Life Without a Net
science
Noted Cosmologist Kirk Cameron Demolishes Hawking
Child actor phenomenon and world-renowned theoretical physicist Kirk Cameron has unleashed a scathing scientific rebuttal to amateur astronomer and known crank Stephen Hawking’s bald-faced assertion that heaven is a “fairy story for people afraid of the dark. Said Cameron, “To say anything negative about Stephen Hawking is like bullying a blind man. He has an unfair … Continue reading
Is Intelligent Design Biased?
One of the foundations of the scientific method is that it provides for replication regardless of prior conviction. That is, if ten people perform the same experiment in the same way, they will achieve the same results regardless of what they expected the results to be. In fact, this is one of the things that … Continue reading
Atheism vs. Theism: Unfair Rules
I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating the atheist/theist debates I’ve seen. There have been some very good moments for atheists, such as Christopher Hitchens’ trouncing of former Prime Minister Tony Blair in the opening salvo of their debate. But informally, there have been a lot of bad moments, too. It’s not so much that … Continue reading
Are Science and Religion Compatible? A Thought Experiment
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to test whether science and religion are compatible. A couple of nights ago, with the aid of a Johnny Walker Black and soda (it really was in your honor, Hitch… hang in there!) I stumbled on a very simple truth: We cannot use both science and religion to address … Continue reading
Team America: Space Police?
One of the strangest spin-offs from the budget quagmire is NASA’s funding for “planetary defense.” With deep cuts likely in the next few years, some astronomers are worried that there won’t be enough money to detect near-earth objects (NEOs). Maybe this would have been a non-issue a few years ago, but practically everybody’s seen at … Continue reading
Science Cures Cancer Better Than God
Accentia Biopharmaceuticals and Biovest International have developed a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) vaccine that teaches the body’s immune system to identify and destroy tumor cells while leaving healthy tissue intact. The vaccine, calledBiovaxID, is already in Phase III clinical trials. (LINK) So… here’s the real question: If you, gentle Christian reader, found out you had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and … Continue reading
Fifty Years of Science and the Human Spirit
Fifty years ago today, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin‘s Vostok spacecraft spent 108 minutes orbiting the earth. Since then, we’ve made footprints on the moon, and sent unmanned vehicles to all 8 planets. At this moment, the New Horizons spacecraft is racing towards the Kuiper Belt and the dwarf planet, Pluto. We’ve discovered quite a lot in fifty … Continue reading
Mysterious Post-Sex Blues
A new study out of Australia has given us yet another mystery surrounding female sexuality. It’s not especially shocking that one out of three women report having felt “blue” after sex at least once in their life. But this study seems to point towards a larger trend. Perhaps ten percent of women experience post-sex melancholy … Continue reading
Gut Bacteria Changes Our Brain
A new study by researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario now suggests that gut bacteria may also influence behaviour and cognitive processes such as memory by exerting an effect on gene activity during brain development. Yet another example of how forces beyond our control shape our consciousness. And another example of how powerful the … Continue reading
Psychopaths, God, and Crime
Neuroscience is fast becoming a major thorn in the side of conservative religious politicians. Oh, they don’t admit it, but can you recall the last time theists changed their core theology for the sake of science? It’s a once a half-millenium or so occurrence. (It was 1979 when they finally got around to forgiving Galileo … Continue reading
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