Quarks and Creation with John Polkinghorne

Science and religion are often pitted against one another; but how do they complement, rather than contradict, one another? We learn how one man applies the deepest insights of modern physics to think about how the world fundamentally works, and how the universe might make space for prayer.

Krista Tippett: Reconnecting with compassion

 

Compassion can be synonymous with empathy. It can be joined with the harder work of forgiveness and reconciliation, but it can also express itself in the simple act of presence. It's linked to practical virtueslike generosity and hospitality and just being there,just showing up. I think that compassion also is often linked to beauty -- and by that I mean a willingness to see beauty in the other, not just what it is about themthat might need helping. I love it that my Muslim conversation partners often speak of beauty as a core moral value. And in that light, for the religious,compassion also brings us into the territory of mystery -- encouraging us to see, not just beauty, but perhaps also to look for the face of God in the moment of suffering, in the face of a stranger, in the face of the vibrant religious other.

Lee Cronin: Making matter come alive

Before life existed on Earth, there was just matter, inorganic dead "stuff." How improbable is it that life arose? And -- could it use a different type of chemistry? Using an elegant definition of life (anything that can evolve), chemist Lee Cronin is exploring this question by attempting to create a fully inorganic cell using a "Lego kit" of inorganic molecules -- no carbon -- that can assemble, replicate and compete

Richard Resnick: Welcome to the genomic revolution

In this accessible talk from TEDxBoston, Richard Resnick shows how cheap and fast genome sequencing is about to turn health care (and insurance, and politics) upside down.


Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the human genome. (Applause) Chromosome one, top left.Bottom right are the sex chromosomes. Women have two copies of that big X chromosome; men have the Xand, of course, that small copy of the Y. Sorry boys, but it's just a tiny little thing that makes you different.So if you zoom in on this genome, then what you see, of course, is this double helix structure -- the code of life spelled out with these four biochemical letters, or we call them bases, right: A, C, G and T. How many are there in the human genome? Three billion. Is that a big number? Well, everybody can throw around big numbers. But in fact, if I were to place one base on each pixel of this 1280 by 800 resolution screen, we would need 3,000 screens to take a look at the genome. So it's really quite big.

Two personalities in one brain make one person. Any connection to religion?

 

Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one. An astonishing story

Can Evolution Exist with Religion?

 

This is a very interesting discussion.  Where do you stand on these issues, and why?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLhxCpzoeJM  Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkUXYFRxuPk&NR=1   Part 2