The ID Report

by Denyse O'Leary
ARN correspondent

Well, would you prefer it had been arranged like a losing hand in poker?

A recent report by Amanda Gefter in New Scientist, "Galaxy map hints at fractal universe" (June 25, 2008) suggests that matter in our universe may be arranged in fractals, like the shell of a nautilus:

Is the matter in the universe arranged in a fractal pattern? A new study of nearly a million galaxies suggests it is – though there are no well-accepted theories to explain why that would be so.

And therefore,

Many cosmologists find fault with their analysis, largely because a fractal matter distribution out to such huge scales undermines the standard model of cosmology. According to the accepted story of cosmic evolution, there simply hasn't been enough time since the big bang nearly 14 billion years ago for gravity to build up such large structures.

What's more, the assumption that the distribution is homogeneous has allowed cosmologists to model the universe fairly simply using Einstein's theory of general relativity – which relates the shape of space to the distribution of matter.

Well then, it just can't be true, can it?

Score one for Eugene Wigner's " unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics":

... the enormous usefulness of mathematics in the natural sciences is something bordering on the mysterious and that there is no rational explanation for it.

By "rational" explanation, Wigner may mean an explanation that appeals to causes (chaos, an unexplained further regress, et cetera) that are ultimately irrational in themselves.

It tells us something about our underlying assumptions that laws that actually work are not considered a rational explanation.

At one time - before the principal project in science had been to disprove the idea that an intelligence underlies the universe - the discovery of such laws would be satisfying rather than problematic. They would be considered the obvious rational explanation rather than a challenge to rational explanation.

Well, the universe is what it is - and if it is governed by intelligently framed laws, so much the worse for those whose science can't absorb that.

Also, just up at Colliding Universes:

Serious push to find more exoplanets

Water inferred on Mars

Coffee Break: Scientist discovers two alternative universes

Well now, and what of Berlinski's Devils?

Who reads popular books on cosmology? Well, almost everyone who actually reads, it seems

Teacher: Big ideas without science methods are blank cheque

Note: Colliding Universes is my blog on theories about our universe. (Hey, if a physicist who gets published in a journal somewhere thunk it up, it isn't wonky by definition, m'kay?)

Just up at The Post-Darwinist:

Alarm! Alarm! Critical thinking spotted in vicinity of pop science kludge

Intelligent design and the arts - better that way, actually. Much better.

The Right's war on science? Lot's of ink spilled there, but how about the Left's war on science?

Teacher accused of burning cross on student's arm and (much worse!) of teaching creationism

(Note: The Post-Darwinist is my blog on the intelligent design controversy. It supports By Design or by Chance? .)

Also, just up at The Mindful Hack:

Consciousness: Belated "sublimely ridiculous" award for 2006

When pop science TV wants to hear only one side ...

Psychology: Compassion is an emotion, not a virtue unless disciplined, prof says

Neuroscience: Making sense of uncontrollable itching

Evolutionary psychology: The selfish gene in the art world

Evolutionary psychology: Key concept of "memes" trashed as "one of the bigger crocks hatched in recent decades"

Does a recent discovery in honeybees "prove" that the "selfish gene" exists?

(Note: The Mindful Hack is my blog on neuroscience and spirituality issues. It supports The Spiritual Brain (Harper One, Beauregard & O'Leary, 2007) )

Toronto-based Canadian journalist Denyse O'Leary (www.designorchance.com) is the author of the multiple award-winning By Design or by Chance? (Augsburg Fortress 2004), an overview of the intelligent design controversy. She was named CBA Canada's Recommended Author of the Year in 2005 and is co-author, with Montreal neuroscientist Mario Beauregard, of The Spiritual Brain: A neuroscientist's case for the existence of the soul (Harper 2007).