Comparisons of Ayats of the Quran with Astrophysics, Quantum Physics, and Cosmology

In this article, we will look at certain Ayats of the Holy Quran through a lens of modern day science. However, as in all interpretations of Scripture, it only looks from this lens as a possible comparison, not actual, for only Allah (swt) knows the realities of such Ayats. Still, there is empirical scientific knowledge in the 20th and 21st century, that has striking “resemblance” to certain descriptions of Nature and the Cosmos in verses of the Quran. This can be considered miraculous that such ideas were revealed in the 7th century AD that we are discovering day. This is from a factual scientific knowledge as well as theoretical. In the end, as Muslims, the Quran remains as the source of truth.

From the Eurasian Steppes to the Roman Circuses: A Review of Early Development of Horse Breeding and Management

The domestication of the horse began about 5500 years ago in the Eurasian steppes. In the following millennia horses spread across the ancient world, and their role in transportation and warfare affected every ancient culture. Ownership of horses became an indicator of wealth and social status. The importance of horses led to a growing interest in their breeding and management. Many phenotypic traits, such as height, behavior, and speed potential, have been proven to be a subject of selection; however, the details of ancient breeding practices remain mostly unknown. From the fourth millennium BP, through the Iron Age, many literature sources thoroughly describe horse training systems, as well as various aspects of husbandry, many of which are still in use today. The striking resemblance of ancient and modern equine practices leaves us wondering how much was accomplished through four thousand years of horse breeding.

A trace fossil made by a walking crayfish or crayfish-like arthropod from the Lower Jurassic Moenave Formation of southwestern Utah, USA

New invertebrate trace fossils from the Lower Jurassic Moenave Formation at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm (SGDS) continue to expand the ichnofauna at the site. A previously unstudied arthropod locomotory trace, SGDS 1290, comprises two widely spaced, thick, gently undulating paramedial impressions flanked externally by small, tapered to elongate tracks with a staggered to alternating arrangement. The specimen is not a variant of any existing ichnospecies, but bears a striking resemblance to modern, experimentally generated crayfish walking traces, suggesting a crayfish or crayfish-like maker for the fossil. Because of its uniqueness, we place it in a new ichnospecies, Siskemia eurypyge. It is the first fossil crayfish or crayfish-like locomotion trace ever recorded.

The Gospel of John as Model for Literate Authors and their Texts in Epistula Apostolorum and Apocryphon of James (NHC I,2)

The Gospel of John (GJohn) bears a striking resemblance to two later Jesus books, Epistula Apostolorum (EpAp) and Apocryphon of James (ApocrJas) (NHC I,2), in making authority claims that appeal to the socio-cultural significance of the textual medium. In all three, these claims are twofold: (1) internally ascribing authorship to representative figures of the early Jesus tradition portrayed as literate; (2) explicitly emphasizing the written medium of these authors’ compositions. GJohn can provide an instructive model for understanding these features in EpAp and ApocrJas, as both are demonstrably familiar with GJohn. EpAp and ApocrJas consequently can be examined alongside GJohn’s editorial expansion in ch. 21 as examples of early readers and users of GJohn exhibiting comparable claims regarding literate authors and their texts – applied to the Beloved Disciple (GJohn), the ‘Eleven’ apostles (EpAp) and James (ApocrJas).

Being European: "Hamlet" on the Israeli Stage

One of the most prolific fields of Shakespeare studies in the past two decades has been the exploration of local appropriations of Shakespeare’s plays around the world. This article, however, foregrounds a peculiar case of an avoidance of local appropriation. For almost 60 years, repertory Israeli theaters mostly refused to let Hamlet reflect the “age and body of the time”. They repeatedly invited Europeans to direct Hamlet in Israel and offered local audiences locally-irrelevant productions of the play. They did so even though local productions of canonical plays in Israel tend to be more financially successful than those directed by non-Israelis, and even when local national and political circumstances bore a striking resemblance to the plot of the play. Conversely, when one Israeli production of Hamlet (originating in an experimental theatre) did try to hold a mirror up to Israeli society—and was indeed understood abroad as doing so—Israeli audiences and theatre critics failed to recognize their reflection in this mirror. The article explores the various functions that Hamlet has served for the Israeli theatre: a rite of passage, an educational tool, an indication of belonging to the European cultural tradition, a means of boosting the prestige of Israeli theatres, and—only finally—a mirror reflecting Israel’s “age and body.” The article also shows how, precisely because Hamlet was not allowed to reflect local concerns, the play mirrors instead the evolution of the Israeli theatre, its conflicted relation to the Western theatrical tradition, and its growing self-confidence.

Path integration error and adaptable search behaviors in a mantis shrimp

ABSTRACTMantis shrimp of the species Neogonodactylus oerstedii occupy small burrows in shallow waters throughout the Caribbean. These animals use path integration, a vector-based navigation strategy, to return to their homes while foraging. Here, we report that path integration in N. oerstedii is prone to error accumulated during outward foraging paths and we describe the search behavior that N. oerstedii employs after it fails to locate its home following the route provided by its path integrator. This search behavior forms continuously expanding, non-oriented loops that are centered near the point of search initiation. The radius of this search is scaled to the animal's positional uncertainty during path integration, improving the effectiveness of the search. The search behaviors exhibited by N. oerstedii bear a striking resemblance to search behaviors in other animals, offering potential avenues for the comparative examination of search behaviors and how they are optimized in disparate taxa.

Kronika miasta Pornic Czesława Miłosza. Polemika ze światopoglądem i historiozofią Juliusza Słowackiego

Kronika miasta Pornic by Czesław Miłosz: Polemic with the worldview and historiosophy of Juliusz Słowacki In the article an infterpretation of A Chronicle of the Town Pornic is presented, focusing on the polemic between Milosz and ideas of mystical Juliusz Słowacki. The author points out the differences between Milosz’s and Slowacki’s concept of history. A Chronicle of the Town Pornic in its understending of history bears a striking resemblance to Paul Ricoer’s idea highlighting the importance of finding a middle path between extreme individuality and viewing history only in the global perspective. An important part of the article consists of reflections on why Milosz chose Genezis from the Spirit as a matter of polemic instead of any other work by mystical Slowacki. Keywords: Czeslaw Milosz, Juliusz Slowacki, A Chronicle of the Town Pornic, history, Ricoeur, poetry

The Illogical Logic of American Entanglement in the Middle East

The logic of the American approach to the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Syria – both in policy and practice – bears striking resemblance to the U.S. approach to Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite policies of restraint, it has proven difficult to stop the inertia of war, be it against Communism or terrorism. As this inertia grows, so too does illogical entanglement. Such deepening involvement, whether in Vietnam or the Global War on Terror, often results in combat forces undertaking nation- and state-building missions that they are not designed for, yet have been doing for almost two decades.

RHIZOMATIC COSMOPOLITAN AND WILSONIAN RECURSIVE VISION IN JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE

Being the constant wanderer for the lost identity in the polyethnic land of America, African Americans bear striking resemblance to the figure of flâneur with dialectical image of local and cosmopolitan citizen of the universe. The spirit of flânerie proves its geographical historical expansion in both postmodern and African American context while its performative action navigates it in dramatic texts. Hence, Wilsonian characters identical with constant existential quest for the lost self can be African American incarnations of flâneur. Drawing on Baudelaire’s definition and Benjamin’s theory of flâneur, this study seeks to demonstrate possible manifestations of African American flâneur in August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1986). Moreover, through Deleuze and Guattari’s postmodern theoretical concept of rhizome in A Thousand Plateau (1987), the study aims to explore the postmodern manifestation of flâneur and consequently manifest how it functions to be the means for Wilsonian postmodern recursive dramatic vision that represents mysterious aspects of African Americans life. Flâneur’s versatility appropriates it to be the quintessential manifestation of African Americans inasmuch as the latter’s multifaceted African nature can accommodate the former’s flexibility