Life on Mars and Horn-like Spikes. Why Americans Trust Science Over Religion.

This is Dr. Jim Denison's The Daily Article Podcast for Tuesday, June 25th, 2019.

Is there life on Mars? NASA's Curiosity rover found what the New York Times calls

startlingly high amounts of methane in the Martian air last week. As the Times explains, this type of gas on Earth is usually produced by

living things. The missions controllers sent new instructions to the rover to follow up on the

readings. When the results came back yesterday, the methane spike had disappeared. In addition,

a glowing object was photographed hovering just above the surface

of Mars earlier this month. Whatever it was, it seemed to be moving quickly. However, NASA

notes that such images are seen nearly every week and can be caused by cosmic ray hits or sunlight

glinting from rock surfaces, and methane gas can be produced by geological forces that

have no connection

to biological life. In other science news that turned out not to be news, the Washington Post recently

reported that young people are developing horn-like spikes at the back of their skulls. The post cites

researchers who argued that such bone growth points to shifting body posture brought about by the use of modern

technology. Not so fast, according to the Smithsonian. Other scientists noted that these bone growths

have been known for centuries. One stated that she has seen plenty of them in the early medieval

skulls I've studied. They noted that such growths can be genetic or occur through trauma.

Such stories remind us that science is not infallible.

Experts can interpret the same evidence in widely different ways.

Nonetheless, according to Pew Research Center, 79% of Americans trust scientists.

That's a higher level of affirmation than for any other option except the military,

who are at 80%.

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