Sunspots 986

Gizmodo reports that potatoes are descended from tomatoes.

Newsweek, and other outlets, report a lightning event that was over 500 miles long.

     ScienceAlert reports that peacocks have lasers in their feathers.

Gizmodo (and other sources) report that Robert F Kennedy jr, Secretary of Health and Human Services, has cut funding for vaccinations based on mRNA. This is a dangerous move. One of the achievements of the first Trump administration was the rapid development of mRNA -based immunization. This probably saved hundres of thousands of lives, perhaps yours or mine. For a more detailed discussion, see here.

 

Sunspots 985

 

Gizmodo reports that lightning kills more trees than we thought.

CBS News, and other sources, reports that corn plants release water vapor into the air, which contributes to the uncomfortable humidity you may be feeling now.

Sunspots 984

 

Gizmodo reports that ICE is adding the DNA of immigrants, including of children as young as four, to a government database.

LiveScience considers the question of how birds know how to get to their migration endpoint.

Earth.com tells us that men may lose their Y chromosomes. Hmmm.

Ken Schenck has posted a fine essay on the interaction between Christianity and politics. "The church does its best work not when it commands the government, but when it reminds the government who it’s supposed to serve. Not when it demands special privilege, but when it loves its neighbor – especially the ones the world would rather forget. The credibility of the church has never come from controlling the culture. It has come from resembling Christ."

Trump vs. Musk, or the other way around, in light of Matthew 18

Matthew 18:15 “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. 16 But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector. 18 Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven. 19 Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them.”

21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?”

22 Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven. 

I don't know who started this, Trump or Musk. There's probably enough blame to go around.

When looking at recent news broadcasts, which spread the attacks posted on-line even further, I was reminded of Matthew 18. Applied to today, it says that believers, if there's a dispute among them, should go to the other person involved, and get the matter settled, first, before tellling others about the situation.. Putting the quarrel in public view on Facebook, X, Instagram, or whatever is the opposite of what Jesus taught. It should come last, if at all.

Are Musk and Trump believers? Possibly. Perhaps not. But the principle still stands, and follows from the Golden Rule, which says that we should do to others as we wish they would do to us. 

So, what's the lesson. First, there's the question of pride. Both of these men seem full of it. But, unfortunately, so am I. (After all, I didn't start an internet shouting match!) Pride seems to have fueled both of these powerful men.

God help me to avoid pride, public disputes with other believers, and did I say pride?

Thanks for reading!

Sunspots 983

 

Things I have spotted that may be of interest to others:

The BBC has fact-checked President Trump's meeting with the President of South Africa. His claims don't stand up. Other sources have published similar findings.

Earth.com reports on breakthroughs in identifying long-dead North American megafauna (mammoths, giant sloths, etc.)

The BBC discusses the so-called Golden Done defense system.

The BBC also discusses the noise associated with Bitcoin mining (whatever that is!). Apparently it's quite annoying and pervasive.

Gizmodo reports on a study of how giant sloths disappeared.

Gizmodo also reports that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's recent paper on Making America Healthy Again refers to health studies that were never carried out.

Gizmodo also reports that two different species of termites are mating and producing hybrids, which may be really destructive.

Bears in the Bible

Image from Pixabay.

A search for the topic, bears (animals) in the Bible, is complicated by the abundance of occurrences of the word "bear," used to describe carrying something, physical, or mental, as in giving birth (bearing a baby) or laboring because of emotional stress (bearing grief).

This post is concerned only with bears as animals. There are a few such references in the Bible.

For more about the biology of bears, see the Wikipedia article. From that article, it appears that the bears mentioned in the Bible, which must have lived in Eurasia, were similar, or even part of the same species, as those found in North America. There is also a Wikipedia article on cultural depictions of bears, as for instance, in the story of Goldilocks and the three bears.  

The first Bible reference to bears is in the dialog between Saul and David, with David stating that, since he was able to defeat a predatory bear, he could defeat Goliath.

In 2 Samuel 17, warning is given that attacking David and his followers is like attacking a bear with offspring. Proverbs 17 has a similar idea, about a female bear protecting her offspring. So does Hosea 13.

In 2 Kings 2, Elisha apparently causes two female bears to attack some boys who were mocking him.

In Job 9, the constellation known as the Bear is mentioned, along with other groups of stars. (The King James version uses Arcturus, not bear, whereas the World English Bible has "bear.") Job 38 repeats the use of the Bear as a constellation.

In Proverbs 28, a wicked ruler is compared to an angry bear, or to a lion.

In Isaiah 59, the Israelites, who have lost their way spiritually, are compared to frustrated bears.

In Daniel 7, Daniel is asked to interpret a dream that the king had, in which an animal like a bear appeared.

In Amos 5, a bear is symbolic of putting oneself (or one's people) in danger.

There are no uses of the bear, an animal, in the New Testament.

I previously posted a study of the use of the word "lion" in the Bible.

Thanks for bearing with me in this study.

Sunspots 982

 

Things I have spotted that may be of interest to others:

Gizmodo reports on a study that found that all of the largest US cities are sinking.

Kenneth Schenck discusses politics and Christianity.

Gizmodo reports that the new pope (and the previous one) has warned about possible dangers from artificial intelligence.

Equus, and other sources, report that horses are especially able to move fast because of a gene peculiar to horses and their relatives.

Gizmodo on whether Pope Leo XIV is an environmentalist (and on whether Francis was).

CNN reports on the melting of polar ice and its dire consequences.

NPR reports that the Centers for Disease Control is no longer warning the medical community about disease threats.

Important Lesson: don't complain

A lesson I hope I've learned, which may be of value to others.

Paul wrote two epistles to the Corinthian church. One small section of the first epistle gives some warnings to the church, and, it seems, to the church of today:

1 Corinthians 10:6b Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. ⁷ Don’t be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” ⁸ Let’s not commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell. ⁹ Let’s not test Christ, as some of them tested, and perished by the serpents. ¹⁰ Don’t grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer. (World English Bible, public domain - source is here.)

OK. A list of don'ts. What's in the list? idolatry, however it occurs in the 21st Century, is no surprise. We shouldn't worship anything but God, our creator, redeemer, and guide. Sexual immorality isn't a surprise, either, although it's possible that Paul, or today's church, may overemphasize it, and not emphasize gossip, pride, greed, and other sins enough. I'm not clear as to what "testing Christ" means. As to grumbling, Paul seems to be referring to Numbers 11, wherein the Hebrews complained about the manna God was sending them. They missed the food they had in Egypt. Although God sent quail for them to eat, at this time, He was far from pleased by their complaints about the food.

Bottom line. It seems that grumbling, or complaining, is as dangerous a sin as idolatry or sexual immorality. I shouldn't have a complaining, grumbling attitude, and I should be grateful to God for His blessings, including the food I eat, even if it is not prepared well, or isn't what I'm used to. (Most likely, the Israelites on the Exodus complained about more than the food: "There isn't anything to do here," and/or "Do I have to wear this again?")

I have been around some people who were seemingly never satisfied with what they had to eat, the thermostat's temperature, or the clothes they had to wear, and were known as complainers. I don't want to be known as a complainer. 

Thanks for reading.

Sunsppts 981

Things I have spotted that may be of interest to others:

The Trump administration wants to change the Endangered Species Act so that destruction of habitat that endangered species need won't be considered harm.

ZDNet discusses passkeys and passwords.

Gizmodo reports that My Pillow maker, and Trump backer, Mike Lindell's, lawyers filed a brief that was generated by a ChatBot, and which contained several references to non-existent past legal rulings.

National Public Radio reports on Catholic reaction to a picture, apparently approved by the White House, of Donald Trump as pope.

 

Sunspots 980

 

Some things I have spotted that may be of interest:

Earth.com reports on the estimated number of ants living on earth. Lots and lots of them!

Quanta tells us that mammal (including human) and bird brains are significantly different, but both support intelligence.

You may have heard of the supposed feat of bringing extinct dire wolves back to life from ancient DNA. Todd Wood says that they didn't produce dire wolves.

Popular Mechanics tells us that there is no purple color.

NPR reports on experiments that show that crows can distinguish geometric shapes.

Sunspots 979

 

Gizmodo reports that a 3-D printer has been used to repair abnormal penis tissue. -- in rabbits and pigs, not in people,

NPR reports on why we like dessert, even if we are already full.

LiveScience reports on the discovery of a lot of moons orbiting Saturn.

NPR on how Alabama did better in math teaching than any other state.

Gizmodo reports on a study of back pain remedies. Almost none of them work.

NPR reports that microphone quality is a strong influence in on-line job interviews.

MIT has studied how people walk in crosswalks.

Sunspots 978

Things that I have spotted that may be of interest to others: 

SciTech Daily reports that fish can recognize and react to human divers.

Naturalis Historia concludes a series on the Bible and the geology of the Dead Sea,

ZDNet describes 10 on-line sites that carry free, or inexpensive digital books.

NPR and other outlets report on progress towards bringing live mammoths back, Their work has involved changing the genes of mice, so that they have long, fuzzy hair, and are able to use fat efficiently to keep warm.

Neuroscience News reports that detecting pain and itch is accomplished with two different sets of neurons.

NPR tries to keep track of President Trump's tariffs.

Thanks for reading!

Cereal grains in the Bible

 

                            Wheat field, North Carolina

Cereal grains include corn (maize), rice, wheat, spelt, rye, oats, barley, millet, sorghum and others. Maize was domesticated in the New World, and therefore, was not known by people in the Bible. Rice requires conditions not found by people in the Bible. 

The King James version of the Bible mentions corn several times. One such is in Genesis 27, in which Isaac is said to have blessed Jacob, but not Esau, with corn crops. In Genesis 41-47, the word "corn" is used several times, but, for reasons given above, this can't have been maize, but must have been some other grain. 

John 12:24 (KJV) Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. In this verse, "corn" has a different meaning. It refers to the grain (or fruit) as a corn. Apparently this word use was legitimate in the time of the KJV translators.

The Bible uses some of the types of grain. One verse refers to four different grains:

Ezekiel 4:9a "Take for yourself also wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel...." (World English Bible, public domain. Beans and lentils are not cereal grains.)

Consider wheat. Several related species of grasses are called wheat. These include durum, emmer, einkorn, and others. 

Spelt is mentioned three times in the Old Testament. Each time, wheat is also mentioned. 

I did not find the word, "rye", the word, "oats," or the word, "sorghum," in the Bible. Nor did I find "durum," "emmer," or "einkorn."

Barley is mentioned several times. In John 6, the boy with his food had barley loaves as part of his provisions for the day.

Cereal grains, especially wheat, are food crops that are very important to us today, and were, if anything, even more important in Bible times. These grains could be stored for a long time. They were used to make bread. Jesus said, in John 6:35, "I am the bread of life." (WEB) Adam and Eve were told, in Genesis 3:19, that they would earn their bread through hard labor. In Genesis 41-47, the famine in Egypt is described as a lack of bread. In Exodus 12-13, the Hebrews were instructed to eat unleavened bread. Exodus 25:30, and Exodus 29, and Leviticus 8, and other passages, give instructions about bread as part of Tabernacle worship. In Judges 7, a loaf of barley bread appears in a dream of a Midianite invader of Israel, a sign that God is with Gideon, and against the Midianites.

The word, bread, occurs many times in the Bible. It usually seems to refer to the ordinary events of daily life, especially eating. Sometimes it is a symbol of hospitality, or of friendship. In the Lord's Prayer, we ask God to give us our daily bread.

At the Last Supper: Matthew 26:26 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” There have been, and are, theological disputes among Christians over what that means. I won't settle that here.

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will not be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Thanks for reading!

Sunspots 977

Things I have spotted that may be of interest to others.    

ZDNet reports that a study, by the BBC, about how good artificial intelligence (chatbots) do in summarizing news stories, showed that they don't do that very well.

There are still Brazilian tribes that are unknown by the rest of us, according to Gizmodo.

Gizmodo also reports on dating apps, finding that using one is a way for a female user to be raped, more often than other means of connecting. The report also says that the companies involved could do a much better job of removing dangerous users, but has chosen not to.

MSN describes the animals with the longest lifespan. (Thanks to one of my brothers for this information)

CNN lists a number of GOP senators who deny Trump's claim that the Ukraine-Russia was started by the Ukraine.

South American tapirs were thought to be extinct. They aren't!

Thanks for reading.