Association Of Catholic Bloggers

A spacecraft landed on a comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, this week: an historic 'first.' Back on Earth, scientists at the ALMA radio telescope got the clearest picture yet of planets about to take shape.... ...I'm looking forward to what we'll learn from the Rosetta mission's lander and orbiter: how closely its water matches Earth's, and what other substances it carried from the Solar System's borderlands.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Robot explorers observed a comet as it whizzed past Mars, there's something very odd about a moon of Saturn, and Earth's magnetic field will probably flip much sooner than predicted. About Earth's magnetic poles switching places: I'm pretty sure we'll notice the event, but it won't be 'apocalyptic.'... ...Earth's magnetic field is weakening a whole lot faster than scientists expected. Our planet's north and south magnetic poles will switch places "soon:" on the geologic time scale. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

A century ago, we didn't realize that mountains fall from the sky at irregular intervals. A century from now, we'll probably be mining asteroids. Today, we're learning that there's much more to learn.... ...Knowledge and Dominion (From ESA/Hubble, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) " Today I would like to highlight another gift of the Holy Spirit: the gift of knowledge . When we speak of knowledge, we immediately think of man's capacity to learn more and more about the reality that surrounds him and to discover the laws that regulate nature and the universe. The knowledge that comes from the Holy Spirit, however, is not limited to human knowledge; it is a special gift, which leads us to grasp, through creation, the greatness and love of God and his profound relationship with every creature.... " (Pope Francis, General Audience . (May 21, 2014)) We live in a beautiful, good, ordered universe: surrounded by wonders which had remained unkn

Many of this galaxy's 17,000,000,000 or so roughly Earth-size planets are probably too hot or too cold to support life. Last week, scientists found one that is a little cooler than our home: but not by much.... ...If we discover life on other planets while I'm still around, I'll be delighted. From the way folks respond to new ideas, I'm pretty sure that many will share my fascination. Others, apparently convinced that God wouldn't or couldn't disregard their values and assumptions, will almost certainly denounce reports of extraterrestrial life as a Satanic plot. We've gone through this sort of goofiness with vaccinations and evolution. ( February 12, 2014 ; January 2, 2014 ) I hope we find neighbors in the universe: people who aren't human, but share our nature: creatures with intelligence and will, made of spirit and matter. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 311 , 362 - 368 . I think it's very likely that life started on other worlds. Giv