News to Note, October 27, 2007

1. More Different Than We Thought

Although the news has received relatively little attention, scientists publishing in the journal Genetics last week have showed that “[m]any more genes separate humans from chimpanzees than scientists believed.”

2. Creationists Disbelieve Selection?

Apparently the newest evolutionary icon is the friendly, hefty St. Bernard dog breed—or so hints a University of Manchester press release carried by PhysOrg.com.

3. Why We Can't Phone the Aliens

Science fiction author Ben Bova offers a few explanations for why our search for extraterrestrial life (which is growing more robust with time) has turned up nothing so far.

4. Speak Like a Caveman

Despite frequent caricatures of Neanderthals as mentally deficient, grunting cavemen, scientists continue to find evidence that Neanderthals were intelligent beings quite a lot like us.

5. Artifacts Found From Solomon's Temple

Workers have discovered artifacts on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem that date to the First Jewish Temple period, from the eighth to the sixth centuries BC.