British physicist Stephen Hawking says God was not necessary for the creation of the universe, just as Charles Darwin eliminated the necessity of God from biology.

In an exclusive, the science monthly Eureka of The Times of London released Thursday excerpts from Hawking’s new book “The Grand Design.” He asks the question “Was God needed to create the universe?” in a book whose title seems to imply the intelligent design theory.

His answer? No.

Hawking says the Big Bang was the inevitable result of the laws of physics, not something explained by the hand of God or coincidence. “Since there is a law like gravity, the universe can create itself from nothing and it will be,” he said. “This is why we and the universe exist, not voluntary creation.”

“It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.”

His new book breaks away from his previous views on religion expressed in his 1988 bestseller “A Brief History of Time.” Back then, he accepted that God could co-exist with a scientific explanation of the universe, saying, “If we discover a complete theory, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we should know the mind of God.”

Co-authored with American physicist Leonard Mlodinow, “The Grand Design” deconstructs the Newtonian view that the universe could not have risen out of chaos but was created by God.

Hawking said the first reason is the 1992 discovery of a planet orbiting another star other than the sun.

“That makes the coincidences of our planetary conditions – the single Sun, the lucky combination of Earth-Sun distance and solar mass, far less remarkable, and far less compelling evidence that the Earth was carefully designed just to please us human beings. Not just other planets like the Earth, other universes may exist,” he said.

via The Dong-A Ilbo
via Yahoo!

New Google feauture, Priority Inbox automatically identifies your important email and separates it out from everything else, so you can focus on what really matters.

“What was supposed to be a ride to promote cycling safety and awareness in Sudbury turned tragic when a cyclist was struck by an oncoming vehicle on Long Lake Road in front of about 200 cyclists. I was one of the cyclists in the front of the pack who saw the horrible accident take place, after looking up at the sound of screeching brakes. We were taking part in a ride organized by the Ontario-based Share the Road Cycling Coalition, on a beautiful evening in Sudbury. We had just stopped for a moment of silence to pay tribute to cyclists across Canada who have been injured or killed while taking part in an activity they enjoyed.

At this time, there is only a little news on the condition of the cyclist who was struck, although I heard from other cyclists that he was conscious. Emergency personal were on the scene immediately after the accident happened. Tonight’s online edition of the Sudbury Star is reporting that the cyclist was injured, but not killed.”

read more via Steve May, CEO of the Sudbury Federal Green Party Association.

Does this unfortunate event not underscore the importance of having bike lanes within the city?

“A cyclist was hit by a vehicle on Long Lake Road on Tuesday evening during an event intended to promote cycling safety. The cyclist was struck and suffered a broken arm, according to witnesses participating in the second annual Greater Sudbury Share the Road campaign.”

via the Sudbury Star.

Music lovers can now be immortalised when they die by having their ashes baked into vinyl records to leave behind for loved ones.

A UK company called And Vinyly is offering people the chance to press their ashes in a vinyl recording of their own voice, their favourite tunes or their last will and testament. Minimalist audiophiles might want to go for the simple option of having no tunes or voiceover, and simply pressing the ashes into the vinyl to result in pops and crackles.

The company was founded by Jason Leach, who co-founded the techno group and record label Subhead in the 1990s and has since founded a number of other labels, including House of Fix, Daftwerk and Death to Vinyl.

Read more @ Wired.co.uk

“It definitely has changed my whole life — that’s how significant Twitter is to me,” said Ehrlich, who now regularly chats with educators around the world and helps host a weekly forum for them on the micro-blogging site. “At first, I didn’t really get it. But I just kept watching it and, before you knew it, I was hooked.”

Between April 2009 and May, the percentage of internet users 50 and up who said they use social-networking sites has risen from 22 percent to 42 percent, according to the survey by the Pew Research Center.

Read the eye opening article @ CNN

Theo Kamecke became fascinated by circuit boards in the late 1960s. But it wasn’t until about 20 years later that he started thinking of them as art material.

He started collecting tons of vintage circuit boards, many directly from manufacturers, with the idea that he would turn them into works of art.

“I went to dozens of circuit-board manufacturers and asked them to give me their overruns,” he says.

Kamecke has been particular about using vintage boards. The reason: Many of the circuit boards made in the 1960s and 1970s were handmade.

“In the 1960s, they designed large circuit boards that would end up being 6 inches by 6 inches in size,” says Kamecke.“They would do it on a big board and use chart tape for someone to lay out the circuit.

“It makes the older boards more interesting to look at,” he says.

Read more @ Wired