Divine Foreknowledge and the Problem of Evil: Four Views

This paper examines the issues of divine foreknowledge and the Problem of Evil from the standpoint of four different theological systems: Open Theism, Arminianism, Molinism, and Calvinism. The author summarizes each view’s understanding of divine foreknowledge and then explains how this understanding applies to the view’s refutation of the Problem of Evil

A VLSI compatible conducting polymer composite based "electronic nose" chip

The focus of this work would be to exploit the vapor detection technology developed recently at Caltech that forms the basis for a low power, simple "electronic nose". In this work we have integrated the sensors, signal preprocessing, signal processing, and data analysis functions into a single, low power, low cost, "nose chip". Such a device could be implantable covertly or overtly onto suspect sites, deployable through remote delivery methods, worn by soldiers for CW alerts and in principle for IFF or military/nonmilitary identification purposes, and for other areas of national security where low power, lightweight, small, chemical sensing is of importance

Powering the Planet [2007 MRS Spring Meeting Plenary Address]

I am humbled and honored to be here to tell you about a topic that is dear to everyone’s heart — and vital to the future of our planet. My colleague, Richard Smalley, gave a presentation1 on this topic several years ago, at a similar MRS plenary session. Over the last few years of Dr. Smalley’s life, he and I worked together, traveling across our country to deliver a message about a subject that we — like many others, both scientists and lay people — have come to believe is unequivocally the most important technological problem in the world: our global energy future. That is an incredibly powerful statement, one that during the next hour I hope to ably defend

The Sometimes “Craven Watchdog”: The Disparate Criminal-Civil Application of the Presumption Against Extraterritoriality

Increasingly, courts must decide whether U.S. law applies extraterritorially. Courts largely resolve questions of extraterritorial scope using tools of statutory construction. Of these tools, the presumption against extraterritoriality has been ascendant. However, this presumption is subject to two divergent lines of cases: Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. affirmed the strict operation of the presumption in civil cases, but United States v. Bowman continues to govern the presumption\u27s looser role in criminal cases, thereby creating a doctrinal asymmetry. This Note furthers the argument that courts should reconcile Morrison and Bowman, by laying out three arguments for why an expansive Bowman exception is problematic and unsustainable. First, the two lines of cases create unjustified doctrinal incoherencies, given the interrelated contexts in which the presumption is applied and the rationales underlying the presumption. Second, an expansive exception to the presumption in criminal contexts undermines the smart allocation of authority between the branches of government. Finally, an expansive Bowman exception runs counter to the tradition of offering fair notice of criminal law\u27s prohibitions. This Note asserts that these arguments counsel for the abrogation or, at least, substantial narrowing of the Bowman exception, to harmonize it with Morrison\u27s stricter vision of the presumption against extraterritoriality

Untamed God or Reckless Risk-Taker? A Reply to Hasker\u27s Natural Order Theodicy

This paper argues that Molinism best rebuts the problem of natural evil when compared to the attempts of Open Theists, particularly William Hasker. The author begins by summarizing Hasker\u27s own Natural Order Theodicy, and subsequently critiques it. He finds no issues with the proposed theodicy, but takes issue with Hasker\u27s attempt to establish the coherence of Open Theism from this theodicy. He then explains the weaknesses of Open Theism\u27s response to natural evil, and simultaneously argues for the strength of Molinism\u27s response. He concludes that Open Theism leaves God as a reckless risk-taker, and therefore Molinism provides a better response to the problem of natural evil

Tolkien’s Sub-Creation and Secondary Worlds: Implications for a Robust Moral Psychology

In his work, “On Fairy Stories,” J. R. R. Tolkien offers a detailed account of what he calls Sub-creation, along with the corresponding notions of Primary and Secondary Worlds. In this paper, I suggest that Tolkien’s concept of Sub-creation can be creatively appropriated in the realm of moral psychology and there applied to the fundamental relationship between self and other – or in Judeo-Christian terms, “I” and my neighbor. Through appeal to Tolkien’s thought and to the wider Christian theological tradition, and in constructive tension with the contemporary psychoanalytic attention to “intersubjectivity,” I attempt to elucidate the power and appropriate function of the human imagination to dispose us to good moral action, and so to bring us closer to ultimate happiness

High-temperature durability considerations for HSCT combustor

The novel combustor designs for the High Speed Civil Transport will require high temperature materials with long term environmental stability. Higher liner temperatures than in conventional combustors and the need for reduced weight necessitates the use of advanced ceramic matrix composites. The combustor environment is defined at the current state of design, the major degradation routes are discussed for each candidate ceramic material, and where possible, the maximum use temperatures are defined for these candidate ceramics

Behavior of Electrodeposited Cd and Pb Schottky Junctions on CH3-Terminated n-Si(111) Surfaces

n-Si/Cd and n-Si/Pb Schottky junctions have been prepared by electrodeposition of Cd or Pb from acidic aqueous solutions onto H-terminated and CH3-terminated n-type Si(111) surfaces. For both nondegenerately (n-) and degenerately (n+-) doped H–Si(111) electrodes, Cd and Pb were readily electroplated and oxidatively stripped, consistent with a small barrier height (Phib) at the Si/solution and the Si/metal junctions. Electrodeposition of Cd or Pb onto degenerately doped CH3-terminated n+-Si(111) electrodes occurred at the same potentials as Cd or Pd electrodeposition onto H-terminated n+-Si(111). However, electrodeposition on nondegenerately doped CH3-terminated n-Si(111) surfaces was significantly shifted to more negative applied potentials (by −130 and −347 mV, respectively), and the anodic stripping of the electrodeposited metals was severely attenuated, indicating large values of Phib for contacts on nondegenerately doped n-type CH3–Si(111) surfaces. With either Cd or Pb, current–voltage measurements on the dry, electrodeposited Schottky junctions indicated that much larger values of Phib were obtained on CH3-terminated n-Si(111) surfaces than on H-terminated n-Si(111) surfaces. Chronoamperometric data indicated that CH3–Si(111) surfaces possessed an order-of-magnitude lower density of nucleation sites for metal electrodeposition than did H–Si(111) surfaces, attesting to the high degree of structural passivation afforded by the CH3–Si surface modification

Topological singularities and the general classification of Floquet-Bloch systems

Recent works have demonstrated that the Floquet-Bloch bands of periodically-driven systems feature a richer topological structure than their non-driven counterparts. The additional structure in the driven case arises from the periodicity of quasienergy, the energy-like quantity that defines the spectrum of a periodically-driven system. Here we develop a new paradigm for the topological classification of Floquet-Bloch bands, based on the time-dependent spectrum of the driven system's evolution operator throughout one driving period. Specifically, we show that this spectrum may host topologically-protected degeneracies at intermediate times, which control the topology of the Floquet bands of the full driving cycle. This approach provides a natural framework for incorporating the role of symmetries, enabling a unified and complete classification of Floquet-Bloch bands and yielding new insight into the topological features that distinguish driven and non-driven systems.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figure