darwins beagle's blog

In a little over a month from now my family and I will be on vacation. It is the first vacation in a very long time that is intended solely for enjoyment. We aren't going someplace to visit family or friends, we are going to sight-see and have fun. We are going to Yellowstone National Park. Each of us came up with two places we would be happy going to see. That totalled out to 6 places.  Read More »

Virtual particles are subatomic particles that appear out of empty space. Their existence was predicted early in the development of quantum theory. While I do not claim to be a physicist, I have had an interest in virtual particles for a long time. In an effort to understand them I spent quiet a bit of time reading the original literature about them.  Read More »

The first 4 books of the New Testament are the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The word "gospel" means "good news" and the "good news" of all 4 gospels is the testament they give to the life of Jesus. They are considered the most authoritative sources for his teachings and life, and are the most important books in Christian scripture. But what is the source of their authority?  Read More »

I have always thought of representational art as a strictly human enterprise. The only example of the use of art in the non-human animal kingdom I can think of off the top of my head is that of male Bower Birds.  Read More »

A while back son_of_disaster posted a blog referencing this supposed C.S. Lewis quote:  Read More »

I have mainly limited my blogging to modern evolutionary theory and the clash between science and religion. The main reason is that these are the areas that I felt knowledgeable enough to make a contribution to the debate that is engendered around them. However, I have been reading about another interest of mine, global warming.  Read More »

The most potent technique ever invented for discovering the nature of the natural world has been the scientific method. It consist of (1) making observations; (2) proposing a theory to account for the observations; (3) making a testable prediction based on that theory; and (4) testing the prediction.  Read More »

I like to refer to myself as a vocal atheist. That means I have written several blogs defending atheism. Lord knows [intentional irony] with all the religious fundamentalists out there, atheism could use a few defenders. Sooner or later, though anyone with an interest in atheism will be exposed to the canard of Communism.  Read More »