Nicholls (2025), Jeffrey, Cognitive cosmology: a systematic integration of physics and theology, Austin Macauley 2025 ' More than 60 years ago my spiritual advisors (rightly or wrongly) diagnosed in me a divine call to the Roman Catholic priesthood. As soon as I turned 18 I entered the Dominican Order
I quickly fell on love with their leading theologian, Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1275) and read him voraciously. His Latin is so easy and his ideas quite cosmic.
Aquinas revolutionized theology by harmonizing it with the work of Aristotle, the best science available in the Middle Ages. Since the time of Galileo (1562 - 1642) modern science has travelled far beyond Aristotle. We now have comprehensive knowledge of the Universe. We can now see that it is big enough and beautiful enough to be considered divine. It seems obvious to me that it is time to introduce science to theology once again. Just three steps are required:
First, we must assume that the Universe is divine. This makes God observable, amenable to modern science which is based on observation.
Second, it follows, if this is the case, that physics and theology have the same subject and must therefore be consistent.
Third we need open up a new field of research, repeating Aristotle’s ancient journey from physics to theology. In this book I have tried to trace a quantum theoretical path from the unstoppable omnipotent emptiness of the initial singularity to the exquisite complexity of our world. My only guide is the logical constraint placed on omnipotence by consistency.'  
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Veltman (1994), Martinus, Diagrammatica: The Path to the Feynman Rules, Cambridge University Press 1994 Jacket: 'This book provides an easily accessible introduction to quantum field theory via Feynman rules and calculations in particle physics. The aim is to make clear what the physical foundations of present-day field theory are, to clarify the physical content of Feynman rules, and to outline their domain of applicability. ... The book includes valuable appendices that review some essential mathematics, including complex spaces, matrices, the CBH equation, traces and dimensional regularization. . . .' 
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Albert Einstein (1915), The Field Equations of Gravitation, ' In two recently published papers I have shown how to obtain field equations of gravitation that comply with the postulate of general relativity, i.e., which in their general formulation are covariant under arbitrary substitutions of space-time variables. [. . .] With this, we have finally completed the general theory of relativity as a logical structure. The postulate of relativity in its most general formulation (which makes space-time coordinates into physically meaningless parameters) leads with compelling necessity to a very specific theory of gravitation that also explains the movement of the perihelion of Mercury. However, the postulate of general relativity cannot reveal to us anything new and different about the essence of the various processes in nature than what the special theory of relativity taught us already. The opinions I recently voiced here in this regard have been in error. Every physical theory that complies with the special theory of relativity can, by means of the absolute differential calculus, be integrated into the system of general relativity theory — without the latter providing any criteria about the admissibility of such physical theory' back

Albert Einstein (1933), On the Method of Theoretical Physics: Herbert Spencer Lecture 1933, ' It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience. back

Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, 'Once completed, the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (IEU) will be the most comprehensive source of information in English on Ukraine, its history, people, geography, society, economy, and cultural heritage. At present, the IEU team is working on phase 1 of the project: the creation of an Internet database based on the revised and updated contents of the five-volume Encyclopedia of Ukraine (University of Toronto Press, 1984-93) edited by Volodymyr Kubijovyc (vols. 1-2) and Danylo Husar Struk (vols. 3-5). Over sixty percent of the original content of the Encyclopedia of Ukraine is currently displayed on our site, with many EU articles substantially updated or even thoroughly rewritten.' back

Carlo Rovelli (2025_05_12), Why bad philosophy is stopping progress in physics, ' Nature seems to have played us for a fool in the past few decades. Much theoretical research in fundamental physics during this time has focused on the search ‘beyond’ our best theories: beyond the standard model of particle physics, beyond the general theory of relativity, beyond quantum theory. But an epochal sequence of experimental results has proved many such speculations unfounded, and confirmed physics that I learnt at school half a century ago. I think physicists are failing to heed the lessons — and that, in turn, is hindering progress in physics. [. . .] And, finally, take the 2022 physics Nobel, awarded for experiments performed over decades that verified phenomena such as quantum entanglement over great distances, falsifying speculation about theories beyond quantum mechanics. These results are often presented as surprising, but in fact they just confirmed what I was taught in school. And yet, for decades, every new data point in particle physics or astronomy that seemed to be in some slight tension with established ideas has been announced as a hint of physics ‘beyond’ current theories. Large communities of physicists have used such hints as a springboard for speculations, producing a forest of papers in the process. But these new data have always turned out to be explicable by established physics, by statistical fluctuations — or even by experimental error. You might think that this repeated ‘no’ to wild speculations beyond our best theories would encourage a certain humility in our methodological attitude. Yet I see little evidence for that among many of my fellow theorists, who remain intent on pursuing the next big theory ‘beyond’ those we have today. Why? ' back

Constantine the Great and Christianity - Wikipedia, Constantine the Great and Christianity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' During the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (AD 306–337), Christianity began to transition to the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. Historians remain uncertain about Constantine's reasons for favoring Christianity, and theologians and historians have often argued about which form of early Christianity he subscribed to. . . . Constantine's decision to cease the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire was a turning point for early Christianity, sometimes referred to as the Triumph of the Church, the Peace of the Church or the Constantinian shift. In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan decriminalizing Christian worship. The emperor became a great patron of the Church and set a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor within the Church and raised the notions of orthodoxy, Christendom, ecumenical councils, and the state church of the Roman Empire declared by edict in 380. He is revered as a saint and is apostolos in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, and various Eastern Catholic Churches for his example as a "Christian monarch”.' back

Filip Balunovic (2025_05_12), Something Extraordinary Is Happening in My Country, ' It was an Easter miracle. Protesters had been blocking the building of Radio Television of Serbia, the national public broadcaster in Belgrade, with a simple demand: cover objectively the monthslong struggle against Serbia’s increasingly autocratic president, Aleksandar Vucic. But after days there, they needed reinforcements. On Good Friday students from Novi Pazar, the largest city in the region where most of the country’s Muslims live, arrived to take over the blockade. Since Muslim students were not celebrating Easter, they volunteered to relieve their colleagues from Belgrade. This show of solidarity was magical enough. But then a war veteran, who had been wounded in 1992 during the siege of Sarajevo, addressed the crowd. After denouncing the broadcaster for siding with those in power, he greeted the students from Novi Pazar: “Salaam aleikum” echoed across the square. “Don’t worry about your children,” he told their parents. “There are no more ‘ours’ and ‘yours.’ They are all our children now.” It was a cathartic moment, a gesture of profound inclusion in a country scarred by wars and deep-seated divisions. But it was more than that. It marked a Copernican shift for Serbia, as the country is being transformed by a brave and enduring student-led movement. Combating an entrenched and powerful autocratic government, protesters are showing what — against all the odds — is possible. Here in the Balkans, something extraordinary is happening. Serbia has seen major protest movements before. In 1996, students launched mass demonstrations against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic, beginning his downfall, which finally came in 2000. In the 13 years of Mr. Vucic’s rule, there have been several waves of protest — against shady development projects like Belgrade Waterfront, in defiance of widespread violence and, most recently, opposing lithium exploitation by the mining company Rio Tinto.' back

Frontiers in physics - Wikipedia, Frontiers in physics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Frontiers in Physics is a peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal covering physics. It was established in 2013 and is published by Frontiers Media. The editor-in-chief is Alex Hansen (Norwegian University of Science and Technology). The scope of the journal covers the entire field of physics, from experimental, to computational and theoretical physics. back

George Saunders (2025_05_13), I Reject Trump’s Random False Rationale Generator , ' If the White House wants to fire the librarian of Congress, it can. But it was interesting to have recently had the experience of meeting this dynamic, dedicated person, and feeling so proud that she was our librarian of Congress, then reading the White House’s sloppy, juvenile rationale for her dismissal; it gave me a visceral feeling for just how diseased this administration really is. I was the recipient of the Library of Congress’s Prize for American Fiction in 2023. Dr. Carla Hayden struck me then as energetic, engaged and utterly dedicated to the work of the library. One of the things Dr. Hayden and I bonded over was the idea that knowledge is power, that in a democracy, the more we know, the better we are. The White House, tossing out nonsense from its meager box of repetitive right-wing auto-defenses, claimed on Friday that Dr. Hayden had, “in the pursuit of D.E.I.,” done “quite concerning things.” Did it name those things? It did not. It couldn’t have. Putting aside the basic idiocy of being against that position (“What, you value diversity? You think things should be equitable? And that all should be included?”), members of the administration now use “D.E.I.” as a sort of omni-pejorative, deliberately (strategically) leaving its exact meaning vague. back

Ian Kassal & Tingrei Tan (2025_05_16), Australian researchers use a quantum computer to simulate how real molecules behave, ' Yet despite their importance, chemical processes driven by light are difficult to simulate accurately. Traditional computers struggle, because it takes vast computational power to simulate this quantum behaviour. Quantum computers, by contrast, are themselves quantum systems — so quantum behaviour comes naturally. This makes quantum computers natural candidates for simulating chemistry. Until now, quantum devices have only been able to calculate unchanging things, such as the energies of molecules. Our study, published this week in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, demonstrates we can also model how those molecules change over time. We experimentally simulated how specific real molecules behave after absorbing light. We used what is called a trapped-ion quantum computer. This works by manipulating individual atoms in a vacuum chamber, held in place with electromagnetic fields. Normally, quantum computers store information using quantum bits, or qubits. However, to simulate the behaviour of the molecules, we also used vibrations of the atoms in the computer called “bosonic modes”. This technique is called mixed qudit-boson simulation. It dramatically reduces how big a quantum computer you need to simulate a molecule.' back

John J. Hopfield (2024_12_08), Nobel Lecture: Physics is a point of view, ' John J. Hopfield delivered his Nobel Prize lecture "Physics is a point of view" on 8 December 2024 at the Aula Magna, Stockholm University. He was introduced by Professor Ellen Moons, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics. … back

Jonathan R Goodman (2025_05_18), Are we hardwired to fall for autocrats? , ' A recent piece of research commissioned by Channel 4 suggested that more than half of people aged between 13 and 27 would prefer the UK to be an authoritarian dictatorship. The results shocked a lot of people concerned about the rising threat of autocracy across the world, including me. Yet, on reflection, I don’t think we should be surprised. The way we evolved predisposes us to place trust in those who often deserve it least – in a sense, hardwiring us to support the most machiavellian among us and to propel them into power. This seems like an intractable problem. But it’s what we do in the face of that knowledge that matters.' back

Joseph E. Stiglitz (2025_05_13), My Brush With Trump’s Thought Police, ' The email arrived in early February from the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, carrying a blunt message. It informed the organizers of a Danish lecture series — one I was soon scheduled to speak at — that the final portion of American funding would be released only after they signed a statement essentially saying they were in compliance with a U.S. executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion. [. . .] Most importantly, the episode showed the Trump administration’s willingness — indeed its determination — to extend its control to the smallest of ventures, in this case the remaining $10,000 for a university lecture series funded by its own embassy. Ultimately, the dean of the Faculty of Humanities stepped in to provide the necessary money and I will deliver my lecture on Wednesday. If the school hadn’t had the resources, I would have gone anyway. Ironically, the subject of my talk is my recent book, “The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society,” in which I explain my view of what freedom really means, why it’s so important and what must be done to achieve it. I also discuss ways in which freedom gets suppressed. [. . .]' This episode with the lecture series has been a lesson in civics and where America is today, and that’s perhaps why it’s received such attention in the Danish press and media. The Danes have had a front row view of the erosion of America’s democracy. One of the longstanding aims of programs such as the speaker series at the University of Southern Denmark has been to enhance the understanding of America and what is going on in the country. Unintentionally, in this case, it may have been truly successful.' back

Kseniia Petrova (2025_05_13), I Came to Study Aging. Now I’m Trapped in ICE Detention., ' When I moved to America from Russia to join a biology lab at Harvard Medical School in 2023, it felt as if I found my dream job. America was a paradise for science. Everything was flourishing. There was freedom of discourse; conferences, seminars. It was nothing like the environment I had left behind in Russia, where international sanctions meant there weren’t enough supplies to do experiments and I once declined a job offer that was contingent on me no longer protesting the war in Ukraine. After I was arrested for taking part in a protest, I fled the country, knowing that I could not continue to live or work as a scientist there. My background is in bioinformatics, a field that uses computational tools to understand biology. In my lab at Harvard, I worked with a microscope that we called NoRI (short for Normalized Raman Imaging). This microscope, which was created in our lab, is the only one like it in the world. What makes it unique is its ability to measure the chemical makeup of cells to an astonishing and novel degree of precision, offering new insights into disease and aging that could one day pave the way for healthier life spans and treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer. [. . .] I haven’t been in my lab or worked with my microscope since February, when I was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as I was returning to Boston from a vacation in France. At Logan International Airport, I did not complete a customs declaration for frog embryos (for use in our lab’s research) in my luggage. I’m told this would normally result in a warning or a fine. Instead, my visa was revoked and I was sent to a detention center in Louisiana, where I have spent the past three months with roughly 100 other women. We share one room with dormitory-style beds.' back

Luke Munn (2025_05_16), Friday essay: Trump’s reign fits Curtis Yarvin’s blueprint of a CEO-led American monarchy. What is technological fascism?, ' The plan was simple. It started by retiring all government employees by offering them incentives to leave and never return. To avoid anarchy and keep authority, the police and military would be retained. Government funds would be seized and the money redirected to more worthwhile pursuits. Court orders pushing back against these measures as “unconstitutional” should be summarily ignored. The press should be massaged and censored as necessary. Finally, universities, scientific institutions, and NGOs should also be snapped off, their funding terminated. These moves resemble many made (or attempted) in the first 100 days of the second Trump administration. But they were all laid out in 2012 by a single person: Curtis Yarvin. In the past five years, Yarvin’s reactionary blueprints for governance have found powerful backers in both Silicon Valley and Washington circles. [. . .] back

Luna Sun & Kandy Wong (2025_05_13), Times have changed: US-China talks show Beijing has refined the art of dealing with TrumpTimes have changed: US-China talks show Beijing has refined the art of dealing with Trump, ' After their first set of talks since US President Donald Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs turned Washington’s trade war with China into a world-spanning conflagration, both Beijing and Washington – perhaps unsurprisingly – hailed the resultant removal of most of those steep import duties as a victory for their side. In a statement titled “Art of the Deal”, the White House boasted that the agreement “reduces tariffs, ends retaliation, and sets Americans on the path for truly free, fair trade”. Another missive hailed the talks as a “historic” win. However, several analysts contend it was Beijing that walked away from the table with the upper hand. China emerged from the talks visibly unshaken and with its geopolitical position reinforced, and “the real significance lies, therefore, in the performative dimension of power projection”, which could prove more valuable over the long term than immediate economic gains, said Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa, a geopolitical strategist based in Hong Kong. “In essence, focusing on whether Beijing secured an economic victory overlooks a more consequential reality: it has consolidated its status as the only credible global counterweight to Washington,” he said. China entered the negotiations from a position of strength, with years of preparation under its belt after having learned from dealing with Trump during his first term, said Gong Jiong, an economics professor at the University of International Business and Economics. “The negotiation position is defined by the walk-away option,” Gong said. “Last time, it couldn’t afford to walk away. This time, it is demonstrating that it can, while Washington awakens to see that it can't".' back

Meinard Kuhlmann (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy), Quantum Field Theory, ' Quantum Field Theory (QFT) is the mathematical and conceptual framework for contemporary elementary particle physics. In a rather informal sense QFT is the extension of quantum mechanics (QM), dealing with particles, over to fields, i.e. systems with an infinite number of degrees of freedom. (See the entry on quantum mechanics.) In the last few years QFT has become a more widely discussed topic in philosophy of science, with questions ranging from methodology and semantics to ontology. QFT taken seriously in its metaphysical implications seems to give a picture of the world which is at variance with central classical conceptions of particles and fields, and even with some features of QM.' back

Mohana Ravindranath (2025_05_06), A Longevity Expert’s 5 Tips for Aging Well, ' About two decades ago, a California research team observed a striking phenomenon: While a majority of older adults have at least two chronic diseases, some people reach their 80s without major illness. The researchers suspected the key to healthier aging was genetic. But after sequencing the genomes of 1,400 of these aging outliers — a cohort they called the “Wellderly” — they found almost no difference between their biological makeup and that of their peers. They were, however, more physically active, more social and typically better educated than the general public. That genes don’t necessarily determine healthy aging is “liberating,” and suggests that “we can pretty much all do better” to delay disease, said Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and the founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, which ran the Wellderly study.' back

Niron Magnetics, Niron , ' The Niron Magnetics Iron Nitride magnet manufacturing process is designed for efficiency and scalability, utilizing widely available iron and nitrogen as inputs to create high-performance permanent magnets. Its advanced production methods recycle 80 percent of the water and 97 percent of the hydrogen used, while also allowing the magnets to be fully integrated into existing scrap iron recycling streams. By eliminating reliance on constrained and volatile supply chains for critical materials, Niron ensures a stable source of high-performance magnets for industries that depend on them.' back

Ofri Ilany (2025_05_09), Opinion | Zionism Wasn't Always Racist. The Trouble Began When Russians Took Over, ' In February 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, IDF Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen took part in a panel discussion about the event on Israel's Kan Television. In contrast to the line then dominant in the media, Hacohen voiced a forcefully pro-Russian stance. Kyiv, he pointed out, was the cradle of Russian civilization, adding that international borders were not sacred and that President Vladimir Putin's rule was legitimate in the eyes of the Russian people . No less provocative was the historical case on which he grounded his support for Russia. "Israel was built by Russian Jews, like my grandfather, who came from those regions," Hacohen said. "It's a toughness that brought us [David] Ben-Gurion, among others… The Mapai experience was not enlightened and not liberal," he said, referring to Ben-Gurion's ruling party, forerunner of Labor. Just like Putin, he said, "Ben-Gurion thought about constant expansion in the region, because the coastal strip of Tel Aviv is only a gateway into the Land of Israel." Hacohen's take on the subject was swallowed up in the flow of chatter among television panelists. But it deserves a second look, because it reveals a truth. Hacohen's political analysis is roughshod and dark – but his historical argument is correct. Israel was indeed established by Russians, and the forceful, violent and anti-liberal political culture of the Russian Empire is part of its DNA. And that is our disaster. Historians, sociologists and journalists frequently discuss the question of where Israel's cult of force comes from. It's a brutish mentality that has currently brought us to an unprecedented moral nadir – cruel, indiscriminate mass slaughter of Palestinians.[. . .] But now, at a historical point where Russia and Israel are two brutish entities that are sowing horror and destruction, the resemblance is again visible to the eye. And it's no coincidence. If there's hope for Israel, it lies in unshackling itself from this catastrophic political heritage.' back

Sinners (2025 film) - Wikipedia, Sinners (2025 film) - Wikipedia, rthe free encyclopedia, ' Sinners is a 2025 American musical[8] horror film produced, written, and directed by Ryan Coogler.[9] Set in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta, Elsewhere, Irish-immigrant vampire Remmick flees from Choctaw vampire hunters and violently turns a married Klansmen couple into vampires. At the joint's opening night, Sammie's music is transcendent, unknowingly summoning spirits of both past and future to join the entranced crowd. Hearing the performance from outside, Remmick and his vampire thralls offer money and music for entry. Suspicious, the twins refuse. Mary reminds Stack that the joint needs the income and meets Remmick outside, where she is turned. She returns inside and kills Stack by drinking his blood. Smoke intervenes and shoots Mary but her wounds instantly heal and she escapes. Outside, Remmick attacks and turns Cornbread. Sixty years later, an unaged Stack and Mary visit the elderly Sammie. Stack reveals that Smoke spared him at the joint under the condition that Sammie would live in peace. After declining the couple's offer of immortality, Sammie performs for them. As they leave, Sammie admits that despite being haunted by that fateful night, until the carnage it was the greatest day of his life. Stack agrees, since it was the last time he saw Smoke or the sun, and the only time he ever truly felt free. ' back

Thales - Wikipedia, Thales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Thales of Miletus (Greek: Θαλῆς c. 626/623 – c. 548/545 BC) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages, founding figures of Ancient Greece. Beginning in eighteenth-century historiography, many came to regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition, breaking from the prior use of mythology to explain the world and instead using natural philosophy. He is thus otherwise referred to as the first to have engaged in mathematics, science, and deductive reasoning. Thales's view that all of nature is based on the existence of a single ultimate substance, which he theorized to be water, was widely influential among the philosophers of his time. Thales thought the Earth floated on water. [. . .] According to Bertrand Russell, "Western philosophy begins with Thales." Thales attempted to explain natural phenomena without reference to mythology and was tremendously influential in this respect.' back