Association Of Catholic Bloggers

DNA evidence in a court case isn't new: but deer DNA in a poaching trial is. Less than two decades after a cloned sheep 's birth, British Members of Parliament okayed human cloning: using DNA from three people. Scientists who think this is a good idea may be right: at least for some versions of the new tech. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Chicks and humans associate small numbers with the left side and large ones with the right. A scientists says this may mean that our 'number line' is a very old piece of neural hardware. Other scientists are studying part of a skull that's from one of the earliest of today's sort of human to leave Africa. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Humans have hands . So do apes, monkeys, lemurs, and koalas. For that matter, a chameleon's feet look and act a lot like hands. But they don't have precision-grip thumbs that can line up with any finger. We do: and apparently have had a firm grip on tools for over two million years. Scientists had a pretty good idea about how the common ancestor of dinosaurs, crocodiles and alligators, and birds, developed. A quarter-billion-year-old fossil shows that the situation is more complicated than scientists thought.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Malaria that's resistant to a very successful anti-malaria drug is spreading. The good news is that scientists know where this particular strain's immunity came from. Other scientists say that "society needs to be prepared" for designer babies, and that "it is time for a serious public debate on the issue." More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

European officials seem to think that planning about what to do when an asteroid heads their way is a good idea. I think they're right. A SpaceX cargo run to the International Space Station arrived on time, but the flight's experimental reusable booster didn't land properly. Actually, it crashed.... I started writing about asteroid impacts, which reminded me of ice ages, dodos, and responsibility. This isn't the most tightly-organized post I've ever done. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

That zipper-faced critter isn't, I think, the weirdest thing that's lived. Not when things that look like lily pads or mushrooms, and may be animals ; and other critters with five eyes ; are in the running. That animal with the weird mouth is one of Sci-News.com's 'top paleontological discoveries' for 2014. The discovery of color vision in a 300,000,000-year-old fish came out in late December: which may be why it didn't make the 'top discoveries' list. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Someone's made a 'top 10' list of "top exoplanet discoveries of 2014," including the first potentially habitable Earth-size world. Mars had an ocean: billions of years ago. Scientists are piecing together the story of how Mars became the world it is now: and trying to figure out where Martian methane comes from. Other scientists have discovered another reason to look for life on planets orbiting red dwarf stars: and there's the ongoing discussion of how to define "life." We're learning more about this universe, and discovering that there's much more to learn. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists found the genetic code mice use for growing paws — in spotted gar, after they thought about what happened to fish 300,000,000 years back. An amateur fossil hunter found a complete ichthyosaur skeleton in Wales , professional fossil hunters found parts of a critter that isn't quite an ichthyosaur in China, and other paleontologists described a cat-size dinosaur that lived in what's now Montana. Still other scientists named a Cambrian — thing — after an esteemed colleague. Quite a few Cambrian critters are just like nothing that lives on today's Earth. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Kepler spotted its first planet since mission planners found a new way to hold the robot observatory steady, earlier this year. Scientists at the Nordic Optical Telescope didn't discover 55 Cancri e: but they're the first to observe the super-Earth from Earth's surface. The planet is too hot for life: but 55 Cancri f is another matter. I'll get back to that. Other scientists are fine-tuning how we can search for life in the universe.... ...Before getting to 55 Cancri e and the search for life in the universe, I'll be rambling on about billions of planets, Genesis, and the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Feel free to skip ahead to Planet-Spotting: Nordic Optical Telescope's 'First.' Or take a coffee break, go for a walk: whatever you feel like.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

A researcher with a digital camera noticed faint marks on a half-million-old shell. It's the earliest known abstract mark: made by Homo erectus. Scientists discovered genetic traces of a previously-unknown group of people, Denisovans , in a Neanderthal's DNA a year ago. Detailed analysis of the Neanderthal DNA reveals details of that Neanderthal family's history: and a few genes from another previously-unknown group.... ...The woman we know as KNM ER 3733 lived about 1,700,000 years ago.... ...The human family has changed a bit since her time: most of us have shorter arms and legs now; our foreheads are smoother and more nearly vertical; and we're probably better at singing opera. I'll get back to that.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

A company whose DNA test was banned by the FDA is back: in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, scientists are learning that complex organic compounds may be forming in Titan's atmosphere: another piece to the puzzle of how life began. Another team found that up to half of Earth's water came from interstellar space. Finally, a quick look at astrobiology and assumptions about intelligent life in the universe.... ...We've known that traits are inherited for a thousand generations, maybe more, and applied that knowledge. The deal Jacob made with Laban in Genesis 30:17 - 3:13 at least hints that Jacob knew how to make sure many dark sheep and spotted or speckled goats were born.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

A Rosetta mission team leader's British reserve snapped when Philae's data showed "a lot of peaks." There's carbon on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko: probably part of complex organic compounds, which doesn't mean there's life there. Researchers on this side of the Atlantic reported that double planets may be more common than we'd thought: a lot more more common.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists may have found an upper limit to pterosaur wingspans. A fossil ichthyosaur is our first look at how these marine animals returned to the ocean, and scientists found a spike-headed ankylosaur species. I'm fascinated by this sort of thing. Your experience may vary.... ...I saw the universe as a place of order and beauty before I became a Catholic. Now, I must see it as a place of order and beauty. It's 'in the rules.'... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

A spacecraft landed on a comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, this week: an historic 'first.' Back on Earth, scientists at the ALMA radio telescope got the clearest picture yet of planets about to take shape.... ...I'm looking forward to what we'll learn from the Rosetta mission's lander and orbiter: how closely its water matches Earth's, and what other substances it carried from the Solar System's borderlands.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

If all goes well, a robot spaceship will harpoon a comet next week. Meanwhile, science and daily routine go on in the International Space Station, nobody was hurt when an Antares cargo carrier exploded, and someone's done a survey about faith and space aliens...." ...Some comets and asteroids are shaped like potatoes. Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko looks like two potatoes and a bit of corn stalk: or a rubber duck.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Paleontologists uncovered a huge pair of arms, plus assorted ribs and vertebrae, in the Gobi Desert 49 years back. Discoveries since 2006 supplied the missing pieces of Deinocheirus, the largest known theropod dinosaur. Other scientists are filling in more of humanity's family history, with 45,000-year-old DNA. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Robot explorers observed a comet as it whizzed past Mars, there's something very odd about a moon of Saturn, and Earth's magnetic field will probably flip much sooner than predicted. About Earth's magnetic poles switching places: I'm pretty sure we'll notice the event, but it won't be 'apocalyptic.'... ...Earth's magnetic field is weakening a whole lot faster than scientists expected. Our planet's north and south magnetic poles will switch places "soon:" on the geologic time scale. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

This year's Ebola outbreak has killed thousand of folks in West Africa: and one in the United States. By any reasonable standard, it's a very serious health problem.... ...As I've said before, being healthy is okay. ( June 13, 2014 ) Not being healthy is okay, too: but I'm expected to take care of my health: within reason.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography discovered thousands of previously-unknown submerged mountains in data from satellites designed for measuring ice caps and ocean currents. Other scientists found a long-buried rift system on Earth's moon, and India's space program put a spacecraft in Mars orbit — on their first try.... ...I'm pretty sure that most ' pure science ' has practical applications: given time. Sometimes, given a lot of time. It took about two millennia for the aeolipiles of Vitruvius and Hero of Alexandria to make the transition from laboratory curiosities to steam engines and spaceship motors.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists have found a complex organic molecule near this galaxy's core; and water vapor in a planet's atmosphere, some 122 light-years away. Closer to home, America's Congress is deliberating on a bill that could allow asteroid mining: if other nations don't get conniptions.... ...As usual, I'll explain why I think being human is okay. If you've been here before, feel free to skip to "Organic Molecules in Sagittarius B2," click to something else online, take a coffee break, or whatever.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .