"Star Talk" Debut

I have just finished watching the premier episode of the podcast StarTalk now on the National Geographic channel. It was much better than I expected.  Host Neil deGrasse Tyson had guests George Takei, Leighann Lord, Bill Nye and Charles Liu, an astrophysics professor at my alma mater CUNY.  They spoke on Star Trek and how the show foreshadowed many of the technological advances we see today.

The show was filmed at the Hayden Planetarium in Manhattan; a place I remember very well going as a child on trips.  Tyson sat with Leighan Lord and Charles Liu and discussed Star Trek and at certain segments, turned to a flat screen off to the side to view interviews with George Takei aka "Sulu" from the Star Trek original series and towards the end of the program, Bill Nye "The Science Guy."

During commercial breaks, I was surprised to see that Fr. James Martin of the Jesuit order was shown in a recorded episode which will probably air in the future. This should be an interesting episode indeed. So far, "StarTalk" seems to be a show that will catch on with "nerds" and those who love late night casual talk shows.  It is not heavily scientific, but more of a casual discussion among friends.  I am hoping to get tickets to attend a taping!

You can learn more here: http://www.sacerdotus.com/2015/03/degrasse-to-host-startalk-on-television.html

Bronx Student Helps Bill Nye!

The Bronx has always been presented in a negative light ever since President Carter was photographed with burnt buildings behind him.

This along with movies that present the Bronx as a haven for crime and evil have added to the stigma.  However, the Bronx is starting to clean up that bad image it was given not only with musical talent, art and other cultural elements, but with science.

Young student of Preston high school Donna Grace Moleta who loves to work with science and the environment has won a competition online to assist Bill Nye "The Science Guy" at the Mall of America.  This news has lifted up the morale among students in the Bronx by showing that they too can achieve in life and not cater into the image the media has given the Bronx and its residents.  

As a student of science and native of New York, I am proud of this news and happy for Donna Grace Moleta.  I hope our youth in the Bronx will continue to aspire to study in the sciences and contribute positively to society as a whole.  

Source:

http://bronx.news12.com/news/best-of-the-bronx-teen-donna-grace-moleta-wins-competition-to-assist-bill-nye-the-science-guy-1.7240484

https://www.facebook.com/donnagrace.moleta

Bill Nye vs Ken Ham

Bill Nye "the science guy" and Creation Museum director Ken Ham just had a debate which was very much hyped. The debate was on, you've guessed it: evolution.

The debate between "young creationists" who believe the Earth is only 6,000 years old and that evolution never happened and those who believe in evolution and the age of the Earth being billions of years, not thousands, has been ongoing.  Neither side wants to succumb to the other. Science is thrown around as evidence for both sides. Schools are sued for teaching either as fact. It seems to never end.

Ken Ham invited Bill Nye to debate in an apparent attempt to raise money for his Noah’s Ark theme park which he has been struggling to fund. Nye has been in the media lately seemingly looking to reconnect to the American people after many years of being off the air during his time hosting the "Billy Nye the Science Guy" program.

The debate seemed more like entertainment than a serious one. Bill Nye spoke like a lecturer by using slides while referring to scientific facts regarding geology, biology and so on. He tried to push the idea that many religious people around the world accept science and evolution and that there is no reason to disregard them using literal interpretations of the Genesis story. He began to speak on bacteria and then moved on to sexual behaviors pretty much addressing the "Red Queen hypothesis" which is a hypothesis that posits that organisms have to adapt, survive and evolve even without  needing to reproduce.

Ken Ham obviously spoke from a religious standpoint but did present videos of scientists and others who subscribe to the creationist point of view. He spoke to the people and seemed jovial about his position which was an attempt to win the favor of the audience who were mostly for him already. Ham argued that observation and history are the main forms of science. He continued making his points by connecting them to a literal 6-day creation model found in Genesis.

Nye eventually brought up the point that Ken Ham and creationists are stifling science education in America and making the nation less competitive against other nations. Ham countered that this was false citing Raymond Damadian who contributed to the invention of the MRI scanning device and who believes in a literal six day creation model.

The debate was interesting to watch.  I personally don't think there was a clear winner. Bill Nye seemed nervous and unprepared which is not surprising.  He does not hold any science degree.  His field is engineering, not physics, biology etc. Nye seemed to know his stuff on his old science program because there were cameras with monitors where he could read from.
Another of my childhood favorite "science guys" also does not have a degree in the sciences, and did the same on the show, "Beakman's World." Meanwhile, Ken Ham obvious did not have a clue about science either and spoke out of religious zeal using charm and sophism in order to present his view as being correct.  He made Protestant Christianity look silly and outdated.

In my opinion, this debate harmed both science and creationism. It presented both sides as being foolish and lacking in solidity. There was no "kill" in the debate, so to speak.  Both sides could have debated until they turned blue and passed out; nothing would have been accomplished.  Those who subscribed to evolution before the debate would remain subscribed to it and those who subscribed to creationism will not budge on that issue either.  In the end, those in the middle would remain there undecided on which side to take.  

Source:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/things-missed-bill-nyes-evolution-creationism-debate/story?id=22373841

http://debatelive.org/

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/02/05/head-creation-museum-debates-bill-nye-science-guy/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6kgvhG3AkI

http://time.com/4511/bill-nye-ken-ham-debate/

Bill Nye says Creationism is not Good

"Bill Nye the Science guy"- I remember watching his program as a kid.  Well, Bill Nye is making news after claiming that Creationism is not good for kids.

He says:

"I say to the grownups, 'If you want to deny evolution and live in your world that's completely inconsistent with everything we've observed in the universe that's fine. But don't make your kids do it,'"

Nye adds that teaching kids Creationism will make the the United States of America fall behind in science.  To a certain degree he is right.  We cannot read the accounts of Creation in Genesis literally.  This will bring about many problems.  

The Catholic Church does not have an official position on creation only that God created us.  However, Evolution seems to be the side the Church takes.  The recent pontificates of Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have publicly voiced approval of the theory of Evolution.

The first mention of evolution was in the encyclical Humanis Generis. Pope Pius XII states:

"The Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experiences in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter—for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God."

Pope Pius XII basically says that evolution can be accepted as long as the teaching that souls are immediately created by God is held alongside it.  


Blessed John Paul II had this to say to the Pontifical Academy for the Sciencesin 1996:

"In his encyclical Humani Generis (1950), my predecessor Pius XII has already affirmed that there is no conflict between evolution and the doctrine of the faith regarding man and his vocation, provided that we do not lose sight of certain fixed points.... Today, more than a half-century after the appearance of that encyclical, some new findings lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than a hypothesis. In fact it is remarkable that this theory has had progressively greater influence on the spirit of researchers, following a series of discoveries in different scholarly disciplines. The convergence in the results of these independent studies—which was neither planned nor sought—constitutes in itself a significant argument in favor of the theory."

Here the late Pontiff states that evolution and faith are not in disagreement.  He even goes as far as giving merit to the theory of evolution as being supported by evidence.


Pope Benedict XVI as Cardinal Ratizinger wrote:

"We cannot say: creation or evolution, inasmuch as these two things respond to two different realities. The story of the dust of the earth and the breath of God, which we just heard, does not in fact explain how human persons come to be but rather what they are. It explains their inmost origin and casts light on the project that they are. And, vice versa, the theory of evolution seeks to understand and describe biological developments. But in so doing it cannot explain where the 'project' of human persons comes from, nor their inner origin, nor their particular nature. To that extent we are faced here with two complementary—rather than mutually exclusive—realities." -In the Beginning: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall

Evolution is an important theory to teach our children.  The story of Creation is also important to teach.  However, this story must be taught in a way that children can understand it in relation to what we know today via evolution.  Who cares if we came from slime, fish, apes or a rock.  The important thing is that God created us and we are here now.  

In 1987, the United States Supreme Court ruled the teaching of Creationism unconstitutional.  In light of this, I think Bill Nye is a bit paranoid and going down a slippery slope.  Our children will learn evolution regardless of their faith.

Evolution does not disqualify God as Creator.  If anything, it shows the genius of God and how He uses natural processes in order to bring about life.




Source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/28/bill-nye-science-guy-creationism-evolution_n_1835208.html

http://news.yahoo.com/bill-nye-science-guy-says-creationism-not-good-101837975.html