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 and Faith
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
Science Corner: New Genes for a New You
For the new year, let's look at where new genes come from. Many genes around today have pedigrees going back billions of years. Humans can find analogues of most of their genes in chimpanzees and other primates, suggesting our common ancestor millions of years ago had comparable genes. At the same time, many species including humans have genes found in no other species. As with so many things--to-do lists, spreadsheets, computer code, building plans--there are two main ways to get new ones: copy and modify something … [Read more...] about Science Corner: New Genes for a New You
Science Corner: The Case of a Curious Christmas
Among the holidays widely observed in the United States, Christmas strikes me as the one most concerned with curiosity. Several Christmas songs are posed as questions: "What Child is This?" and "Do You See What I See?" and "Mary, Did You Know?" OK, that last one has a real 'more of a comment than a question' energy, but still. There are the magi on a quest of discovery. There is the mystery and anticipation of a wrapped gift. And so I thought the science of curiosity would be an apt topic for this Advent season. … [Read more...] about Science Corner: The Case of a Curious Christmas