Headline:The Hard Knock Life of an Internet Troll
Source: http://chzdailywhat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/9f50499e-33c1-4be6-aa6b-aef9300b96b5.jpg … Read entire article »
Filed under: Science
The Real Capital
This article by Thomas Friedman caught my eye. This article is not about Pakistan. Pakistan is not mentioned even once in the article. This is not about South Asia, or militant Islam, or the war on terror. It is about none of the ideological war between the religious right wing ideologies and the secular ideals that we espouse at PTH. A cursory glance and we realize why United States is the biggest economic and scientific power in the world. Let me say that I have selective admiration of the United States. I am critical of United States’ opportunistic foreign policies. I however realize that world has seen an enormous scientific and economic development under the vastly expanding global democratic capitalistic society that is led by the United States. We are living … Read entire article »
Global Water Trends Afloat Pakistan’s Water Crisis
By Halima Khan Water is necessary for human survival and development while water is a scarce good. Conclusively lack of water hinders development and also dignified life. This assessment is obvious from global trends, as well as from Pakistan’s national and local struggles for better access to water. According to figures available by the United Nations and other international organizations, 1.1bn people are devoid of sufficient access to water, and 2.4bn people have to live with no sufficient sanitation. In keeping to current trends the projection is that about 3bn people of a population of 8.5bn will experience water shortage by 2025. 83% of them will belong to developing countries, more often than not in rural areas where even today now and then only 20% of the population have contact with sufficient … Read entire article »
Nisar Teri Gallion Pay Ai Watan
(Posted by YLH) A few weeks ago an ignorant little Mullah from the Jamaat-e-Islami claimed that Dr. Salam’s achievement in science was nothing compared to many other great scientists of Pakistan and that Salam got the Nobel Prize because he was a “Jewish agent”. I suppose one of these “great scientists” he was referring to was the idiot who read his paper on “how to harness the power of genies for electricity production” at Zia’s … Read entire article »
Islam's Darwin Problem
By Drake Bennett in the Boston Globe Three weeks ago, with much fanfare, a team of scientists unveiled the fossil skeleton of Ardi, a 4-foot-tall female primate who lived and died 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia. According to her discoverers, Ardi – short for Ardipithecus ramidus, her species – is our oldest known ancestor. She predated Lucy, the fossilized Australopithecus afarensis that previously had claimed the title, by 1.2 million years. The papers announcing the find described a transitional specimen, with the long arms and short legs of an ape and strong, grasping big toes suited to life in the trees, but also a pelvis whose shape allowed her to walk upright on the ground below. … Read entire article »
The Bible of Militant Atheism
by Aasem Bakhshi Contrary to the mainstream religious belief, incredulity and skepticism regarding the ultimate nature of truth, existence of God and eschatological claims of scripture is not an entirely modern phenomenon. In his famous thought experiment Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, Ibn Tufayl the famous Muslim philosopher of 12th century Spain, aesthetically described discovery of God as the “joy without lapse, unending bliss, infinite rapture and delight” and inability to find Him as “infinite torture”. The curious … Read entire article »
Filed under: Books, Philosophy, Religion, Science
10 Lessons From Einstein
Albert Einstein was one of the greatest scientists to ever live. Einstein’s physics theories are still confounding scientists more than half a century after his death. In addition to his grand technical accomplishments, the kindly German doctor was also a philosopher and ethicist of the highest order. More than simply a scientist, Einstein’s legacy provides insight into a number of fields. Here are the ten lessons every student can learn from Albert Einstein, pulled directly from his quotes and sayings. 1. “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”: Without the ability to dream or imagine Einstein never would have been remembered as a famous scientist. In fact Einstein even used imagination as a scientific tool by developing theories through thought experiments conducted entirely in the mind. 2. “Do not worry about your difficulties … Read entire article »
Filed under: Science
Happy 200th Mr. Darwin: Darwin's World
Charles Robert Darwin turns 200 today. He stands as one of those pivotal figures in the course of human consciousness who changed the course of the world. This article, first published in Dawn, is an overview of the life and times of one of the greatest scientific observers in history. We at PakTeaHouse celebrate all human endeavor especially that which seeks to propel humanity forward and for me personally evolution means enlightenment and liberation from dogma, orthodoxy and witchdoctorism that often masquerades as something holy in the good name of faith. I, for one, concur with the more rational and reasonable of the believers who maintain that religion – especially Islam- is completely at peace with the idea of evolution. – Yasser Latif Hamdani … Read entire article »
Filed under: Science
Science & religion
We are publishing a guest post by Abbas Zaidi, an acclaimed writer. We hope that this thoughtful piece leads to a reasoned debate on this blog-zine. (RR, ed.) The cocoon of science around our lives is so comprehensive that it has become more than a sine qua non for the world to go on today. Not only that. In the non-material, non-day-to-day affairs too science is the inevitable, formidable player. Science is a magic wand that gives credibility and validity to a concept or a methodology. It is rational and logical, and its findings and results are predictable. In the groves of Academe, anything “unscientific” stands to lose; from government funds to simple acceptability. That is why, those subjects that not long ago were purely “humanities” now proudly claim to … Read entire article »
A new book elucidates the life and work of Dr. Abdus Salam
by Khaled Ahmed Book title: Science for Peace & Progress: Life and Work of Abdus Salam Compiled, Edited and Introduced by Anwar Dil Intercultural Forum Takshila Research University, San Diego/Islamabad, 2008 On reading the paper, he ran home but was accosted by cheering crowds on the way. His picture that appeared in the papers later showed him wearing turban. He later said he was hiding a nearly bald head because of the wrong haircut given him by his … Read entire article »
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