Free Republic

At the onset of the twenty-first century, humanity stands on the verge of the most transforming and the most thrilling period in its history. It will be an era in which the very nature of what it means to be human will be both enriched and challenged, as our species breaks the shackles of its genetic legacy and achieves inconceivable heights of intelligence, material progress, and longevity. For over three decades, the great inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic...

When and where on earth can you see the longest sunrise? And how long can you see it? Stumped? Well, then, sample another. What would you see from the moon more often: the sun or the earth? A five-member team of 14-to-17-year olds will hone their skills over the next 10 days to unravel a few more secrets that the skies hold. Their aim: to win as many medals as possible at the International Astronomy Olympiad that kicks off in Beijing on October 25. It will not be an easy task — they will be up against competition from over...

Mathematics students have cause to celebrate. A University of New South Wales academic, Dr Norman Wildberger, has rewritten the arcane rules of trigonometry and eliminated sines, cosines and tangents from the trigonometric toolkit. What's more, his simple new framework means calculations can be done without trigonometric tables or calculators, yet often with greater accuracy. Established by the ancient Greeks and Romans, trigonometry is used in surveying, navigation, engineering, construction and the sciences to calculate the relationships between the sides and vertices of triangles. "Generations of students have struggled with classical trigonometry because the framework is wrong," says Wildberger, whose book...

SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- The command chief for U.S. Central Command wants everyone who has deployed to go back to their bases and share their experiences. Chief Master Sgt. Curtis Brownhill also wants people to remember that their individual actions have a far-reaching effect. During his visit to the CENTOM area of responsibility, Chief Brownhill said he wants every Airman, Marine, Sailor and Soldier to see how “their contribution here is much larger” than their individual specialties. He said it is easy to draw a direct line from the individual providing a support function to the servicemember on the ground...

THE QUESTIONS The Top 25 Essays by our news staff on 25 big questions facing science over the next quarter-century. What Is the Universe Made Of? What is the Biological Basis of Consciousness? Why Do Humans Have So Few Genes? To What Extent Are Genetic Variation and Personal Health Linked? Can the Laws of Physics Be Unified? How Much Can Human Life Span Be Extended? What Controls Organ Regeneration? How Can a Skin Cell Become a Nerve Cell? How Does a Single Somatic Cell Become a Whole Plant? How Does Earth's Interior Work? Are We Alone in the Universe? How...

In a recent appearance at the Heritage Foundation, an author who has written many great histories gave some insight as to why the Ivory Tower produces such, at best, lackluster ones. "Many people say, 'Why bother with history?,' and unfortunately many of them are in education," best-selling writer David McCullough said at the Heritage Foundation last Friday. McCullough has penned best-selling historical biographies of American Presidents John Adams and Harry S. Truman. "Why is it possible that an otherwise intelligent person does not know that the original 13 colonies were on the East Coast or who George Marshall was," McCullough...

How To Study The Bible #1 Read To Know   By Jody L. Apple The Bible continues to outsell every book published. Though "best sellers" will always come along every now and then and sell a few million copies, they do not continue to sell so briskly every year. The Bible, however, sells at consistent levels year after year.But how much does the average person know about the Bible? As evidenced by the confusion that exists in the religious world (e.g., so many different man-made religions) and the number of people who are anti-religious or simply irreligious, I doubt...

070.000.000       Torrey: p32THE OMNISCIENCE OF GOD 070.010.000       Torrey: p32, T:ITopic 10:   The fact that God is omniscient.070.010.010       Torrey: p32, T:I, P:1POINT 10:   God knows everything. He is perfect in knowledge. His understanding is infinite.      1 John 3:19-20 [19] This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence [20] whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.      Job 37:16 Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who is perfect in knowledge?      Psalms 147:5 Great is our Lord and mighty...

We Orthodox Presbyterians are very careful about our doctrine, and are rightfully wary of those who pit love against doctrine. Indeed, the liberals in the old Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. rallied under the banner of "love" so they could uncharitably persecute the orthodox in their midst. Paul himself insisted on correcting the doctrinal error of the "strong" Corinthians who thought that participating in pagan feasts was proof of their great knowledge. Still, we err whenever we think that right doctrine is sufficient in itself. Our doctrine, however right it may be, is worse than useless if it is not...

Americans Don’t Know Their Constitution Columbia Law Survey Finds Confusion Over Founding Fathers vs. Karl Marx Would Overruling Roe v. Wade Make Abortion Illegal? New York, May 29, 2002 – Almost two-thirds of Americans think Karl Marx’s maxim, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” was or could have been written by the framers and included in the Constitution, according to a nationwide survey commissioned by Columbia Law School. “That result is troubling for a constitutional democracy in which popular consent underwrites the government’s legitimacy,” said Columbia Law Professor Michael Dorf, who wrote a...

American trivia: How much do you know?Sunday is the 228th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Amaze your friends at the cookout with your grasp of flag facts and presidential trivia12:14 PM CDT on Saturday, July 3, 2004 THE DATE 1. Which three presidents died on July 4? 2. Which president laid the cornerstone for the Washington Monument on July 4, 1850? 3. What was the title of the 1969 Broadway musical, written by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone, that told the story of the founding of the United States? 4. What city in the American South fell to Ulysses...

Scripture teaches very explicitly that God acts according to a plan And, knowing that plan, he knows the future. “The counsel of Jehovah standetb fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations” (Ps. 3.3:11). “I am Cod and there is none like me; declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that arc not yet done” (isa. 46:9, 10) (Lorraine Boettner, Wycliffe Theological Dictionary, "Foreknowledge.") The doctrine of predestination thus represents the purpose of God as absolute and unconditional, independent of the whole finite creation, and as originating solely in the eternal counsel of his...

1st Corinthians, Chapter 12: 4 Now there are diversities of gifts but there is only one Spirit. 5 And there are diversities of ministries, but there is only one Lord. 6 And there are diversities of powers, but it is the One God who works all things in all people. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every person as help. 8 For to one is given by Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit. 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by...

A Response to John Piper by Dr. Gregory A Boyd(Professor at Bethel College, Preaching Pastor at Woodland Hills Church) In what follows I shall respond to a recent packet of essays which were written and distributed by Rev. John Piper regarding my theological views. On the whole I commend John for the fairness and accuracy with which he presented his case against me. But I believe a few words of rebuttal and clarification are needed to fill out the picture of what I believe and of what this debate is about.John's essays do not contain page numbers so I shall...

Born into the last great era of boys' tales, I was able to battle across Barsoom (Mars, in Martian-speak) with the Edgar Rice Burroughs character John Carter and decipher Wauxums, Delameters and other space weapons. I knew who spoke for Boskone, the mysterious force for evil in the Burroughs books. I roamed the jungle with Tarzan of the Apes and explored "hot and humid" Venus "hidden behind its clouds." That was before mamas started pushing their little darlings, teenage girls tarted up and pubescent males could concentrate on the important matters in life, like finding lost kingdoms, fighting savage tribes...

The Foreknowledge of "I AM" Most of us are aware of, and perhaps have meditated upon the answer God gave to Moses in Exodus 3:14 when Moses wanted to know what he should say when he was asked who had sent him. Part of the verse reads, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, 'I AM hath sent me unto you.'" We have probably come to the conclusion that regardless of what other wonderful things may be involved in that answer, it suggests that God is eternal -- timeless. There is neither past nor future with God, but...

Time Is Short I've always been struck by the fact that knowledge seems to be specific to people, places and times, whereas wisdom spans both millennia and different cultures. Often, sloppy use of language obscures that fact. I used to hear "If we can put a man on the moon, then why can't we solve traffic jams, etc." Actually, take your pick of the problems people felt should be easy to solve. Well, the truth is that "we" can't put a man on the moon. Out of all the millions of people in the United States, a specific few have...

<p>Pop vocalists pose as opera singers. Important art museums exhibit installations that the cleaning staff mistakes for trash. Obscenity-riddled recitations, imposed over rhythm tracks, are reckoned to be music.</p> <p>Laugh at (or otherwise criticize) these bad jokes and you're likely to find yourself anathematized as "elitist," a common hazard for professional critics. But just what is an elitist, anyway? And when did having standards and expertise become a bad thing?</p>

Proof An Intentionally Untechnical Essay No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. ---Henry David Thoreau Sometimes, as scientists and philosophers, we tend to become a bit pedantic in our use of certain words, especially those we are particularly fond of. One of those words is proof. Ever since the philosophies of Hume and Kant undermined the foundations of knowledge, there has been a steady disintegration of confidence in all sources of knowledge, but especially in the sciences. It is not at all uncommon today to hear scientists say things like, "nothing is ever...

Ultra-simple Desktop Device Slows Light To A Crawl At Room Temperature Though Einstein put his foot down and demanded that nothing can move faster than light, a new device developed at the University of Rochester may let you outpace a beam by putting your foot down on the gas pedal. At 127 miles per hour, the light in the new device travels more than 5 million times slower than normal as it passes through a ruby just a few centimeters long. Instead of the complex, room-filling mechanisms previously used to slow light, the new apparatus is small and, in the...