FlashLight

the G-d particle

Professor Robert Butler, WSAS

Ten thousand scientists spent eighteen years and upwards of nine billion dollars detecting and attempting to recreate the Higgs boson. In March 2013, they were successful. This fundamental particle is found at a temperature of 1.4 million billion degrees Celsius, hotter than a supernova. It appears under the conditions that scientists theorize existed between a billion trillionths and a trillion trillionths of a second after Creation.

The Higgs boson has a mass somewhat greater than a uranium atom, the heaviest naturally occurring element. It exists fleetingly and only under extreme conditions, but may be responsible for the varying mass of all matter in the universe. It has been  tagged

“the G-d particle.”

Dr. Butler is a Chemistry lecturer at Baruch whose research focuses on pollution and combustion. He received his MSE in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and PhD in Combustion Chemistry from Princeton University. He has co- authored four studies on the subject of combustion and one on nuclear fusion.One positive point to ponder on this expensive and lengthy experiment is the fact that the nations of the world worked together, unlike in previous generations when this occurred only when waging war. Yet I wonder if all this effort and expense may have been better spent helping mankind directly. This critique of the science field was well-verbalized by Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler over 50 years ago in Strive for Truth (vol.1, p.195), “The amazing achievements of science have turned it into the idolatry of our age.” Morality comes from G-d and not science.

the blessing of science

Michael Kreiter

The Higgs boson experiment is a worldwide effort which includes scientists from many nationalities and monetary resources from dozens of countries worldwide. This display of “team spirit” demonstrates a small fraction of what is possible if we all band together to work towards the greater goals of helping others and bettering our environment. This is a positive and welcoming thought.

Another point: Science is an exploration on the nature of G-d’s creation. The discovery of the Higgs boson as a fundamental element has no practical application for it decays at a rate of a thousandth of a billionth of a billionth of a second. As a missing link in our understanding about the origins of the universe and how all matter acquires mass, it proves that there is an order to the chaos of the cosmos—I can only marvel at the wonder of it all. I find similar themes in the mathematics of infinity, quantum theory and many other subjects in modern science. By empowering lay people with the knowledge of the world around them and giving them the tools to find spiritual meaning in the material form, scientists are performing an act of kindness that nourishes the soul as surely as food serves the needy.

Michael Kreiter (Baruch 2015) is puruing his passion for science as a biology major.

 

 

Torah and the ToE

 Rabbi Levi Stolik

“Once upon a time it was commonly presumed that the various natural forces in the world are separate elements. The advances of science, however, demonstrate that the seeming multiplicity and divisions in the world are more apparent than real; they are merely external phenomena…and they reduced the number of fundamental components. It will soon be realized that the basic existence of the world is built on the unification of matter and force. Scientific discoveries thus help prepare the world for the Messianic age when G-d’s absolute unity inherent in all creation will become evident to all.”

This is a free translation of a talk on the intersection of Kabbalah and Science initiated by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1965, a short time after British theoretical physicist Peter Higgs first postulated the presence of an elementary particle what became known as the Higgs boson. Last month in Geneva its existence was confirmed. A major step in the quest for the “Theory of Everything” (ToE), it is believed by many modern-day physicists to unite all known physical phenomena as components of a single force.

On the surface, humanity is a diverse body of individuals, no two people alike. As the Talmud states, “Just as their faces are different, so are their characters different.” Yet inherently we are all products of the primordial unity of G-dly creation and are therefore capable of achieving harmony with each other.

Rabbi Levi Stolik is an adherent of Chabad and his views on spirituality, economics, current events and the world’s existence are culled from the vast teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. In addition to expertise in Torah subjects, the Rebbe studied science at the University of Berlin from 1928-1932, where he likely attended lectures from faculty members Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrodinger.

The news of Osama bin Laden’s death is going viral over the media. As President Obama states so eloquently in his news report quoted below, it brings the September 11 memories of many Americans – and New Yorkers in particular, to the fore. At the time of the attack the Vertical Campus was just opened for the new school year for the very first time; in the aftermath of the ‘TwinTowers’ decimation, it was converted into a command center forNew York’s Elite Forces. The Armory acrossLexington Avenuebecame a haven for survivors and their families, with NYC residents outside offering food, toiletries and their own blood. The City was a war zone, and its inhabitants shared an eerie but welcome sense of togetherness. Our President’s lesson of note:

“…OnSeptember 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what G-d we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.…tonight, we are once again reminded thatAmericacan do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place. Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under G-d, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”