Absolute Temperature

An absolute temperature scale is one that has absolute zero as its zero.

Give me an example!

The Kelvin temperature scale is an example of an absolute temperature scale. Its zero is at absolute zero, the theoretical temperature 273 Celsius degrees below the freezing point of water. Absolute zero is the temperature where all molecular motion ceases.

Abacus

An abacus is an ancient kind of calculating machine that keeps track of numbers by moving beads in grooves or along bars.

Give me an example!

The abacus was invented in ancient China - and is still in use there today! The abacus is recognized as a working part of the mathematics curriculum in many parts of China - although most younger people prefer calculators. The great thing about an abacus is you never have to worry about running out of batteries!

Amperes Law

What is it?

Ampere's Law states that when current is flowing through a circuit it produces a magnetic field of a strength directly proportional to the amount of current flowing through the circuit

Give me an example!

If you had a circuit with 30 Amperes of current flowing through it, it would produce a magnetic field of a certain magnitude (let's call it "X"). If you doubled the number of Amps to 60, you would also increase the power of the magnetic field to 2X.

Explore key information about the chemical elements through this periodic table

Group	1	2		3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Period
1	1 H																		2 He
2	3 Li	4 Be												5 B	6 C	7 N	8 O	9 F	10 Ne
3	11 Na	12 Mg												13 Al	14 Si	15 P	16 S	17 Cl	18 Ar
4	19 K	20 Ca		21 Sc	22 Ti	23 V	24 Cr	25 Mn	26 Fe	27 Co	28 Ni	29 Cu	30 Zn	31 Ga	32 Ge	33 As	34 Se	35 Br	36 Kr
5	37 Rb	38 Sr		39 Y	40 Zr	41 Nb	42 Mo	43 Tc	44 Ru	45 Rh	46 Pd	47 Ag	48 Cd	49 In	50 Sn	51 Sb	52 Te	53 I	54 Xe
6	55 Cs	56 Ba	*	71 Lu	72 Hf	73 Ta	74 W	75 Re	76 Os	77 Ir	78 Pt	79 Au	80 Hg	81 Tl	82 Pb	83 Bi	84 Po	85 At	86 Rn
7	87 Fr	88 Ra	**	103 Lr	104 Rf	105 Db	106 Sg	107 Bh	108 Hs	109 Mt	110 Ds	111 Rg	112 Cn	113 Uut	114 Uuq	115 Uup	116 Uuh	117 Uus	118 Uuo
*Lanthanoids			*	57 La	58 Ce	59 Pr	60 Nd	61 Pm	62 Sm	63 Eu	64 Gd	65 Tb	66 Dy	67 Ho	68 Er	69 Tm	70 Yb
**Actinoids			**	89 Ac	90 Th	91 Pa	92 U	93 Np	94 Pu	95 Am	96 Cm	97 Bk	98 Cf	99 Es	100 Fm	101 Md	102 No

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Element 112 named copernicium

In honour of scientist and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), the discovering team around Professor Sigurd Hofmann suggested the name copernicium with the element symbol Cn (original suggestion was Cp) for the new element 112, discovered at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung (Center for Heavy Ion Research) in Darmstadt. It was Copernicus who discovered that the Earth orbits the Sun, thus paving the way for our modern view of the world. Thirteen years ago, element 112 was discovered by an international team of scientists at the GSI accelerator facility. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, IUPAC, recently confirmed their discovery. IUPAC has now confirmed the new element's name as copernicium.

What is this thing we call science? Here's one definition ...

Britain's Science Council has spent the past year working out a new definition of the word 'science'. But how does it measure up to the challenge of intelligent design and creationism?

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Laboratory. Photograph: Linda Nylind

The new definition focuses on the pursuit of knowledge rather than established knowledge. Photograph: Linda Nylind

It might have been the 16th century philosopher Francis Bacon who coined the term "science", but even if it wasn't, the word must have come into common usage around his time, in the western world at least.

Perhaps with an eye on that, the Science Council has seen fit to spend a year working out a new definition of science. It may be, they claim, the first "official definition of science" ever published.

Here's what they've come up with:


"Science is the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence."

Not bad for a year's work ... But why bother with a new definition? In a statement from the Council, chief exec Diana Garnham says:

"In an era where practices such as homeopathy are becoming widespread, and 'detox' is an acceptable aim for a diet, a definition creates a clear distinction between what is genuine science, and what is pseudoscience."

So there you go.

I ran the definition past a couple of experts to see what they made of it. David Edgerton, professor of the history of science and technology at Imperial College, made two points:

"It defines science as a pursuit, an activity, related to the creation of new knowledge, rather than established knowledge itself. Science is seen as a species of research. Yet a definition of science needs to define the nature of the knowledge not the means of its creation only."

and

"The definition would include historical research and indeed some journalism! It does not demarcate something called science from the humanities. This is a good and sensible thing. From the context of the press release this is not something the Science Council seem to have realised."

The philosopher AC Grayling thinks the Council has done a good job:

"Because 'science' denotes such a very wide range of activities a definition of it needs to be general; it certainly needs to cover investigation of the social as well as natural worlds; it needs the words "systematic" and "evidence"; and it needs to be simple and short. The definition succeeds in all these respects admirably, and I applaud it therefore."

The new definition has left me with two mildly nagging doubts, though. I wonder what it means for those who suggest that intelligent design or creationism are based on science? And who are the Science Council anyway?

science-faith

Overview

The fundamental belief of Scibel is that mainstream Christian faith and mainstream science are in basic harmony. Those involved in any 'official' capacity, including those involved as speakers on science-faith issues, are expected to be active Christians who adhere to historic mainstream Christian beliefs and are in sympathy with modern science as a means of knowing more about the universe God has created.

History

Scibel was initially formed as Christian Students in Science (CSIS) in 1996. It was born out of a paper researching student opinions on science and Christianity, presented at a Christians in Science (CiS) conference. CSIS received support from a wide range of Christian organizations, all recognizing the importance of talking about science and Christianity with young people. The name CSIS seemed specific to christians who were students and working in science, and this led to a name change to Scibel to broaden its appeal. Today, Scibel helps young adults to think about some of the big questions in life - whether they are Christian or not, students or not, or studying science or not. Scibel has also progressed to use modern technology to reach people, no matter which country they are in.

Mainstream in Faith

'Mainstream faith' means identifying with historic Christian belief as reflected in particular in the Nicene creed, a modern English translation of which is as follows:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and women and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated on the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy universal and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

In the 'science-faith' context, Scibel would also emphasize speaker assent to the following biblical teachings: Creation and Redemption: The universe is a consciously purposed creation of the Triune God; all things were created through the divine Word who was God and was with God (cf eg Colossians 1.15-16, John 1.1-3). That divine Word became flesh in Jesus, who was the unique incarnation of God, and through his death and resurrection forgiveness and redemption were made available to those who receive him in repentance and faith (cf eg John 1.14, Galatians 2.15-16). Nature: The 'laws of nature' are not independent of God but reflect his continuing upholding will (cf eg Hebrews 1.3). God can work for his purposes through natural law, no less than on those occasions in which 'supernatural' miracles reflect his sovereign decision to alter his normal pattern of working in nature for purposes of grace (cf eg his natural 'creation' of winds Amos 4.13, and compare Luke 8.24). Scripture: All Scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable for teaching the truth (cf eg 2 Timothy 3.16). What God says in Scripture is true, and is not of ‘private interpretation’ (cf eg 2 Peter 1.20 on prophecy). Rather, the meaning of Scripture may often be clarified by an understanding of the literary conventions and cultural contexts of its human writers, as well as by the divinely given spiritual wisdom embedded in the historical traditions of the Church (cf eg James 1.3).

Mainstream in Faith The following are relevant aspects of mainstream science: Definition: 'Science' is "a branch of knowledge constructed on objective principles involving the systematised observation of and experiment with phenomena, especially concerned with the material and functions of the physical universe" (Concise Oxford Dictionary). Science is thus an approach and activity, but also a body of received knowledge about the world, built up empirically over past centuries. Actuality: The body of received knowledge which constitutes natural science is found in the disciplines of chemistry, physics, physiology, astronomy, biochemistry, geology, genetics etc. as taught in general science courses in our universities.

Harmonising Two Mainstreams

Scibel believe that classically, the many devout Christians involved in the historical development of science sought harmony between theology as the interpretation of Scripture (sometimes called the "book of God's word"), and science as the interpretation of nature (sometimes called the "book of God's works"). Theology and science are both fallible human activities, and mistakes can be made. Scibel, however, stands for the view that on the whole the received teachings of traditional bible-orientated Christianity, and the well-supported conclusions of modern science (though not necessarily the interpretations put on these by some scientists) are both trustworthy, and are capable of being seen as in fundamental harmony. Scibel believes in working to change the culture so that both Christians and non-Christians can see that Christian faith and science are compatible and can work in harmony.

Astrology is Science

Yes, it’s true. Astrology is Science. This is according to the definition of Science of the proponents of Intelligent Design (aka Creationism). For if we define science as the search for truth and knowledge, then it should also include an attempt to understand the supernatural. And so as we say goodbye to the Year of the Rat and welcome the Year of the Ox, let’s make believe that (Chinese) Astrology, is in fact, science.

What’s in store for us in the Year of the Ox?

Go to the site and see how your sign fares in the Year of the Ox. As a follow-up to last year’s vanity post, here’s what’s in store for the me in the Year of the Ox:

Here’s to good health, prosperity and success in the Year of the Ox! And as they say here in Hanoi, Chuc Mung Nam Moi.