Category archives: Humanities & Social Sciences

What ‘hok’ and ‘krak’ mean to monkeys The structure of monkey calls is surprisingly sophisticated: The same species of monkeys—located in separate geographic regions—use their alarm calls differently to warn of approaching predators. Futurity.org Life would drastically change if all bacteria disappeared Living for a time without bacteria is possible, but probably not very pleasant […]

After having shown the ways in which Richard Dembski’s ‘explanatory filter’ (EF) in support of the ‘intelligent design theory’ (ID) misconceives and misapplies the nature of scientific explanation, I shall devote the last entries of this series to discuss another mistake in Dembski’s work: the way in which he employs the ‘no free lunch’ theorems […]

If in the two previous entries of this series we have seen that (contrarily to what Dembski’s filter suggests and needs) ‘law’ and ‘hazard’ are not different types of explanations, but necessary and complementary elements of basically all explanatory models, I will try to show here that ‘explanation from purpose’ is not as significantly different […]

Hummingbird flight similar to that of insects Scientists recorded a hummingbird as it hovered then created a 3D model to assess the airflow patterns created by the flapping of its wings. While other birds use the downstroke of their wings to fly, hummingbirds use upstrokes and downstrokes to create small vortices that merge into one […]

Massive mountain range in Antarctica covered by protective ice The Gamburtsev Mountains in Antarctica are 100 million years old but look much younger due to lack of erosion because its massive expanse is entirely encased in ice. Scientists used airborne imaging technology to survey the range’s massive peaks and also found a network of subglacial […]

This is the English version of a section in Ferreira (2014) , a paper dedicated to overview the experiments in Industrial Organization that appeared in Revista de Economía Industrial, and is reproduced here with the permission of the journal. Until a couple of decades ago many of the so called natural monopolies were regulated through […]

Massive storms on Uranus baffle scientists Astronomers have detected a wave of powerful storms touching down on the planet Uranus, surprising scientists who previously observed much more placid weather. Some of the storms are so bright that even amateurs can observe them using less advanced equipment. National Geographic The puzzle over organic matter on Mars […]

Half of all stars exist outside of galaxies As many as half the stars in the universe may be galaxy castoffs, causing a diffuse glow in the cosmos. Researchers sent a rocket beyond the atmosphere’s edge to record images in wavelengths of near-infrared light, leading them to the surprising discovery. Los Angeles Times / Science […]

Scientific progress has undoubtedly being fed by singular individuals. Those who have pushed the boundaries driven by endless curiosity aiming to understand how the world surrounding us works. Mankind regards Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin or Marie Curie (among others) as unique minds that have contributed to shape the understanding of the world we live on […]

Besides confusing what a scientific explanation is, as we saw in the previous entry , Dembski’s ‘explanatory filter’ (‘anything must be explained by law, by chance, or by design’) also commits the worst mistake that can be committed while using the logical rule known as ‘disjunctive syllogism’ (“either p or q; not p; ergo q”) […]