Sunspots 878

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

Christianity: (or something) Relevant describes how well-meaning people have followed being against sex trafficking into conspiracy theories like QAnon.

Finances: NPR reports that large corporations are avoiding paying damages by spinning off a subsidiary to take over the lawsuits, and then declaring that the subsidiary is bankrupt, even though the parent corporation has plenty of money, and, in some cases, has done plenty of damage.

Science: (or something) A flamingo that escaped from a zoo in Kansas in 2005 has been spotted in Texas, according to NPR. Another source says that the bird was identified by a video, which showed its leg band number.

Gizmodo reports that the human genome has been almost mapped (about 20 years ago, we were given the impression that that had been done. About 8% of the human genome was not sequenced at that time.)

The Scientist reports that some fish can react to "more objects than before," or "less objects than before," indicating perception of quantities.

The Scientist also reports that Chicago-area birds are nesting a few weeks earlier than they did a century ago, probably because of climate change.

And The Scientist reports that dwarf mongooses punish bullies by shunning them.

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 859

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

The Arts: (and humor) NPR has posted winners of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Award.

Christianity: (and politics) A Relevant writer makes a good case that "the media" are not massively anti-Christian, and warns against taking one issue (such as abortion) and making that the only issue.

A Christianity Today writer reflects on on-line giving of various sorts, as putting money in an offering plate becomes less common.

Another Christianity Today article describes the results of surveys which indicate that committed Christians are less likely to have sexual relations outside of marriage than was true in the recent past.

A blog post says that the term "evangelical" has been hi-jacked, and has come to mean, in many people's eyes, not a group of beliefs, but a certain kind of politics. The article says that there are people who identify themselves as "evangelical" who do not use the Bible as a guide, don't attend church, or who are actually Muslim or Hindu in belief.

Computing: FiveThirtyEight discusses disparities in exposure to environmental problems, such as toxic waste. Minority groups are more concerned about these matters than "average" persons.

Education: FiveThirtyEight reports that predicted teacher shortages didn't happen much (there have been some places where they did), and that teachers have become more vocal about safety and other issues in schools. (There have been serious shortages in bus drivers and other non-professional education staff.)

Finances: Gizmodo discusses the question of why gas prices are so high. It's complicated.

Health: CNN reports on the loss of smell in some people who have had COVID.

History: (and health) NPR goes over the history of vaccination requirements, all the way back to 1818. There have always been objections.

Politics: NPR discusses yet another book on the last days of the Presidency of Donald Trump. Some scary stuff.

I am not making this up. Gizmodo reports that hundreds of QAnon cultists gathered at the site of the assassination of President J. F. Kennedy. Why? They were expecting Kennedy's son (who died in a plane accident several years ago) to appear and announce that Donald Trump is the legitimate President. It didn't happen.

There's an update to the previous article, here, and it's serious.

Science: An anonymous donor (!) gave a large, poisonous spider, with fangs strong enough to pierce a human fingernail, to an Australian animal park.

There are YouTube videos, such as this one, showing the annual crab migration in Australia, which involves millions of red crabs.

Gizmodo tells us about examples of animals from two different species cooperating for the benefit of both.

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 837

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

Health: (and politics) An NPR graphic (with accompanying text) indicates that people living in Red states are considerably less likely to have been vaccinated for COVID than those living in Blue states.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight discusses QAnon beliefs, and points out that some of them have been around for decades, before QAnon was identified.

Science: The Scientist, and other outlets, report that rotifers, frozen in Siberian ice for 24,000 years, are still alive, and even able to reproduce.

NPR reports that a fossil dinosaur as long as a basketball court has been found in Australia.

NPR also reports that several varieties of apple, thought to have disappeared, still exist.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 835

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

Christianity: (sort of) and Politics: Relevant reports on a recent study of who believes QAnon conspiracy theories. Too many Christians.

Computing: (or something) Relevant reminds us that pornography and sex trafficking are evils that are closely linked, and are all too common.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight on the so-called audit of the 2020 election, in Arizona.

Science: Gizmodo and The Scientist report on research on microbes in subways around the world. Thousands of new organisms were discovered, and different cities have different subway microbe populations.

Science reports that dolphins are able to cooperate, and call others to help them, recognizing other dolphins by their signature calls.

Gizmodo reports that a California bobcat was able to find a nesting spot for her kittens after a devastating fire.

Gizmodo also reports on dropping population sizes of Florida manatees.

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!

sunspots 821

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

Christianity: Relevant tells us why Lent matters.

Education: Listverse tells us about three-dimensional shapes.

Politics: Politico describes some case studies of QAnon believers.

Relevant debunks conspiracy theorists who claim that the snow in Texas was fake. (And that Bill Gates was responsible for it.)

Science: The Scientist reports that researchers in four countries have been able to communicate (in both directions) with subjects who are asleep and dreaming.

The Scientist also reports on experiments that show that dogs have awareness of their own bodies. This seems obvious, but isn't really.

DNA from a cave bear, about 360,000 years old, has been recovered, and usable sequence information has been found, according to Gizmodo. The cave was not in permafrost, from which much older DNA has been recovered.

The AP reports that an almost extinct ferret species has been given more potential genetic variety by a clone of an animal dead for a few decades.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 818

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

Christianity: Relevant has a good article on who should take care of the poor.

Christianity Today reports that about half of Protestant pastors say that they have heard a conspiracy theory from one or more parishioners. Relevant reports on the same survey, but is not fully satisfied with the methodology of the survey.

Relevant on why we need Black History Month.

Health: NPR reports that a Corona virus variant strain found in Brazil may be able to evade vaccination doses currently in use.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight has posted an analysis of what adherents of QAnon are likely to do now.

Relevant tells us several things (or people) that (or who) are labeled "socialist" really aren't.

Science: The Scientist reports on all the known (so far) variants of the COVID-19 virus.

Tiny chameleons have been discovered in Madagascar, says Gizmodo.

Gizmodo also reports on organisms that could probably survive a nuclear attack. (Humans wouldn't)

(and race) The Wikipedia article on Kizzmekia Corbett, an African-American scientist who played a key role in the development of COVID vaccine.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 817

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

The Arts: Speculative Faith has an article on Tolkien and fighting evil.

Christianity: (and politics) Christianity Today considers prophecies that Trump would win the 2020 election.

Computing: Gizmo's Freeware points us to a PDF reader that allows some editing, etc.

Environment: Gizmodo says that President Biden's environmental plans don't deal with the accumulation of plastic.

Gizmodo also reports that lots of gray whales are dying, perhaps from lack of food.

Politics: (and computing) Gizmodo has a piece, with sample posts, on how QAnon followers are taking the Biden inauguration.

Relevant reports that gun violence went up in 2020.

Science: Gizmodo reports that quieter Velcro has been produced.

Gizmodo also reports on the discovery of large holes made by prehistoric carnivorous worms.

Sports: FiveThirtyEight on how great recently deceased Henry Aaron was.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 796

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

Christianity: Relevant reports that some Christians were seriously put off  by Vice-President Pence, "whose Wednesday address raised eyebrows for paraphrasing Hebrews 12 (which is fine), but swapping out the biblical language for patriotic buzzwords (which is not)."

Christianity Today has two articles on what the Bible says about police and policing. The articles are here and here.

(and Sports) Christianity Today also has a discussion of the role of Christian athletes, mostly black, but some white, in the racial justice movement, over the past few decades. There's very little mention of women, unfortunately.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that wolverines, which have been absent from the area for a century, have returned to Mount Rainier.

Gizmodo also reports on a study that shows humans have about as large a footprint in the oceans as they do on land.

Health: Gizmodo expands on the six foot/two meter social distancing guideline.

Gizmodo also reports on the puzzling change in COVID testing guidelines, from the Centers for Disease Control.

The Huffington Post takes on the claim that only 6% of those said to have died from COVID actually died of it. It's complicated, but one quote: "Since March, when the pandemic started, the United States has suffered 200,000 more deaths than usual."

Politics: (And religion, unfortunately) Christianity Today points out the dangers of QAnon.

Science: The Scientist reports on an attempt to cut down on dengue fever, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, in Indonesia. Mosquitoes infected with bacteria were released, and the frequency of dengue fever dropped dramatically.

Listverse tells us about some amazing mushrooms.

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

Thanks for looking!