Big Bang

Being in the science world, it is hard to be blind to the rather prominent anti-religion sentiment that many prominent scientists take. This is not to say all scientists are atheist, but I think it's fair to say that most of the outspoken scientists are in that position. Often science and religion are branded as incompatible with neither adding to the other and both standing in stark contrast to each other's teachings.

In the case of religious fundamentalism, this isn't far from the truth. However, in the case of Catholicism, it is entirely NOT the case. Catholicism is very embracing of science and scientific fact. Leading theologians work with science facts in order to evaluate philosophical arguments and to bolster their beliefs in God. Many people are probably scoffing at this very moment, "Ah, and I bet you think Galileo was treated fairly?" Galileo represents any interesting case where it wasn't necessarily the science which led him to be treated as he was by the church. He has also since received a full pardon. More on this in a later post.

So, is there any good evidence for the church adding to science? Yes. Georges-Henri Lemaître. What about him? Well, his name should really read: Monsignor Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître. For those who are familiar with cosmology and astrophysics, this name should be familiar. For those who are not, Lemaître was the first person to propose the Big Bang theory. While his original hypothesis has since been revised and expanded upon, the notion of the Big Bang still exists and has a large amount of evidence in its favor.

It is interesting, however, to note that hardly any books (textbooks and popular science books) mention that he was a Catholic priest. While it may be rather irrelevant in the scientific context, it would do no harm to write his name as it should be written, Msgr. Lemaître. Also, it wouldn't hurt to dispel the myth that religion is strictly against the advancement of science. I wonder, are authors afraid of mentioning his religious background for fear of condemnation? Or maybe they do not want to give credit to the notion that religion is not opposing science? Maybe people just do not really know that he was a priest. Entirely possible.

I think his life would be interesting to read about. Unfortunately, no extensive biographies exist, at least from what I can tell, aside from the typical Wikipedia biographies. In the end, it is irrelevant to the science that he was a pious man, but I do believe that it can do a lot of good for science-religion relations if it were mentioned.

Making Progress

Have you been to Flagstaff, ME? Probably not, unless you were around pre-1940. It turns out Flagstaff, ME was once a small town located on Flagstaff Lake. However, "progress" wiped out the town. Slaid Cleaves has chronicled the story in his song "Below".



The song is older (2004), but today I learned of Slaid Cleave and really enjoy his music. He masterfully weaves song and story leaving the listener (aka: me) wondering what to be more enthralled with, his tunes or the story?

Miss Evolution

The topic of this post was brought to my attention thanks to Sean Carroll over at Cosmic Variance. Sean is a well-known cosmologists and a well respected scientist who often weighs in on topics outside the realm of his research, such as the infamous "science v religion" battle. Sean posted a link to a pre-recorded Miss USA Q&A on evolution. In particular, "Should evolution be taught in schools?"

Some of the answers are baffling and entirely incomprehensible, such as those who answer "no". I'm not writing, though, to contribute to the banter that fills the Comments section, the science fanatics who scoff at religion are just as bad as those religious fanatics that scoff at science. Instead, I wanted to draw attention to an answer that has been ignored by the commentators; Ms Minnesota's answer.

Ms Minnesota was raised Catholic and was taught that evolution is entirely compatible with Catholicism; even supported by Blessed JP II. THANK YOU MS MINNESOTA! A voice of reason among the contestants, and the world at large, apparently. If you are unsure how this is true, I urge you to investigate this further. I could, and maybe will later, write up a post which explains this.

Why am I taking the time to bring this up? I have a theory as to why her answer has been ignored - ignorance. Those who argue ferociously from either side are entirely ignorant of Catholic beliefs. Science lumps all of Christianity into the category of the fundamentalists (e.g., Earth was created 6,000 years ago) and religious zealots tend to lump all scientists into the category of those who just plain hate religion (e.g., religion haters).

Maybe my post is vague and rather puzzling. I'm not sure if I really expressed what I had intended to from the start, but the point is that the whole "religion v science" debate is spiraling out of control with BOTH sides plagued by ignorance of the other. If we are to have an intelligent discussion on the topic of science and religion, we should be possess a knowledge of both.

To see all of the contestants answers, head over to the post on Cosmic Variance.

Bruins Win the Stanley Cup!!!

After a grueling 7 game series with the Vancouver Canucks, the Boston Bruins have come out victorious! They closed out the series with a brilliant 4-0 victory in Vancouver accomplishing a feat very few thought possible. The Bruins had difficulty scoring in Vancouver in games 1, 2 and 5, allowing the Canucks to sneak out a 1 goal victory in each of those three games. However, in Boston, the Bruins dominated the 'Nucks, outscoring them 17-3. Finally, though, Boston showed up with the A-game in Vancouver, and the rest is history.

Congratulations Bruins players, staff, and fans!

The Far Side of the Sun

For the first time in human history, we have seen the far side of the Sun. It seems rather remarkable, at first thought, that this is even considered a triumphant result. However, the prediction of space weather through the monitoring of solar active regions is hugely important for our technology dependent society. Also great, is that we can now track individual active regions to get a sense of how long they last and study other aspects of the active regions which can lend insight into the underlying physics of solar activity.

Here is a video released from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center describing the achievement.

Two Week Recap

Greetings. A lot has seemingly taken place over the past couple weeks and I'm just now getting a chance to take a step back and relax. I figured now was as good a time as ever to update the blog, since I'm sitting in the laundromat waiting for my clothes with very little to do. So here is a chronological ordering of the events that have taken place over the past couple weeks:

1) Started seedlings for the garden. Spring is almost (yes, almost) here and the vegetable garden provides some great pleasure... and food!

2) Passed my thesis proposal. This was a huge stress in my life since February. Most of March was spent writing my proposal, writing and re-writing... mostly re-writing. The beginning of April was the actual presentation. A quick 30-45 minute talk over a topic I had just spent the past month writing a paper about, so that wasn't too bad. However, after the talk your committee is allowed to ask you questions about whatever (generally related to your field of research), and can do so for however long. Needless to say, I survived.

3) The Dead River Oilers won the UVHL championship! Dead River (DR) is the men's league team I play for in the UVHL (the Upper Valley Hockey League), a men's A league. Great hockey, good fun. Turns out that although we finished 4th in the regular season (out of 6), we had the best team come playoffs. We won 5-2 in the championship against a solid Whalers organization.

4) Submitted my first "first author" paper. A letter to the Astrophysical Journal Letters, to be precise. The article is currently undergoing review, so I will refrain from discussing it here.

5) Mudleague hockey playoffs. This event was not so great in terms of the overall outcome. We lost in the first round against the Wiseguys, but it was a 1-0 final score. I probably had around 40 saves, I'd estimate. A good individual performance.

6) End of hockey season. Normally something I wouldn't find myself wanting to enjoy, but it was a long season and the end feels great. Last night was the last skate of the year, a UVHL pick-up skate; the last official skate before they took the ice out of Campion.

A great couple of weeks, in my opinion. Now I get to put effort into enjoy other things in life, aside from my thesis proposal and hockey. More likely than not, this will include Contra, gardening, and hiking.

The Best Tuna Melt

You heard me right. The best tuna melt. What about it? I made it, that's what. Okay, admittedly it's probably not the best tuna melt in the world. I'm sure someone, somewhere has either already thought of this same recipe or is making something far superior. Still, I'm no stranger to tuna melts and I've made my fair share of varieties, so I'll share what I've found to be the most delicious recipe I've yet come up with for a tuna melt.

Empty one can of tuna (drained) into a bowl. Instead of using Mayo, added the brine from a jar of pickled jalepenos until the tuna achieves the desired consistency (I like mine to be mushy so it packs well on the sandwich). Add a few dashes of garlic and onion powders and mix thoroughly. Slice a few pieces of (extra) sharp cheddar cheese. Spread half the tuna over one piece of Jewish Rye bread and the other half of tuna over another slice of bread (of course!). Place the cheese on top of one of the pieces of the sandwich. Place in toaster oven and toast until the bread begins to brown and the cheese is nice and melty. Remove from the toaster oven and combine the two halves. Cut in half (for style).

Simple yet super delicious. You could add some cumin to the mix, but I just haven't yet tried it with the straight jalepeno brine. I normally add it when I make the sandwich with mayo, but I don't know if it's necessary with the jalepeno brine. Tuna melts might be simple, but they are cheap, delicious meals with lots of protein. If anyone else tries this, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.