Category: Science

Books, Science

In the Midst of the Sixth Extinction

Bob Bates — In May 2019, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an international panel of more than 450 scientists from 109 nations, unanimously reported that the status of life on planet Earth is in grave jeopardy. Drawing upon 15,000 documents compiled by global environmental researchers, the panel noted that species loss has accelerated at a rate of tens to hundreds … Continue reading In the Midst of the Sixth Extinction

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Science

Modern Science: Counter-Intuition and Its Implications for Climate Change

Warren R. Johnson — A major challenge facing the survival of the planet is climate change. A recent assessment by the US Global Change Research Program, a team of 13 federal agencies, predicts that the most dire consequences of human-caused climate change will be upon us much sooner than expected. Yet, we are seemingly unable to deal with the dilemmas it presents. In my view, … Continue reading Modern Science: Counter-Intuition and Its Implications for Climate Change

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Philosophy and Religion, Science

The Physicist and the Preacher

Warren R. Johnson — In 1949 Albert Einstein asserted, “The abstract concept ‘society’ means to the individual human being the sum total of his direct and indirect relations to his contemporaries and to all the people of earlier generations.” Reasoning likewise, Martin Luther King, Jr., in his 1963 Letter From Birmingham Jail, argued that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” He went on … Continue reading The Physicist and the Preacher

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Science

Current Status of Global Warming and Climate Change

Bob Bates — In 1896, Swedish Nobel laureate Svante Arrhenius calculated that increases of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth’s atmosphere contributed to the “greenhouse effect” of trapping heat close to the planet’s surface. Based on this observation, he predicted incremental global warming proportional to the added amounts of CO2 above natural levels. Decades before, with the advent of the Industrial Age in the early … Continue reading Current Status of Global Warming and Climate Change

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Philosophy and Religion, Science

Uncovering Enigmas of the Universe

Bob Bates — Over a century ago physicist Max Planck, functionally an intellectual mentor of Albert Einstein in making scientific breakthroughs with prodigious consequences, reflected on what he was uncovering. Planck asserted, “All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particles of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. … We … Continue reading Uncovering Enigmas of the Universe

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Books, Culture and Society, Film and Television, History, Science

Inequality of Disclosure: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Tony Platt — In 2010, Rebecca Skloot was a little known science journalist on the faculty at the University of Memphis when her first book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, an investigation into the ethics of medical research, was published. It became an instant crossover hit: translated into twenty-five languages, persistently near the top of The New York Times bestseller nonfiction list, receiving the … Continue reading Inequality of Disclosure: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

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Philosophy and Religion, Science

Creation: A Process Continuing

Bob Bates — The age of our universe is about 13.8 billion years old. Our solar system began forming about 4.5 billion years ago, with planet Earth being a part of this process. These are big numbers and signify eons of time that has passed. The initial stages of life on planet Earth began about 3 billion years ago. Our genus, homo, began its development about … Continue reading Creation: A Process Continuing

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Books, Philosophy and Religion, Science

The Disappearance of God: A Divine Mystery

Bob Bates — One of the most provocative books I’ve read that deals with religion is Richard Elliot Friedman’s The Disappearance of God: A Divine Mystery (1995). Subsequent editions of the book are entitled The Hidden Face of God. Friedman is a professor of Hebrew and comparative literature, holding multiple degrees, and is currently Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Georgia. In this … Continue reading The Disappearance of God: A Divine Mystery

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Politics and Economics, Science

Climate Change and Nonviolent Resistance

Ron Berger — Last November Bill McKibben, a leading environmental activist, delivered the inaugural Jonathan Schell Lecture at the New School in New York City. The lecture, which was entitled “On the Fate of the Earth,” was co-sponsored by The Nation Institute and the Gould Family Foundation; and the text of the lecture was adapted for a December 2016 issue of The Nation magazine. McKibben … Continue reading Climate Change and Nonviolent Resistance

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