12:00PM

SEP 11 2007

Religion, human nature and physics

From The New Humanist, a review of The Bible: A Biography by Karen Armstrong. An interview with Robert Alter, editor of The Book of Psalms. A review of Decline and Change in Late Antiquity: Religion, Barbarians and their Historiography by J.H.W.G. Liebeschuetz. A review of The Early Christian Book by  William E. Klingshirn and Linda Safran. A review of Praeambula Fidei: Thomism and the God of the Philosophers by Ralph McInerny. Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach was the man who brought religion down to earth. When worlds collide: Scientists must not indulge mysticism.  Christopher Brookmyre explains why his latest book is dedicated to Dawkins, Randi and the debunkers of pseudo-science. John Allen Paulos on mathematics, religion and evolution in school curricula. 

From Edge, Country Life in Connecticut: Six scientists find the future in genetic engineering. Michael Sandel on Designer Babies: "There’s a growing debate about what limits, if any, should be put on genetic engineering". Carl Zimmer on The Meaning of Life: We create life, we search for it, we manipulate and revere it. Is it possible that we haven't yet defined the term? Genome 2.0: Detailed explorations of the human genome are showing that individual genes may have complex structures, and that much of what had been called junk DNA is not junk at all. Study finds evidence of genetic response to diet: It is becoming clear that the human genome responds to changes in diet, even though it takes many generations to do so. A review of The Immortalists: Charles Lindhbergh, Dr. Alexis Carrel and Their Daring Quest to Live Forever by David M. Friedman (and more).

A review of The New Time Travellers: A Journey to the Frontiers of Physics by David Toomey. From Popular Mechanics, where will the next 50 years in space take us? Leading thinkers from Buzz Aldrin (a robot fan) to Arthur C. Clarke (he wants a sub-orbital joyride) on where they think the half-century ahead could lead. The Mix Tape of the Gods: Contemplation of Voyager’s billion-year future among the stars may make us feel small and the span of our history seem insignificant. Not in my back yard: Private efforts to avert disaster in space. Baptistina's terrible daughters: Astronomers have traced the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs (and more). Digging for Dinos in the Land of Genghis Khan: Can a first-time dinosaur hunter make it through a dig in Mongolia? The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was a wayward fragment from a violent collision in the asteroid belt.