A mock debate on time with British physicist and science writer Julian Barbour and NYU philosophy professor Tim Maudlin, reposted from FQXi’s Setting Time Aright conference in Copenhagen.
A decade ago, a British philosopher put forth the notion that the universe we live in might in fact be a computer simulation run by our descendants. While that seems far-fetched, perhaps even incomprehensible, a team of physicists at the University of Washington has come up with a potential test to see if the idea…
Amber from 100-million-year-old deposits in Northern Spain has preserved and revealed the first ever record of insect pollination, scientists say. Specimens of tiny insects covered with pollen grains in two pieces of Cretaceous era amber are the first record of pollen transport and social behavior in this group of animals, researchers said. The amber featured…
For over a millennium the Chinese have used an herb known as Chang Shan to treat fevers associated with malaria. While its effectiveness in treating the disease has long been confirmed by modern medicine, its exact function has remained mystery. However, in a recent study, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) say they have…
The first section of this presentation analyses the issues in the ongoing controversy over evolution and Intelligent Design. Subsequent sections describe some recent ideas in evolutionary theory and in theological reflection (including the contributions of several speakers at this conference) which offer alternatives to the “conflict of science and religion” presented in the media coverage…
Planktons constitute 98% of the ocean world and a group of researchers, after studying these in detail, believes that future oceanic changes would help in knowing which species of these would probably become extinct or migrate. Because these microscopic marine life forms, though very very small, contribute to the generation of oxygen on the planet…
The circumstances that ended the last ice age, somewhere between 19,000 and 10,000 years ago, have been unclear. In particular, scientists aren’t sure how carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, played into the giant melt. New research indicates it did in fact help drive this prehistoric episode of global warming, even though it did not kick…