Quote:
Originally Posted by doug the slug
..... if the nucleus of the atom is comprised of several positively charged protons, what holds them together in the nucleus when their positive charges should be causing them to repel each other???"
anyone got an answer?
That's an excellent question, Doug. Pity your chemistry teacher had a nervous breakdown. Maybe your physics teacher would have known the answer. There is a thing called the 'strong nuclear force' that operates to hold nucleons (protons, neutrons) together in the nucleus of atoms, and which overcomes the huge electric repulsion due to the protons' positive charge. Gravity, electromagnetism, and the two nuclear forces - strong and weak - are the four forces that form the basis of modern physics (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_force).
Love that article on the "evangelical scientists". The worrying thing is that it's so close to what's actually going on in America, and will, no doubt be imported here. For example, here's a quote from the very influential Discovery Institute (the 'Wedge' document):"The social consequences of materialism have been devastating. ... to defeat materialism, we must cut it off at its source. That source is scientific materialism. .... We are [proposing a] positive scientific alternative to materialistic scientific theories, which has come to be called the theory of intelligent design (ID). Design theory promises to reverse the stifling dominance of the materialist worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions."
Personally, I would like to see academic freedom allowing room for the theory of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Intelligent Design was the subject of the ABC Science Show, audio here.
