Church of England Apology to Darwin and Michael Reiss forced resignation from Royal Society

Sorry for not having the time to blog more about these two very interesting topics but just wanted to point to a few interesting links about both issues, which for me seem to be somehow related:

Regarding Darwin story:

• Official Statement: Good religion needs good science

Regarding Michael Reiss:

• Michael Reiss' Online Speech (please have a read at this before all the other)
• Royal Society accepts that Michael Reiss has been badly treated.
• "An invisible sky fairy"

A time before the time?

Scientists from Caltech have found hints of a time before the Big Bang while studying the cosmic microwave background. Not only does the study hint at something pre-existing our universe, the researchers also postulate that everything we see was created as a bubble pinched off from a previously existing universe. This conjecture turns out to shed light on the mystery of the arrow of time. Quoting the BBC's account: "Their model suggests that new universes could be created spontaneously from apparently empty space. From inside the parent universe, the event would be surprisingly unspectacular. Describing the team's work at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in St Louis, Missouri, co-author Professor Sean Carroll explained that 'a universe could form inside this room and we'd never know.'"