New Images of our Universe

The Hubble Space Telescope has recently received the first major upgrade to its optics in quite some time. From the press release: “Topping the list of new views are colorful, multi-wavelength pictures of far-flung galaxies, a densely packed star cluster, an eerie “pillar of creation,” and a “butterfly” nebula. Hubble’s suite of new instruments allows it to study the universe across a wide swath of the light spectrum, from ultraviolet all the way to near-infrared. In addition, scientists released spectroscopic observations that slice across billions of light-years to probe the cosmic-web structure of the universe and map the distribution of elements that are fundamental to life as we know it.”

These new images from the Hubble are truly spectacular. It remains my firm belief that only when we stop to take the time to gaze upon the universe with child-like wonder, and see with our own eyes the splendor and majesty of the cosmos, can we begin to understand our own nature and the nature of our relationship to the universe and one another. So please, take a moment to see the beauty and the grandeur of the cosmos and allow your mind to be free to wonder.

PZ Myers on Dawkins on Evolution

PZ Myers is perhaps my favorite science blogger, and I firmly believe everyone should give his blog, Pharyngula, a look. Today, Myers has written a great review of Dawkins’ latest book, “The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution”.

You may also want to view this video of Dawkins himself explaining what the book “The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution” is all about.

PZ Myers on Terry Mortenson on Millions of Years

On August 20th, creationist Terry Mortenson presented a lecture on “Millions of Years” at the infamous Creation Museum, in Petersburg, Kentucky, attempting once again to explain how the Earth is a mere 6,000 years old, and that the idea of a world “millions or billions” of years old is the result of some kind of 19th century anti-biblical conspiracy by a cabal of sinister geologists. More noteworthy, of course, is biologist PZ Myers’ essay that lays down the scientific facts in refutation of Terry Mortenson’s lecture.

Says Myers: “When fundamentalists tie their faith absolutely to a claim that is easily refuted, that contradicts the evidence, and that requires them to constantly escalate their denial and delusions in order to sustain their belief, it makes it really easy for atheists to demolish their religion. We don’t even need to attack religion in the classroom at all — we just calmly lay out the facts, let the students work out the conclusions, and sometimes…it’s epiphany time!”

Read more of Myers’ essay on “Millions of Years” at his excellent blog Pharyngula, highlighting the history of 19th century scientific discoveries that lead to the conclusion that Earth is millions (indeed billions) of years old, despite the deep religious beliefs of the scientists themselves.

What if we never left the Moon?

July 20th is the 40th anniversary of humankind’s first intrepid steps onto a celestial body beyond the Earth. Yet within 5 years of that most triumphant moment in our species’ history, we left the moon and have yet to return.

But what if we had not left? What if NASA, along other international space agency, had continued to visit the moon, setup a colony there, and launched further manned explorations to Mars and beyond? The following article in New Scientists depicts an interesting, as well as nostalgic, “what if” scenario. What if we had never left the Moon? Read on to learn more.

Can religion be replaced?

The Guardian UK has an interesting article asking if “religion is irreplaceable”. It’s worth a read, but their conclusion is that “religion is irreplaceable”. I make a differentiation between mystical religion (such as Theism or any kind of mysticism) and religion as a system of spiritual beliefs. A system of spiritual beliefs, in my view, could simply be a believe in human goodness, virtue, and compassion — but that is far from being religious mysticism.

I feel that traditional, theistic religion can be replaced, and that it can be replace by a “religion of wonder” that reveres nature and the universe for all its glory and grandeur. Just look at a few images from the Hubble telescope and perhaps a few who read this will understand to what I am referring. We don’t need to believe in angels, demons, ghost, goblins, or big bearded men in the sky to be spiritual. We just need to believe in science, to revere the order of the cosmos, and act with compassion toward others.

If you have a chance, please visit Apollonica.org to learn more about spirituality based on science, ethics, and compassion.

Not So Intelligent Design

There was a time when the term “Intelligent Design” meant a well-thought out computer program. These days it’s just a synonym for religious Creationism. Let us not mince words: Intelligent Design is not science — it’s not even pseudo-science. It’s utter nonsense. Having said that, it deeply saddens me when I see statistics like these reported on the Zogby Poll, as reported in the Dakota Voice.

Ouch! It seems to me the only intelligent design we need these days is an intelligently designed science curriculum for students in public schools — a curriculum that teaches real science. What so many fail to realize is that our universe and all life within is not lessened by the process of evolution, but is made all the great and more wondrous. After all, how more marvelous a thing is our universe when we consider that we, and all life, are made from matter forged in hearts of stars over billions of year — that we, in words of Carl Sagan, are living star-stuff?

For those who may be inclined for some humor, or anyone who might be “on the fence” as far as the debate between ID and real science is concerned, I would like to point you to the following Penn & Teller video from their series “Bull@#$!” on Intelligent Design (there is harsh language in the video, so consider yourself forewarned). Prepare to laugh your way to rational enlightenment.

Science, Spirituality, and Quantum Weirdness

For those who question the notion that science, and the reality of our universe that science reveals to us, is somehow colder and less mysterious than the “reality” purported by the mystics and prophets of ancient times, I would like to point you to a fascinating article in the Wall Street Journal.

Humorously titled Science, Spirituality, and Some Mismatched Socks, the article summarizes the phenomenon of quantum entanglement whereby sub-atomic particles seems to “communicate” faster than light. The article is also noteworthy in mentioning the philosophical and spiritual implications of quantum physics which will likely continue to be a matter of debate between scientists and philosophers.

Science, Spirituality, and Some Mismatched Socks

Are you an Apollonian?

It may surprise you to know that you may already possess many Apollonian qualities. If you are curious, just take this quick test and see.

The Mind of the Cosmos

All the naturally occurring elements in the universe originate from one of two sources: the condensation of cooling energy generated by the big bang or the fusion reactions within stars. Although the exact cause is much debated and undergoing scientific study, it is known that the merest fraction of an instant after the big bang the temperance of the universe was around 10³² degrees Kelvin (10 followed by 32 zeros)–so hot that no matter existed, only radiation energy. Millionths of a second later, the temperature cooled enough for quarks and electrons to condense, and then combine into stable protons and neutron.

As the universe continued to rapidly expand and cool the force of gravity allowed hydrogen and helium to clump together, and the first stars ignited their nuclear furnaces. From the nuclear reactions within these stars, hydrogen fused with hydrogen to create more helium, and helium fused with helium to form atoms of lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. At the end of a star’s life, which could be anywhere from millions of years to hundreds of billions of year, the fusion process within its core begins to create heavier and heavier atoms, such as calcium and iron. Eventually, as the star’s density increases, it core collapses and releases an enormous quantity of energy in what we call a supernova. These giant supernova trigger new fusion reactions in the exploding stellar matter and forming the remaining naturally occurring elements from cobalt to uranium. All the hydrogen and around 96% of the helium in the universe is theorized to have originated from the condensation of energy after the big bang, while the remaining portion of helium and all atoms larger than helium were formed inside of stars or as the result of supernovae.

But what does this mean for us? We, like all living organisms, are composed of matter. As it turns out, 96% of the human body is composed of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen, followed by 1.5% calcium, 1% phosphorus, and the rest a mix of potassium, sulfur, sodium, magnesium, and trace metals. By weight we are mostly oxygen and carbon, with only 10% of our mass composed of hydrogen (while it is true that we are composed of about 60% water which has two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen, keep in mind that oxygen is sixteen times heavier than hydrogen). Thus, an 80 kilogram human being is composed of 8 kilogram of hydrogen from the big bang and 72 kilogram of elements formed in the hearts of stars. In  short, we are all made of star dust.

Consider it carefully: we are all made of star dust–living star dust–conscious, sentient, and self-aware. Just as we are aware of ourselves, so to are we aware of the greater universe around us. We are star dust that contemplates its own existence, as well as the existence and nature of the universe and all things withing it. As astronomer Carl Sagan once said, “We are a way for the universe to know itself.” No single statement can be more profound.

To extend this analogy further, if we are indeed a way for the universe to know itself, then our minds, our collective consciousness, effectively constitutes the “Mind of the Cosmos”. Should there be other beings who are also conscious and self-aware elsewhere in the universe, they too are part of the greater Mind of the Cosmos. But what do we mean when we talk of the Mind of the Cosmos? Is this Mind of the Cosmos the Mind of God? If you wish to consider the Cosmos as equating to God, then perhaps it could be perceived as such from a certain point of view. However, we must not err in imagining this “Mind” to be anything akin to a human mind. Without resorting to metaphysical double-talk, we can simply say that the Mind of the Cosmos is the contemplation of sapient life forms on the nature of the universe. After all, if our definition of consciousness is “our ability to reflect on our own existence”, then the consciousness of the universe would be “the universe’s ability to reflect on its own existence”. We contemplate the nature of the universe, and, being that we are part of the universe, our contemplations are the means by which the universe contemplates itself. To put it another way, the Cosmos is conscious through the consciousness of sapient beings.

The traditional view of God has been that of an immeasurable omnipotent, omniscient being residing outside the universe who created the universe and all things within. One may of course chose to believe this, but science offers no provisions for speculation outside the scope of our own universe–at least, not within the foreseeable boundaries of what can be known through science. On the other hand, science has provided a consistent explanation for the evolution of the universe and all phenomenon within, discarding the need for any kind of supernatural intervention. Only the initial cause of the universe (the question of “what caused the big bang to bang”) is still widely debated, although the latest work in the field of string theory and M-theory may soon reveal the key to solving even this seemingly impossible riddle.

A new view of God, if we wish to continue using that term for poetic reasons, is simply that the Cosmos is the body of God and conscious, self-aware intelligence constitutes the Mind of God, or the Mind of the Cosmos if you prefer. But we should not be tempted by a delusion that “we are God” or any similar misconceived notions. Just as a single neuron of a sapient being is not itself sapient, a single sapient being is not itself the Mind of the Cosmos. Considering how young our universe is, it also seems likely that intelligence has only recently arisen in the universe, and if we are not the first self-aware intelligence to arise, we are at least among the first. After all, the universe is a mere 13.7 billion years old, and given what we presently know, the stars and galaxies will continue to shine for at least 100 billion years, if not trillions of years. If this is indeed the case, then the Cosmos has only recently begun to contemplate itself through the evolution of conscious, self-aware beings. And that, more than anything else, is a truly awesome prospect.

Arising from the Cradle

The Homo sapian species has existed in its present form for approximately 200,000 years after genetically branching from Homo erectus as characterized by a larger brain, an improved skeletal morphology, and a modified larynx that helped to enable speech as we know it. By 50,000 BCE, humans began to display what has been termed “modern” behavior, that is, extensive use to tools and weapons, fishing and animal domestication, trade, jewelry crafting, art (such as cave art), music, and abstract spoken language. Civilization, in the sense of centrally controlled territories dotted with settlements, begin perhaps 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, and was firmly established 5,000 years ago (3000 BCE) with the advent of writing in the form of Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Thus, we are a civilization a mere five millennia old. Considering that Earth herself is 4.5 billion years old, and the universe is some 13.7 billion years old, this is but a flicker in time. Our civilization has existed for a mere 0.0001% of the age of Earth and 0.000037% of the age of the universe. We are, to say the very least, an infant species. But there comes a time when every infant must leave the cradle and learn to walk on its own. This we know, for we have taken our first timid steps from our cradle Earth. July 21st, 1969, marked the most historical and momentous event in the entire history of the human species. On that day, at 02:56 UTC, astronaut Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon becoming the first human being to walk on a celestial body other than Earth. It was, in Armstrong’s own words, “a giant leap for mankind”. No other species on our planet, in all its 4.5 billion years of existence, has accomplished that singular achievement. While such an accomplishment took remarkable advances in technology, the hard work of thousands of dedicated individuals, and the iron-willed courage of three extraordinarily human beings, we could never have come that far without our species’ insatiable desire to explore and our profound curiosity at the universe around us. In short, we advanced to our present age of space exploration because we marvel at the Cosmos.

Consider, for a moment, that 1903 was the year the first human beings achieved flight in a powered aircraft, while 1951 marked the year the first human flew in space, and the first human walked on the moon in 1969. The year 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, and 2011 marks the 60th anniversary of the first human in space. While manned exploration of space seems to have slowed due to global economic and political issues, the robotic exploration of space has reach new heights, especially concerning the exploration of Mars. It is inevitable that humans will one day set foot on Mars, although current projections make it unlikely before 2050. With luck, a renewed lunar exploration will return humans to the moon sometime between 2020 and 2030, with the goal of setting up a lunar base to pave the way for the manned exploration of Mars in the mid to late 21st century. The human exploration of other planets and moons, such as the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, are unlikely to occur until the 22nd century, and can only be accomplished with advanced propulsion systems, such a fusion powered plasma engines, which would revolutionize space travel in much the same way that steam engines revolutionized oceanic travel. With any luck, these technologies will arrive before the 22nd century, proving to be viable soon after the achievement stable fusion power.

But it takes hundreds of millions of dollars to send probes to distance planets, and billions more to send people into space. The cost of returning to the moon may be counted in the tens of billions of dollars, and a manned voyage to Mars in the hundreds of billions of dollars. And so some have asked, “Why expend resources exploring space when we have so many problems here on Earth?” The answer is not simply that we should do so because we can, or that it is an important national achievement, or even that we need to further scientific knowledge. The real reason for exploring space, and specifically for the manned exploration and colonization of other planets, is a matter of survival for our species. Once we become a “solar system civilization”, the chances of our long term survival will become much greater than our chances of survival now. But we human beings need more of a reason that simply to survive. After all, to purely survive and exist without that enduring passion that drives us ever forward to achieve new heights would be a meaningless existence to be sure. What has carried us into space, and what will carry us to the planet and one day to the stars, is that spark of insatiable curiosity within us. Curiosity is peculiar but wonderful a trait of human evolution, a shadow of which we can see in our primate cousins. It was curiosity that dove us to wander into distant lands and try new things, to bang stones into tools, and to discover and master the power of fire. Curiosity enabled us to survive by finding new ways to evade predators, to discover methods for improving our lives, and which allowed us to imagine a better, brighter future. Now we look up into the night sky and we are curious still. We awe in wonderment at the Cosmos and catch our breath as we gaze upon the countless billions upon billions of stars. The possibilities that lie ahead of us are truly limitless, and our opportunities are near infinite in number.

We, as a species, have just taken the first intrepid steps on a long and marvelous voyage. Our childhood is ending and we must leave the comforts of our cradle to embrace that wonderful destiny awaiting us out there in the endless sea of stars. We have a universe to explore in the next great chapter of our civilization, but only if we have both the courage and the wisdom to turn the page.