#Creationists love the idea that the #genetic #code and #computer code are fundamentally the same thing. Since of course #programs are #designed (not always #intelligently, but that's another post) they think this is proof that life was too.

They seize on one-liners from those they regard as infidels and heretics, because then they can say, "See? Even unbelievers admit that ..." Bill Gates and Richard Dawkins, both known for going outside their lanes, are popular choices. Gates: "#DNA is like a computer program but far, far more advanced than any software ever created." Dawkins: "I'm fascinated by the idea that genetics is digital. A #gene is a long sequence of coded letters, like computer information."

I get why this is a popular analogy. Unfortunately, it's also a bad one. Those of us with one foot in each field know the differences far outweigh the similarities. Which leads me to the following epigram:

Many #programmers say genes look like code. Many #biologists say code looks like genes. No #bioinformaticist says either.

#Creationism in the #classroom: does it matter? #Kitzmiller 20 years on

What we now call #ChristianNationalism has its roots in #RonaldReagan’s 1980 presidential campaign, when #creationists such as #TimLaHaye fused together #political #conservatism, the newly adopted #abortion issue, literalist #Bible-based #religion, and the rejection of #evolution #science as #Humanist, #unAmerican, and as we would now say #Woke.

https://3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2025/12/creationism-in-the-classroom-does-it-matter-kitzmiller-20-years-on.html

Young-Earth #Creationists Debunked (Again)

YECs claimed the lack of old #supernova remnants proved a young #universe. Wrong.

New #Radioteleskope surveys in #Australia just found dozens of ancient supernova remnants that were too faint to detect before.

The "missing" remnants weren't missing - they were just hard to see because they fade over time and emit mainly radio waves.

Bottom line: The universe is old. Science wins. 🔭

@badastro https://mastodon.social/@badastro/115583124348087819

Stop letting #creationists host your ideas

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/18/stop-letting-creationists-host-your-ideas/

#science #cults #religion #falsescience

Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof.
-- Ashley Montague

⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #AshleyMontague #Creationists #Science

⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Panopainting #Flowers #Junkyard #Minnesota

The Definitive Guide to #Debunking #Creationists

Part 1: #Cosmology/#Planetary #Science
Part 2: #Abiogenesis
Part 3: #Evolutionary #Biology/#Paleontology
Part 4: #Genetics/#Molecular Biology
Part 5: #Philosophy/#Theology

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7_HOZHOi1w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2JjHDZDdRE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQOCybcSnug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfm9q4UoQBI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU8H_Fh-TAE

#atheist #creationism #origins #atheism

Good look at a bad problem. The author is a friend from grad schol at the #University of #Colorado, where she was a faculty member when I was a grad student. She’s since gone on to bigger and better things, and I’ve gone on to … well, things.

Anyway. I’ve never been particularly worried about #Cylons, #Skynet, etc. Humans doing stupid human tricks, and using #AI to do them much faster, OTOH, yeah.

The internet community of anti-science #cranks is an example of #model #collapse happening at human speed. #Antivaxers, #creationists, #climate change #deniers et al. prey on people with legitimate questions about some particular aspect of the broad #consensus. Those people often go down an increasingly loony rabbit hole, and end up propagating the absurdity, sometimes adding their own bizarre spin which their new-found colleagues happily add to the ideology.

If this becomes part of the #academic ecosystem, with AI reviewers approving AI-generated #papers and no human checks on the process, the scholarly corpus will become hopelessly contaminated. I have no idea what to do about that.

https://theconversation.com/a-new-ai-scientist-can-write-science-papers-without-any-human-input-heres-why-thats-a-problem-237029