blake johnson

As part of moving to a new web host, I'm also trying out some new blogging software, Wordpress. I seem to have successfully imported all the old entries. I'm not sure if I will stick with this template, but so far I like it as much or more than MovableType.

UPDATE: Now that I have switched to WordPress, I haven't found any pre-build templates that I am terribly happy with. So, it is probably time to build my own. In the meantime, please excuse the use of the default template.

The NYTimes has an excellent series of articles on the evolution and intelligent design debate, recently stirred up again by remarks by President Bush and Bill Frist. Today's Times has a fantastic article about religious belief among scientists. Two interesting statistics: 40% of American scientists believe in God, specifically a God to whom they can pray and expect to receive an answer; but only 10% of "elite scientists" (in this case, members of the National Academy of Sciences) believe in God.

I suppose that I am rather surprised by this second statistic. I have certainly encountered a great deal of skepticism about religious organizations among the physicists that I know. Consequently, I would not be surprised to find out that many physicists believe in a general Deism, or that their practice of religion would be limited to such pluralistic forms as Unitarianism. However, even in my lab there are 3 graduate students (including me) who are practicing Catholics. So, I am also well aware of scientists who seem to reconcile their faith with science. I guess there are fewer of us than I thought.

For the NYTime's complete coverage of the Evolution debate, go here.

I'd like to appologize for my lack of blogging of late. Since I can't blame myself, I would like to blame the makers of World of Warcraft and also the guy that founded Netflix. If it weren't for Warcraft and Netflix, I'd spend much less time on my bum playing computer games or watching movies, and more time on my bum writing random thoughts for the world to see. I do think that when my interest in Warcraft wanes you will be hearing more from me.

I am taking some time off from working in the lab to prepare for my qualifying exam which will be on September 2. This is an exam which basically covers all the material we learned in the first year of grad school, which is why physics students typically take several weeks off to study for it.

In the meantime, though, I am sure I will pick up some of my favorite procrastination hobbies, such as blogging. Also, coming soon is my Layman's Guide to Quantum Computing which should offer a gentle introduction to my field of study for those of you that are interested.