Comment by Dr.Grixis on November 5, 2012 at 6:35am

I think the first step would be to explain science, most theists haven't got the faintest idea how science works, what a fact is (evolution) and what a theory is (natural selection). By pointing their attention to the accomplishments of science, we might be able to gain some respect from some theists, but for them to truly understand it and accept it would entail for them to learn the operating principles of science.

Learning takes effort, and why would you learn anything if you're already certain that you know the truth?

There's a huge complex wall of interlocking principles, ideas and emotions that form the barrier between the logical mind of a theist and their idea of god. There are no shortcuts between the two and it takes hard work to break through.

Comment by Pope OoO (Out of Order) on November 5, 2012 at 12:35pm

You're right that learning and critical thinking are important ingredients. But I'm thinking more and more these days that people have so much evidence of the effectiveness and products of science before them, yet they don't even notice it. Do most people even realize how many man-years of science and engineering has gone into a personal computer, or the ability to communicate like this? I haven't seen estimates, but a number like a million man-years wouldn't surprise me. High (intellectual and practical) benefits from such high investments, yet people just don't see the enterprise of science and tech in perspective. To a lot of them, scripture is the only "evidence" they're motivated to accept, and then religion adds blinders to aid the ignorance/denial of the larger, real world.

Comment by Pope OoO (Out of Order) on November 20, 2012 at 2:17am

Wax-Filled Nanotech Yarn Behaves Like Super-Strong Muscle

Here is an excerpt from the full article:

New artificial muscles made from nanotech yarns and infused with paraffin wax can lift more than 100,000 times their own weight and generate 85 times more mechanical power than the same size natural muscle, according to scientists at The University of Texas at Dallas and their international team from Australia, China, South Korea, Canada and Brazil.

The artificial muscles are yarns constructed from carbon nanotubes, which are seamless, hollow cylinders made from the same type of graphite layers found in the core of ordinary pencils. Individual nanotubes can be 10,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, yet pound-for-pound, can be 100 times stronger than steel.

“The artificial muscles that we’ve developed can provide large, ultrafast contractions to lift weights that are 200 times heavier than possible for a natural muscle of the same size,” said Dr. Ray Baughman, team leader, Robert A. Welch Professor of Chemistry and director of the Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute at UT Dallas. “While we are excited about near-term applications possibilities, these artificial muscles are presently unsuitable for directly replacing muscles in the human body.”

UT Dallas researchers have made artificial muscles from carbon nanotube yarns that have been infiltrated with paraffin wax and twisted until coils form along their length. The diameter of this coiled yarn is about twice the width of a human hair.

Described in a study published in the Nov. 16 issue of the journal Science, the new artificial muscles are made by infiltrating a volume-changing “guest,” such as the paraffin wax used for candles, into twisted yarn made of carbon nanotubes. Heating the wax-filled yarn, either electrically or using a flash of light, causes the wax to expand, the yarn volume to increase, and the yarn length to contract.

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