Telescopes have been troublemakers for centuries. They've revealed that the Earth is not the center of the universe, not even the center of the solar system. They showed us our sun was just one of many stars in our galaxy, then showed us our galaxy is just one of many in the universe. They provided the evidence that the universe is expanding, which in turn implied the beginning of the universe in the Big Bang. Now the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is adding wrinkles to our understanding of how those galaxies formed … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Seeing Infrared
Science and Faith
Science Corner: Finding the Proteins of Theseus
Last month we mentioned the challenges of studying blue whales in a laboratory setting. If we want to know what a particular gene or protein does in an animal that large, we often have to rely on inference based on what a comparable gene or protein does in an animal we can study more readily like a mouse. And how do we know which protein is comparable--or homologous, to use the more technical term? Typically the search for homologous proteins starts with a sequence similarity scan, a check of an entire library of … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Finding the Proteins of Theseus
Science Corner: Don’t It Make My Blue Whale Big
I was fortunate to grow up within visiting distance of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. One item stands out in my memories from periodic visits: the blue whale. Not a live one, of course; it's a museum, not an aquarium. Even as an inert model, the blue whale was striking to little-boy-me--which is saying something since it shares a home with numerous dinosaur skeletons. Of course, that cohabitation only helps to underline just how much bigger blue whales are than even the biggest dinosaurs or … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Don’t It Make My Blue Whale Big
Science Draws Me Closer to God
Join ESN for a conversation with Ciara-Reyes Ton and Andrew Rick-Miller, co-director of Science for the Church for a conversation on science, faith and a better conversation between scientists and the church. The conversation is on Wednesday January 25 at 4 pm ET. Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/ESNSciFaith. Science draws me closer to God. It didn't always though. At first it seemed irrelevant. Science inhabited a different domain than things of the spirit and scripture. I kept them compartmentalized, in part because … [Read more...] about Science Draws Me Closer to God
American Scientific Affiliation Winter Symposium: Scientists and the Church
The Emerging Scholars Network has partnered closely with the American Scientific Affiliation on Early Career Tracks at the ASA annual meetings and at other ASA events. Christians who are scientists often experience a "double loneliness." Colleagues are sometimes suspicious of their Christian commitments and fellow church members are suspicious of their science. This conversation between a scientist and a church leader is a great opportunity to explore how we may foster a better conversation as scientists with those in … [Read more...] about American Scientific Affiliation Winter Symposium: Scientists and the Church