Last time, I wrote about various, highly unusual characteristics of the Milky Way Galaxy and of the Sun that allow for life to exist in this particular, small, local region of space. Before that, I posted about the many factors in the very structure of the universe that must be (and are, obviously) extremely fine-tuned […]
“Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, one with the very delicate balance needed to provide exactly the conditions required to permit life, and one which has an underlying (one might say ‘supernatural’) plan.” — Arno Penzias, physicist who shares the Nobel prize for physics for discovering […]
“One would have to conclude either that the features of the universe invoked in support of the Anthropic Principle are only coincidences or that the universe was indeed tailor-made for life. I will leave it to the theologians to ascertain the identity of the tailor!” — Bernard Carr, cosmologist and professor of mathematics & astronomy […]
Today’s post is the final one in the series (in case the “Part 4 of 4” wasn’t obvious). This confession/self-revelation has been so cathartic, and I thank you all for reading. It is amazing what one can learn about one’s self from other people, even total strangers, isn’t it? I know I implied this earlier, […]
Sixty-plus years ago, a physicist by the name of Enrico Fermi postulated that, unless the evolution of life was unique to Earth, there should be many advanced species out there. If this is true, why haven’t we detected them or they made contact? This is known as ‘Fermi’s Paradox’. Adrian Kent of the Perimeter Institute […]
I love my country. And I think we have the best government and legal system, based on the Rule of Law, beginning with and rooted in the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. But, it’s still an imperfect system. Sometimes — more often than most of us imagine or care to […]
“[A] fair result can only be obtained by stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question.” — Charles Darwin To most in the U.S., February 12th is known & celebrated as Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. But, to a growing number, that date has become Darwin Day, in honor of Charles Darwin. […]
And, now for some good news…. Last post, I started off my “BP Oil Spill Aftermath” report by citing the harsh realities facing local economies along the Gulf Coast. I then focused on the prevalent delays in oil drilling, despite Obama’s having lifted his ban against deep-water projects. One thing I did not discuss, however, […]
If you are familiar with the Ed Sullivan Show from decades past, you probably know who Señor Wences was. He was the Spanish-born ventriloquist whose popular act consisted of him conversing with “Johnny” — i.e., a puppet made from Wences’ hand, on which he put eyes, nose, lipstick, a wig, and set atop a doll’s […]
“Do I gotta get water from the Moon? Is that what I gotta do to make you love me?” Good news, Celine! It’s there! (No green cheese, yet, though.) It all began last year, when NASA’s LCROSS Mission crashed a spent-fuel, Centaur rocket into a lunar crater at 5,600 miles an hour — on purpose. […]
