(The New Book of Knowledge)
The World of Existence... exploring the physical world – using science & religion
"Nature is God's Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world" - Baha'u'llah, the Prophet-Founder of the Baha’i Faith
November 17, 2018
October 9, 2018
September 18, 2018
“Existence is of two kinds: one is the existence of God… The second kind of existence is the human existence.”
Existence is of two kinds: one is the existence of God which
is beyond the comprehension of man. He, the invisible, the lofty and the
incomprehensible, is preceded by no cause but rather is the Originator of the
cause of causes. He, the Ancient, hath had no beginning and is the all-independent.
The second kind of existence is the human existence. It is a common existence,
comprehensible to the human mind, is not ancient, is dependent and hath a cause
to it. The mortal substance does not become eternal and vice versa; the human
kind does not become a Creator and vice versa. The transformation of the innate
substance is impossible.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha
(‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
August 10, 2018
The Color of Thought
The brain’s many regions are connected by some 100,000 miles
of fibers called white matter – enough to circle the Earth four times. Images
like this, taken at the Martinos Center, reveal for the first time the specific
pathways underlying cognitive functions. The pink and orange bundles, for
example, transmit signals critical for language.
(National Geographic, February 2014)
(National Geographic, February 2014)
June 16, 2018
A viperfish in deep waters of Atlantic Ocean
The fearsome predator displays its meal-clinching assets; bioluminescent spots thoughts to lure prey in dark waters and a set of ferocious fangs. The teeth are strictly for seizing, as food is swallowed whole.
(National Geographic, June 2011)
(National Geographic, June 2011)
May 7, 2018
April 11, 2018
Worldwide journey of the three humans: Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Modern Humans
Neanderthals and Denisovans were closely related. DNA
comparisons suggest that our ancestors diverged from theirs some 500,000 years
ago. No skulls or tools have been found to reveal what the
Denisovans looked or acted like. No one knows what happened when modern humans
who had migrated from Africa first set eyes on them. What’s certain, from
generic evidence, is that such encounters produced offspring.
(National Geographic, July 2013)
(National Geographic, July 2013)
February 7, 2018
Worlds of God
As to thy question concerning the worlds of God. Know thou
of a truth that the worlds of God are countless in their number, and infinite
in their range. None can reckon or comprehend them except God, the All-Knowing,
the All-Wise… Verily I say, the creation of God embraceth worlds besides this
world, and creatures apart from these creatures. In each of these worlds He
hath ordained things which none can search except Himself, the All-Searching,
the All-Wise.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
December 5, 2017
Our Moon is Born
The birth of the planets 4.5 billion years ago was extremely
violent. They grew to full size by absorbing rival planet embryos in a series
of titanic collisions – one of which probably gave Earth its moon. The moon’s
large size, low density, and other features suggest that it emerged from an
explosion of debris after a Mars-size protoplanet struck earth, vaporizing
itself and part of Earth’s rocky mantle. According to one recent hypothesis,
the moon had a little sister first.
A-Birth
C-Splat
(National Geographic, July 2013)
A-Birth
Rocky debris blasted into orbit coalesces into a moon – or
maybe two – in less than a century. Most of the incoming protoplanet’s iron
sank into Earth’s core, so the moon mass is less dense than Earth.
B-Moving out
Lunar gravity raises a tidal bulge on Earth; its spinning in
turn accelerates the moon, causing it to spiral slowly outward. A sister moon,
about a third as wide, orbits at a distance.
C-Splat
Within tens of millions of years the moon reels in its
sister. Splatting onto the moon’s far side, it creates highlands there – a
striking contrast to the low plains, called maria, on the side we see.
October 11, 2017
Water bears
A color-enhanced electron microscope photo reveals a half-millimeter-long tardigrade in moss. Called water bears these eight-legged, alien-looking invertebrates can survive extreme pressure, radiation, and temperature - and years without food. (National Geographic, July 2013)
August 15, 2017
Animal is a “captive of nature” – man’s “natural impulse and desire”, however, need to be governed by teachings of the Prophets of God
In the world of existence the animal is a captive of nature.
Its actions are according to the exigencies and requirements of nature. It has
no consideration or consciousness of good and evil. It simply follows its
natural instinct and inclination. The Prophets of God have come to show man the
way of righteousness in order that he may not follow his own natural impulse
but govern his action by the light of Their precept and example. According to
Their teachings he should do that which is found to be praiseworthy by the
standard of reason and judgment of intellect, even though it be opposed to his
natural human inclination; and he should not do that which is found to be
unworthy by that same standard, even though it be in the direction of his
natural impulse and desire. Therefore, man must follow and manifest the
attributes of the Merciful.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha
(Excerpt from a talk given on 21 April 1912 in Washington D.C.;
‘Promulgation of Universal Peace’)
June 12, 2017
The beginning of creation…
As regards thine assertions about the beginning of creation,
this is a matter on which conceptions vary by reason of the divergences in men’s
thoughts and opinions. Wert thou to assert that it hath ever existed and shall
continue to exist, it would be true; or wert thou to affirm the same concept as
is mentioned in the sacred Scriptures, no doubt would there be about it, for it
hath been revealed by God, the Lord of the worlds. Indeed He was a hidden
treasure. This is a station that can never be described nor even alluded to.
And in the station of ‘I did wish to make Myself known’, God was, and His
creation had ever existed beneath His shelter from the beginning that hath no
beginning, apart from its being preceded by a Firstness which cannot be
regarded as firstness and originated by a Cause inscrutable even unto all men
of learning.
That which hath been in existence had existed before, but
not in the form thou seest today. The world of existence came into being
through the heat generated from the interaction between the active force and
that which is its recipient. These two are the same, yet they are different.
Thus doth the Great Announcement inform thee about this glorious structure.
Such as communicate the generating influence and such as receive its impact are
indeed created through the irresistible Word of God which is the Cause of the
entire creation, while all else besides His Word are but the creatures and the
effects thereof. Verily thy Lord is the Expounder, the All-Wise.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
May 26, 2017
Hummingbirds
Embraced by cloud forest almost a mile above sea level, the
enclave of Mindo in Ecuador is a honey trap for hummingbirds.
(National
Geographic)
May 20, 2017
May 10, 2017
“...every part of the universe is connected with every other part…”
Reflect upon the inner realities of the universe, the secret
wisdoms involved, the enigmas, the interrelationships, the rules that govern
all. For every part of the universe is connected with every other part by ties
that are very powerful and admit of no imbalance, nor any slackening
whatever....
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a Tablet, The Compilation of Compilations, vol.
I, Conservation of the Earth's Resources)
April 27, 2017
Klyuchevskaya Sopka
Klyuchevskaya Sopka is a stratovolcano. It is the highest
mountain on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia and the highest active volcano of
Eurasia. (Wikipedia and National Geographic)
April 4, 2017
March 15, 2017
February 28, 2017
Does Milky Way galaxy orbit anything?
Our galaxy does indeed! The Milky Way is one of two large
galaxies that make up what’s called the Local Group, which contains some
fifty-odd galaxies. The other large galaxy involved is Andromeda, our closest
galactic neighbor; our galaxy and Andromeda are slowly orbiting each other. The
rest of the Local Group are mostly small things, like the Large or Small
Magellanic Clouds, which are gravitationally tied to either the Milky Way or
Andromeda, and orbit the larger galaxy to which they’re bound. Andromeda weighs
in somewhere between 700 billion solar masses and a trillion solar masses. This
is approximately the same mass as our own Milky Way, which is also usually
considered to have about a trillion solar masses worth of stuff hanging around.
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