Latest news with #Rohwer
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Colorado Christian summer camp sues state for requiring access to gender identity-friendly facilities
A Christian camp that has been operating since 1948 in Colorado is suing the state after the camp was told that it had to accommodate gender expression in bathrooms and a variety of other spaces. "They feel like they're honoring God in what they're doing, and I feel like they should do that, to operate in a way that's consistent with that," camp volunteer and mother Leah Rohwer told CBS News in an interview. The camp, known as Camp IdRaHaje, which is short for "I'd Rather Have Jesus," has refused to obey the state government's demands that it accommodate gender expression in camp facilities. Kennedy Center Promotes First Explicitly Pro-christian Feature In Years As Part Of New 'Family-friendly' Focus It is a conflict that is personal for Rohwer, who told CBS that she has a family member who identifies as transgender. "I have a heart for the kids that feel like they don't fit in their body," Rohwer said. "I love those kids and I'm not saying anything bad about any of those kids or family members, whoever it might be, but I feel like we shouldn't stomp on someone's religious freedom to try and help those folks." Read On The Fox News App "Camp IdRaHaJe has faithfully served and ministered to Colorado children of all backgrounds and faiths since 1948 and has successfully maintained its resident camp license since it first received one in 1995," camp Executive Director Mike DeBoer said in a statement. "The new policy of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, however, is asking IdRaHaJe to choose between upholding its Biblical beliefs about biological sex and risk losing its license or abandoning its beliefs and mission by forcing girls and boys to shower, dress, and share sleeping quarters with campers of the opposite sex. We are asking the court to allow us to operate consistent with our beliefs and protect our campers from a gender ideology agenda," he added. Afghan Christian Pastor Pleads With Trump, Warns Of Taliban Revenge After Admin Revokes Refugee Protections Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Andrea Dill, who is representing the camp, said in a statement, "The government has no place telling religious summer camps that it's 'lights out' for upholding their religious beliefs about human sexuality." "Camp IdRaHaJe exists to present the truth of the Gospel to children who are building character and lifelong memories. But the Colorado government is putting its dangerous agenda—that is losing popularity across the globe—ahead of its kids. We are urging the court to allow IdRaHaJe to operate as it has for over 75 years: as a Christian summer camp that accepts all campers without fear of being punished for its beliefs," she added. Lisa Roy, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, provided a statement to CBS, saying, "The Department will continue working in partnership with faith-based providers and camps within the confines of the law to ensure maximum participation. As I'm sure you understand, we cannot comment on active litigation." The Colorado Department of Early Childhood did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News article source: Colorado Christian summer camp sues state for requiring access to gender identity-friendly facilities
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This Strange Life Form Is Caught in an Evolutionary Time Loop
Evolution doesn't always move inextricably forward, instead sometimes taking the occasional detour or even getting stuck in never-ending circles. In Madison, Wisconsin's Lake Mendota, bacteria evolves cyclically in lockstep with the lake's changing conditions. A new study detailing this phenomenon includes data from water samples gathered over 20 years to create the largest metagenomic time series of a natural system. Evolution is often portrayed as a forward-moving natural force. Even the famous 1965 illustration of human evolution—from Pliopithecus to Modern Man—is known as the 'March of Progress.' But of course, like most things in nature, things aren't really that simple. Take, for instance, Lake Mendota. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, this lake goes through rapid changes throughout the year—freezing in the winter before being covered in algae in the summer. Because the lake has long been the subject of an ongoing study as part of the National Science Foundations long-term monitoring project, 471 water samples collected over 20 years creates a rich data set of the genome changes of the bacteria that call the lake home. However, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Texas (UT) undertook a study that came to another startling conclusion—there wasn't any evolutionary change at all. Or to put it more succinctly, the evolution of the bacteria in the lake was like 'a movie run back to the beginning each time and played over again,' the researchers said in a press statement. The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Microbiology. 'I was surprised that such a large portion of the bacterial community was undergoing this type of change,' said UT's Robin Rohwer, lead author of the study. 'I was hoping to observe just a couple of cool examples, but there were literally hundreds.' To understand the changes occurring within the lake (especially under the body of water's constantly changing conditions), the researchers constructed a 'metagenome,' which contained all the genetic sequences from DNA fragments left behind by bacteria. If that sounds complicated, rest assured, it definitely is. The researchers relied on the supercomputer powers of the Texas Advanced Computing Center to essentially reconstruct bacterial genomes from the 471 water samples spread across two decades. After months of number-crunching (a task that would've taken 34 years for a typical computer to accomplish), the resulting metagenomic time series was the largest of its kind collected from a natural system. 'Imagine each species' genome is a book, and each little DNA fragment is a sentence,' Rohwer said in a press statement. 'Each sample has hundreds of books, all cut up into these sentences. To reassemble each book, you have to figure out which book each sentence came from and put them back together in order.' Because these lake-bound microbes measure lifespan in days—not years—the bacteria appeared to evolve in never-ending circles to adjust to the changing environment. However, when the lake experiences any kind of disturbance, those changes can reach into the very genomes of these bacteria. For example, the authors note that in 2012, the lake experienced a hotter and drier summer than usual, and within the bacteria's genome, the team saw hints of major shifts in genes related to nitrogen metabolism, likely spurred on by the scarcity of algae in the lake. With hotter, drier conditions expected for this region of the U.S. as climate change progresses, understanding these conditions on a genetic level is incredibly important. 'This study is a total game changer in our understanding of how microbial communities change over time,' UT's Brett Baker, a co-author of the study, said in a press statement. 'This is just the beginning of what these data will tell us about microbial ecology and evolution in nature.' You Might Also Like Can Apple Cider Vinegar Lead to Weight Loss? Bobbi Brown Shares Her Top Face-Transforming Makeup Tips for Women Over 50
