Cyclic Universe Can’t Avoid a Cosmic Beginning

Big Bang, Big Crunch, Brian Koberlein, cosmology, cyclic universe, fluctuations, gravitational waves, infinity, inflationary theory, James Webb Space Telescope, mathematics, Paul J. Steinhardt, physics, Physics, Earth & Space, Princeton University, Roger Penrose, Sabine Hossenfelder, science, Standard Model, universe
The recent flutter over whether the James Webb Space Telescope’s data stream is a plus or a minus for the Big Bang raised interesting cosmological issues. Source
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Could We Ever Recover Dinosaur DNA?

Alan Grant, Alida Bailleul, Bozeman, Centrosaurus, dinosaur DNA, dinosaurs, DNA, Evolution, fossilization, fossils, Gizmodo, Hypacrosaurus, Ian Sample, Jack Horner, Jeanne Timmons, Jurassic Park, Mary Schweitzer, Montana, Museum of the Rockies, National Science Review, paleontologists, paleontology, Princeton University, Renxing Liang, soft tissue, The Guardian, wooly mammoth, Yukon
There have been a number of unexpected finds from dinosaurs besides bones; some paleontologists dig hopefully. Source
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David Berlinski on Architectural Nihilism, Human Nature and the Holocaust, and Emotivism

A Short History of Mathematics, A Tour of the Calculus, analytic philosophy, Center for Human Exceptionalism, Center for Science & Culture, Columbia University, Culture & Ethics, Darwinism, David Berlinski, differential topology, Evolution, Holocaust, human nature, Humanize, mathematics, Newton’s Gift, philosophy, philosophy of mathematics, Podcast, Princeton University, systems analysis, The Advent of the Algorithm, The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions, The King of Infinite Space: Euclid and His Elements, theoretical biology
We live in intellectually mediocre times, when commitment to true debate has been replaced by a desire to stifle heterodox thought. Source
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Optimality Recognized in Core Biological Infrastructure

"poor design", amino acids, Athel Cornish-Bowden, biology, biology textbooks, carbon, constraints, development, Drosophila, elements, embryology, Erika DeBenedictis, glycolysis, human engineers, human genome, Intelligent Design, María Luz Cárdenas-Cerda, metabolism, Michael Denton, natural amino acids, optimality, Pareto optimality, Princeton University, TEDx talk, William Bialek
I will begin with an example from embryology, then turn to metabolism, and finish with the breadth of chemical space covered by the natural amino acids. Source
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Harvard Law Professor — Ban Homeschooling for “Question[ing] Science”

atheists, authoritarianism, Bible, Christians, creationism, Discovery Institute, Education, Erin O’Donnell, Evolution, evolutionary theory, Harvard Law School, Harvard Magazine, Harvard University, Home School Legal Defense Association, homeschooling, Idaho, ideologies, Intelligent Design, Kids, mind control, Newspeak, North Carolina, Parents, presumptive ban, Princeton University, prison, ProPublica, public schools, stereotyping, students, survivalists
Ban it for other reasons as well, says Professor Elizabeth Bartholet in a stunning article for Harvard Magazine. That’s right, the only form of education in the country that hasn’t been upended by the coronavirus. Well, that is a poorly timed proposal. Bartholet warns that homeschoolers are subject to child abuse, and are poorly prepared to participate in a democracy, having been oppressed by “essentially authoritarian control” by parents who are potential illiterates themselves. As depicted by Bartholet, homeschooling sounds little better than being in fundamentalist Christian prison. In fact, the illustration that goes with the article shows a girl behind bars in a house fashioned from books, on Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and the Bible. The article, by Erin O’Donnell, attacks a homeschooling group, while (as Rod Dreher points out)…
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