| Genentech Scientist to Lead Rockefeller University Marc Tessier-Lavigne will be the first to leave Genentech’s top scientific ranks since its acquisition by Roche in March 2009. feeds.nytimes.com |
In praise of … Moses Why replace a miracle that has captured Christian, Muslim and Rastafarian imaginations with a tale of fluid dynamics?In his novel reworking the gospel, Philip Pullman had the good grace to emblazon the back with the words, in block capitals, "THIS IS A STORY." In that spirit, the unravelling of biblical mysteries through the device of two twins, Christ and Jesus, provides food for thought for atheists and thinking believers alike. The US National Centre for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado have not shown the same tact in breaking Moses's spell. Perhaps they were trying to help out the law-giver of the Jews when they devised wizardly models to prove that a 63mph wind could have combined with local topography to allow him to part the Red Sea. But why replace a miracle that has captured Christian, Muslim and Rastafarian imaginations with a tale of fluid dynamics? If the aim is to put the whole Moses tale on a scientific footing, it is a doomed enterprise – unless, that is, you can also explain manna from heaven, plagues summoned to order, and instant messaging with the Almighty himself. He was brutal with the golden calf worshippers, and we may take it as read he would take a hard line with the intellectual imperialism of those who pray at the altar of scientific reductionism. Having beaten the odds to survive in the first Moses basket, he spent the next 120 years (of course, people lived much longer in those days) being righteously ruthless with foes and with friends who went awry. Would-be buddies who picked every nit in his many and marvellous stories could expect very tough treatment indeed.• This article was amended on 23 September 2010. The original referred to "the alter" of scientific reductionism. This has been corrected.ReligionMeteorologyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Nobel Prize honors super-strong, super-thin carbon By MALCOLM RITTER and KARL RITTER 2010-10-06T00:48:48ZNEW YORK (AP) -- It is the thinnest and strongest material known to mankind - no thicker than a single atom and 100 times tougher than steel. Could graphene be the next plastic? Maybe so, says one of two scientists who won a Nobel Prize on Tuesday for isolating and studying it.... hosted.ap.org |
Skybound launch for Beagle-2 book Professor Colin Pillinger, the scientist behind the ill-fated Beagle-2 mission to Mars, has launched his book about the ill-fated venture - from a rocket. bbc.co.uk |
[news] South Georgia Town Meeting - 28 September 2010 Aerial view of King Edward Point (KEP), South GeorgiaA South Georgia Town Meeting takes place at British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge on 28 September 2010. The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) seeks to expand the range of scientific research at King Edward Point and make the facilities available for science projects.The meeting will discuss science curre... antarctica.ac.uk |