It’s an obvious one, but it’s good to see the science being done. A “Daily Mail article”:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/womenfamily.html?in_article_id=369379&in_page_id=1799 says that recent studies have shown increased levels of oxytocin and arginine vasopressin, hormones involved in social bonding, in children who were held, cuddled, and otherwise lavished with love and attention as babies. The hope is that this research will help to understand why orphaned children have trouble bonding with adoptive families, with the possibility of developing a treatment.

Good article at slate.com.

Is it just me, or is this Washington Post “article on the intelligent design trial”:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/17/AR2005101701579.html completely lacking in journalistic rigor? It sounds more like a press release for Michael J. Behe, the pseudoscientist who testified yesterday. It’s not so much bias as an apathy toward really determining how the scientific community views intelligent design.

According to recent observations by the Chandra Observatory, the black hole at the center of our galaxy has been shown to “provide a safe and even nurturing environment”:http://www.physorg.com/news7225.html for the formation of stars. This may indicate that black holes play more than just a destructive role in the evolution of the universe.

Chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and even some birds have been shown to use (and sometimes even fashion) tools in the wild, for a variety of purposes. The latest find is that “gorillas use tools in the wild”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4296606.stm, which means that there isn’t a great ape that *doesn’t* use tools.

As much as the world hates to think this, it’s becoming more and more obvious that the difference between humans and other animals is one of degree, not of kind. We haven’t developed some innate difference, we just happen to have found a runaway combination of existing qualities like social networks, tool use, and language.