There’s some major symbolism we can mine from the fact that New Year’s Eve this year is marked by both a blue moon and a partial lunar eclipse.
I do want to say though that this first full year at Talk Islam has been a huge success, and I want to thank all of you for being a part of it. I hope we can grow even more in the year, and decade ahead, inshallah.
What would the sky look like if Earth had rings like Saturn’s?
So like a bug crazy rainbow no one would ever see because the cataclysm that cause the ring would have devasted all life (most likely, an asteroid).
EASY. original impact that created the moon was at slightly different angle; mass of moon less and orbit is within Roche limit … voila! rings instead of a moon. bill-yuns and bill-yuns of years ago still, so no impact on life.
unless you buy the theory that the moon’s tides were what caused life to form (tidal pools provided accumulation of clay at tidal boundaries, perfect matrix for primitive proteins. where the hell is Razib when i need him?)
the color of the universe: “cosmic latte“
Perhaps black holes are the universe’s tumors?
I don’t understand in the article if BHs are containers of outlets of entropy.
Tumor indicates disharmony like a flaw in the overall system.
Aren’t BHs supposed to be the hook on which galaxies hinge? Maybe you can explain how you got to tumors.
Somewhat related tangent, a Sufi I was talking with hypothesized that cancer cells are not a plague to the body, they are a transition marker which represent a new development in human evolution which ultimately lead human beings to live much faster paced (and shorter) lives. Basically hyperspace humanoids.
I think there should be a whole genre of Sufi oriented SciFi.. I know of Dune and that is about it.
I can think of several Sufi theories that are begging to be tapped.
damnit: if BHs are containers of outlets OR entropy.
Take 3: OMG, I need to get some sleep: if BHs are containers OR outlets of entropy.
Given that Ramadan is two weeks away, the moon is on my mind.
An In Our Time discussion on the observatory at Jaipur.
An unusual and distinctive comet is going to be passing close to Earth on Tuesday morning.
China, Japan and South Korea are building the largest Radio Telescope Array in the world.
From God we came and to Him is all matter in the universes’ eventual return?
are you sure? because I was thinking maybe it was time to start praying towards that big purple spot instead of Qibla. I’m glad you straightened me out, though. I don’t have a 3-d gyroscopic mount for salaat….
you know, you’d think that if GOD was almighty and all powerful and all knowing he’d also be
KNOWABLE
I don’t follow, but I am intrigued. Explain.
It’s too bad Eteraz shut down his blog. He had a couple of good posts about the relationship between existential phenomenology and divinity.
He’s got it all archived somewhere, I think… it may yet return 
Presently, in fact.
That’s pretty weak. If you put on a pair of blue-blocker sunglasses, that doesn’t mean the color blue ceases to exist. Since my camera (or my eyes) can’t detect infrared or UV light, it doesn’t mean that the only wavelengths that exist are visible.
In a nutshell, you are defining “omnipresence” too literally, and assuming that your abilities of perception are infinite. You dont even have the faculty to detect most of the physical universe, let alone the supernatural, however.
a circular argument. Things that are empirically verifiable today were not so earlier. Did these things spring into being once they were discoverable?
all “empirically verifiable” means is that you’ve extended your powers of perception. There are, however, things that are completely beyond your perception, no matter how far you extend it – for example, structures beyond the light horizon on of our observable universe, as the article I linked to discusses.
You are still misunderstanding the concept of omnipresence, as well, but thats a separate issue. I do not understand why you are conflating “omnipresence” with “infinite”, either. I personally don’t think it makes any sense to attribute either adjective to God, because both imply God is in some way “locatable”. I think a better description is that of a circle, where God is the point at the center, and reality lies along the curve, eternally constrained, yet equidistant. The geometric similarity to Qibla and tawwaf/prayer is not accidental.
I find it odd that they say these structures were pushed out by inflation. Inflation itself is a contentious topic already.
The observations are consistent with M-theory, however. If the collision of two branes creates non-uniform (due to irregularities formed by quantum jitters and amplified by gravity) spots of hot radiation on the surface of each brane, then our Big Bang would conceivably have a neighbor or two.
And actually, the words “omnipresence” and “infinite” are perfectly consistent with “unlocatable”, since neither word has any analogue whatsoever in finite human experience.
JM, I call bogus. You aren’t arguing as an atheist, you’re arguing like a theist’s stereotype of an atheist.
But ok, whatever – if you’re looking for arguments of this type then I recommend this: whywontgodhealamputees.com
at any rate, I have no intention of saying I might be able to prove God in the future. In fact I know that I won’t. It’s just like another famous atheist, Douglas Adams, said…
Today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day featuresa crescent moon over Lisbon, Portugal.
Dr. Buzz, Astrophysicist, and 
bdr are discussing. 
shams and 
Ergo Ratio, and 
http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/11/23/a-storm-is-brewing-at-best-buy/