Monthly Archives: December 2011

God, Physics, and Salvation: What Are We Supposed to Know?

Posted on December 31, 2011 by

This Christmas, I was thrilled to receive two books by theoretical physicists: Brian Greene’s “The Hidden Reality” and Stephen Hawking’s “The Grand Design.” As I was unwrapping these lovelies, my father pointed out that they both sound more like books … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Spirituality, Uncategorized, Weird Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The Surprises of Victorian Spirituality

Posted on December 30, 2011 by

The Victorian era lives in our imaginations as a time of spiritual repression. But it was also a time of surprising developments, many of which were vital to shaping thought on religion and spirituality in the 20th century. Victorian spirituality … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Spirituality, The Victorian Era, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Precognition: A Century of Experiments, Prejudice, Fraud, and Funny Math

Posted on December 29, 2011 by

Since seeing last week’s Through the Wormhole episode on precognition, I’ve been reading more on the subject. Valid criticisms have been raised: were the experiments that seemed to show precognition really better than random chance? Can we be sure of … Continue reading →

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Neurobiology: Why We Need Sleep

Posted on December 27, 2011 by

You’ve probably all heard the motto “sleep is for the weak.” You’ve probably also seen energy drink commercials alleging that “no one ever regrets not having slept more in college,” or heard college students joke that “sleep is the new … Continue reading →

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A Habitable Planets Primer

Posted on December 26, 2011 by

In the spirit of Christmas and appreciating all that we have, today’s blog is about what makes Earth such an awesome place to live. It’s also about where we might expect to find life elsewhere in the Universe. You see, … Continue reading →

Posted in Alien Planets, Space Colonization, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Victorian Morality, or, “WTF, England?”

Posted on December 23, 2011 by

With the rise of steampunk, the Victorian era is becoming popular again. It is, of course, an “alternate” Victorian era, very different from the one we had in reality. And with good reason; while the epic battles, old-school aesthetics, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Spirituality, The Victorian Era, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Precognition: More Scientific Than You’d Think

Posted on December 23, 2011 by

You’re probably heard of precognition. The word, of course, comes from the Latin “pre-” meaning “before” and “cognition,” meaning knowing or perception. The idea that humans can somehow “know” the future before it happens is everywhere–it’s the subject of ancient … Continue reading →

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