Sometimes things just take time...
Guardian report on pitch drip experiment.
Live view of the experiment here.
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
Life on Earth Older Than Earth?
Here's an article with an intriguing idea:
Moores Law-and the Origin of Life
Whether or not the authors of the paper the article discusses are correct in suggesting that life today on Earth may have begun before even our Sun was born it is a fascinating idea.
And it would perhaps provide a very elegant solution to the Fermi Paradox - where are all the other intelligent beings in the Universe? Nowhere. We are the first possible beings (in our part of the galaxy anyway) who can to ask this question and we see an empty galaxy, because that was only way it could be that results in the rise of life on our world, simply because it takes that long to get to our point of development.
Then again the paper is built on a huge stack of unknowns along with a smattering of knowns... But great to read the ideas of people thinking about the answers to these sort of questions.
Moores Law-and the Origin of Life
Whether or not the authors of the paper the article discusses are correct in suggesting that life today on Earth may have begun before even our Sun was born it is a fascinating idea.
And it would perhaps provide a very elegant solution to the Fermi Paradox - where are all the other intelligent beings in the Universe? Nowhere. We are the first possible beings (in our part of the galaxy anyway) who can to ask this question and we see an empty galaxy, because that was only way it could be that results in the rise of life on our world, simply because it takes that long to get to our point of development.
Then again the paper is built on a huge stack of unknowns along with a smattering of knowns... But great to read the ideas of people thinking about the answers to these sort of questions.
Thursday, 21 March 2013
Christians in Science event in Edinburgh - March 25th
For those of you in the area that might be interested:
Science and Religion – Where Next?
Talk followed by Q+A.
Revd Canon Dr Michael Fuller will be speaking on the future of the science – religion discussion.
Date/Time
Date(s) - 25 Mar 2013
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Location
Bruntsfield Evangelical Church, 70 Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh.
All welcome!
Science and Religion – Where Next?
Talk followed by Q+A.
Revd Canon Dr Michael Fuller will be speaking on the future of the science – religion discussion.
Date/Time
Date(s) - 25 Mar 2013
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Location
Bruntsfield Evangelical Church, 70 Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh.
All welcome!
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
Alaister McGrath on Science and Faith
I've been trying to make an effort to work through the recorded talks from last year's Christians in Science Residential Conference which I was sad to miss. I've listened to a few of them now and enjoyed them all but my thoughts keep coming back to the first talk which was by Alistair McGrath.
Science and the Christian faith: seeing the big picture.
It is well worth a listen to if you have half an hour or so to spare. McGrath's speaking style is always pleasant to listen to and his thoughts are always well measured and considered. I especially liked his later focus on which areas he considers strategic for scientists who are Christians to be taken a lead on. Nice to note his concern for Education at the school level in particular.
My one quibble is his emphasis on promoting biological evolution as a "provisional scientific theory". It is of course exactly that, but for a general public unfamiliar with how scientists use the word 'theory' and for Christians who feel compelled to reject evolution and will latch onto the 'provisional' the phrase is perhaps not the most helpful, even if it is accurate.
A solution is of course education to increase public understanding of what scientists actually mean by 'theory' and how the scientific method works (i.e. scientific theories are always provisional). I can't help but feel there should be a way of getting over the same message without unintentionally feeding or encouraging the doubts of those who are pre-inclined to reject evolution based on the particular 'Christian' culture they are immersed in.
Science and the Christian faith: seeing the big picture.
It is well worth a listen to if you have half an hour or so to spare. McGrath's speaking style is always pleasant to listen to and his thoughts are always well measured and considered. I especially liked his later focus on which areas he considers strategic for scientists who are Christians to be taken a lead on. Nice to note his concern for Education at the school level in particular.
My one quibble is his emphasis on promoting biological evolution as a "provisional scientific theory". It is of course exactly that, but for a general public unfamiliar with how scientists use the word 'theory' and for Christians who feel compelled to reject evolution and will latch onto the 'provisional' the phrase is perhaps not the most helpful, even if it is accurate.
A solution is of course education to increase public understanding of what scientists actually mean by 'theory' and how the scientific method works (i.e. scientific theories are always provisional). I can't help but feel there should be a way of getting over the same message without unintentionally feeding or encouraging the doubts of those who are pre-inclined to reject evolution based on the particular 'Christian' culture they are immersed in.
Sunday, 17 February 2013
Thursday, 6 December 2012
Saturday, 20 October 2012
A Few Links
- Self Learning AI - AI (or rather a VI) learns to recognise cats.
- Third Way Interview with Edward O Wilson - A brilliant and informative example of dialogue between a non-believer and for religious believers.
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