Much has been said of the Anthropic Coincidences, the special values of physical constants and force laws that enable a universe to support carbon-based life. Even more remarkable, I believe, are the wonderful physical-chemical processes that sustain the life of living things, from the simplest one-celled organisms to us, all of which are made possible by […]
Scientists love to give themselves “ethical guidelines” — only to “reevaluate” and revise those guidelines when they are no longer convenient. A perfect recent example of this came this May when scientists in two separate studies reported keeping embryos alive, healthy and developing for 12-13 days. In both studies the embryos grew autonomously and began […]
“Scientists are slowly waking up to an inconvenient truth – the universe looks suspiciously like a fix. The issue concerns the very laws of nature themselves. For 40 years, physicists and cosmologists have been quietly collecting examples of all too convenient “coincidences” and special features in the underlying laws of the universe that seem to […]
Some 22 years ago when I was being catechized, preparing to enter into the Church, I was much troubled by the Eucharistic phenomenon, transubstantiation. As a physicist, I could not understand how the wafer could become the flesh of Christ and the wine His Sacred Blood. The wise old priest who was instructing me asked: […]
This is the third in a series on unconventional propositions about last days and the resurrection of the dead. The first was on that of the Russian mathematician, Andrej Grib, dealing with quantum logic; the second on that of the American physicist, Frank Tipler, dealing with his physics derived Omega Point; this, the third, on […]
In my last article, Last Days and the Resurrection of the Dead, Part I, I discussed Andrej Grib’s proposition that there would be a “Big Crunch”, the universe disappearing in a singularity. Grib, in his article about this and quantum logic, referred to that Big Crunch being an “Omega Point”, proposed by the Jesuit paleontologist […]
Easter, when we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, will soon be upon us, so it is appropriate to reflect on that resurrection and on the one which will be given to us, as Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians. It is an article of faith for us as Catholics that we will […]
Robot soldiers, economic meltdowns, robot lovers, and autonomous drones and weapons—these are just a few of the items that make the list of Tech Republic’s “Ten Terrifying Uses of Artificial Intelligence.” But perhaps the scariest is the prospect of an increased reliance on artificial intelligence for medical treatment. Tech gurus are already pouring billions of dollars—not […]
Many of you have read about the recent experimental detection of a gravity waves by LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), another jewel-in-the-crown of empirical confirmations of Einstein’s General Relativity theory. And it came, appropriately, on the 100th anniversary of the publication of that theory. I’m not going to expound on the science of this fine piece […]
In delving into information theory as a foundation for quantum mechanical theory, I encountered again John Wheeler’s revolutionary thesis that we create the past by observing it–“The Participatory Universe“. The thesis rests on John Wheeler’s “It from Bit” hypothesis. In what follows I’ll summarize that thesis by examining the “three questions”, four “no’s” and […]
Genetically-manufactured babies, gene-manipulated human embryos, human-animal chimeras, human clones—all science fiction, right? No, these various types of laboratory-manufactured human embryos are already reality. Last spring, Chinese scientists announced they had experimented with genetic manipulation of human embryos, and scientists in the U.S. want to join in the experiments, also recently approved in law in the […]
“The magisterium of the Church takes a direct interest in the question of evolution, because it touches on the conception of man, whom Revelation tells us is created in the image and likeness of God…. “Pius XII underlined the essential point: if the origin of the human body comes through living matter which existed previously, the […]
Among the many posts and articles on the canonization of St. John Paul II last year, there were few comments about his efforts to effect a rapprochement between the Church and science (notice the upper case and lack thereof). The term “rapprochement” has been chosen with care: “an establishment or resumption of harmonious relations” (Oxford English […]
There is a dangerous philosophy emerging in our fast-paced, technology-driven world of which most people are totally unaware. And yet, when Francis Fukuyama, economist at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, was asked what idea posed the “greatest threat to the welfare of humanity,” his answer was this philosophy. And yet I am […]
A stumbling block in my conversion process was dealing with the concept of the Holy Trinity–as a Jew, a cornerstone of my minimal religious faith was the Sh’ma Yisrael, that God was One: Sh’ma Yisra’el YHWH Eloheinu YHWH E?ad” Hear O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one. Deut. 6:4-9 The priest who was […]
More scientific progress? In the wake of news videos about slicing up and testing the remains of aborted babies, leave it to leading scientific researchers to continue to push the envelope. The Hinxton group (a group of stem cell researchers, policy wonks, and bioethicists) is calling for reopening the debate over altering the DNA of […]
”Happy those who feast on wisdom and savor her knowledge, She will nourish and refresh them.” –Happy Those Who Feast on Wisdom, Hymn for the Office of Readings, 28th August Who is your favorite saint? Mine is St. Augustine (Hippo), whose feast day is today. Rather than giving his biography and conversion story, I thought it […]
This link is for the 8th of 12 videos produced by the Center For Medical Progress. This one features baby parts buyer StemExpress Founder and CEO, Cate Dyer, saying they want 50 MORE fetal livers PER WEEK. And as they say, Planned Parenthood is a good source because of their volume of abortions. It is […]
Recently the investigative journalism conducted by David Daleiden who started the Center for Medical Progress has provided a raw look into the minds of the people involved in the “human capital” abortion industry. As the videos continue to come out and lawsuits are filed threatening to suppress free speech and journalism, perhaps this is a […]
[Feynman] “Do you know calculus?” [Wouk] “I admitted that I didn’t” [Feynman] “You had better learn it…It’s the language God talks.” Herman Wouk, converstion with Richard Feynman in The Language God Talks, p.5 “What is your number?” My grandson, Gabriel (age 2), on meeting someone. “If you ask how such things can occur, seek the answer […]
I’ve wondered, since my conversion, why some found it so much harder to believe in God than in Science. When I was younger in college, I took the pronouncements of my teachers–Nobel Prize winners* and graduate students–as holy writ (although I didn’t know then what holy writ was). In laboratories we repeated famous experiments, Galileo’s […]
“Transhumanism is a desperate belief system that grasps at technological straws. But the raw desperation in that grasping has the potential–like all Utopian movements–to unleash violently destructive forces. Caveat emptor.” (Wesley J. Smith). There are a number of pressing issues in the broad realm of bioethics. Abortion may well be the biggest bone of contention […]
“The laws of nature are written by the hand of God in the language of mathematics.” Galileo Galilei “Certain it is that a conviction, akin to religious feeling, of the rationality or intelligibility of the world lies behind all scientific work of a higher order…This firm belief, a belief bound up with deep feeling, in […]
Of Miracles and Mysteries A little over 20 years ago, shortly after I had decided to enter the Church, I was being catechized by a very learned and wise priest (this was before the days of RCIA classes). As a physicist, I was struggling with the notion of transubstantiation — that by the action of […]
