The Damned

Thanks to TheRationalizer for the link

RICHARD FEYNMAN, Nobel laureate and physicist extraordinaire, called it a “magic number” and its value “one of the greatest damn mysteries of physics”. The number he was referring to, which goes by the symbol alpha and the rather more long-winded name of the fine-structure constant, is magic indeed. If it were a mere 4% bigger or smaller than it is, stars would not be able to sustain the nuclear reactions that synthesise carbon and oxygen. One consequence would be that squishy, carbon-based life would not exist.

Why alpha takes on the precise value it has, so delicately fine-tuned for life, is a deep scientific mystery. A new piece of astrophysical research may, however, have uncovered a crucial piece of the puzzle. In a paper just submitted to Physical Review Letters, a team led by John Webb and Julian King from the University of New South Wales in Australia present evidence that the fine-structure constant may not actually be constant after all. Rather, it seems to vary from place to place within the universe. If their results hold up to the scrutiny, and can be replicated, they will have profound implications—for they suggest that the universe stretches far beyond what telescopes can observe, and that the laws of physics vary within it. Instead of the whole universe being fine-tuned for life, then, humanity finds itself in a corner of space where, Goldilocks-like, the values of the fundamental constants happen to be just right for it.
... continue reading

I’ve been pretty hard on Francis Collins, what with his mixing faith and science and telling people that there’s empirical evidence for God’s existence. But that makes it extra incumbent on me to give him kudos when he does something right. I mentioned the other day his support of stem-cell research, which is discussed in a new article, “The Covenant,” in The New Yorker. Maybe I was too eager to get in a lick against Christianity, so let me say that I much appreciate his going to bat for good science and humanitarian medicine. And then there’s this:

Collins strongly disputes that assessment [Craig Venter's pronouncement that the Human Genome Project has contributed little to medicine]. He says that after reading the Times story he sat down and wrote out a list of breakthroughs directly attributable to the advances in genomics, among them providing new understanding of age-related macular degeneration, Crohn’s disease and the role of autophagy, and Parkinson’s disease and the central role of alpha-synuclein aggregates; and the development of a recent drug for lupus. “It’s revolutionized everything that we do,” he says. He has discussed some of this with his friend the militant atheist Christopher Hitchens: “As you might have heard, Christopher has esophageal cancer, and I have actually been spending a fair amount of time with him and his wife, Carol, trying to help him sort through the options for therapy—including some rather cutting-edge approaches based on cancer genomics.”

I’m not going to pull my punches if Collins continues his public harmonizing of science and faith, but any Christian who would try to cure the world’s most vocal atheist is a Christian I can appreciate—and live with.
continue to WEIT for links

PZ Myers is an associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota at Morris and the man behind the popular science blog Pharyngula.

Q: What’s the first thing you read in the morning?
A: My site, Pharyngula, of course. I have to clean up spam, catch up with the conversation, and feed the fires with my own contributions.

Q: What newspapers and magazines do you subscribe to or read regularly? What do you read in print versus online or mobile?
A: I read Nature, Science, BioEssays, Development, Developmental Biology, PNAS [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences] regularly, and a few other journals irregularly. I read almost nothing printed on paper—I prefer to download PDF’s and read them on my laptop or iPad.
Newspapers I might read occasionally for the novelty, usually if there’s one left on the table at the coffee shop. I do browse The New York Times online

Q: What books have you recently read?
A: I read a book every day or two, except lately when I’ve been swamped with work. Last book read was Lone Frank’s Mindfield: How Brain Science Is Changing Our World, before that was Oren Harman’s The Price of Altruism, Erik Larson’s Thunderstruck, a fun little book called Quirks of Human Anatomy by Lewis Held, it goes on and on. I tend to slurp up any printed matter that stumbles before my eyes.

Q: Has your reading of professional journals changed in the past 10 years? If so, how?
A: Not in subject matter, which remains almost entirely in developmental and evolutionary biology. I have picked up browsing the PLoS journals. The big change is in the switch to electronic media—10 years ago, it was a matter of regular trips to the library to photocopy papers. Now I just stuff PDF’s onto a hard drive.

Q: Do you read blogs? If so, what blogs do you like best?
A: My faves right now are Why Evolution Is True, Sandwalk, Butterflies and Wheels, ERV, a few others—anything where the personality of the author shines through, and I do favor hard-edged godless science writers who don’t mince words.
… continue reading

Original link

A Beavercreek couple who left their infant daughter's fate to God rather than seek medical treatment for a mass that grew over her left eye will face charges of first-degree criminal mistreatment.

Prosecutors revealed Thursday during a custody hearing that a grand jury has indicted Timothy and Rebecca Wyland, members of Oregon City's Followers of Christ church.

The Wylands' 7-month-old daughter, Alayna, was placed in state custody earlier this month after child-welfare workers received a tip about the untreated and ballooning growth. Doctors said that the condition could cause permanent damage or loss of vision.

The Wylands were indicted within the past few days and probably will be arraigned next week, said Colleen Gilmartin, the deputy district attorney handling the custody case in juvenile court.

Under Oregon law, it is a crime for parents to intentionally and knowingly withhold necessary and adequate medical attention from their children. First-degree criminal mistreatment is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

The Wylands and their church reject medical care in favor of faith-healing -- anointing with oil, laying on of hands, prayer and fasting. The parents testified at a juvenile court hearing last week that they never considered getting medical attention for Alayna.
... Continue reading

Thanks to atheistmediablog for the link.
original link

ISBN: 978-1-59276-787-8
Softcover, 255 pages, index of names & subjects

"The New Atheists came on the contemporary scene with an unprecedented mixture of confidence and scorn. And, sadly, most of the books written in response have conveyed an impression of ad hoc defensiveness. But not this one. The Godless Delusion by Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley wages a full-scale frontal assault on the tallest turret of the New Atheists’ stronghold— the claim to moral and rational superiority. With remorseless logic, wit, skill, and boundless, joyful enthusiasm it lays waste that stronghold, routs the enemy, occupies the high ground for Christ their king, and dares anyone to retake it. Books on philosophical apologetics don’t get more exhilarating than this."

—Ronald K. Tacelli, SJ, professor of philosophy, Boston College, co-author ofHandbook of Christian Apologetics

Thanks to Michael for the link
original link

Argentina has become the first country in Latin America to legalise same-sex marriage after the Senate voted in favour of the controversial bill.

After more than 15 hours of debate, Argentina's Senate voted 33 to 27 in favour of the law, which will also give same-sex couples the right to adopt and the right to social security.

The term "husband and wife" will now be replaced in Argentine law by the term "the marrying parties".

The controversial bill had divided the country with the president Cristina Kirchner and other leading social and political figures throwing their weight behind the law, while the Catholic Church and other religious groups strongly opposed it.

continue reading...

Original link

Camp Inquiry, a summer camp alternative for non-religious families, will enter its fifth year this season when it opens its doors to approximately 50 children ages 7 to 16 this July 18 through 24 at Camp Seven Hills in Holland, New York. The overarching theme this year is “Young Minds, Big Questions.”

“We really aim to equip the kids with the tools to think through life’s questions—big and small—for themselves,’ said camp director Dr. Angie McQuaig. Camp goers this year will tackle some pretty big existential questions, like Who am I? Why am I here? What can I know? and What ought I to do?

“These themes, once the exclusive domain of speculative religious thought, are now increasingly being addressed by the sciences—and by kids,” said McQuaig. Campers will take part in discussions about the value of science as a method for understanding the universe and improving the human condition. Continued McQuaig, “We plan to introduce these young, curious minds to cosmology, evolutionary science, and neurobiology so they can explore how and where they fit in the wider cosmos.” Carl Sagan would be delighted.

Camp Inquiry is a project of the Center for Inquiry (CFI), an organization committed to fostering a secular society based on science, reason, and humanist values. “Camp Inquiry is a critical part of our educational mission,” said CFI’s president and CEO Ronald A. Lindsay “It is one of only a few summer camps that focuses on critical reasoning and encouraging children to think for themselves.”

McQuaig, who holds a doctorate in educational leadership, said that kids will enjoy a “hands-on philosophy,” learning the moral and cultural implications of the scientific outlook through games, team activities, and engagement in the arts.

Parents can also join in the fun, including an opening dinner with Dale McGowan, author of “Parenting Beyond Belief”, and a special closing evening presentation with popular magician and skeptic “The Amazing” James Randi.

Camp Seven Hills boasts 620 acres of woodland paths, meadows, streams, and hills perfect for outdoor exploration. It is fully insured and accredited with the American Camp Association. With its impressive 5-to-1 camper-to-counselor ratio, Camp Inquiry is run by a staff of fully screened and trained teacher-counselors, including a trained medical professional.

Enrollment remains open until July 12. More information is available at www.campinquiry.org.

Thanks to Atheist Media Blog for the link
Original link

Excerpts from Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. More specifically, from the chapter titled A Universe Not Made For Us. I edited together the audio from the audio-book, and added the video from Stephen Hawking's Into the Universe and Brian Cox's Wonders of the Solar System. The music is Jack's Theme from the Lost soundtrack.

Original link
Karen Armstrong is a former English teacher and current religious apologist with a strong dislike of science; she has found a novelist who also has a strong dislike of science, and who was invited to give some lectures on the subject at Yale. (Yale invites some very odd fish to give lectures on subjects they don’t seem to know much about. Terry Eagleton for instance, and now Marilynne Robinson. Why does Yale do that?)

[T]he novelist Marilynne Robinson argues that positivism, the belief that science is the only reliable means to truth, has adopted a “systematically reductionist” view of human nature.

Oh yay, a much-needed critique of the reductionism of positivism and the folly of thinking that science is better at finding out things than more amateurish brands of inquiry. That will be new and different.

Armstrong summarizes Robinson in several excruciating paragraphs of uncomprehending formulaic nonsense, then winds up with a final deepity:

If we are indeed completely in thrall to the selfish gene, why not throw all constraint to the winds and just be selfish – individually and collectively, in our politics, social arrangements, financial and economic dealings? We saw during the 20th century (not to mention the first decade of the 21st) what can happen when the “me-first” mentality is given free rein.

She seems to have derived her understanding of the selfish gene from Mary Midgley, or perhaps the back of a cereal box. The whole review is warmed-over Midgley, which might as well be warmed-over Charles Windsor, which might as well be warmed-over Marilynne Robinson. They all peddle the same line of annoying uninformed grandiose New Agey bullshit, and they give me a pain.
... Continue to site

According to Oxford University Press's “World Christian Encyclopedia,” 84% of the world's population belongs to some form of organized religion.