Wednesday, May 28, 2008

A Nuclear Pakistan - ten years after the tests

On May 28, 1998, Pakistan tested five nuclear devices in Chagai, Baluchistan. I was in grad school in New Mexico at the time, and I remember well the tension over the tit for tat tests between India and Pakistan that May. On this depressing anniversary, we can ask what did Pakistan achieve from those...

Incense and Religion

Postings have been a bit slow lately, but I totally blame Chincoteague for that.Here is a story about the role of mind-altering incense in religion. Now, strong incense usually give me headaches (yes, absolutely no Yankee Candle trips from me). I also had trouble with frequently used incense sticks...

Friday, May 23, 2008

Earthquakes and their impact on human history

Here is a review of an interesting book, Apocalypse: Earthquakes, Archaeology, and the Wrath of God, and I really like the set-up story, which is also the cover-image of the book:In the middle of the fourth century AD, a series of earthquakes struck the port of Kourion on the southern coast of Cyprus....

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Causes of hurricances, end of the world, and scary John Hagee

Pastor John Hagee is scary! And John McCain has gone out of his way to seek his support. Lets see what Hagee has to say about the causes of hurricanes and his views about the future of the world (or more accurately about the end of the world). Here is a Fresh Air clip that includes some of Hagee's explanations...

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Creationist science teachers in the US

So what percentage of US science teachers are creationists? Hmm...16%!!Well...here is the graph:There you go...Now we can cry together. And these are not just proponents of Intelligent Design nonsense. These 16% actually believe in a 10,000 year old Earth!! Yikes! (Although, they still look good compared...

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Chartres cathedral and the conception of God in the Middle Ages

What were the builders of Chartres Cathedral thinking and what were they trying to convey? Here is a review of an interesting book, Universe of Stone: Chartres Cathedral and the Triumph of the Medieval Mind by Philip Ball (by the way, the US edition is titled: Universe of Stone: A Biography of Chartres...

Evaluating God

At a time when hundreds of thousands of people have died in the Burmese cyclone and the Chinese earthquake, Peter Singer questions the (supposed) goodness of God.Do we live in a world that was created by a god who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all good? Christians think we do. Yet a powerful reason...

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Einstein's (lack of) religion letter goes for $404,000

E-mails will never really match up to this (sigh!). Einstein's letter in which he talks clearly about religion (no abstract metaphors...) has been auctioned off for $404,000. Richard Dawkins tried to buy it, but didn't get it at the end (also hear Dawkins discuss this letter and Einstein's concept of...

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Kenneth Miller on "Expelled"

Please check out this excellent op-ed piece by Ken Miller on the ID-nonsense movie, Expelled."Intelligent Design," the relabeled, repackaged form of American creationism, has always had a problem. It just can't seem to produce any evidence. To scientists, the reasons for this are obvious. To conservative Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, Intelligent Design is nothing more than a "phony...

Einstein and Religion - A letter from 1954

Einstein's quotes are appropriated by both religious and non-religious in defense of their respective ideas. But it has often been hard to paint him in a black & white picture (oh...nuances...why do you have to make life so complicated?). Now, at least some of the confusion has been cleared and...

Science & Religion Lecture: Vatican Observatory astronomer, George V. Coyne (Video)

As part of Hampshire College Lecture Series on Science & Religion, George V. Coyne from the Vatican Observatory gave a lecture on The Dance of the Fertile Universe in late March. There are many misconceptions regarding the Vatican observatory - many people have this idea that the Church is still...

Monday, May 12, 2008

Dissent from Darwin. Really?

Intelligent Design/Creation proponents often whip out a list of scientists (numbering around a 100) who doubt evolution of species via natural selection (i.e. natural selection cannot account for the complexity we see on Earth). [Of course, this prompted Project Steve - and they just registered 884th scientist named Steve that accept biological evolution]. There is a newer list of dissenters, but...

Book recommendation: Foreskin's Lament

A few months back I had posted a link to an interview with Shalom Auslander. I recently finished reading Foreskin's Lament: A Memoir, and its fantastic. Its dark humor (and yes, its very dark - but always very funny) reminded me of Catch-22. If you have some time, give it a read. In the mean time, here is a short clip from the bo...

Sunday, May 11, 2008

First God and now Karma killing people on Earth

Natural disasters happen - but at least lets not blame the victims. It appears that God was responsible for Hurricane Katrina, then punished people with the Tsunami in East Asia and expressed His displeasure by killing thousands with an earthquake in the northern areas of Pakistan. Not to be left behind,...

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Muslim creationist Adnan Oktar sentenced to 3 years in prison

There have always been questions about the finances of the organization run by Adnan Oktar, known usually by his pen-name Harun Yahya. Last year he made headlines by sending his 800 page Atlas of Creation, free of cost, first to French public schools and then to biology and anthropology departments...

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Evangelical-Scientist collaboration on saving the planet

Here is a good example of science-religion cooperation: Saving "Gods's creation" unites scientist, evangelical leader:A Nobel laureate scientist and a leader of the evangelical Christian movement walk into a restaurant.It sounds like the setup for a joke, a scenario that is screaming for a punch line that plays off the seemingly endless disagreements between faith and science.But this is a true story,...

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

The evolution of the eye

A nice short segment on the evolution of the eye from the National Center for Science Education. This is part of Expelled Exposed. (tip from Greg Laden's blog)and while at it, check out this news about a squid with eyes the size of a soccer ball (hmm...fried calamari eyes....

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Krauss and Dawkins on the purpose of the universe

Couple of months back the Templeton Foundation had asked several scientists and scholars, Does the universe have a purpose? Dawkins was not included in the group. However, here he is answering a question about purpose of the universe (with Lawrence Krauss), and I think his answer gets to the heart of the matter and makes a lot of sense.The above clip is from a dialogue between Lawrence Krauss and...

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Chris Hedges and the New Atheists

Here is a contentious Point of Inquiry interview with Chris Hedges. While Hedges goes a bit too far in labeling the New Atheists as "fundamentalists", his overall criticism is quite interesting (and perhaps valid) - especially on the caricatured depictions of Muslims by the New Atheists (mostly Sam...

Friday, May 02, 2008

Gravity, superstition, and dropping babies from a tower

This may be ok on the Moon, but definitely not here on Earth. Check out this absolutely insane custom of dropping babies from a 15-meter tower - for luck and health!! (tip from Nizam Arain)Of course the organizers are going to claim that no accidents have taken place. But it is simply too hard to believe that there have been no accidents (even fractures? concussions?) over hundreds of years of this...

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Francisco Ayala on evolution, science, and religion

While controversies regarding evolution/ID make a bigger splash, here is a refreshing story about Francisco Ayala - an evolutionary biologist/geneticist and a former Dominican priest (and while we are at it, he is also on the boards of Opera Pacific and the Pacific Symphony and owns vineyards in California!...
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