Sunspots 967

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

A discussion of the perils of Christian Nationalism, in Baptist News Global. 

Crosswalk reports that Southern Baptists voted against Christian Nationalism recently.

Stat discusses ethical questions about the results of the Human Genome Project.

NPR reports that a man tried to smuggle 100+ live snakes, of several kinds, into China. The snakes were hidden in his pants.

Thanks for reading!

Sunspots 915

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

Christianity: (and Politics) A Christianity Today article strongly argues against Christian Nationalism.

Computing: (or Health) Gizmodo reports that Google is developing software to read the handwriting of doctors.

Education: (and Computing) NPR reports on ChatGPT, which will write your papers for you, among other things.

Environment: Coyotes almost never attack adult humans. There is now an explanation for the death of a hiker, by coyotes, on Cape Breton Island, according to Gizmodo.

NPR reports that Louisiana is about to replace land lost to washing away with sediment from the Mississippi River.

NPR reports on a mountain lion in the Los Angeles area, which has been there for about ten years. It was subsequently euthanized.

Humor: (and Weather) NPR reports on how some snow removal equipment is getting goofy names, and is being followed on-line.

Politics: The Conversation on bipartisan bills to upgrade the way elections are counted and reported.

NPR on how Russia has been trying to ingest Ukraine for a century.

Science: According to NPR, some scientists think that time is an illusion.

The Conversation discusses stuttering.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

 

Sunspots 894

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

Christianity: (or something) NPR reports on a movement to pass wedding dresses on to strangers, free

Environment: Gizmodo, and other outlets, report that monarch butterflies are now listed as endangered.

Representative Matt Gaetz claims that immigrants into the US Southwest are responsible for the danger to monarchs. Really.

Politics: (and Christianity -- sort of) CNN has posted a thorough discussion of Christian Nationalism, so-called.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 866

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

Finances: FiveThirtyEight discusses the so-called eviction tsumani that didn't happen.

Health: (or something) NPR has 22 tips to use if you want to pass on drinking alcohol.

Gizmodo reports that the COVID vaccination rate in the US is 59th in the world, below all other first-world countries.

Politics: NPR has a discussion of why it's so hard to get some people to reject Donald Trump's false claim that he is the rightful President.

(and Christianity) Relevant has an article distinguishing between Christian Nationalism and following Jesus.

The Dallas Morning News also discusses Christian Nationalism.

Science: Gizmodo reports that it is possible to track animals using DNA fragments in the air around them. This is a non-invasive technique.

Gizmodo also reports that dogs can tell when a person talks in a language they aren't familiar with.

The Scientist reports that 14 new species of shrews have recently been found on the island of Sulawesi, part of Indonesia.

The Scientist also reports that preserved human feces, about 2000 years old, indicate that gut microbial diversity has decreased dramatically, as well as showing what the diet of humans was like, in that time and place.

CNN reports on a large exploding star.

Gizmodo and The Scientist discuss the recent use of a genetically modified pig heart to replace a man's heart. So far, all is going well. 

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading. 

Sunspots 834

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

Christianity: A Relevant writer asks why praying is so hard.

(and Politics) Christianity Today offers a primer on Christian Nationalism.

Environment: The Florida panther has not gone extinct, according to NPR.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight discusses private militias, and whether they can be regulated.

Relevant reports on where various groups get their news.

Science: The Scientist reports that virus RNA has been extracted from people who died during the 1918 pandemic.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking! 

Sunspots 824

 Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else: 

It's St. Patricks' Day. See this article from the History Channel.

The Arts: Listverse shows us beautiful, or interesting, photos of abandoned structures.

Christianity: (and politics) an insightful review of a book on Christian nationalism, by Tim Keller.

Christianity Today has an article about Henrietta Mears, who, in many ways, founded the 20th-century evangelical movement, and was a positive force for Christ. Billy Graham probably would never have come to prominence without her influence. (I'd never heard of her.)

Relevant reports on a survey that indicates that pastors are leaving churches because a significant portion of their attendees have become QAnon believers.

Christianity Today has an article urging redress of sentencing guidelines that have been unfair to African-Americans.

Computing: (and Education) Gizmodo reports that lots of children (and adults) still don't have internet access.

Health: Gizmodo reports that diphtheria infections are on the rise, because of mutated bacteria.

NPR reports that the frequency of alcohol-caused liver disease in young women has risen sharply.

Politics: (and Health, and Race) FiveThirtyEight examines the reasons why African-Americans are getting vaccinated against COVID less. It's not because they don't trust the shots, but because many of them lack internet access for signing up, and because distribution centers are less likely to be close to where they live.

Science: Gizmodo reports that some deep-sea bacteria are "invisible" to human immune systems. That is, they are not recognized as foreign, and attacked. This could be dangerous.

Gizmodo also reports that rainbows look different in Hawaii, and tells us why. (The article also explains rainbows, wherever they are.)

A mosquito, which carries human infectious diseases, has entered Florida from elsewhere, according to NPR.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!