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Physicsvar ziRfw=0;function zIpSS(u){zpu(0,u,280,375,"ssWin")}function zIlb(l,t,f){var u=new Array([["1/XJ/W9","1/XJ/WP"],["1/XK/WB","1/XK/WQ"],["18/15m","1/XL/WR"]],[["18/15o","18/1Pp"]],[["1/XJ/WA","1/XJ/WP"],["1/XK/WC","1/XK/WQ"],["18/15m","1/XL/WR"],["18/15o","18/1Pp"]]);var p=l.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.id=="oC"?0:1;var clk;if(arguments.length==3){if(t==1){f=0}if(t==2&&!zIos(l.href)){f=3}clk=u[t][f][p]}else{var c=l.parentNode.parentNode.className;var t=c=="obE"?0:(c=="obS"?1:(c=="obO"?2:-1));var f=t==0?2:(t==1?0:(t==2&&zIos(l.href)?2:(t==2&&!zIos(l.href)?3:-1)));clk=u[t][f][p]}if(!clk)clk="18/15p";zT(l,clk)}function zIos(u){var r=(u.indexOf("&zu=")>0&&(u.substr(u.indexOf("&zu=")).indexOf("about.com")>0)||u.indexOf("http://")0)?false:true;return r}zOBT=" Ads"
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z930=zpreC(930,48);if(thin){z930=0};z160=zpreC(160,600);z336=zpreC(336,280);z728=zpreC(728,90);z155=zpreC(336,155);zItw=160;if(thin)gEI('abw').className='thin';Search Physicsvar h1=document.getElementsByTagName("h1")[0];if(h1.getElementsByTagName("a")[0].firstChild.nodeValue.length>28)h1.className="long";HomeEducationPhysicsif(z930==0 && z728>0){adunit('','',uy,ch,gs,728,90,'1','lb',1)} Emailw(x2+zWl+'?p=1" zT="18/1[N" rel="nofollow">Print')PhysicsBasic ConceptsTheorieperimentsif(z930>0){adunit('','',uy,ch,gs,930,48,'1','s',1)}Must ReadsWhat Is Physics?Fields of PhysicsMajor Laws of Physics10 Weirdest Physical TheoriesPopular Physics Myths  Andrew Zimmerman JonesPhysics Guide Sign up for my NewsletterMy Bio My BlogMy ForumBrowse TopicPhysics 101Physics DictionaryClassroom PhysicsReal World PhysicsClassical MechanicsThermodynamicsLight & OpticsElectromagneticsAtoms & ParticlesTheory of RelativityQuantum PhysicsCosmology & AstrophysicsOther Fields of PhysicsPhysics of the Impossible The physics beyond physicsPhysicist Michio Kaku explores the realm beyond current knowledge - the border of science fiction and science fact.Read moreFurther ReadingThe Physics of Christianity by Frank J. TiplerThe Science of Harry Potter by Roger HighfieldMovie & Television Physics Bookszob();ThermodynamicsThermodynamics is one of the most basic concepts in physics, reaching across all branches of the discipline. If a system interacts with matter and energy, then thermodynamics is in some way involved.Read moreThermodynamics TopicsLaws of ThermodynamicsThermodynamic ProcessesHow Does Heat Transfer?Andrew's Physics BlogAdd to: iGoogleMy Yahoo!RSSScience and Religion in ConflictTuesday November 18, 2008The conflict between science and religion has been around for centuries, perhaps most popularly highlighted as in the house arrest of Galileo Galilei for going against the Catholic Church's teachings on the nature of the heavens.
Here's the point that is often lost in Galileo's case: he was actually a devoutly religious Catholic.
In fact, historically, most of the major scientific minds have been deeply concerned with religious and philosophical issues, save for the last century or so. Today, the schism between the two is so serious that the late biologist Stephen Jay Gould considered them nonoverlapping magisterium, meaning that the two areas should never touch each other (a solution that really didn't strike anyone as very satisfactory).
There are two problems with religion and science. The first is the case where religion attempts to stifle scientific inquiry, claiming that rationale inquiry into a certain area cannot be allowed if it conflicts with religious dogma. This is the basis for Galileo's house arrest, resistance to lightning rods (honestly - certain religious groups felt they were blasphemous, attempting to control the divine actions of God), the banning of evolution education, neuroscience, and so on.
The second problem, I would argue, came later and is now almost as severe, where science attempts to stifle religious inquiry, believing that questions which cannot be broken down into a scientific context are not only unscientific, but meaningless. This is the basis for Richard Dawkin's compelling book The God Delusion and scores of others (the "secular progressives" that Bill O'Reilly rails against, for example).
Dr. Jocelyn Bell Burnell, recently-named President of the Institute of Physics, would not agree with either of these camps. She is a practicing Quaker who says that she sees no conflict between practicing both religion and science. In the article, Burnell says "In Quakerism, your understanding of God is revised in light of your own experience, while in research science you revise your model in light of data from experiments."
Nor is Dr. Burnell alone in this view of religion and science's fundamental compatibility. Physicist John Polkinghorne is a retired physicist and current Anglican priest who wrote the book Quantum Physics and Theology: An Unexpected Kinship, where he makes much the same case - that the study of quantum physics and the study of theology utilize much the same rational methods of analysis, often in ways that are unexpected.
Polkinghorne's effort far exceeds (in my opinion) Frank Tipler's work in The Physics of Christianity, mainly because Polkinghorne isn't making an attempt to persuade anyone that he's got the answers like Tipler does. He is not trying to use science to explain miracles! Instead, he's trying to outline the similarities in the method of inquiry. In this task, I think, he succeeds admirably.
Reading Polkinghorne's book certainly didn't change my life, but it did give me a glimpse into how a truly rational religious man views Christ's life and finds meaning in it that shapes his own life, and reasons to believe that it has literally instead of merely symbolic meaning. If every religious person were like Polkinghorne, I wish I could say that there'd be no conflict between religion and science ...
...but then, there'd still be the scientists that cause the "second problem."
Related Articles:
Book Review: Quantum Physics and Theology: An Unexpected Kinship by John Polkinghorne
Einstein's God
Book Review: The Physics of Christianity by Frank J. Tipler
About.com Atheism
About.com Christianity
Comments (3)PermalinkThis Week in Physics History: Nov. 17 - 23Monday November 17, 2008
Nov. 23, 1837 - Dutch scientist and physicist Johannes Diderik van der Waals is born. The van der Waals' forces are named after him, and he is known for extensive work in thermodynamics, which resulted in his 1910 Nobel Prize in physics.
Nov. 18, 1897 - English experimental physicist Patrick Blackett (Baron Blackett) is born. Blackett did work with cloud chambers and designed a variant called the counter-controlled cloud chamber, which could be used to explore cosmic rays. It was for this work that he received the 1948 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Nov. 17, 1902 - Hungarian physicist Eugene Paul Wigner is born. He went on to become a key contributor to quantum theory, specifically with regards to atomic nuclei and the development of symmetry theory, though he never gained the same popularity as Einstein, Bohr, and others. Because of his intellectual ability, which many placed on par with Einstein, he gained the nickname "the Silent Genius." He was awarded the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Nov. 22, 1904 - French physicist Louis Eugene Felix Neel is born. Neel receive the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physics for pioneering work in the magnetic properties of solids. Among this work, he provided the explanation of weak magnetic fields in certain rocks, making possible the study of geomagnetism.
Nov. 21, 1905 - Albert Einstein's paper, "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", is published in the science journal Annalen der Physik. In this paper, he uses his work from earlier in the year on special relativity to expand into a theory of mass-energy equivalent, denoted by the famous equation E = mc2. This is the fourth of Einstein's Annus Mirabilis Papers, or "Wonderful Year Papers," because he published four revolutionary papers in 1905, while an obscure patent clerk. The story of this discovery is related in the PBS NOVA documentary Einstein's Big Idea.
Nov. 18, 1962 - Danish physicist Niels Bohr, who was probably the most important figure in understanding and explaining quantum physics in its early years, dies.
Nov. 21, 1970 - Indian physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman dies. Raman received the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for work in molecular scattering of light, specifically the discovery of the Raman effect which bears his name.
Nov. 17, 1990 - American physicist Robert Hofstadter dies. Hofstadter received the 1961 Nobel Prize in physics for his work in electron scattering, which helped determine the structures of atomic nuclei. He taught at Stanford University from 1950 to 1985. His book Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid received the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction.
Nov. 21, 1996 - Pakistani theoretical physicist Abdul Salam dies. Salam was the first Muslim, and also the first Pakistani, to receive a Nobel Prize in science. The 1979 Nobel Prize in physics went to him for work in unifying two fundamental forces of physics, the electromagnetic and weak nuclear interactions.
Comments (0)PermalinkA Chance to See Dark MatterThursday November 13, 2008Most of the matter in the universe is the mysterious dark matter, which astronomers can detect through gravitational effects but cannot actually see. The visible matter, or baryonic matter, that we're familiar with seems to make up only about 5% of the known universe compared to the 25% of dark matter!
Of course, the major problem in searching for dark matter is how to look for something when you can't see it. A new computer simulation may give a clue.
In the November 6 issue of the journal Nature, research from the Virgo Consortium (an international team of research scientists), are based on the idea that dark matter are supersymmetric partners of conventional matter particles. In this case, annihilation of dark matter (as it converts from supersymmetric particle to regular particle) would emit gamma rays which would be detectable. Their calculations suggest that this would be most visible in the direction of the Galactic halo, contradicting some previous conjectures of where this energy would be most visible.
This finding, if supported, will help astronomers figure out where to direct their telescopes to look for the signatures of this type of dark matter. Of course, it's possible that dark matter is made of some other exotic material ... in which case the search will continue in other areas, as well.
Related Articles:
Nature Editorial Summary - Where to find dark matter
Nature News & Views - Astrophysics: An Illuminating Dark Halo (subscription required)
Nature - Prospects for detecting supersymmetric dark matter in the Galactic halo
Space.com - Mysterious Dark Matter Might Actually GlowComments (0)PermalinkTurning Radiation into ElectricityWednesday November 12, 2008According to some recent research, it looks like materials physicists may have uncovered properties of nanomaterials that may allow for more efficient conversion of nuclear energy - radiation - directly into electrical current!
Last night, I saw New York Times columnist Tom Friedmann on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, speaking about his new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America. Friedmann emphasized that the need for a coherent energy policy is the central issue of the twenty-first century. (Tonight's guest is apparently T. Boone Pickens, who will presumably raise a similar topic.)
I've addressed a number of different power sources before, but one of the most controversial is always nuclear power. Nuclear power is typically performed by harnessing the power of nuclear fission (though in Europe there are efforts to build a reactor that will harness the cleaner power of nuclear fusion) to heat up water. The steam of the water causes turbines to spin which, in turn, generate the electricity.
As you may guess, having this many steps in the process means that it's not the most efficient process in the world.
Research presented in March at the spring 2008 meeting of the Materials Research Society may help with this, though, as it suggests that new nanomaterials can be used to convert the radiation energy directly into electricity. Estimates indicate that this would extract 20 times more power than current thermoelectric materials (which turn heat directly to electricity, and are still more efficient than the turbine method).
Unfortunately, even the lead researcher working on the subject projects that it will be a decade before this technology is ready for implementation. Still, I think that this sort of work only proves to highlight Friedmann's point ... these are large-scale projects which need to be started now, when the crisis isn't completely imminent.
What other technologies are on the horizon, other than the ones always talked about, have the potential to help establish energy independence?
Related Articles:
New Scientist - Nanomaterial turns radiation directly into electricity
Sources of Power Production
Comedy Central's The Daily Show - Tom Friedmann interview from 11/11/08 episode
Energy from the Motion of the Ocean
About.com Environment
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