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MTSU researcher-led study: Instructors need to address compatibility of religion, science while teaching evolution

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MTSU researcher-led study: Instructors need to address compatibility of religion, science while teaching evolution

Newswise — MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A first-of-its-kind study led by Middle Tennessee State University biology researcher Elizabeth Barnes suggests that a difference in culture and beliefs between science instructors and students may inadvertently lead to low acceptance of evolution among minority students — particularly Black students — in biology.

Barnes and Arizona State University researchers asked whether Black and Hispanic students tended to reject evolution more than students from other racial/ethnic identities and whether any differences could be explained by the fact they tend to be more religious.

The study, published Friday, Nov. 20, by CBE — Life Sciences Education’s quarterly journal, can be found here.

Christianity is popular among 65% of college biology students, but not among the biologists (25%) who are teaching students, which helped the research group understand the motivation for the study.

Further, when looking at students from minority populations, the gap between biologists and student religious affiliation is even wider — Black students tend to have stronger religious cultures and backgrounds compared to majority populations.

Researchers found that rejection of evolution was particularly high for Black students, but once they controlled for religious background in their statistical models, the differences between Black and white students were diminished.

“This is a concerning finding for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) educators because Black students are already minoritized in biology and they are particularly absent in fields that emphasize evolution such as ecology and evolutionary biology,” said Barnes, who joined the MTSU faculty in August. “Our study starts to offer some explanation for why.”

Researchers suggest that a solution is to use instructional techniques that highlight the compatibility between religion and evolution rather than where they might conflict.

“Science instructors who are often secular themselves are hesitant to address religion and when they do it is often in a way that highlights conflict between religion and science and not compatibility,” Barnes said.

“To promote an equitable and comfortable STEM environment for religious students, science instructors should more often highlight views such as theistic evolution, for which student can both believe in God and recognize evolution as credible science,” she added.

Barnes was joined in the research by K. Supriya, Hayley M. Dunlop, Taija M. Hendrix, Gale M. Sinatra and Sara E. Brownell. They began collecting data five years ago.

“We collected a lot of data and spent a lot of time revising the work based on feedback and reading about the experiences of Black and Hispanic individuals,” Barnes said.

Barnes’ lab’s website can be found here.

CBE — Life Sciences Education is a free, online quarterly journal published by the American Society of Cell Biology. It publishes peer-reviewed articles on life science education at the K-12, undergraduate and graduate levels.

About Liz Barnes

Assistant professor Elizabeth Barnes is an MTSU science education researcher. She studies the intersections of science and religion, how individuals perceive the relationship between science and religion and how science educators can foster productive conversations with communities and students of faith to promote science education.

Coming from Arizona State University, where she earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, and was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, Barnes arrived with grants to continue her research at MTSU.

“I came to MTSU to study how to effectively teach controversial topics in biology to students across different religious and political spectrums,” she said. “I was lured to MTSU because of the Mathematics and Science Education Ph.D. program, which will allow me to mentor graduate students and build a robust research program.”

On deck: “My past and current research focus is on perceptions of evolution and I have studied how to make evolution education more inclusive for students from different religious and racial/ethnic backgrounds,” she said. “I am now excited to be embarking on projects exploring perceptions of climate change, vaccines and COVID19.”

EU puts €6.8m into ‘circular’ cotton project

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EU puts €6.8m into ‘circular’ cotton project

Twelve fashion and textile sector partners are to demonstrate a circular model for commercial garment production under the European Union-funded New Cotton Project.

It has received €6.8m in funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

Over three years, the project will see textile waste collected, sorted and regenerated into Finnish biotechnology group Infinited Fiber Company’s cellulose-based textile fibres. 

The company has patented technology that can regenerate cellulose-rich textile waste into fibres that it says look and feel like cotton. 

Manufacturers Inovafil, Tekstina and Kipas will use these to produce yarns, woven fabrics and denim respectively. 

Adidas and the H&M Group companies will then design, manufacture and sell clothing made from the fabrics.

Clothing that can no longer be worn will be returned for regeneration into new fibres.

Frankenhuis will sort and pre-process the textile waste used in this project, while the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences will develop a technical solution for the continuous processing of textile waste fibres for pre-treatment. 

Other partnership members include Revolve Waste, which will collect and manage data on textile waste to estimate feedstock availability, and the Research Institute of Sweden, which will conduct the sustainability and techno-economic analyses for the project and manage eco-labelling, while Finland’s Aalto University will analyse the ecosystem and circular business models. 

Sustainable fashion innovation platform Fashion for Good will lead stakeholder cooperation and training.

Infinited Fiber Company chief executive Petri Alava said: “We are very excited and proud to lead this project, which is breaking new ground when it comes to making circularity in the textile industry a reality.”

Project partners said fashion brands produce nearly twice as many clothes as they did 20 years ago and the equivalent of one refuse truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second. 

The sector has come under pressure over wasteful ‘fast fashion’ in the UK and from environmental campaigners over the use of fossil-based fibres such as polyester and viscose.

Varosha high on EU agenda says Borrell

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Varosha high on EU agenda says Borrell

The issue of Varosha, the fenced-off area in Famagusta that the Turkish side plans to open, and has partially done so, will remain a top priority for the EU, Commission Vice President Josep Borrell said on Tuesday.

“Varosha is and will remain high on our collective agenda, to help ensure that the UN Security Council’s Resolutions are respected in full by all,” Borrell told the plenary of the European Parliament.

“There is no doubt that respecting the status of Varosha, as set out in relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, is of paramount importance,” he added.

Borrell recalled that the EU Heads of State and Government had made this point, EU foreign ministers were following the situation closely, and the UN Security Council had held a closed hearing to the same effect last month.

“We are all deeply concerned about developments on the ground,” he added. “Like the United Nations, the European Union holds Turkey responsible for the situation on the ground.”

Borrell said recent events around Varosha, including President Tayyip Erdogan’s visit and statements, come at a time when attempts are underway to create space for dialogue on Cyprus settlement issues and on the wider Eastern Mediterranean.

“We are passing this message clearly to our Turkish interlocutors. I have also passed it personally to the new Turkish Cypriot leader: This is the time to support United Nations Secretary-General Guterres in his efforts to resume the Cyprus settlement talks. Spreading distrust and stoking tensions help no-one,” Borrell said.

He said the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, Unficyp, must be given full freedom of movement in Varosha to monitor the situation in accordance with its mandate.

Borrell went on to reassure MEPs that the EU was fully committed to a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, and to reunification based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, within the UN framework and in line with the principles on which the EU is founded.

“The European Union stands ready to play an active role in supporting these negotiations and finding lasting solutions.

“A stable and secure environment in the Eastern Mediterranean and the development of cooperative and mutually beneficial relationships amongst all partners in the region, bilaterally and multilaterally, is in the EU’s strategic interest,” he added.

He reminded that the European Council would assess the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and relations with Turkey in December.

UK Christian charities urge prime minister not to cut development aid budget

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UK Christian charities urge prime minister not to cut development aid budget
(UN Photo/Loey Felipe)The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby briefs the UN Security Council in New York on August 31, 2018.

The Archbishop of Canterbury who leads the Anglican church, and charities such as Christian Aid have appealed to the UK government not to cut billions from Britain’s international development budget.

Related

Archbishop Justin Welby told the Observer newspaper that lives had been “genuinely” changed by Britain’s overseas aid, Christian Today reported.

At the same time Christian Aid joined a number of other Christian charities in an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in light of the COVID-19 crisis.

The cut is an adjustment to a decimal point that has a huge impact on aid.

The UK Treasury was criticized after it became known that cuts of more than 4 billion British pounds ($5.33 billion) were being planned.

The Treasury wants to cut the aid budget from 0.7 percent of gross national income to 0.5 percent next year and plans to make the announcement as part of next Monday’s one-year spending review, The Guardian newspaper reported.

The aid budget was £15bn last year. A reduction to a 0.5 percent target in 2021 would result in billions more cut, but the precise amount would depend on overall growth.

The Conservative Party-led government had in its manifesto pledged to commit 0.7% of gross national income to aid spending each year.

Welby said it was important that Britain stood by poorer nations in “tough times as well as the good”.

“I’ve seen the good done by UK aid around the world,” Welby told the newspaper.

GLOBAL RESPONSE

“A global recovery from the economic consequences of the pandemic requires a global response. Keeping our aid commitment is a strong signal that the UK is a reliable partner for long-term economic, social, environmental and educational advancement across the globe.”

Numerous aid agencies, including Christian Aid, Tearfund and CAFOD urged the Prime Minister not to go ahead with the plans.

“When 115 million people look set to be pushed back into extreme poverty, now is the time for an international, collaborative response to Covid-19,” they said in their open letter to Johnson.

“It is a time that requires increased, not decreased, engagement from the British government in its efforts to make the world healthier, safer and more prosperous.”

They said, “Our world is in the thick of a crisis like no other; our families, our society, our economy are being challenged in previously unimaginable ways.

“Thankfully, this country has a resource which is used to stepping up, supporting and finding solutions.

“This resource is the Church: a body of people who know all about compassionately supporting people in their communities and inspiring others to do the same.”

They said that alongside the churches work a “myriad of Christian charities who exist to equip and support the Church as they look after those around them.

Right now, in the most difficult of times, we are doing what Jesus told us to do: to love our neighbor.”

‘Foundational and necessary change’ needed to heal post-COVID world

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‘Foundational and necessary change’ needed to heal post-COVID world

“We need global solidarity and coordination”, Secretary-General António Guterres said at the event headlined, ‘Rebirthing the Global Economy to Deliver Sustainable Development for All’.   

He painted a grim picture of the havoc sparked by the pandemic, including more than one million deaths, 100 million pushed into extreme poverty and growing inequalities as hunger doubles and famine looms. 

“The gender equality gap is widening, and women’s labour force participation – a key driver for inclusive growth – has been set back decades”, he bemoaned. “We face an urgent need for climate action and building a sustainable and circular economy”. 

And amidst these ominous challenges, developing countries have been put “on the precipice of financial ruin”.  

Vaccines for all 

Noting his push for a rescue package equivalent to 10 per cent of the global economy and his call last weekend at the G20 Summit of richest nations, to help developing countries, Mr. Guterres acknowledged that the first line of business should be ending the pandemic. 

“Vaccines, tests and treatments must be global public goods, available and affordable for all”, he spelled out. 

“But we still have a gap – a gap in the COVAX facility, a gap of $28 billion and until the end of the year, a gap of $4.2 billion in order to make, indeed, this new vaccine a global public good, a people’s vaccine able to be affordable and available to all”, he continued.   

‘A quantum leap’ 

The UN chief stressed the importance of financing to “build forward and put economies on a sustainable path”, including by strengthening the IMF’s “firepower” to support the developing world. 

Moreover, he maintained the value of enhancing debt transparency and sustainability on a global level and aligning recovery efforts with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.  

“It is the moment to have a quantum leap…a global coalition for net zero greenhouse gas emissions – and act now to integrate the goal of carbon neutrality into all economic and fiscal policies”, he elaborated.  

“We need to implement also necessary measures…for a just transition towards good, new green jobs…[and] to prove that we care for those that will be impacted by the move from the brown to the green economy”.  

New Global Deal  

Vaccines, tests and treatments must be global public goods, available and affordable for all — UN chief

The UN chief also advocated for a “New Global Deal” in which power, resources and opportunities are shared equally and governance mechanisms that better reflect today’s realities.  

He pointed out that levels of participation in major global institutions, including the Security Council, are pegged too much to “where we were” and not enough to “today’s world”. 

No ‘walk in the park’ 

Christine Lagarde, former Managing Director of the IMF and now European Central Bank president, noted the “good politics and good economics” of shifting focus to the millions of people at the bottom of the economic scale, while acknowledging that transformation would be anything “but a walk in the park”. She upheld the need to respond to current and future shocks, calling it a test of our basic human solidarity. 

Carmen M. Reinhart, Chief Economist of the World Bank Group, observed that many of today’s economic challenges pre-date COVID and stressed the need for “realism and persistence” moving forward if low-income and emerging markets are to survive the current pandemic.  

Journalist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman flagged that the virus will “win the race” if we do not seriously disrupt the transmission chain of the coronavirus, and provide further “economic compensation” for those whose livelihoods have been badly hit by restrictions.

Mother of 7 busted with cocaine in books, make-up kits and deodorant containers

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Mother of 7 busted with cocaine in books, make-up kits and deodorant containers

A Guyanese woman who is originally from Plaisance, but now works in neighbouring Suriname as a vendor, was busted at the Cheddi Jagan Airport with more than 4 pounds of cocaine in book covers and various containers.

The 42-year-old mother of seven has been identified as Tommy-Ann Bunbury.

She recently traveled to Guyana from Suriname and was preparing to board a New York bound flight at the Cheddi Jagan Airport on Monday when the bust was made by CANU agents.

In its statement, CANU said the woman has been living in Suriname for the past six years but would travel over to Guyana regularly.

(CANU photo)

According to CANU, cocaine was found stashed in the fake cover of books, the containers for make-up and other personal care items and even stationery items.

All of the items were stashed in two suitcases that the woman had in her possession.

The cocaine weighed just over four pounds in total, according to CANU. Bunbury was immediately taken into custody and will face the Courts soon.

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Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele, dies aged 54 – Vatican News

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Pope Benedict XVI's former butler, Paolo Gabriele, dies aged 54 - Vatican News

By Vatican News

Paolo Gabriele, the former butler of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, died on Tuesday after a long illness, aged 54.

After several years of service to the Holy See as part of the Pontifical Family, Mr. Gabriele, in 2012, became the protagonist of the first “Vatileaks”, the theft of confidential documents later published in a book.

He was judged and found guilty by the Tribunal of Vatican City State in October 2012.

On 22 December of the same year, he received the forgiveness and official pardon of Pope Benedict XVI. He later served at the Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital in Rome.

He is survived by his wife and three children.

Actor-turned-MP Nusrat Jahan expresses her view on ‘love-jihad’: ‘Love and jihad don’t go hand-in-hand. Don’t make religion a political tool’

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Actor-turned-MP Nusrat Jahan expresses her view on ‘love-jihad’: 'Love and jihad don't go hand-in-hand. Don't make religion a political tool'

Actress and now, a Trinamool Congress MP, Nusrat Jahan, while attending an event, put forth her views on ‘love-jihad’. She categorically pointed out that ‘love’ and ‘jihad’ are two separate things and that they did not go hand-in-hand. She also spoke about how it is an individual’s choice to love whomsoever they want and be with them. The actor-turned-politician further stated, ‘Don’t make religion a political tool’. Ever since her marriage to businessman Nikhil Jain, the MP has faced severe backlash from religious sects and accused of disrespecting certain religions for practising both her’s and husband’s traditions.

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Woman fined for ‘offending religion’ after parading a huge vagina through the streets during Women’s Day march on Spain’s Costa del Sol

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Laurence Dollimore (Digital Editor)
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Woman fined for ‘offending religion’ after parading a huge vagina through the streets during Women’s Day march on Spain’s Costa del Sol
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A WOMEN’S rights campaigner has been fined for ‘offending religion’ after parading a huge vagina through the streets during a Women’s Day march in Malaga in 2013. 

The woman was convicted this week of ‘a crime against religious sentiments’ by the Criminal Court of Malaga and will have to pay €10 per day for the next nine months, reported Diario Sur. 

The controversial trial first began in 2017 when the protestor was denounced by the Association of Christian Lawyers, which acted as a private prosecutor, seeking a 12-month prison sentence for the accused. 

The group said the woman’s actions were designed to inspire ‘discrimination, hatred and violence’ against the church. 

The judge rejected this argument and refused to consider a jail sentence. 

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On March 8, eight years ago, the accused marched with the female genitalia in what was dubbed the Procession of the Holy Chumino Rebelde – mocking the processions of religious brotherhoods seen during Semana Santa (Holy Week). 

‘MOCKERY’: Vagina made to look like the Virgin Mary during Holy Week has been condemned by a Malaga court

The stunt formed part of several protests throughout the Women’s Day march in the city. 

In her statement to the court, the woman said it was a ‘performative act of protest’ and that she did not intend to offend religious feelings. 

“I don’t see how it can be offensive,” she said, “it can be rude, but not offensive.” 

In the sentence, the judge said the vagina, designed to look like the Virgin Mary, and the performance effectively mocked the Holy Week celebrations and was enough to be considered an offense. 

The magistrate said political or historical criticism is protected by freedom of expression, but that ‘mockery and humiliation are punished.’

ECDC opens ESCAIDE 2020 digital conference

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Guest Author
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ECDC opens ESCAIDE 2020 digital conference

The ESCAIDE 2020 plenaries and sessions will focus on issues shaping infectious disease epidemiology & microbiology in the next decade and beyond, with a special focus on the latest research concerning COVID-19, food-and waterborne diseases, HIV and sexually transmitted infections, vaccine-preventable diseases, influenza and respiratory viruses, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and emerging diseases.

The aims of the conference include the sharing of scientific knowledge and experience in areas applied to infectious disease epidemiology and public health microbiology, as well as discussing and debating scientific advances and current public health challenges. The conference also aims at strengthening and expanding the human network of those in this field, including fellows and students.

ESCAIDE will have plenary debates looking at different aspects of COVID-19, from the shape and direction of the pandemic, to how countries have responded. Key speakers include Maria van Kerkhove (WHO), Andrea Ammon (ECDC), George Fu Gao (China CDC), Anders Tegnell (Public Health Agency, Sweden), Francesco Maraglino (Italian Ministry of Health), Devi Sridhar (University of Edinburgh) and Gabrielle Breugelmans (CEPI). The full programme of keynote sessions, plenaries, abstract presentations is available on the ESCAIDE website.

Over 1500 participants are expected to attend, including epidemiologists, microbiologists, public health professionals, clinicians, veterinarians, science journalists, statisticians, social scientists and policy makers.

The conference is held between 24-27 November 2020 and is this year organised as an online event due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

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