A new measurement of the strong nuclear force, which binds protons and neutrons together, confirms previous hints of an uncomfortable truth: We still don’t have a solid theoretical grasp of even the simplest nuclear systems. To test the strong nuclear force, physicists turned to the helium-4 nucleus, which has two protons and two neutrons. When… Continue reading A New Experiment Casts Doubt on the Leading Theory of the Nucleus
Extremist Beliefs Among Veterans, Space Traffic, Teacher Well-Being: RAND Weekly Recap
This week, we discuss evidence suggesting that veterans don’t support extremism any more than the public does; why it’s time to manage traffic in outer space; twin personnel crises on the horizon for Russia; workplace conditions that support teacher well-being; America’s strategic advantage over China in Oceania; and how climate change might affect force readiness.… Continue reading Extremist Beliefs Among Veterans, Space Traffic, Teacher Well-Being: RAND Weekly Recap
Launching into Jesus’ Sacred Heart
That others may grow holier than I, provided that I become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. (The Litany of Humility) June is a month of celebrations, especially fathers, school graduations, and marriages. Graduations and marriages in particular inaugurate a season of change. Years of parenting, choices made… Continue reading Launching into Jesus’ Sacred Heart
‘Embryo Models’ Challenge Legal, Ethical and Biological Concepts
Embryo models might offer a way to go down that path with even fewer legal and ethical restrictions. They are not legally considered to be embryos because they do not have the potential to grow into viable organisms. So even under present guidelines and regulations in many countries, if embryo models can be grown through… Continue reading ‘Embryo Models’ Challenge Legal, Ethical and Biological Concepts
The Global Movement Against China’s Economic Coercion Is Accelerating
With the launch of the Coordination Platform on Economic Coercion in May, the Group of Seven (G7) leading economies have taken an important step after years of U.S. allies and partners facing coercion from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) alone. There is no shortage of recent examples regarding why such a coordinated approach by… Continue reading The Global Movement Against China’s Economic Coercion Is Accelerating
On the Need to Receive the Eucharist Worthily
In light of Sunday’s Feast of Corpus Christi, I would like to recall the need for the reverent and worthy reception of Holy Communion and to develop an explanation for the Church’s practice of what some call “closed Communion.” Not everyone who uses this terminology means it pejoratively, although some do. But to some extent it… Continue reading On the Need to Receive the Eucharist Worthily
People Differ Widely in Their Understanding of Even a Simple Concept Such as the Word ‘Penguin’
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word “penguin” as “any of various erect short-legged flightless aquatic birds (family Spheniscidae) of the southern hemisphere.” That description seems simple enough, but definitions are not what people have in mind when they actually use words. Instead people think of concepts: the myriad properties, ideas, examples and associations that spring… Continue reading People Differ Widely in Their Understanding of Even a Simple Concept Such as the Word ‘Penguin’
We Aren’t Helpless in the Face of Increasing Fires and Smoke
As swaths of central and eastern North America faced skies choked with smoke last week, those of us in the West empathized. Our part of the continent watches sunsets turned blood red through bloodshot eyes every year. Breathing in acrid brown-yellow haze pulls climate change anxiety right to the surface. Being told that decades of… Continue reading We Aren’t Helpless in the Face of Increasing Fires and Smoke
The Real Presence – Divine Intimacy Meditation
The Real Presence Presence of God – “Hidden God, devoutly I adore Thee, truly present beneath these veils: all my heart subdues itself before Thee, since all before Thee faints and fails” (cf. Adoro Te Devote). MEDITATION “Verbum caro factum est” (Jn 1:14). The Incarnation of the Word, the ineffable mystery of the merciful love… Continue reading The Real Presence – Divine Intimacy Meditation
Some Neural Networks Learn Language Like Humans
How do brains learn? It’s a mystery, one that applies both to the spongy organs in our skulls and to their digital counterparts in our machines. Even though artificial neural networks (ANNs) are built from elaborate webs of artificial neurons, ostensibly mimicking the way our brains process information, we don’t know if they process input… Continue reading Some Neural Networks Learn Language Like Humans