Large Hadron Collider & My Screensaver

CERN, which somehow stands for the “European Organization for Nuclear Research”, is working on their large Hadron collider again, this time promising to make something cool happen in the very near future. CNN, which somehow stands for “Ted Turner’s Tax Shelter”, has a great article that explains the significance of this giant scientific underground experiment involving protons, unseen elements, anti-matter and the dynamic inner-workings of Ted Turner. Everything but the last item on that list is true.
What I find even more fascinating about the Hadron is the fact that, if it really works, it could unlock a myriad of current scientific befuddlement, questions like:

Where did we come from? How exactly was the universe made?

Where did anti-matter go?

How in the world did John Stamos, TV’s “Uncle Jessie” on Full House, end up with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?

There are a few people who suggest, in classic J.J. Abrams style, that the Hadron Collider has been sabotaged. Scientists have suggested that, if this thing actually works, we may create a black hole that would swallow up the universe. Others think that people from the future are somehow stopping us from successfully executing these experiments because it may destroy the time-space continuum. While most of this if not all is being dismissed as hogwash*, it does remind us just how big of a deal this is — we are messing with nature and it has some people worried. Personally, I think it’s pretty cool. And no, I’m not worried. But I have a different view on eternity than some, I guess.

My favorite part of this Hadron collider story is the fact that scientists keep showing us a computer model of what it could do when protons slam into each other. They have submitted the following graphic to CNN.com:

Every time I look at this, I am reminded of an old screensaver. I didn’t know that my copy of Windows was so cool — I vaguely remember a “Hadron Collider 95″ application that came bundled with the computer, but I quickly deleted it so I had more space for Service Packs. Maybe I should have kept it.

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*Hogwash — another Scientific mystery.

Baby Stroller Survival

Friend and fellow blogger Alex Teal mentioned this story on his blog after I mentioned this story of the subway near-miss.

It’s amazing how being a parent changes your perspective. When I saw the stroller roll onto the tracks (scary level 10) and then the train run over the stroller (scary level 1.21 gigawatts), my brain reminded me that I, too, push strollers and that the same kind of thing could’ve happened to me. I can’t imagine. I won’t. But I will say that we are subject to dangers and graces to which we are entirely oblivious. I’m cognizant of the dangers and thankful for the graces — the Grace — that works in ways we will never fully understand.

Switchfoot Quote of the Day

Relevant Magazine has a grand interview with Jon Foreman, the front man (or foreman, if you will?) for the band Switchfoot. I’ve been into this band since their album The Legend of Chin, then sort of into them for New Way to Be Human, then not so much after that. It’s not them; it’s me.
But it would appear that I’ve been missing out. Switchfoot is, officially, a Christian band. Yet, they’ve made an impact in the “Secular” or “totally normal” arena, too. And not like Amy Grant, either.
You can read the entire interview here, or just get the gist of how they roll with this quote:

“But I think the point is ultimately not about me. And if you approach the world with the apron of a servant, then you are allowed to go places that you can’t go if you approach it with the crown of a king.”

Well said, Jon Foreman.

That Was a Close One

I came across this video of a Boston subway train almost hitting someone. Thankfully, she’s OK. I’ve watched it at least a dozen times. Perhaps you will, too — at least once or twice.
Here are my observations:

It’s a good thing that the old guy has such a big wave.

It’s a good thing that the operator of the train was paying enough attention to hit the breaks.

It’s a good thing the mechanics kept the brakes in good order. I can’t believe how quickly the train came to a stop.

It’s a good thing that she wasn’t down in the station alone. She was saved by the quick response of others.

I guess it goes to show you that people still care about others. I have always believed that to be true, but sometimes I look at how isolated we’ve become — myself included — and I think about what might have happened because we’ve conditioned ourselves not to pay attention. That wasn’t the case in Boston’s basement, and I don’t want it to be the case for me, either. What am I about to miss?

Here’s the article over at the Detroit Free Press.

ESV NIV

I’m back to using the English Standard Version in my personal study, though I keep the NIV close by for Worship Planning stuff. The closeness of the NIV is due mostly to the fact that our church uses the version as its primary preaching and pew bible. I’m all for the NIV, as I’ve discussed in earlier posts, but the NIV2011 that Zondervan is about to release makes me wonder about its viability in the long-term.
Since I do a lot of bible memorization stuff, I really like to be of a primary version, especially in my own study apart from “work” (ministry). It’s back to the ESV for me. Knowing my tendency to change translations, I’ll be NIV-ing it again soon, I bet.

John Nash – Rudolph – Wedding Registries – Etc

I’ve been reading stuff on MentalFloss.com, which is where “knowledge junkies get their fix”. I don’t know if I’m a knowledge junkie, but I do like that stuff (knowledge). I came across a few interesting articles.

It turns out that Green Bean Casserole, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Wedding Registries all have one thing in common. Are wedding registries a necessity of capitalism? Uh, yeah. That way, we don’t end up with 9 toasters, a condition that puts any new marriage to the test.

If you’ve seen the movie A Beautiful Mind, you know the story of Dr. John Nash. But did you know that Nash is part of RAND? Or, like me, did you not know of such a thing as RAND?

In unrelated news, I was sort-of running on a treadmill on Saturday and, mid-stride, it stopped. While I didn’t run through a wall (as seen on most any animated media), I was certainly surprised. I was also reminded that putting that kind of stress on any home appliance isn’t fair.

A Mornings at Home Video by Ephram

Ephram Wilkoff made a documentary — if you will, a rockumentary* — of Mornings at Home at Home.FM.  Had I known that it would be available to the world, I would not have quoted someone swearing.  Oops.

It’s a good video that is well sequenced and finely edited.  Its only downfall is the actual content, which Ephram had very little control over.

 

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*which I will not.

BookSlice: Don’t Stop Believing by Michael Wittmer

How rad is it that the author used the title of a Journey song for his book?  Very.  I first heard Wittmer at a conference back in September which also included Kevin DeYoung, author of “Why We’re Not Emergent”.  The conference focused on the emergence of emergent,  the joys of making a difference in the world for Christ and the pitfalls of not having a solid belief system/theology.  Wittmer finds good company with Kevin DeYoung and other younger leaders that don’t identify with Rob Bell, Tony Jones and others, though Wittmer takes a more balanced approach to analyzing and reconciling elements of Brian McLaren, Stan Grenz and other emergent voices with conservative evangelicalism.  The emergent church has a common thread of justice, serving like and being Jesus (action), while conservatives have traditionally focused on faith, doctrine and knowing the person and work of Jesus (belief).  Wittmer says that just living like Jesus isn’t enough.  It’s a good book that focuses on both believing something and doing something — all for the sake of Christ.  I had to re-read a few sections (I get lost in detailed epistemology — I know I’m probably the only one) but it was worth it.

Here it is at Amazon.

Teach Your Children Well

Here’s what I’ve learned as a host to some kind of virus that loosens its grip but won’t let go:

1. We teach our children to share.  “Now you share that pizza with your little brother.”   What we don’t say is “and make sure that’s all you share, sneezy McGee”.
2. We teach our children to pass on to their parents everything about their day at school.  “Then, Dakota and the other Dakota both threw up.  It was awesome.  And warm!”
3. We teach our children, again, to share.  And so they do, without discretion.  “Oh Daddy, thanks for catching my sneeze with your face.  I’m glad we could share.”

And here we are.  I’m on my second bottle of NyQuil.

 

Cheerios vs. Oatey-O-Shaped Product

I’ve been eating a lot of cheerios; so many, in fact, that we’ve switched to the non-brand cereal as a way to save money.  Most every store sells their own version of Cheerios.  I have to wonder who comes up with the knockoff names for this stuff.  Cheerios ™ are now “Oatey-O-Shaped Product”, featuring a anthropomorphic dinosaur named, delightfully enough, Oatey.  In this new alternative, cents-saving economy of non-brand cereal that imitates the genuine, we now have cereal with names like:

- Superstitious Elements (Lucky Charms)

- FooledYou! (Trix)

- Frosty Flax, featuring Terry the Tigress (Frosted Flakes)

- Sweeping Compound of Granola (Honey Bunches of Oats)

That’s all I can think of right now.  The best part: Saving money.  The worst part: the taste.