BBC News has a report today on a conference held by CERN to bring science and religion together around the origins of the universe. It has some choice quotes including:

"Science in isolation is great for producing stuff, but not so good for producing ideas"

From Andrew Pinsent, and from Canon Dr Gary Wilton that the likely discovery of the Higgs boson:

"raised lots of questions [about the origins of the Universe] that scientists alone can't answer ... They need to explore them with theologians and philosophers"

Let me get this straight.

• The concept of atoms is first proposed by Demokritos in around 500 BC and realized by Dalton in 1808.

• Subatomic particles are discovered in the late 19th century, followed by Rutherford's gold foil experiment in 1907 demonstrating that an atom is mostly empty space.

• The Standard Model is built over decades including the proposal by Peter Higgs (and others) of the existence of the field and boson by which particles acquire mass.

• An expensive and extensive search by Fermilab and CERN eventually seems to have discovered the Higgs Boson.

A few highlights.

And after hundreds of years of theoretical and experimental physics it's somehow time to turn this one over to the pros?

Another quote from the conference, this time from Prof John Lennox:

"When Hawking argues, in support of his theory of spontaneous creation, that it was only necessary for 'the blue touch paper' to be lit to 'set the universe going', the question must be: where did this blue touch paper come from? And who lit it, if not God?"

Science may never have all the answers. It may not even be possible. But it's the only way to keep pushing back the boundaries. All the theologians have to offer is that they've discovered God, just outside the current resolution of our understanding. Ad nauseam. Bugger off. 

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Religion's Kayne West Tendencies #etc #science #religion #higgs Should we bring science and religion together to probe our understanding of physics or should religion just bugger off? )

Looking down the barrel of the Ordoñez Gun at the Presidio of San Francisco.

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Photo of Bernal Heights Park as seen from Mount Davidson in San Francisco.

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Many crows form a gyre in the sky over the Presidio of San Francisco.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Crow Gyre #photo #crow Photo of a crow gyre in the sky over the Presidio of San Francisco, California. )

Updated September 22, 2012 to add a few more photos:

 

Endeavor (OV105) flying over San Francisco with her escort:

 

Endeavor over Alcatraz:

 

Endeavor making the second of two passes over the Golden Gate Bridge:

 

Crowd watching Endeavor at Crissy Field:

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Get $1 off two Bounty Paper Towels, seen while watching the September 17, 2012 episode of The Daily Show on TiVo. Hard to imagine how expensive a full roll must have been.

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The last time we refreshed our earthquake supply kit was because of a smell. It turned out a water container had burst. This rusted most of the cans, and then the became a domestic Superfund Site. 

Given the current subscription commerce trend - get a new belt shipped by FedEx every four hours - I think there's a small business or a very interesting nonprofit here. 

Deliver a 10-day disaster survival kit every couple of years. Pick up the old one a few months before the food expires and donate it to a homeless shelter. Repeat until the next big one strikes and the kit is actually needed. Different levels for different family sizes, pets, special needs, etc. 

As usual any of my billionaire readers who are interested in funding this should drop me a line. 

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