Sunspots 920

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

Christianity: A Christianity Today writer says that the American church should celebrate diversity, not shun it.

Computing: The US State Department is changing fonts/typefaces, and not everyone is happy about it.

Gizmodo gives us a primer on ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence tool.

Education: (and computing) a Gizmodo author argues that teachers should adapt to writing generated by artificial intelligence, rather than trying to stamp that out.

Finances: NPR tells us why the price of eggs has gone up so much.

Politics: A writer for The Conversation analyzes Florida Governor DeSantis's injustice denial.

Science: Gizmodo reports that the amount of artificial light at night is rapidly making it more difficult to see stars.

NPR reports that we may be choosing the wrong kinds of stones to skip across water.

According to the MIT Technology Review, an alligator gene has been added to catfish, making them more resistant to infections. (Lots of catfish are eaten in the US).

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

Thanks for reading.

Living under diverse leaders

My wife and I have had the experience of living under, or being represented by:

the first African-American President

the first female governor of South Carolina, who also came from a family of Asians

the first African-American Senator from the deep South, since reconstruction

the first female Vice-President, who is also from both African and Asian ancestry

the first African-American governor of Maryland has been elected, and will become governor soon, God willing.

All of these have been competent leaders. Not perfect, and I haven't, and won't, agree with them all, but it's a privilege to live in a country where these things have taken place.

The diversity of God's creation

I have been struck by the number of times that the Bible is inclusive about God's creation, in reference to how good it is, and, I believe, to our responsibility to care for all of it. (See here and here for posts on what the Bible says about environmental stewardship.)

Genesis 1 concludes by saying that everything God had made was very good.

In Genesis 6:19-20, God's instructions to Noah were to have representatives of all of the animals on the ark. (I have questions about Noah's flood, a lot of questions. One of them is as to whether the flood was world-wide or not. I'm not sure. But I am sure that Noah thought it was, and, therefore, he must have believed that he needed to preserve all the animals from the area around him, if not from the entire earth.)

In Psalm 24:1, the Psalmist tells us that the entire earth, and the things that live on it, belong to God.

Psalm 104:24-25 attempts, in two verses, to describe the amazing diversity that God created. It also says that God made them all in His wisdom.

Colossians 1:15-20 speaks of Christ, and says that He created all things, and that He holds all things together.

All things were made good, in God's wisdom. Therefore, we have a responsibility to preserve them.

Thanks for reading.

Leaves: on uniformity and diversity

I confess--I have taught botany a few times. No doubt it is showing.

I have no idea how many leaves there are in the world, but there must be trillions, at least. Don't forget, grass blades are leaves.

Leaves are Uniform
Most leaves have, as their main function, photosynthesis, trapping light and turning the energy into chemical energy stored as food. Since light can't travel very far in a leaf, leaves aren't very thick--the under parts of thick leaves would be useless in photosynthesis if they were.

Photosynthesis requires, in addition to light, various enzymes and pigments. It also requires two common raw materials, namely Carbon Dioxide and water. Almost all leaves need a reliable supply of water, carried up from the roots. The roots, and other non-green parts, require food. They get it carried down from the leaves. The carrying apparatus has sturdy cells, which withstand water pressure. These groups of sturdy cells make up the veins of leaves. The transportation apparatus also serves to hold the leaf relatively flat, and spread it out, which means that it can absorb more sunlight.

Leaves are uniform in the sense that most of them are thin green objects with thickened veins. That's probably the best way leaves could be.

Leaves are Diverse
I don't have to tell you that. Different species of plants have different shapes of leaves. Leaves are different shapes on the same plant, depending on how old they are, and a lot of other things, some, no doubt, chance. Leaves are different colors, even on the same plant. They are also different sizes.

I can't prove it, of course, but I suspect that there have never been two exactly identical leaves in the history of the world. (See here for a discussion of this subject, on snowflakes.)

Leaves are both uniform and diverse.

God loves both uniformity and diversity.

Some of the evidence for uniformity has to do with living things. Genesis 1, in the KJV, uses "after his kind," repeatedly. Now, we don't really know what correspondence, if any, there is between that phrase and scientific terms such as species and genus. But I think it is reasonable to assume that oaks and, say, daisies, are not the same kind. They don't have the same leaves. But oak leaves, at least those of the same species, have considerable uniformity. With experience, we can match most fallen leaves to their source. The leaves of one kind of plant are alike. There is uniformity there.

Some of the evidence has to do with God's people. They were uniform, as well, in intention and action, at least some times. Exodus 24:3 says that the congregation agreed unanimously to keep the covenant. (They didn't, of course) Acts 2:1 and 2:46 say that the early church was united in spirit.

God loves diversity
The Psalmist, in 104:24-25, wrote
O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
[So is] this great and wide sea, wherein [are] things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

We don't know how many species there are. It is likely that most of them are unclassified. Informed estimates range as high as 30 million. Apparently many species used to exist, but are extinct.

God loves diversity in the church. Apparently the early church had diversity of gifts, of temperaments, and of ethnic extraction. It still should. We must also be uniform in our acknowledgement of Jesus as Lord.