Evolution Named 2005's Top Scientific Breakthrough

[nosmokes]

original

Evolution Named 2005's Top Scientific Breakthrough

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WASHINGTON - Two days after a US judge struck down the teaching of intelligent design theory in a Pennsylvania public school, the journal Science on Thursday proclaimed evolution the breakthrough of 2005.

Wide-ranging research published this year, including a study that showed a mere 4 percent difference between human and chimpanzee DNA, built on Charles Darwin's landmark 1859 work "The Origin of Species" and the idea of natural selection, the journal's editors wrote.

"Amid this outpouring of results, 2005 stands out as a banner year for uncovering the intricacies of how evolution actually proceeds," they wrote. "Ironically, also this year, some segments of American society fought to dilute the teaching of even the basic facts of evolution."

The journal's editor in chief, Don Kennedy, acknowledged this was a reference to the rise of the theory of intelligent design, which holds that some aspects of nature are so complex that they must be the work of an unnamed creator rather than the result of random natural selection, as Darwin argued.

Opponents, including many scientists, argue it is a thinly disguised version of creationism - a belief that the world was created by God as described in the Book of Genesis - which the US Supreme Court has ruled may not be taught in public schools.

"I think what arouses the ire of scientists (about intelligent design) is ... the notion that it belongs in the same universe as scientific analysis," Kennedy said in a telephone interview.

"It's a hypothesis that's not testable, and one of the important recognition factors for science and scientific ideas is the notion of testability, that you can go out and do an experiment and learn from it and change your idea," said Kennedy. "That's just not possible with a notion that's as much a belief in spirituality as intelligent design is."

Intelligent design theory came under review in two US states this year, with a federal judge in Pennsylvania on Tuesday banning the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in the Dover Area School District.

In Kansas, the state Board of Education approved public school standards that cast doubt on evolutionary theory.

Kennedy said Science picked evolution as the year's biggest breakthrough in part because it was a "hot topic," but stressed there was a wealth of research that justified the choice.
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complete articlehere

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Story by Deborah Zabarenko

Story Date: 23/12/2005

[me b zola]

1. Is it safe to learn science in the science classrooms again??

"I think what arouses the ire of scientists (about intelligent design) is ... the notion that it belongs in the same universe as scientific analysis," Kennedy said in a telephone interview."


Kind of like the fundies. They're in an entirely different universe.

[oostevo]

2. That's Sad

I realize that all science requires and benefits from healthy skepticism, but it is an absolutely inane commentary on our society that we are calling something published in 1859 a "scientific breakthrough."

[hayu_lol]

3. DNA is the key that helps provide the breakthrough...

the root of the breakthrough began in 1859. Darwin's work was duplicated by another individual working independantly but Darwin published first.

Look at the ruckus caused by a book published almost 2000 years ago. What is your problem with 1859?

[oostevo]

5. DNA is old news as well

Friedrich Miescher found something he called "nuclein" in 1869, and Watson and Crick made their great logical leap in 1953. Honestly, the body of knowledge in genetics and molecular biology hasn't had a really significant increase this year, as far as I know.

My point was that it's sad that we still have to call something that's been the prevailing theory for so long the "top scientific breakthrough" in 2005.

[xchrom]

4. there's nothing healthy about the skepticism raised by

intelligent design.

quite the opposite.

[Jim__]

6. And just the other day, Pat Robertson was saying how more and

more scientists are coming to doubt evolution. I guess somebody better tell the editors of Science magazine.