TOP 100 SCIENCE SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Melting sea ice forces walruses ashore in Alaska By 2010-09-13T17:41:26ZWASHINGTON (AP) -- Tens of thousands of walruses have come ashore in northwest Alaska because the sea ice they normally rest on has melted.... hosted.ap.org |
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 |
China faces hurdles amid quest for a Nobel Prize By CHI-CHI ZHANG 2010-10-06T15:19:09ZBEIJING (AP) -- It's Nobel season, and China is engaged in an annual bout of hand-wringing: Why can't the country that invented the compass and gunpowder - and that recently rocketed from poverty to global power - win one of the venerated prizes?... hosted.ap.org |
National Briefing | West: California: Solar Plant Advances Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved a big solar energy plant in the Mojave Deser, making it the fifth such project on public land in the West to win federal authorization. feeds.nytimes.com |
[news] Vertical structure of Antarctic tropospheric ozone depletion events: characteristics and broader implications Ozone depletion events in both polar lower tropospheres are fascinating events. Ozone goes to almost zero near the surface in some of them, with knock-on effects on many other chemicals including mercury deposition, and with a cause apparently associated with enhancements of bromine compounds. The question is: however interesting they are, do they have a wider scale importance?This paper starts ... antarctica.ac.uk |