Thank God for Quantum Mechanics

Albert Einstein, Anton Zeilinger, atoms, biblical tradition, blackbody, Canceled Science, Chemistry, electromagnetic radiation, emissivity, Energy, Faith & Science, Genesis, Gospel of John, helium, hydrogen, information, Intelligent Design, intention, John Wheeler, Louis de Broglie, matter, Max Planck, mind, Niels Bohr, nuclear fusion, nucleons, observer participation, particles, physics, Physics, Earth & Space, Planck’s constant, protons, quantization, quantum effects, quantum mechanics, Schrödinger equation, spectroscopy, sun, ultraviolet catastrophe, universe, University of Paris
An example of how quantum effects permit life as we know it operates in the nuclear furnace of the Sun. Source
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Sean Carroll: “How Could an Immaterial Mind Affect the Body?”

amino acids, analgesic, Aristotle, arthritis, biology, body, causation, chirality, Darvon, documentary, efficient cause, enantiomer, final cause, formal cause, Francis Bacon, free will, individuation, Johns Hopkins University, libertarian free will, material cause, matter, mind, neuroscience, Neuroscience & Mind, penicillamine, philosophy, physics, Physics, Earth & Space, quantum mechanics, sculptor, sculpture, Sean Carroll, statue, trailer
Aristotle noted that when we think carefully about natural causes we see that there are four distinct ways that causes can lead to effects in nature. Source
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Unexplained — Maybe Unexplainable — Numbers Control the Universe

Carl Sagan, Contact (novel), Cosmos (magazine), electromagnetism, extraterrestrials, Fibonacci sequence, fine structure constant, Golden Ratio, Intelligent Design, Jordan Ellenberg, Laurence Eaves, Paul Davies, physics, Physics, Earth & Space, pi, Planck’s constant, quantum mechanics, relativity, Richard Feynman, University of Nottingham, Wolfgang Pauli
Richard Feynman called 1/137, the fine structure constant, “a magic number that comes to us with no understanding by man.” Source
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Astrophysicist Asks: Did God Create the Universe?

Aristotle, astrophysicist, atheists, Big Bang, cosmic inflation, Darwinian evolution, Ethan Siegel, Evidence, Faith & Science, First Mover, Five Ways, general relativity, Heresy, information, logic, microwave radiation, natural theology, non-overlapping magisteria, Ontological Argument, Physics, Earth & Space, quantum mechanics, reason, red shift, special relativity, Stephen Jay Gould, theists, theory of potency, Thomas Aquinas, universe
Ethan Siegel is an astrophysicist who writes a lot for the public. I like his stuff; he explains interesting complex topics well. But his recent essay “Ask Ethan: Did God Create the Universe?” misses the mark in a sadly common way. He not only botches logic and the metaphysics. He botches science.  Seigel answers a reader’s question about the existence of God. The reader asks: I am very interested in space and with who made us and what made us… what do you have to say about people who say that “God” made us? Seigel is interested in this question too, and he replies (I summarize his argument — read his whole essay for details): You can ask a question whose answer is not only knowable, but already known. You…
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