Category Archives: Science

a movie to watch for

Strathairn in program for “Challenger”

David Strathairn, who received an Oscar nomination this year for his portrayal of newsman Edward R. Murrow in “Good Night, and Good Luck,” will play Richard Feynman. The noted physicist, whose probe was motivated in part by his participation in the Manhattan Project, sought to ensure that there was no institutional cover-up of the negligence that led to the Challenger tragedy.

One of my favorite actors playing one of my favorite physicists.  That can’t help but be good.  [Thanks, Patrick!]

brother astronomer

What do you call a Jesuit brother who was trained at MIT, splits his time between Italy and the (oxymoronically named) Vatican Observatory in Arizona, and wrote a well-received amateur astronomy book?  You call him Guy Consolmagno, apparently, or Brother Guy.  I just heard a fascinating interview with him on CBC’s Quirks and Quarks podcast, and his views on science and religion are well worth hearing.  I just wish we could hear even-handed ideas like his from the Vatican more often.

churches celebrate darwin’s birthday

As “Wallace”:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108598/ would say, “Happy Birthday, Chuck!”:

bq. Nearly 450 Christian churches around the country plan to “celebrate the 197th birthday of Charles Darwin”:http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0602110101feb11,1,287350.story on Sunday with programs and sermons intended to emphasize that his theory of biological evolution is compatible with faith and that Christians have no need to choose between religion and science.