Pray for Science

If religion and science are strange bedfellows maybe philosophy and science can make a go of it.

Well no not really, says Stephen Hawking (photo) Britain's renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist. His new book Grand Design is critiqued by a Guardian journalist in a terrific article. Skimming through that I thought about my own thoughts on the usefulness of philosophy and the utilitarianism of Science and how both co-exist nicely, even if Dr. Hawking believes differently.

The age old debate under the Religion banner is of course Darwinian evolution: Christians who believe in the Book of Genesis and not the Big Bang. To see how the latter have entered into an mid-ground under the banner of Intelligent Design read a USA Today article published last month. Then go back 4 years ago to a Time article written in 2006 and finally skim Stephen Jay Gould's non-overlapping magisteria,(1997).

If you are interested on what people are thinking on this topic, go to the Pew Forum to read about data on attitudes about religion and science.

{Photo courtesy of the Guardian.co.uk]

Anti-Aging News

Every day or so you can find an announcement or product launch - real or shaman-like - in the anti-aging field. For those who take this work seriously it appears to be a roller coaster ride reflecting on information grounded in real science versus commercial nonsense.

Two articles caught my attention on how science and pseudo-science merge in this billion-dollar arena. The first is about a dietary supplement called Telomorase Activator with published research in the scientific journal Rejuvenation Research. The product's researchers believe their magic bullet may help reverse the aging process by lengthening telomeres — the caps on the ends of chromosomes that keep DNA intact as cells divide. Click to read read more.

Additionally, there is an interesting article on prweb.com about a company, Growth Hormone Direct, who report a rise in the elderly buying human growth hormone.