News to Note, March 24, 2012

1. Do Bees and Humans Share a Bold Explorer Gene?

Do bees and humans share a bold explorer gene?

2. Paleoanthropologists Debate Identity of the Deerslayers

Paleoanthropologists debate identity of the deerslayers.

3. New Scientist Discards Religion, Demands God Prove Himself

New Scientist’s “God Issue” explains away religion as a part of our evolutionary heritage and demands God perform to prove Himself.

4. Atheists Celebrate Unbelief in D.C. Today

Atheists celebrate unbelief in D.C. today.

5. Rodent-Like Mammals Beat out Dinosaurs by Munching on Flowers

Rodent-like mammals with bumpy back teeth beat out dino competitors by munching on flowers.

And Don’t Miss …

• “Russell Crowe is set to float the boat as Noah in Darren Aronofsky’s edgy Biblical retelling of Noah’s Ark.” Well, we hope it’s biblical. Filming for the $130 million project should begin this summer. Aronofsky says, “Since I was a kid, I have been moved and inspired by the story of Noah and his family’s journey. The imaginations of countless generations have sparked to this epic story of faith. It’s my hope that I can present a window into Noah’s passion and perseverance for the silver screen.” The interest of the media and the movie industry in funding a project of this magnitude covering the story of Noah is an index of the interest we at Answers in Genesis expect to see with the Ark Encounter project. We hope of course that the movie depicts the true biblical story of Noah. We are certain the Ark Encounter will do so, helping visitors to visualize the reality of the Genesis account. For more information see The Ark Encounter Q&A.
• A young woman at Florida Atlantic University was caught on video this week as she became violent during an evolution class. According to a fellow student, “They were talking about natural selection. They were talking about peacocks and how females choose their mates by their most feathers and the woman started asking about how that killed all black people.” The woman threatened the professor, yelling, “You better shut up before I kill you.” She struck a male student before being forcibly removed and transported to a hospital. We do not presume to know what this disturbed young woman was thinking or what prompted her outburst, and we obviously hope she will receive the help she needs. Her racial comment gives us pause to wonder what she has been taught about the relationship between racism and evolution. As we discussed last week, an outspoken evolutionist in South Africa has ironically accused those who deny evolution of supporting apartheid. In reality, however, the late evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould noted a dramatic rise in racism coincident with widespread acceptance of evolution. In fact, last fall a collection of skulls harvested from African victims of Namibian genocide were returned to their homeland. They had been sent to Germany in 1904 to gain scientific support for European racial superiority. According to a hospital spokeswoman, “At the time, they viewed the skulls not as human remains but as material with which to investigate and classify race.” Read more about this in One Race One Blood, which explains, “Although racism did not begin with Darwinism, Darwin did more than any person to popularize it.”