God in the classroom

"Do you believe in God, sir?" I imagine that this is a question that science teachers, like me, get asked far more often than, say, English or Geography teachers. I usually answer with a simple "no, I don't", but I recently answered this question by saying "what do you think?" to which the student replied he thought I was probably an atheist because I was a "scientist". He was right about me being an atheist, but I was an atheist long before I was any kind of "scientist".

My student needn't have been right – not all scientists or science teachers are atheists. I've worked alongside religious science teachers and some of the greatest contributions to the science have been made by people who believed in a god. There are some people who would say that there is no conflict between science and religion but young people brought up in religious homes are not necessarily taught this and a few will even have been taught to believe the opposite. I know that some of my own students are struggling to reconcile what they see as contradictory approaches to understanding the world. I suspect it's particularly difficult for those who enjoy science, and are good at it, but come from particularly religious families.

I'm a physics teacher and you might think that I get away without too much of this sort of conflict in my lessons. You might think it's mostly the biology teachers, the ones who have to teach the theory of evolution, who have to deal with the awkward situation of teaching something that flatly contradicts the religious beliefs of some of their students. But it's not. And it shouldn't be. The truth is that all science teachers must deal with the fact that, if they are teaching science properly, their lessons will necessarily challenge the religious beliefs of some of their students.

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Oregon faith-healing parents face criminal charges

OREGON CITY -- A Beavercreek couple who left their infant daughter's fate to God rather than seek medical treatment for a mass that grew over her left eye will face charges of first-degree criminal mistreatment.

Prosecutors revealed Thursday during a custody hearing that a grand jury has indicted Timothy and Rebecca Wyland, members of Oregon City's Followers of Christ church.

The Wylands' 7-month-old daughter, Alayna, was placed in state custody earlier this month after child-welfare workers received a tip about the untreated and ballooning growth. Doctors said that the condition could cause permanent damage or loss of vision.

The Wylands were indicted within the past few days and probably will be arraigned next week, said Colleen Gilmartin, the deputy district attorney handling the custody case in juvenile court.

Under Oregon law, it is a crime for parents to intentionally and knowingly withhold necessary and adequate medical attention from their children. First-degree criminal mistreatment is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

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Biologists find that red-blooded vertebrates evolved twice, independently

Nature, in all its glory, is nothing if not thrifty.

Through the process of natural selection, it finds new uses for existing features, often resulting in what is known as convergent evolution -- the development of similar biological traits in different orders of animals, such as powered flight in birds and bats.

Now, research by University of Nebraska-Lincoln biologists has found convergent evolution of a key physiological innovation that traces back through the two deepest branches of the vertebrate family tree.

A team led by Jay Storz (prounounced storts), assistant professor of biological sciences, analyzed the complete genome sequences of multiple vertebrate species and found that jawless fishes (e.g., lampreys and hagfish) and jawed vertebrates (pretty much everything else, including humans) independently invented different mechanisms of blood-oxygen transport to sustain aerobic metabolism.

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Homeopathy will not be banned by NHS despite critical report

Health minister Anne Milton said complementary and alternative medicine "has a long tradition" and very vocal people both in favour of it and against it.

A report by a group of MPs said homeopathic medicine should no longer be funded on the NHS and called for a ban on the medicines carrying medical claims on their labels.

The Commons Science and Technology Committee said there is no evidence the drugs are any more effective than a placebo - the same as taking a sugar or dummy pill and believing it works.

Last month, doctors attending the British Medical Association (BMA) annual conference backed this view, saying homeopathic remedies should be banned on the NHS and taken off pharmacy shelves where they are sold as medicines.

The treatment was described as "nonsense on stilts" and that patients would be better off buying bottled water.

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Australia's marsupials 'have American roots'

The characteristic koalas, kangaroos, possums and wombats of Australia share a common American ancestor, according to genetic research from Germany.

A University of Muenster team drew up a marsupial family tree based on DNA.

Writing in the Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology journal, they suggest a single marsupial species moved from the Americas to Australia.

Marsupials differ from other mammals in that mothers carry their young in a pouch after birth.

As well as the familiar Australian species, the family includes the opossums and shrew opossums of North and South America, and also has a presence in Asian countries including Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

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