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.

The Six-Day War in Creationism, by Gene Nouhan

There are several books that seriously criticize Young-Earth Creationism, as it is taught by Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis (AiG), and others. The Six-Day War in Creationism: A New Critique of the Young Earth Reform Movement and Its Excesses is the most thorough such book that I have read. It's also the longest. The length and content of that title gives a hint of that thoroughness, and length. 

Author Gene Nouhan  carefully considers the meaning of the Bible's original languages, and concludes that the Bible wasn't meant to say that the earth is but a few thousand years old, and doesn't. His related main criticism of the Young-Earth Creationism (YEC) movement is that its advocates do not usually explicitly claim that you have to agree with them for your eternal salvation, but that they argue so strongly for a YEC interpretation (never mind the lack of evidence) that the message that comes across is that only YEC believers can be saved.

Nouhan doesn't attempt to rule out a six day creation by examining scientific evidence. Others have done so, explaining that a young earth isn't consistent with geological, biological, or paleological findings. Nouhan's base is the original words in the Bible, as far as we can know them. I am not a scholar of biblical language, but Nouhan seems convincing. He calls upon logic and common sense.

Two other books that I recommend are not as thorough, but seem sound in Biblical scholarship, and make some important points. (Mis)interpreting Genesis: How the Creation Museum Misunderstands the Ancient Near Eastern Context of the Bible, by Ben Stanhope, deflates claims from AiG that the Bible teaches that dinosaurs were contemporary with people in Noah's time, based on his analysis of the language of the Old Testament. Why does AiG make such claims? One possibility is that they genuinely believe that the Bible teaches that. Another possibility is that, as a culture, we are excited by dinosaurs -- see Jurassic Park, etc., the Flintstones, news reports on newly discovered fossils, and many other phenomena -- and that AiG is using this fascination to raise interest, attendance, and money. Stanhope considers archaeology, and some of the sciences, as well as history. An important sample is 

It’s historically outrageous to suppose a global flood ... [is] supposed to have managed to blast out the Grand Canyon in North America and fossilize the dinosaurs in Uzbekistan but couldn’t put a dent in the Sphinx at Giza or other hundreds of Egyptian sites and entire civilizations constructed far earlier and well documented as alive and well through this period. If you accept the calculation that a global flood occurred in 2300 BC, you absurdly end up having to compress or explain away nearly all of the world’s chronological and archaeological evidence dating to before the middle of the Egyptian Old Kingdom period.

The Heresy of Ham: What Every Evangelical Needs to Know About the Creation-Evolution Controversy, by Joel Edmund Anderson, argues that AiG believes, and teaches, that Young-Earth Creationism is one of the foundational beliefs of the church, which belief is a heresy. Here's a quotation from the book:

... heresy is not limited to simply wrong teaching about something. It also can involve undue emphasis of a particular theological point or view, and actually elevate a secondary or non-essential issue to a level of primacy, equal to the resurrection of Christ.

And Anderson (and Nouhan) believe that AiG and those it influences and agrees with have done exactly that.

Nouhan's book is not perfect. There are a few things that the editor missed, such as using "tenant" when "tenet" was what was meant. The acronym SDWC is commonly used, but never expanded. (It means "Six Day War in Creationism," of course. There are hundreds of footnotes. Some of them, to web sources, don't give the UUL but give the site's name (Answers in Genesis, for example) and the date. Some of those sources would be hard to fine. Some footnotes are not to an outside source, but give part of Nouhan's argument. I'm not clear as to why these are not part of the main text. Finally, Nouhan overuses italics. When it doubt, italicize, seems to be his thinking. These are minor flaws, or maybe flaws at all. It's a good book.

Thanks for reading!

The following graphic does not directly relate to this post, but it's my blog. It's impossible to take Genesis 1 and 2 as two straightforward sequential lists of events:

 

Sunspots 845

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

Finances: Apparently, some Amazon third-party sellers are

pressuring purchases to change negative reviews, according to Gizmodo.

Health: It shouldn't surprise anyone that the US has the worst healthcare among the top 10 industrialized nations. (Report in Relevant, Report in Gizmodo)

History: Gizmodo reports on the first known coins, which were made in China about 2600 years ago.

Humor: (or something) Gizmodo reports on a dishwasher than doesn't need to be directly attached to the plumbing.

Science: Gizmodo reports that birds sometimes pluck hair from animals and use it in nest-building.

Gizmodo also reports that giraffes have an elaborate social structure, on a par with those of elephants and chimpanzees.

Gizmodo tells us that methane is a big contributor to global climate change.

The Scientist reports that scientists have been able to send mouse sperm by regular mail. Such sperm were able to fertilize mouse eggs.

The Scientist also reports that many species of animals (including humans) have genes from species that are now extinct. Examples include dogs and pigs.

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 691

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

The Arts: (And Science) Gizmodo reports that scientists have sketched the Mona Lisa using bacteria. Really.

Christianity: A theologian discusses "God and Creation." The essay is a readable summary of theology, and inspiring.


Education: A Scientific American writer tells us why STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) students also need the humanities. And it isn't "to make you more well-rounded."

History: The BBC reports that the recent weather in the UK  has made it possible to discover important historical, or pre-historical, sites from the air. There are photos. I thank one of my brothers for this link.

Politics: Gizmodo reports that the US Defense Department is preparing for climate change. The report also notes that "climate change" was not a phrase found in the Defense Authorization bill. "Environmental Condition Projections" was used.

World Magazine reports on how the administration of Liberty University suppressed articles in the student-run campus newspaper.

Scientific American has an essay on the types of work that immigrants do (and don't do).

ListVerse reports on 10 border walls no one talks about. (At least they don't make US news reporting.)

Michael Gerson comments on the current President, who is a celebrity, not famous -- there's a difference, he says.

Science: Christianity Today reports on a Pew Research study, which found that Christians aren't much different than other US citizens, in their views on the applications of genetic technology. (Mostly negative) The respondents were mostly in favor of using genetic engineering to wipe out dangerous mosquitoes.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 690

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

Christianity: Relevant on what to do when you don't like reading the Bible.

Relevant also tells us that we never marry the right person, in an excerpt from a book by Timothy Keller.

And Relevant has an article on the dangers of trying to please people.

BioLogos has posted quotes from some important Christians who believed that evolution and Christian faith were compatible.


Computing: New Scientist reports on a study of on-line dating behavior: what age persons get most inquiries, and more.

History: Listverse tells us about some ancient (mostly prehistoric) household items, including the first toy car.


Politics: National Public Radio reports that the Trump administration is in the process of taking away regulations that would protect military personnel from predatory lending practices.

Science: I am not making this up. Some scientists have recently been considering what the earth would be like if it was made of blueberries. How would it form, etc.? See here, here, and especially here.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 688

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

Christianity: A female Christianity Today writer, who had a homosexual relationship in the past, discusses how to deal with other women in a homosexual relationship, with compassion.


Computing: Gizmodo on what Chromebook computers can and can't do, as compared to the more expensive Apple and Windows devices.

Gizmodo also warns about letting our information appliances get too hot.

And Gizmodo reports that face recognition software from Amazon wrongly indicated that 28 member of the US Congress (out of 535) were criminals. Furthermore, errors were more likely for non-white members.

Health: Gizmodo, and other sources, say we don't apply sunscreen correctly.

National Public Radio tells us that, in most cases, tap water is just as good for us as filtered or bottled water, or better, and it's better for the environment.

Humor: The Wikipedia reported that US Senator Orrin Hatch has died. He hasn't.

Science: The BBC says that because of a recent heatwave, some amazing archaeological features have been discovered in the UK.

The BBC also reports on that after-the-rain smell. (Thanks to one of my brothers for these two links!)

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 662

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

Christianity: (And politics) A Christianity Today writer takes Jerry Falwell, Jr., to task for defending President Trump's sexual indiscretions on dubious scriptural ground.


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware recommends a program that checks your Windows computer for vulnerability to the Spectre and Meltdown malware, recently discovered to be dangerous, with vulnerability built in to many information appliances. (The computer I'm using now is not vulnerable, probably due to some recent updates.)

Wired doesn't think Facebook is going to do much better than it has on feeding users reliable news. [Personal note: I glance at the Facebook news feed about once every two weeks, and never click on something. After such a glance, I search for the topic, maybe once every couple of months. Facebook is not a good way to get news.]

National Public Radio discusses best "screen time" practices for parents, including a quiz. Oh, oh.

Health: (or something. A YouGov survey reveals that a lot of us don't make our beds every day.

History: Listverse describes some recent archeological discoveries related to the ancient Greek civilization.

Politics:  National Public Radio reports that several top positions in the Trump administration (such as an ambassador to South Korea) have not been filled, and that morale among federal employees is low.

NPR also reports that the Trump administration is continuing protection for some lands in Alaska. Good for them!

Science: Listverse on ideas about whether life exists elsewhere in the universe.


Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 634

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

Christianity: Relevant has an essay, "Can Patriotism Become Idolatry?"

Relevant also has an article on why the Travel Ban is misguided, and points out that "just 12 percent of American evangelicals say that their views on immigration-related issues are primarily influenced by the Bible." (The Bible has over 30 passages that relate to treating strangers and aliens with charity.)


Ethics: In case you hadn't heard, Hobby Lobby illegally imported artifacts from Iraq, and Sojourners, and other outlets, say that they must have known that what they were doing was wrong.

Health: The Scientist tells us what changes happen when we fast.

History: National Public Radio tweeted the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, and several people took that as an attack on President Trump. (NPR has been posting the Declaration on July 4th for several years.)

Humor: (or Architecture): Wired reports on a building with elevators that can go up, down, sideways, and slantways, and the advantages of having such elevators. No cables, either.
 

Politics: Oh, dear. The US Embassy in Afghanistan refused temporary visas for a team of six schoolgirls, who were seeking to enter an international robotics competition in the US. They don't look like terrorists . . .
Update: on July 13, National Public Radio reports that the girls have been allowed to compete in the US, through direct intervention by President Trump.

Science: Listverse tells us about different types of twins, including one case of "twins" born to two different mothers.




Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 608

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

The Arts: From "The Writer's Almanac," a fine poem on fish.

Christianity: Benjamin L. Corey wishes that atheists would stop talking about Christians in some ways that aren't really valid.


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware evaluates some free video editing software.

Christianity Today warns against using "Jesus," "john316," and the like as passwords. They're too easy to guess.

And Christianity Today reports that Amazon's Alexa will read the Bible, or from a variety of daily devotionals, on command.

Food: Scientific American reports that eating certain foods makes men more attractive to women.

Health: Scientific American, and many more outlets, report that scientists are now recommending that all babies be exposed to peanuts.

History: Listverse reports on 10 interesting things found below present-day cities.

Science: Listverse reports on "10 fascinating wonders of Antarctica."

The BBC reports on research which may lead to growing our own dental fillings, rather than having them made of foreign materials, and put in by dentists.

Sports: Relevant reports on a 105-year-old cyclist.


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 593

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

Christianity: A Relevant contributor, who used to be sexually active, has been celibate for three years.

Another Relevant contributor has written an essay on how to cope with lust after you are married.


Computing: (and Politics) Donald Trump, Jr., is not the only politician (or helper of one) accused of violating copyright, but he is one who has done so recently, according to National Public Radio. He used a Flickr photo, which is here, and is labelled "all rights reserved." I am a member of Flickr, but have not reserved all rights to my photos.

Health: National Public Radio reports on a doctor who confessed, years after the fact, to lying to protect another doctor in a malpractice case. The report suggests that such happenings are not rare, or not rare enough.

NPR also reports that life spans are no longer continuing to lengthen, and why.

History: You've probably seen, heard, and read about the National Museum of African American History and Culture. If you haven't, you should have.


Politics: National Public Radio has posted a transcript of the first Presidential debate, interspersed with fact checking.

The New York Times reports that, even after Mr. Trump's announcement affirming it, a significant number of citizens don't believe that President Obama was born in the U. S. (The number has gone down.)

Listverse has posted 10 dark secrets of Hillary Clinton, and 10 dark secrets of Donald Trump. God help us!

Science: An article on how archaeologists can study what dead people ate, from Listverse.

For all the uproar (sometimes) about genetic engineering of food crops, there have been few examples used commercially. One of these, making corn resistant to rootworms, is starting to fail -- the rootworms are evolving into having resistance. (Scientists predicted this would happen, but the seed companies didn't listen to them.) Another source of a resistance gene has been found.


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 572

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



Christianity: Christianity Today reports that only about one-third of Protestant pastors in the US believe in a literal rapture before a literal tribulation.

Cal Thomas, conservative, Christian, and syndicated columnist, on why Christians should not depend on politics to fix our problems.

Computing: Gizmo's Freeware reports, briefly, on a free substitute for Office.

The Environment: From Wired: “Trying to solve congestion by making roadways wider is like trying to solve obesity by buying bigger pants.” But, in a special case, widening highways seems to have helped traffic flow.

Food: Relevant reports that someone has invented a pizza box made out of pizza.

Health: National Public Radio and other sources report that you can get the same surgery for considerably different prices in different places in the US.

History: A viking longship, powered by sail and oars, has set sail from Norway to North America, according to the History Blog.

An airconditioning system has been found in a tower in Kuwait, dating to about the 7th century, according to the History Blog.

Listverse discusses 10 cases where Muslims, Jews, and Christians protected each other.

Science: Listverse describes 10 bizarre insect predators. The post includes videos of some of these creatures.

 
Image source (public domain)

Seeker, by Jack McDevitt

"Margolia is a world of gleaming cities and impossible architecture. Its citizens enjoy a life of absolute leisure. (How they'd stand it isn't explained.)" Jack McDevitt, Seeker. New York: Ace, 2006, p. 108.

Seeker won the Nebula award for 2006. I try to read all the Nebula award books. As usual, I'll try to avoid giving away the plot, but muse a bit about some aspects of the book.

This is McDevitt's web page. It includes chapter 14 of the book.

The front cover quotes Stephen King, on McDevitt: "The logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke." In other words, King believes that the most important part of McDevitt's stories is the science. I generally prefer Ursula K. Le Guin's writing, where the most important part of the stories is the people. Clarke invented the synchronous orbiting relay satellite, fictionally. However, let's not forget that Le Guin, in spite of her concern for her characters, invented the ansible, also fictionally. Both are concerned with communication. McDevitt's people are OK. They are more than just cardboard. The protagonist in Seeker is Chase Kolpath, a former space pilot. She is now the assistant to Alex Benedict, who finds, or trades, valuable artifacts. I haven't read the previous books in this series, A Talent for War and Polaris, but I believe the first of these is written as a memoir by Alex. The second and third are written as if by Chase. She is more than a Watson to Alex's Holmes -- she has many of the adventures, and some of the ideas.

There are lots of possible artifacts in Chase's world, since it's about 9,000 years in our future, and humans are living on hundreds of planets. Rimway is the name of her planet. It has almost no crime. Criminals have their brains wiped -- their personality is mostly destroyed, and they are given, as it were, another start in life. Most everyone has an AI, an artificial intelligence, to deal with routine matters, even some non-routine ones. Simulated people take many of the service roles, such as restaurant waiters.

One question I always have, when entering such a world, is "how does the author treat religion?" McDevitt almost totally ignores it, but does include this:
It was a religious ceremony. A priest requested the blessings of the Almighty on the happy couple, and led them in their vows. The best man produced the ring, Adam slipped it on her finger, she waltzed into his arms, and they kissed. p. 77.

Who is getting married isn't important here. McDevitt does assume that there will be some religion, probably Christianity, even in the far future, and that it will have some importance in the lives of at least some people. That's more than many science fiction authors have done.

The quote also shows a weakness in McDevitt's work. Much of what people do and are, their customs and habits, read as if they haven't changed in hundreds of lightyears and thousands of years. That strikes me as very unrealistic. Surely the marriage ceremony would have changed a lot in that time! I know -- if McDevitt had changed everything as much as it's probably going to change, the plot would have gotten lost in all of those societal changes. And it's unrealistic to expect any author to be able to extrapolate changes in every aspect of how we eat, entertain ourselves, how we are named, etc., into the future.

God also appears in this famous quote (famous in the sense that it has been remembered for millennia, in McDevitt's fictional world):
We are leaving this world forever, and we intend to go so far that not even God will be able to find us. p. 133.

One technological extrapolation is avatars -- it is possible to take what is known about someone, even someone long dead, and produce a projected 3-D view of that person. The projection is able to converse, with ideas more or less like the original person would have, depending on how much is known about the original.

How do we treat the relics of our past? We plunder them, we hoard them, we exhibit them in museums, we profit from them, we show them off without understanding them, we casually trash them. That is a central theme of this book, and it is well worth thinking about.

McDevitt is a good read. I had a hard time putting the book down by the time I got to about page 250 (out of 373). There were two previous Chase Kolpath books, A Talent for War and Polaris. I hope to read them.

Thanks for reading.