Sunspots 1000

 

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

Joel Duff has posted another serious article about why there are no dinosaurs now, if they survived the Flood. 

Gozmodo reports that pedestrians prefer to make choices to the left. We don't know why.

SciTech Daily discusses how a large stone was probably moved a few hundred kilometers to its current location in Stonehenge.

Relevant reports on a planned examination of what could be the remains of Noah's Ark. I tried to find a reference to this endeavor on the Answers in Genesis web site, but did not find such. (There are a lot of references to Noah's Ark!) There have been a number of studies, using various means, proposed, and perhaps carried out, and, so far, there don't seem to be any unambiguous remains of the Ark.

Thanks for reading.

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 945

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

Environment: (or something) A Conversation writer tells us why our houses often feel hotter than the thermostat says.

Health: Gizmodo reports that as little as 4000 steps a day will probably add to your length of life.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight discusses how Trump's indictments and trials are likely to affect his presidential campaigning.

Conversation reports on a study about the effect of living near confederate monuments.

Some Conversation writers argue that Trump is being treated much better than the ordinary accused criminal. That's not what he says.

Science: A Conversation report discusses using pig heart structures as sources of heart transplant material.

Gizmodo reports on some strange-looking animals, from around Antarctica, discovered for the first time.

Another Conversation report details another approach to treating cancer

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

Thanks for reading.

 

Sunspots 874

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

Computing: Gizmodo reports that Russia is encouraging software piracy, as part of their attack on Ukraine and the West.

Education: Listverse plays 10 strange animal sounds.

Environment: The Scientist reports that the Amazon Rain Forest may be on the verge of turning into a Savannah ecosystem.:

Health: Fox News reports on a study that indicates that taking daily walks helps prevent Alzheimer's.

Humor: (sort of) Relevant lists over a dozen strangely specific Bibles, such as a camouflaged one.

Science: Gizmodo reports that a Martian rock seems to be stuck in one of the wheels of a Mars rover.

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 594

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

Christianity: Benjamin L. Corey claims that the US is not hostile toward Christianity, but hostile toward Christians who try to bully others into certain kinds of behavior.


Computing: Several companies in the information sector are working together with public representatives to develop ethics guidelines for artificial intelligence, according to reports by National Public Radio and other sources.

Gizmo's Freeware has posted an updated and annotated list of the best free apps, including, for example, substitutes for Word and Excel, and games, and many more.

Finance: Scientific American reports that Congress, with a bill backed by members of both parties (!) will probably pass legislation that helps prevent people who have lost property in a flood from continuing to receive federally backed insurance payments when they re-build in the same place. The worst case mentioned is a home that has had 34 damage claims in 32 years, whose owner has been paid about ten times the property's value over that time period.

Food: Cup noodles are 45 years old. NPR reports on their history and culture (and also on Ramen noodles).

Health: National Public Radio reports on the value of walking for health, especially in older people.

History: Listverse presents 10 amazing stories of survival in the Arctic.


Humor: (or not) The Conversation on why some of us think clowns are creepy.

Real humor: An amazing rope trick video.




Politics: NPR reports on the question of whether fact checks matter.
Science: NPR reports that an environmentally cleaner car may actually cost less.
Scientific American reports that 8-month-old babies are able to understand more than we might expect, and to use communication with adults.

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 502

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
Christianity (and Astronomy): Reviews of a book about "Blood Moons" by John Hagee, claiming that eclipses are a sign that something important is going to happen to Israel, and it's about to happen. The reviews demolish the book's thesis thoroughly.
Health: Walking is good for you. It's a lot easier in some places. You can determine the "Walk Score" of any address here.
Science: A reporter for National Public Radio had her gut bacteria, and those of her husband, mother, and dog, analyzed.
NPR reports on dwarf galaxies, some quite near (in astronomical terms) to us.
The University of Aberdeen has posted a video of creatures living in the Mariana Trench, which is as much as 10,000 meters (nearly 7 miles) below sea level.
NPR reports that there may be a connection between what we hear and how we taste food.


 Image source (public domain)

halfway to the Sky, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

I recently posted about Leap of Faith, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Since then, I have read, and liked, her halfway to the Sky. Leap of Faith was about coming to faith in God. I found no mention of worship, or faith, in this book.

I'm giving away much of the plot of this one.

So what is it about? It is about a twelve-year-old girl, trying to get over the death of her older brother from Muscular Dystrophy, and her parents' divorce. Dani tries to run away by hiking the Appalachian Trail. (Her real name is Katahdin. Her brother's was Springer. Her parents met and married on the Trail. Springer Mountain is at the Georgia end, Mt. Katahdin at the Maine end.)

Dani's mother finds her, shortly after the beginning of the Trail in Georgia. Dani has prepared carefully, buying gear, hiking clothing, and food. Her mother has come quickly, without preparation. The mother decides to walk the Trail with Dani. Dani gradually comes to understand her mother, her brother's death, her father, even her father's new wife, and herself. A friend she made early on the trail comes to let her down badly, emotionally. A new friend, an older woman who is a cancer survivor, comes to be valued by both Dani and her mother. Her father helps them both out in unexpected ways.

Because of Dani's mother's work, they cannot walk the whole Trail. However, a person who walks part of the Trail at a time is recognized as a thru-hiker, if they walk the entire Trail, just as much as one who goes the entire way at one time. They plan to walk the next section of the Trail in a year or so.

At the end of the book, Dani has a new half-brother, and agrees to baby-sit him for her stepmother. Dani and her mother sell their house, and move into a cabin closer to the Trail. (They are still in Bristol, TN, which is within easy driving distance of the Trail.)

Bradley seems to be very knowledgable about Trail hiking. The book is divided by days, and each chapter is headed by how far Dani has walked that day, how far she has gone, in total, on the Trail, and the weather. There are a lot of details about dangers and joys in hiking, gear, food, and geography. I did not find this background boring, but quite interesting.

A splendid coming-of-age and family understanding book. (Although Dani hasn't reached 14 years old by the end.)

Thanks for reading. Read Bradley.

Thoreau on fairies

I took a walk on Spaulding’s Farm the other afternoon. I saw the setting sun lighting up the opposite side of a stately pine wood. Its golden rays straggled into the aisles of the wood as into some noble hall. I was impressed as if some ancient and altogether admirable and shining family had settled there in that part of the land called Concord, unknown to me,—to whom the sun was servant,—who had not gone into society in the village,—who had not been called on. I saw their park, their pleasure ground, beyond through the wood, in Spaulding’s cranberry-meadow. The pines furnished them with gables as they grew. Their house was not obvious to vision; the trees grew through it. I do not know whether I heard the sounds of a suppressed hilarity or not. They seemed to recline on the sunbeams. They have sons and daughters. They are quite well. The farmer’s cart-path, which leads directly through their hall, does not in the least put them out,—as the muddy bottom of a pool is sometimes seen through the reflected skies. They never heard of Spaulding, and do not know that he is their neighbor,—notwithstanding I heard him whistle as he drove his team through the house. Nothing can equal the serenity of their lives. Their coat of arms is simply a lichen. I saw it painted on the pines and oaks. Their attics were in the tops of the trees. They are of no politics. There was no noise of labor. I did not perceive that they were weaving or spinning. Yet I did detect, when the wind lulled and hearing was done away, the finest imaginable sweet musical hum,—as of a distant hive in May, which perchance was the sound of their thinking. They had no idle thoughts, and no one without could see their work, for their industry was not as in knots and excrescences embayed.
- "Walking," by Henry David Thoreau. Chapter XIII of Matthews, Brander, ed. The Oxford Book of American Essays. 1914. Public Domain.

Thanks for reading.

Walking in the Bible

I did a search on the word "walk" in the English Standard Version of the Bible. How was the word used? What were the meanings? (Yesterday's post was on walking in 2006, for exercise.)

The word occurs a few hundred times, depending on how you count various forms of it.

One meaning was the ordinary one of going from place to place on foot. The first such reference is Genesis 3:8, which says that God walked in the Garden of Eden. There are many other examples of such use, including the beginning of the story of David and Bathsheba, which began with David walking on his roof, and looking around as he did so. (2 Samuel 11:2)

Another meaning is in the sense of accompanying God, as in Genesis 5, which says that Enoch walked with God, and was, apparently, so God-like that God took him to heaven. In Leviticus 26, God tells the Israelites that 3 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them . . ." certain good things will follow. The same chapter, which has 10 occurrences of walk, in one form or another, also promises that God will walk with the Israelites, and warns them of bad consequences if they don't walk with God. David is said to have walked with God, in this sense, in 1 Kings 3:14. There are many other examples of this sort of use.

Perhaps there is another meaning, which is to have certain kinds of experiences or emotions. This use occurs in the familiar Psalm 23, verse 4, which speaks of walking through the valley of the shadow of death. This is not a real walk, and it isn't accompanying anyone, it seems. It also occurs in Psalm 136:7, where the Psalmist speaks of walking through trouble.

The phrase, "walk in his integrity," occurs a few times in Proverbs, one being in Proverbs 20:7.

Isaiah 9:2 speaks of walking in darkness, then seeing light.

Jeremiah 23:14 speaks of walking in lies.

Most of the walk words in the gospels are in the literal sense, but there are exceptions, such as Mark 7:5, where the Pharisees ask why the disciples don't "walk in the tradition of the elders."

John uses walking in darkness and walking in light, as in John 8:12.

Here's Romans 8:4: "in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

Romans 14:15 speaks of walking in love. 2 Corinthians 5:7 speaks of walking by faith. Colossians 2:6 commands us to walk with him, him being Christ.

The word occurs in Revelation, too, more than once. In Revelation 3:4, Christ promises that His children will walk with Him in white.

I didn't find any great surprises, but I'm glad I did this study. Thanks for reading.

Mall Walking

walk distance marker
Originally uploaded by Martin LaBar.

My wife and I are mall walkers. As this article says, walking in a mall has several advantages, including safety, access to restrooms, and protection from the weather. (There are also disadvantages, such as access to food, hard surfaces, mind-numbing music, and having to drive several miles to get there.)

Most of us mall walkers are retired. Most of us don't move too fast. In spite of this, you can usually spot a fellow mall walker easily. Female mall walkers usually don't have purses/pocketbooks. Walkers head for an exit, but pivot and don't go out. Most walkers keep up a steady pace.

There are some vigorous and/or young mall walkers. Some walkers, some of them mall employees, walk on their lunch hour.

Mall walking has opened our eyes to some facets of human existence that we didn't know about. A substantial portion of mall walkers are handicapped in some way. We have seen people walking with walkers and Oxygen tanks. We have seen others that can't go very far before they have to sit down, and others that have to hold someone's hand while moving. We salute these brave souls, fighting against the ills of the flesh, usually losing, but fighting. Sometimes winning.

Merchants also seem to spot mall walkers easily. Those standing in the doorways and soliciting business usually ignore mall walkers. They tolerate us, even if we occasionally get in the way of real customers going between stores. They even make things convenient for us, as the photo above, taken in the Sunland Park Mall, El Paso, Texas, shows. Mall walkers are encouraged. Most malls open the outside doors early, to accomodate mall walkers before the stores open.

We also observe the merchants. Some of them we don't envy. Thank you, Lord, that I never had to sit or stand, hour after hour, waiting for the rare person who was interested in my merchandise! Thank you, also, that I'm able to walk.

Thanks for reading. My next post is on walking in the Bible.