As my church background does not have a strong Lenten tradition, I decided to take a look at what Pope Francis has written about Lent in his annual messages for this season. Since he is a scientist and a theologian, I thought he would be a good point of reference. While the sermons are not primarily focused on science, a few themes related to science did emerge within a broader discussion of love, charity and compassion and other facets of the Gospel. … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Lent 2019
climate change
Science Corner: The Advent and the Apocalypse
Christmas has become synonymous with good cheer, joy, and childlike wonder. From there we get the optimistic mantra "Every day is Christmas Eve" as looking forward to a happy day makes us happy. And so a sense of gleeful anticipation and positivity extends into Advent, the season of preparation leading up to Christmas. But then I am reminded of SAdvent. A few years ago on the Judge John Hodgman podcast (where humorist & actor John Hodgman arbitrates nonlegal questions) a husband and wife sought a decision about their … [Read more...] about Science Corner: The Advent and the Apocalypse
Science Corner: A Bumper Crop of Science
Some weeks it can be tricky to find a way into the science news that might be of interest to those outside the specific community of investigation. But not this week. Climate change, major space missions, and human bioengineering command our attention, and all three were in the headlines in the past four days. So let's take a quick survey of all three. … [Read more...] about Science Corner: A Bumper Crop of Science
Science Book Club: The War on Science Ch 11-13
Announcement: I'm proposing one final video chat in a couple of weeks (8/3 9pm EDT). That gives everyone a chance to catch up. This is our sixth and penultimate week reading through The War on Science; next week I'll review the book as a whole. We're covering the last three chapters this week; the last chapter is too brief for its own post. (Previous posts: Ch 1-2, Ch 3-4, Ch 5-6, Ch 7-8, Ch 9-10) This is the "what then shall we do?" section. As with the rest of the book, it is sweeping and ambitious in scope. The … [Read more...] about Science Book Club: The War on Science Ch 11-13
Science Book Club: The War on Science Ch 9-10
Reminder: we're having another video chat tomorrow night (7/13 9pm EDT). Feel free to join even if you couldn't come last time. We're in week 5 of discussing The War on Science and I have a confession/apology. I'm reading the book electronically and the table of contents has no page numbers, so I didn't realize this week's chapters were significantly longer than the others (Ch 1-2, Ch 3-4, Ch 5-6, Ch 7-8); Chapter 10 alone is nearly a quarter of the main content. In hindsight, it feels as though Otto primarily wanted … [Read more...] about Science Book Club: The War on Science Ch 9-10