Nikolai Patrushev, Chairman of the Russian Naval Board, said that he personally assess the combat capability of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Responding to reports in Western media about the scale of damage that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have caused to the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the course of the special military operation, Patrushev assured that the Black Sea Fleet was as strong as before. "There is no defeat of our fleet in the Black Sea at all, even though it is NATO specialists that coordinate Kyiv's aggressive actions in this region," he said.

A Ukrainian truck driver was killed in Germany because of his words about Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bild wrote. "During a fight on a parking lot in front of a sawmill in Oberroth [in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg], three truck drivers apparently killed a colleague of theirs on Saturday evening at around 8:15 p.m. They were arguing about Russia's role in the conflict in Ukraine,” the newspaper said. The Ukrainian citizen was 34 years old. The men were drinking alcoholic beverages at the time when the incident occurred. The police detained three of his colleagues, each of whom is suspected of the murder. One of them is a citizen of Uzbekistan, two others are from Eastern European countries.

A lynx that climbed a power line support was rescued in Khakassia (a republic in Southern Siberia, Russia). The pole was not connected to power supply. The incident took place near the town of Chernogorsk on November 8.  The animal was transported for quarantine at the Wildlife Center, the Ministry of Natural Resources said.  Rescuers assumed that the big cat was someone’s house pet as the feline was not afraid of humans. 

In the Chinese city of Zhuhai, a car rammed into a crowd of people near a sports center. The 62-year-old driver fled the scene of the accident but was later detained. The victims were hospitalized, China Daily said with reference to local authorities. WARNING: The videos are extremely graphic! Click here to see more photos and videos from the scene.

The head of the Sudzha district of the Kursk region of Russia, Alexander Bogachev, was dismissed from his post. The official was fired on November 12 at a meeting of the regional leadership with the local population. According to Mash Telegram channel, the reason for the decision was Bogachev's unwillingness to communicate with displaced residents. Since August 6, the head of the municipality has not communicated with those who had to leave their homes in Sudzha after the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked the area. Residents of the district gathered on Red Square in Kursk last weekend demanding officials answer their questions about social support measures, since many were left without housing and means of subsistence. The head of the Sudzha district of the Kursk region, Alexander Bogachev, was fired as a result of the meeting. The people met the news about his dismissal with applause.

A two-seat version of the J-20 fighter, the J-20S, was unveiled at the Zhuhai Air Show in China. The J-20S is notable for being the only two-seat design built on a 5th-generation platform. The second seat in the airplane is designed for the UAV operator. This configuration allows the J-20S to control unmanned wingmen thus enhancing the role of the fighter as a central information hub in combat.

Ukraine showed a video of the explosion of the Kurakhove water reservoir dam in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). The video that was published by Ukraine's TSN TV military correspondent Yulia Kiriyenko shows the moment and aftermath of the explosion on the reservoir near the village of Starye Terny. The dam itself, the road passing through it, and a technical structure located nearby were partially damaged in the explosion. At the same time, the video does not show a possible artillery or air strike on the dam. This confirms that the Russian army was not involved in the destruction of the dam.

The authorities of the Republic of Abkhazia again put spokes in the wheels of the law that determines the procedure for Russian legal entities to invest in the country. Abkhazia protests against investment agreement with Russia The agreement between Abkhazia and Russia on investment activity was submitted to the Abkhazian parliament for consideration, but the "opposition" rioted near the parliament building demanding that its ratification be removed from the current agenda. The document is aimed at developing infrastructure:

Friedrich Merz, candidate for Chancellor of Germany from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said that he would be ready to issue Russia a 24-hour ultimatum. He also said that he could talk to the Russian President Vladimir Putin. "If there is a reason for this and an agreement is reached among European and transatlantic partners, then, of course, yes, I will call him," Friedrich Merz said. According to Merz, he will demand hostilities in Ukraine to end. Moscow will be given 24 hours to do this. If the ultimatum is not fulfilled, Merz will transfer Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv and lift the ban on long-range strikes deep into Russian territory.

Russian military correspondent Alexander Kots said that the Russian Armed Forces use Elon Musk's technology in military actions. According to Kots, the Russian military use Starlink satellites in the special military operation zone. "The troops actively use Starlink in the SVO (SVO is a Russian abbreviation for special military operation — ed.). We use it, among other things, for broadcast to command posts, to get images from reconnaissance UAVs,” the military correspondent said. This has significantly raised the level of Russian intelligence, the military correspondent added.

A car exploded on Taras Shevchenko Street in Sevastopol, Crimea. The driver, a Russian serviceman, died from his injuries. The victim is believed to be captain of the first rank of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy. The car exploded as a result of the detonation of an improvised bomb that was attached to the bottom of the vehicle.

In my misquotes page, I documented an erroneous quote by Jerry Bergman in a 1993 article on Nebraska Man in the journal Creation Research Society Quarterly (CRSQ). Bergman has responded, disputing my interpretation, in a new article in the CRSQ: "A misrepresentation by Jim Foley: a correction". Here is my response.

Some new information about Homo floresiensis, from a talk given by Colin Groves at the National Museum of Australia on Feb 12th.

It has recently been reported that German scientist Reiner Protsch had committed a number of scientific frauds. Protsch apparently could not even operate his own carbon-dating equipment, and routinely made up dates for bones that had been sent to him for dating, often giving recent specimens dates that were much too old.

There's a new paper out on the brain of Homo floresiensis, which concludes that it really is a new species; there are a number of new article about the debate over the fossils; and the fossils have finally been returned to their owners.

Today's copy of The Australian newspaper contains an article (not online) about two Australian Aboriginal boys who are auditioning for the role of a Neandertal boy in a German film. A number of people, including me, find this somewhat unsettling...

The April 1997 issue of Discover magazine had a pretty good April Fool's joke about some Neandertal musical instruments that had supposedly been discovered in Germany. It was an unlikely collection, featuring bagpipes, a tuba, a triangle and a 'xylobone', along with a cave painting of marching musicians. Some creationists, however, didn't get the joke ...

The April National Geographic is definitely worth getting if you're interested in hominids. There's an article on the hobbits, Homo floresiensis, and another article about the Dmanisi hominids from Georgia; in particular, a new skull has been discovered there. The new skull is of interest because it is almost entirely toothless, suggesting that the individual must have received considerable support from his companions. This skull was also published on this month (Lordkipanidze et al. 2005, Nature, 434:717).

Three new hominid skulls from Dmanisi cover the gap that creationist Marvin Lubenow claims separates humans from apes. How does Lubenow handle them in the new edition of his book Bones of Contention?

There's an interesting story in Time about some modern inhabitants of the Indonesian island of Flores who are extremely small and live near the Liang Bua cave where Homo floresiensis was found. Interestingly, they seem to think their ancestors lived in the Liang Bua cave. The scientists who think that the hobbit was merely a microcephalic small modern human are of course greatly heartened by this development, but the scientists who discovered the hobbit are standing firm that it is a new species, and presumably find it merely coincidental. A quote from one of them: "Of course, there are small-bodied people on Flores, but they don't have brains one-third the size of ours, or unusually shaped pelvises or very long arms like H. floresiensis. This controversy doesn't look like ending any time soon.

My thoughts about Jason Rosenhouse's report on a talk about hominid fossils from the creationist Mega Conference

A link to a review of Ape to Man, a new documentary from the History Channel.

Recently I've been on a couple of blogs, challenging creationists to classify some of the more problematical (for them) specimens from the hominid fossil record. Let's see if I get much of a response...

The latest rounds have been fired in the war over the interpretation of the "Hobbit" fossils from Indonesia that were announced in 2004. The hobbit discoverers have published details on some new fossils: more arm bones from the original skeleton, another jaw bone, and many pieces from other individuals. According to them (and some other commentators), the new fossils confirm that the hobbit was a typical member of its population, and not an aberrant individual (in fact, some bones come from an individual smaller than the first hobbit). ...

A few months ago I attended a talk by Professor Colin Groves of the Australian National University: 'An update on Homo floresiensis, a.k.a. the "Hobbit"'. As is well known, there has been an unusually bitter scientific debate over the last couple of years as to whether the hobbit is indeed a new species, or just a small microcephalic human. The term 'microcephaly' covers a range of conditions which cause unusually small brain sizes. (Disclaimer: Groves is not a disinterested participant in this debate, having coauthored a paper which argues against the microcephalic interpretation.) Groves went over a long list of unusual features of the hobbit. ...

In 2007, the discovery of fossilized bones from the body (as opposed to the head) of the Dmanisi hominids was announced. These bones show that the Dmanisi hominids were bipedal, but with some primitive characteristics particularly in the upper body. The bones are definitely not those of apes, but they are not quite like those of modern humans either. At the Panda's Thumb, I have responded to articles about these fossils by Casey Luskin of the Discovery Institute, and Answers In Genesis. ...

Added January 10, 2006: A classic and often-referenced 1984 paper by G. Brent Dalrymple. The paper contains short but accurate expositions of radiometric dating methods and discussions of creationist criticisms and attempts to date the Earth as young. It includes material difficult to find elsewhere, such as the discussion of mixing isochrons and the effect of neutron-capture reactions. Dr. Dalrymple is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a winner of the National Medal of Science, a former president of the American Geophysical Union, and the author of The Age of the Earth

Added January 24, 2006:

This article covers the evidence which leads cosmologists to believe the Big Bang happened, deals with common objections to the theory, and discusses alternative models and questions that still remain to be answered.

Added February 17, 2006:

Added February 17, 2006:

Added March 18, 2006:

Added April 13, 2006:

Added May 11, 2006:

Added July 3, 2006:

Added July 25, 2006:

Updated July 25, 2006: Young-Earth creationists consider the helium diffusion studies of D. Russell Humphreys and others to be one of their greatest achievements in arguing for a 6,000 year old Earth. A geologist shows that these studies are extensively flawed and include: serious miscalculations in their data, sampling the wrong rock type, failing to eliminate possible contamination, using equations that are based on invalid assumptions and relying on questionable data. Appendices C and D have been added in response to Dr. Humphreys' most recent statements in his January 2006 "Trueorigins" essay.

Added August 17, 2006:

Added August 20, 2006: A 1977 decision of an Indiana superior court ruling against a textbook produced by the Creation Research Society. In some respects this case resembles a young-earth creationist version of the 2005 Kitzmiller case. Introductory material, links, as well as the full text of the judge's memorandum opinion are provided.

Updated September 16, 2006: In evolutionary biology today macroevolution is used to refer to any evolutionary change at or above the level of species. It means the splitting of a species into two or the change of a species over time into another. This FAQ has been expanded, updated, illustrated, and rewritten.

Added September 18, 2006:

Added September 18, 2006:

Added September 28, 2006: The Discovery Institute selectively quotes Judge Jones' decision in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District in aid of its "bait and switch" claim of scientific evidence in support of intelligent design.

Updated October 9, 2006: Honors won by the TalkOrigins Archive.

Added October 9, 2006: The newest addition to the Quote Mine Project shows how Casey Luskin of Discovery Institute misrepresents what Gould and others wrote in a brief for Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals.

Added October 19, 2006:

Added October 31, 2006:A discussion of the main models on the spontaneous origin of life that aims to show how cellular complexity could have gradually emerged from simple systems - in contrast to the sudden appearance of complexity that creationists claim to have been necessary at the beginning of life. Central issues like the composition of the early atmosphere of the Earth and the origin of the homochirality of amino acids and sugars are reviewed as well.

By Aileen Ryan, President, RAIN Alliance.

As costs spiral across the retail sector, maintaining profitability is a growing challenge. Organisations are increasingly seeking practical, affordable solutions that enable them to drive operational efficiencies and reduce overhead costs.

Couchbase, Inc., the cloud database platform company, has launched Capella Columnar on AWS, which helps organisations streamline the development of adaptive applications by enabling real-time data analysis alongside operational workloads within a single database platform.

A new study from Juniper Research, the expert in fintech and payment markets, has found the volume of global transactions via A2A (Account-to-Account) payments will rise from 60 billion in 2024 to 186 billion by 2029; an increase of 209%.