Chimpanzees Show Similar Personality Traits to Humans

Chimpanzees have almost the same personality traits as humans, and they are structured almost identically, according to new work. The research also shows some of those traits have a neurobiological basis, and that those traits vary according to the biological sex of the individual chimpanzee.

MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140506115620.htm

Battling Psychics and Ghosts: The Need for Scientific Skepticism

Although students may master the facts and figures learned in their science classes, many have not learned to appreciate the process of science. In particular, most do not grasp the key point that science is not a body of knowledge but an approach to knowledge that emphasizes subjecting claims to careful scrutiny. As a consequence, many students do not possess the thinking tools to distinguish between science and pseudoscience.

MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rodney-schmaltz/battling-psychics-and-ghosts-the-need-for-scientific-skepticism_b_5207547.html

Time's Arrow Traced to Quantum Source

In the new story of the arrow of time, it is the loss of information through quantum entanglement, rather than a subjective lack of human knowledge, that drives a cup of coffee into equilibrium with the surrounding room. The room eventually equilibrates with the outside environment, and the environment drifts even more slowly toward equilibrium with the rest of the universe. The giants of 19th century thermodynamics viewed this process as a gradual dispersal of energy that increases the overall entropy, or disorder, of the universe. Today, Lloyd, Popescu and others in their field see the arrow of time differently. In their view, information becomes increasingly diffuse, but it never disappears completely. So, they assert, although entropy increases locally, the overall entropy of the universe stays constant at zero.

MORE: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/quanta/20140416-times-arrow-traced-to-quantum-source/

Potentially habitable Earth-like planet discovered; May have similar temperatures to our planet

A potentially habitable Earth-like planet that is only 16 light years away has been discovered. The "super-Earth" planet, GJ 832 c, takes 16 days to orbit its red-dwarf star, GJ 832, and has a mass at least five times that of Earth. It receives about the same average stellar energy as Earth does and may have similar temperatures to our planet. These characteristics put it among the top three most Earth-like planets.

MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140630133425.htm

Scientists Spot A Planet That Looks Like 'Earth's Cousin'

It's almost the same size as Earth, and it orbits in its star's "Goldilocks zone" -- where temperatures are not too hot, not too cold, and maybe just right for life.

MORE: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/04/17/303806575/scientists-spot-a-planet-that-looks-like-earths-cousin

See also...

Milky Way may bear 100 million life-giving planets
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140609100725.htm

Under Icy Surface of a Saturn Moon Lies a Sea of Water, Scientists Say

For many researchers, this tiny, shiny cue ball of a moon, just over 300 miles wide, is now the most promising place to look for life elsewhere in the solar system, even more than Mars.

MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/04/science/space/a-moon-of-saturn-has-a-sea-scientists-say.html

13,000-year-old teenager was early American

A teenage girl may have gotten lost in a cave looking for water, nearly 13,000 years ago. Naia, as she's known today, likely fell to her death in a deep, dark pit.

Now, her remains are shining a light on the genetic heritage of what we believe are the first people in the Americas.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/16/world/americas/skeleton-mexico-americans/index.html

As heavy as 14 elephants, as long as 2 tractor trailers: Meet Mr. Titanosaur

At about 130 feet (40 meters) long and 180,000 pounds (80,000 kilograms), it's no wonder, then, that these colossal creatures are dubbed titanosaurs -- titan being a nod to the giants of ancient Greek mythology.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/17/world/americas/giant-dinosaur-discovery/index.html

MAP: Where offending a religion could get you executed

Apostasy laws remain on the books of a minority of countries -- 11 percent of the world, according to Pew -- most of which happen to be predominantly Muslim. A host of other nations, including many non-Muslim ones, also maintain blasphemy laws.

MORE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/05/28/map-where-offending-a-religion-could-get-you-executed/

Secular triumph as government bans creationism from free schools and academies

New clauses for church academies published on June 9th clarify the meaning of creationism and state that it is a minority view within the Church of England and Catholic church.

MORE: http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2014/06/18/secular-triumph-as-government-bans-creationism-from-free-sch

If Trends Continue, Christians Will Soon Dip Below 50% of the Population in Australia

According to the Australian research firm Roy Morgan Research, by this time next year, non-Christians in the country may out-number Christians for the first time.

MORE: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/04/16/if-trends-continue-christians-will-soon-dip-below-50-of-the-population-in-australia/

Pastafarian's Licence and Firearms siezed over ID photo

A South Australian atheist who successfully had his gun licence printed with a photo of him wearing a colander on his head has been forced to undertake a psychological test to prove he is fit to own firearms.

MORE: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=09b_1403258094

Pastafarians rejoice as Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is granted permission to register as a religion in Poland

A church that worships an invisible flying spaghetti monster can now apply to be registered as an official religion in Poland, after a 2013 court ruling was overturned on Tuesday.

MORE: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/weird-news/pastafarians-rejoice-as-church-of-the-flying-spaghetti-monster-is-granted-permission-to-register-as-a-religion-in-poland-9248689.html

Reports of possible mass grave 'sickening,' Ireland's top Catholic clergyman say

The revelation that nearly 800 children may have been buried in an unmarked mass grave at a former Catholic-run home for unwed mothers in Ireland is "sickening" and must be investigated, the country's top Catholic clergyman says.

--snip--

The Tuam case is the latest high-profile episode in which the state and Catholic Church have been called to account over care of the most vulnerable in Irish society.

A government report last year into the so-called Magdalen Laundries, run by various Catholic orders, acknowledged that Ireland's government sent thousands of women and girls to "harsh and physically demanding" workhouses, where they worked and lived without pay, sometimes for years. The laundries operated from 1922 to 1996.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/09/world/europe/ireland-bodies-tuam/index.html

See also...

Anger grows over reported mass grave of children from Irish unwed mothers home
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/04/world/europe/ireland-children-bodies-tuam/index.html

Ex-Vatican envoy to Dominican Republic guilty of child sex abuse, tribunal finds

A former Vatican ambassador to the Dominican Republic has been found guilty of sexual abuse of minors by a Vatican tribunal and defrocked, the Vatican said in a statement Friday.

MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/27/world/europe/vatican-envoy-sex-abuse/index.html

'Hands off the Crucifixes or you will be in trouble," says Italian mayor

The mayor of the northern Italian city of Padua announced on Wednesday that all public buildings must display a crucifix.

MORE: http://www.onenewspage.com/n/US/750ho7rbx/Hands-off-the-Crucifixes-or-you-will-be.htm

Court to decide if Indian guru is dead or meditating

His Holiness Shri Ashutosh Maharaj was determined to be clinically dead by physicians in January 2014, but his followers insist he is in a state of deep meditation. The Punjab High Court is set to decide his state and therefore what will happen to his $170 million estate.

MORE: http://cir.ca/news/indian-guru-dead-or-meditating

Atheists, the "Ultimate Other" in Turkey

Mustafa Akyol, a Turkish writer and advocate for a tolerant form of Islam, says atheists are seen as the "ultimate other" in Turkey. "In the public consciousness, mostly among religious conservatives, atheists are seen as immoral and dirty -- all of the negative things you could imagine."

Such vitriol can result in serious harassment. Barbaros Sansal, a prominent fashion designer and activist, is also a well-known atheist. "I receive lots of messages with threats all the time because I'm an atheist," he says. "They want to kill me, they want to torture me, they ask me to leave the country, and so on."

MORE: http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/06/atheists-the-ultimate-other-in-turkey/

See also...

A Center for Atheism Opens Up in Turkey: "No Atheists Will Be Alone Anymore"
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/04/18/a-center-for-atheism-opens-up-in-turkey-no-atheists-will-be-alone-anymore/

Center for Atheism
http://www.ateizmdernegi.org/

Embrace of Atheism Put an Indonesian in Prison

According to human rights organizations and various surveys, religious intolerance is on the rise in Indonesia, at least partly because of the growing influence of radical Islamic groups that use street protests and acts of violence to support their aims.

MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/04/world/asia/indonesian-who-embraced-atheism-landed-in-prison.html?_r=1

Saudi Arabia declares all atheists are terrorists in new law to crack down on political dissident

Saudi Arabia has introduced a series of new laws which define atheists as terrorists, according to a report from Human Rights Watch.

MORE: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-declares-all-atheists-are-terrorists-in-new-law-to-crack-down-on-political-dissidents-9228389.html

See also...

Why Saudi Arabia calls atheists 'terrorists'
http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/28057069-452/why-saudi-arabia-calls-atheists-terrorists.html#.U7EUBUvD-Uk