C. S. Lewis's Warnings About the Pursuit of Power
Lewis most clearly articulated this warning in his nonfiction book 'The Abolition of Man,' adapted from a series of lectures he delivered at King's College, Newcastle in 1943. The book begins with a critique of the then-newly published textbooks that promoted relativism and undercut a belief in objective truth. It goes on to challenge modern attempts to dispense with natural law and manipulate nature to humanity's own ends—which often means, in practice, that some people use applied science as a way to gain control over other people.
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UPI
7 hours ago
- UPI
British researcher's remains found in melting Anatarctic glacier
The remains of British researcher Dennis "Tink" Bell were found in a melting Antarctic glacier, like the one seen here. File Photo by NASA/UPI Aug. 12 (UPI) -- A British researcher's remains were discovered in a melting Antarctic glacier after he died from a fall while on a research mission 66 years ago. Dennis "Tink" Bell fell into a crevasse while working for Falkland Islands Dependencies in 1959, the predecessor of the British Antarctic Survey, which reported the discovery on Monday. More than 200 personal items were found, including radio equipment, a flashlight, ski poles, an inscribed Erguel wristwatch, a Swedish Mora knife, ski poles and an ebonite pipe stem. The remains were carried to the Falkland Islands on the BAS Royal Research ship before being transported to London for DNA testing. The DNA samples matched with his siblings' samples, David Bell and Valerie Kelly. "When my sister Valerie and I were notified that our brother Dennis had been found after 66 years we were shocked and amazed," said Bell's brother. "The British Antarctic Survey and British Antarctic Monument Trust have been a tremendous support and together with the sensitivity of the Polish team in bringing him home have helped us come to terms with the tragic loss of our brilliant brother." Bell was working alongside four men and two dog sledges, a surveyor Jeff Stokes, meteorologists Ken Gibson and geologist Colin Barton. Stokes and Bell believed a crevassed area was in the clear. But as the team and its dogs were struggling to make it through the snow. Bell went ahead of the group as an act of encouragement but he suddenly disappeared leaving a gaping hole down 100ft in the crevasse bridge. Stokes called repeatedly out to Bell, lowering a rope almost a hundred feet. He told Bell to tie himself on, Stokes and the dogs began to pull him up but Bell had tied the rope through his belt instead of around his body due to the angle he was laying at in the crevasse. When he reached the top his body jammed against the lip, his belt broke, and he fell down again. Stokes and Bell were initially ahead of Gibson and Barton. So, Stokes went down the glacier to meet with the two. They attempted to return to the crevasse but the weather had taken a turn for the worse. "It was probably 12 hours before we found the site. There was no way he could have survived," said GIbson. The remains had been discovered on the Ecology Glacier on Jan. 19, 2025 by personnel from the Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station on King George Island. "The discovery of Dennis Bell brings sharply into focus the cost of scientific endeavour in Antarctica in the years before improved transportation and communication. Many of those lost were never found which makes this discovery more remarkable," the chair of the British Antarctic Monument Trust, Rod Rhys Jones, said.
San Francisco Chronicle
20 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Scientists search for DNA of an endangered salamander in Mexico City's canals
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Sixty years ago, residents of a canal-crossed borough in Mexico City could pluck axolotls — the large salamander reminiscent of a tiny dragon — out of the water with their hands because they were so plentiful. Now it's almost impossible to find them in the wild. That's why scientists from Mexico's National Autonomous University are filtering Xochimilco's murky waters for traces of the endangered creature's DNA. 'We all shed DNA along our path across the world and that can be captured by filtering air or water,' said biologist Luis Zambrano, from the university's ecological restoration lab. As they try to monitor the axolotls' dwindling numbers, scientists increasingly rely on this technique as their nets come back empty during periodic surveys of the population, which is only found in Xochimilco. They sample water taken from the canals and filter it for environmental DNA, or the genetic particles left by animals and plants that have contact with the water. That's then compared to the profiles contained in a genetic library put together some years ago by British scientists, said Esther Quintero of Conservation International in Mexico, which has collaborated with Zambrano since 2023. Scientists collected water from 53 locations in Xochimilco: 10 inside refuges where water is filtered and the water is cleaner and 43 outside those areas. They found axolotl DNA inside the protected areas and in one site outside them. Referring to the one unprotected area, Zambrano said 'it's very little,' but a sign that there is the possibility of resilience, even with continuing environmental degradation and pollution of the canals. So far, the researchers have only searched a third of Xochimilco with the environmental DNA technique and the manual work with nets, but they plan to continue the work and hopefully present an updated census early next year. The trend, however, is not good. From an estimated 6,000 axolotls per square kilometer in 1998, there were only 36 per square kilometer in the last census, in 2014. Zambrano highlights that his team's work has shown that conservation works and that the effort to protect the species is also improving water quality, increasing the number of pollinizers in the area and means that Mexico City makes better use of Xochimilco's water, among other benefits. But policymakers can do more, he said, such as prohibiting the opening of dance clubs, spas and soccer fields on Xochimilco's traditional man-made islands, known as chinampas. Instead, the government should incentivize the islands' traditional agricultural production, ensuring that farmers can actually make a living at it. If its habitat is fixed, the axolotl can take care of the rest. 'The axolotl reproduces a lot because it lays a lot of eggs … it can easily recover and we know how,' Zambrano said.
20 hours ago
Scientists search for DNA of an endangered salamander in Mexico City's canals
MEXICO CITY -- Sixty years ago, residents of a canal-crossed borough in Mexico City could pluck axolotls — the large salamander reminiscent of a tiny dragon — out of the water with their hands because they were so plentiful. Now it's almost impossible to find them in the wild. That's why scientists from Mexico's National Autonomous University are filtering Xochimilco's murky waters for traces of the endangered creature's DNA. 'We all shed DNA along our path across the world and that can be captured by filtering air or water,' said biologist Luis Zambrano, from the university's ecological restoration lab. As they try to monitor the axolotls' dwindling numbers, scientists increasingly rely on this technique as their nets come back empty during periodic surveys of the population, which is only found in Xochimilco. They sample water taken from the canals and filter it for environmental DNA, or the genetic particles left by animals and plants that have contact with the water. That's then compared to the profiles contained in a genetic library put together some years ago by British scientists, said Esther Quintero of Conservation International in Mexico, which has collaborated with Zambrano since 2023. Scientists collected water from 53 locations in Xochimilco: 10 inside refuges where water is filtered and the water is cleaner and 43 outside those areas. They found axolotl DNA inside the protected areas and in one site outside them. Referring to the one unprotected area, Zambrano said 'it's very little,' but a sign that there is the possibility of resilience, even with continuing environmental degradation and pollution of the canals. So far, the researchers have only searched a third of Xochimilco with the environmental DNA technique and the manual work with nets, but they plan to continue the work and hopefully present an updated census early next year. The trend, however, is not good. From an estimated 6,000 axolotls per square kilometer in 1998, there were only 36 per square kilometer in the last census, in 2014. Zambrano highlights that his team's work has shown that conservation works and that the effort to protect the species is also improving water quality, increasing the number of pollinizers in the area and means that Mexico City makes better use of Xochimilco's water, among other benefits. But policymakers can do more, he said, such as prohibiting the opening of dance clubs, spas and soccer fields on Xochimilco's traditional man-made islands, known as chinampas. Instead, the government should incentivize the islands' traditional agricultural production, ensuring that farmers can actually make a living at it. If its habitat is fixed, the axolotl can take care of the rest. 'The axolotl reproduces a lot because it lays a lot of eggs … it can easily recover and we know how,' Zambrano said.
