On the blog, we’ve laughed, we’ve cried. And we’ve been blown away by the greatest science vs wonder exposition in the history of science vs. wonder expositions. And I’ve grappled with the fact that classes start this week and I didn’t get enough done yet again, on the blog or in course preparations.
But what’s new.
That didn’t stand in the way of others though as there are lots of good links this week that I enjoyed. I hope you do too. Musical accompaniment in 1 2 3.
All the “news” I see fit to print (er, link to), i.e. items that don’t go in other categories:
- The world in 6,237 photos. Amazing. The world is a diverse, remarkable, and beautiful place.
- Yowsa. Makes you think about all those gadgets you/we love.
- Resistance is futile, it would seem. But still, cool, no?
- No wonder Lincoln moved from Kentucky.
- This is, like, the best part of being a teacher.
- Okay, this isn’t news, but it doesn’t go in one of the other categories… sociopath or cat?
- This too… Could Got get tenure? I have a more in-depth one of these on my office wall…
Science:
- Science can neither explain nor deny the awesomeness of this sledding crow (RT @BoraZ).
- Beautiful phytoplankton bloom from outer space.
- How mosquitoes fly in the rain.
- Babies & intermingled senses- Some experimental evidence for the infant-synesthesia hypothesis: (HT @NoahWG).
- Synthetic biology explainer. The “update from a knowledgeable reader” is spot on. The spider protein in goat’s milk is NOT synthetic biology, unless you redefine it. Some older scientists feel the same way about “nanotechnology”, by the way…
- Fluoride sensitivity and resistance in bacteria via riboswitches.
The space between:
- RJS and Scot McKnight had some great posts on the Jesus Creed this week. See Polkinghorne on “Testing” Scripture, a short review on Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion and Naturalism (here’s Plantinga’s summary of his book, which I should probably read), and Pastors Unconvinced … Now What?. Speaking of Adam and Eve…
- David Opderbeck (Through a Glass Darkly) posted a review/reflection of Pete Enns’ new book the Evolution of Adam. I’ll be posting my review the week of the 30th, as part of the book’s blog tour.
- Awesome, just awesome. The full humanity that Christ brought.
- “Modern science has made the something-from-nothing debate irrelevant.” Um, with all due respect, no. No it hasn’t. On nothing and something and really… nothing. We’re out of the realm of evidence here, gentlemen.
- Your granny is a process theologian. Another primer on process theology by Bo Sanders and Tripp Fuller, this time on Kurt Willems’ Pangea blog.
- Really liked this post from BioLogos on the theological implications of genomics.
- Who is responsible for Christian anti-evolutionism?
- Great story about how the John Polkinghorne biography came to be written (HT @gibersok).
- Religion for Atheists. “I don’t believe myself, but it is politically prudent that you should.” I’m not sure how I would respond to this.
- Neuroculture: On the Implications of Brain Science. Looks like a very interesting and timely book.
A biologist's view of science & theology 
On the “nothing” issue. I must confess my frustration as to how obviously intelligent people can misunderstand the concept of “nothing” so profoundly. It seems blatantly obvious that a quantum vacuum is indeed *something*, not nothing. If something that we call the “laws of physics” or “gravity”, or any other adjective whatsoever describes “it”, “it” is *by definition* something, not nothing! Now, I haven’t read the two latest books (yet) from Hawking and Krauss that touch on this issue, but from what I understand, both make this fundamental blunder. But, in the interest of fairness, it behooves me to read them myself…
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Agree completely!
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