still, it comes out even if I try to hide it.   I am always convinced I will be the smartest guy in every room I enter and most of the time I am right, without even saying a word.

I am part of the elite.  If you are reading this, you probably are too, given our demographics.

With the new movie ‘Star Trek’ opening in theaters across the nation, one thing movie goers will undoubtedly see is the Starship Enterprise racing across the galaxy at the speed of light but two Baylor University physicists believe they have an idea that can turn traveling at the speed of light from science fiction to science, and that their idea does not break any laws of physics. 

LOS ANGELES, April 28 /PRNewswire/ --

Taking a cue from the number one women's wardrobe staple, the little black dress, Hurley and Bar Refaeli introduce the Little Black Bikini, a timeless essential for beaches everywhere.

The limited-edition Hurley Little Black Bikini by Bar Refaeli will retail for US$120, with a portion of proceeds donated to Boarding for Breast Cancer, a youth-focused non-profit that promotes early detection and an active lifestyle as the best prevention for breast cancer. It will debut on May 1, 2009 at select boutiques worldwide. As of June 2, it will also be available at select Victoria's Secret stores nationwide.

How many times have you had some pithy comment in prose be misinterpreted when you just know that if the other people could simply hear your voice or see your face they would know how brilliant you are?

It happens a lot and emoticons, along with their evil cousin ALL CAPITALIZATION AND !!! PUNCTUATION, were invented to try and close the communications gap.  

Now European researchers at the PASION project have developed a suite of tools to add non-verbal cues to email, phone calls, chats and other channels of electronic communication.   Digital communication hasn’t the richness of face-to-face conversation because it cannot communicate the non-verbal cues and contextual information that are so important to us all.

Scientists have found an ancient ecosystem below an Antarctic glacier and learned that it survived millions of years by transforming sulfur and iron compounds for growth.