Sunspots 1003

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

Gizmodo reports that sugar molecules have been detected in deep space. Note: These are not the kinds of sugar we use in cooking.

Gizmodo reports on occasions where President Trump claimed some event was actually staged using artificial intelligence, but the event really happened. 

Gizmodo also reports that ancient humans, living in Norway, caught fish and placed them in high bodies of water. Amazing! 

We get frequent (about 2 per week) calls suggesting that our Social Security benefits are not as great as they could be. I checked on-line, and these calls are scams. Hang up.

Sunspots 822

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

The Arts: Some Gizmodo writers discuss the question of why music moves us emotionally.

Christianity: Relevant has a disturbing article on the pervasiveness of pornography, and its effects (people who watch pornography are more likely to divorce, for one). The pervasiveness seems to be as 

Education: Grammarphobia on the history of the words grid and gridiron.

Finance: (or something) Gizmodo reports on an analysis which says that Texans have paid 28 billion dollars more for power, over the last few years, than they would have if their grid had been regulated like other grids.

Politics: Gizmodo reports on congressional hearings aimed to cut down on misinformation. It's an interesting read, pointing out more than one side's misinformation, but no conclusions were found.

NPR reports that Russian diplomats and their families left North Korea by way of a manually pushed rail handcart.

Science: Gizmodo reports that there are a lot of double stars in our galaxy, meaning that, on many planets, there would often be two sun shadows of the same object, or person.

Gizmodo also reports on studies of fossil dinosaurs. There aren't many fossils of medium-sized dinosaurs, and the reason seems to be that the young of Tyrannosaurus rex and similar forms out-competed them.

Gizmodo also reports on the development of flying drones, the size of a cicada.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 716

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

Christianity: Relevant asks whether Christians should participate in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Christianity Today, and other sources, report on a survey as to whether people believe that humans have evolved or not.

Cliff Sims, evangelical Christian and former White House Staffer, was interviewed by Christianity Today. He said that, although he supports the President on many things, he does not believe that Trump is a born-again Christian.

He Lives has a good post on "Christians and gambling."

The Houston Chronicle reports on sexual abuse by Southern Baptist youth pastors. Anything but a pretty picture.

Environment: The much-reported spending bill, recently signed into law, includes establishment of a new US National Park, Indiana Dunes NP, according to USA Today.

Finance: Robert J. Samuelson says that not many retirees live in poverty, or are anxious about their finances.

Health: NPR reports that microbes living in insects may be a source of new germ-fighting drugs.


History: Listverse tells us about the accomplishments of 10 African-American women, most of whom you probably have never heard of.

Humor: (or something) NPR reports on speed dating on a ski resort chairlift. Really.


Politics: NPR reports that the national debt is higher than it has ever been, and will almost certainly rise more.

A report in Scientific American on research that suggests that both left- and right-wing people are susceptible to Fake News.

Catherine Rampell suggests that we abolish Congress, and says why.

Science: Listverse reports on 10 interesting facts about frogs and toads.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain. 

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 668

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

The Arts: (And Christianity) A Christianity Today author, an expert on Madeleine L'Engle, discusses what she hopes is not lost in the film version of L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. (She had not seen the film, which opened on March 9.)

Christianity: A Relevant writer says that God takes happiness seriously, and that we should, too.

(and Computing) A blog post documents that some Christian (?) leaders are deliberately inflating their social media follower numbers.

(and politics) Relevant reports that officials of the National Association of Evangelicals, and of the Southern Baptist Convention, are urging Congress to adopt some solution for the so-called Dreamers.

Relevant also reported that Wayne State University has refused to allow Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship on campus, because IVCF requires its leaders to be Christian. IVCF sued, and, two days later, Christianity Today reported that the ban was dropped.

Christianity Today reports that a Christian Canadian couple had their foster children removed because they wouldn't teach them about the Easter Bunny. But that decision was overturned.

Ken Schenck makes his annual Biblical argument for women in ministry.

"We truly ought to give thanks to God that we are not more gorgeous than we are—or more intelligent, or more creative, or more rich, or more influential, or more wise, or more whatever ..." from an article in Christianity Today.



He Lives discusses the history of sola scriptura, as part of a series on biblical inerrancy, what it is and what it means.


Politics: The New Scientist reports that fake news travels much faster than real news.

Science: Gizmodo reports that older termites are placed in more risky situations, including in battles.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 665

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

The Arts: Gizmodo reports that Crayola is coming out with a pen that turns pieces of crayons into ink that will write on any surface.

Christianity: (Or, at least, outstanding generosity) Listverse tells 10 heartwarming stories of unselfishness, around the world.


Food: (and maybe Finance) Listverse tells us, and shows us, some really expensive desserts, such as a $1,685 Krispy Kreme doughnut.

Health: (and, maybe, humor) National Public Radio posts a poem about a woman who (really) had 14 roundworms in her eye.

Politics: Russian entities began sowing discord soon after the Florida school shooting, according to National Public Radio.

Science: (or something) Gizmodo reports that a California woman is suing her state for Bigfoot Denial.

Listverse has 10 facts about the Andromeda Galaxy. Gizmodo also has a post on this group of stars.

Gizmodo, and other outlets, report that some ants administer medical care to their wounded sisters.

Gizmodo also reports that we don't know when rabbits (some of them) became domesticated.

Sports: FiveThirtyEight examines what would happen if men and women skiers competed against each other.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 663

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

Computing: (And sports, and politics) Hackers are targeting the Winter Olympics, according to Wired.

National Public Radio, and other outlets, on the question of whether or not there is such a thing as screen addiction, and, if so, how important is it?

Health: (and food) NPR reports that eating leafy foods has significant positive health benefits.

History: There is a Presidential Culinary Museum, in Grover (apparently named after a President) North Carolina. Why not? Among other things, the institution has china from a number of first ladies.

Humor: (or something) Anyone can edit most Wikipedia pages. (I've done that myself) Listverse discusses 10 cases of feuding edits.

Literature: The Wired Guide to Star Wars.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight analyzes resignation by members of Congress, where there has been an unprecedented number of such, for various reasons.

Listverse discusses 10 examples of how Donald Trump has (they say) manipulated the news media, to his advantage.

NBC News reports that Christians have been arrested for providing water to immigrants crossing the border in the Southeast, and that federal agents have destroyed water caches left for immigrants crossing on foot.

David Brooks compares the US to a divided Germany, on the question of immigration access, or not, in the New York Times.

Science: Wired doesn't think the moon should be called blue, blood, or super.

Long Beach, California, is taking steps to cool down its temperature, in some interesting ways, says Wired.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 655

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

The Arts: According to Relevant, an upcoming "faith-based," and "pro-second amendment" movie is giving away an assault rifle as a promotion. Faith in what, or whom? Faith in the Christ who rebuked Peter for using a weapon, asked the Father to forgive His executioners, and admonished us to turn the other cheek, or faith in weapons? Perhaps I'm over-reacting . . .

Christianity: A Relevant writer discusses non-ideal family holiday get-togethers.

Christianity Today writes about how many Christians have fallen for fake news, and how to avoid this, and why it matters.

USA Today lists the 10 US states with the most generous people, and the 10 least generous.

Relevant discusses some myths about Christmas that lots of people believe to be true.


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware reports on a utility that searches through your recent searches -- when you remember that you found XYZ, but can't remember how.

Education: (sort of) National Public Radio investigates a high school which had every student accepted to college, whether they should have been, or not.

Politics: The Trump administration has agreed to participate in attempts to reduce some atmospheric emissions, according to Scientific American.

Wired discusses the dangers of attacking ethnic groups on social media, as President Trump recently did.

Two US Senators, one from each party, have jointly introduced legislation which would require the Department of Homeland Security to assist in making voting more secure from hacking, and help replace outdated equipment. Both Senators are on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

FiveThirtyEight discusses the cake-baking case, and how the religious right seems to have changed strategies, and its view of the political landscape.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 644

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

The Arts: National Public Radio reports on the most popular plays and musicals put on by high schools.

Christianity: A Christianity Today writer on the fallacy of spiritual gifts.

A Christianity Today writer says that there's no such thing as a "Christian numerologist," and that the world isn't going to end in the next few days.

Sojourners asks if we have ever heard a sermon about domestic violence. (I haven't)

Christianity Today summarizes the careers of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. It's a cautionary tale -- there, but for the grace of God, and vigilance on my part, go I (only not so far, I guess).

Relevant says that churches shouldn't try to be cool.


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware reminds us that, with a bit of tweaking, we can do a Google search for copyright-free images.

Wired reports on font detectives -- experts who evaluate the authenticity of printed materials based on the fonts used. For example, a document supposedly printed in 1980 is a fake if it uses a font created in 1995.

Relevant suggests a method for determining how authentic a web source is -- for example, identifying fake news.

History: Listverse discusses 10 Roman Emperors that you've probably never heard of.

(and mathematics, and philosophy) The History Blog reports that an Indian manuscript, using a precursor of what we call zero, or naught, dates to at 400 AD, or older. The post also discusses the rise of the modern understanding of zero.

Humor: (or something) National Public Radio reports on a 10-year-old boy who volunteered to mow the White House lawn for free, and got the chance, at 11 years old.


Politics: FiveThirtyEight has checked into how much of books by politicians that people actually read.

Relevant reports that white evangelical Christians have become remarkably more accepting of immoral behavior in politicians, in the last six years.

Science: (and Christianity) Ken Schenck reverently re-writes Genesis 1:1 in terms of modern science. (This probably won't be meaningful unless you have a pretty good science background. Schenck, who is Dean of a School of Theology, has such a background.) I posted about this essay two days ago, but it's important enough that I am mentioning it again.

The BBC tells us why it is so hard to swat a fly -- it has to do with the speed of their vision, and behavior.

I learned, from the Wikipedia, that there is an artificially produced element named for the state of Tennessee -- Tennesine, element 117.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 636

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


The Arts: Speculative Faith complains about the sex in Game of Thrones. (This is one of the reasons, but not the only one, I've never watched it, and that I long ago stopped reading the books.) Relevant also has an article seriously questioning whether Christians should watch Game of Thrones.

Christianity: An article in Relevant, about purity. It also explains why the Jewish Law existed.



Computing: Wired on how to stop receiving notifications of long, and irrelevant, Gmail threads.

Health: FiveThirtyEight tells us that many of us eat too often.

National Public Radio tells us that many drugs are still effective, long after their given expiration dates.

Scientific American argues that increasing taxes on alcohol would reduce violence, including suicide.

Humor: (sort of) Listverse reports on 10 famous entertainers who were told that they had no talent.

(or Science) A video of a song, about the elements of the periodic table.

Politics: Wired tells us that climate change denial threatens our defense capability.

Wired also reports on the Trump for President in 2020 campaign, which has paid (probably legally) over half a million dollars to Trump properties and businesses.

Politifact has a list of fake news sources. It's not all of them!

Christianity Today reports on a survey studying religious practice and belief against gun ownership.

Relevant reports on an evangelical pastor who has been arrested by ICE, for deportation. His wife and two small children are US citizens. Not exactly a "bad hombre."

Science: Listverse describes 10 recently discovered, but unexpected, phenomena in space.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 629

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

Christianity: Christianity Today points out, with some examples, that spreading conspiracy theories and other fake news is, well, sin.


Education: Listverse discusses the origins of 10 widely used school supplies (such as backpacks and pencils).

Finance: (or something) Wired comments on the possible changes to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Health: Science reports that a new antibiotic, which may make it impossible for bacteria to develop resistance, has been produced. In tests, it seems to be very effective.



Politics: Scientific American fact-checks President Trump's speech on the Paris climate change accord.

Scientific American says that torture is not effective in extracting information.

Science: The Conversation says that killing coyotes does not make sheep and cattle safer, and explains why.

Scientific American reports on a long-term study of the social lives of wild horses.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 612

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

Christianity: A Relevant writer says that our prayers probably should be simpler.

In Christianity Today, a short discussion of addiction to pornography, and how prevalent it is.

Morgan Busse repeats some classic, and needed, guidelines on what to say, or not.


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware reports on a Chrome browser extension that searches your Internet cache. In other words, it looks in what you've already looked at, rather than the entire web. Should be a big help in finding things you only partly remember, that you've already seen.

Google has made 819 typefaces available for free. One catch -- you can't download these to your computer, and use them in, say, Word. They are designed to be added to part or all of a web page.

Gizmo's also notes that a new version of Libre Office, a freeware substitute for Microsoft Office, is available for download.

Health: Scientific American reports that the dust mites that you may be allergic to cannot survive in a dry area, like, say, Arizona or Utah.

History: Listverse reports on 10 amazing items (or groups of items) of considerable value found with a metal detector.

Philosophy: Scientific American reports on research that shows that most people think that they are morally superior to others.


Politics: (And the environment) The Guardian reports that a house bill would, if adopted as law, sell a chunk of public land "as large as Connecticut." Please don't.

FiveThirtyEight on how Judge Gorsuch (if confirmed) and additional Supreme Court Justices appointed by President Trump might change previous decisions, such as Roe v. Wade/Doe v. Bolton.

Listverse discusses 10 problems with where and how we get our news. And "fake news" is on the list, but it's not the only problem.

Science: Scientific American discusses "strategic retreat" from rising bodies of water, caused by climate change.


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 610

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

The Arts: A 1 minute, 46 second video of popcorn kernels popping.

Christianity: Russia has recently clamped down on evangelical (and other) religious activity, according to Relevant.

Christianity Today points out that Cardinal Dolan's reading, at the Trump inauguration, was from the Apocrypha.

Christianity Today reports that the abortion rate in the US has hit an all-time low.


Computing: WordCounter counts the number of words in entered text (you can copy text in from a document). It also gives the number of sentences, the reading level, and other statistics.

Education: Something called the Matthew 25 Declaration on public education.

Humor: (or something) Listverse posts little-known facts about some classic TV shows. (One such fact -- the person who invented the re-run.)

Listverse also posted about 10 "epic typos" in history. Amusing, unless you were affected.


Politics: Politico reports on British espionage in the US, prior to World War II. The British were trying to influence the US election, hoping that this would bring the US into the war against Germany. Does this remind you of anything?

The New York Times reports on fake news, but with a twist. The researchers made up news stories that were never published at all, and, when asked, some people claimed that they had seen these stories, and believed them.

Science: Scientific American reports on a huge wave in the atmosphere of Venus.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 606

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

Christianity: A Relevant article on memorizing scripture, which, the article says, is the most important spiritual discipline.

Listverse on 10 misconceptions (sorry!) about the birth of Christ.


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware reports that there is a Windows program that copies files to your iPad or iPhone, and it's free until January 10, 2017.

Health: Scientific American reports that hospitals and nursing homes often do not report outbreaks of infectious diseases which are difficult to stop.

Humor: (or something) Listverse reports on 10 unique gingerbread houses.

Philosophy: (sort of) National Public Radio has a discussion of what we get (or don't get) out of being grateful.


Politics: (or not) Relevant has an essay on the difference between biased news and fake news, and reports that Facebook is trying to keep the latter from its site.

Congress and President Obama have agreed on something! -- a statement on world-wide religious freedom.

National Public Radio reports on the difficulty that some US citizens have in proving their citizenship. They may be jailed, or have to pay for an attorney.

Science: Scientific American reports that a South African teenager has invented a product that should help mitigate drought, inexpensively.

(And Politics) Scientific American also has published a list, with documentation, of bogus science-related claims made by politicians in 2016.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 603

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

The Arts: Relevant reports on some amazing sculpture made from paper.

Christianity: A Relevant article says that the idea that we have a hole in our heart that only God can fill is dangerous.

Relevant also examines the idea of the "war on Christmas."

BioLogos analyzes the theology of Dr. Strange.


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware tells us how to download the Microsoft Solitaire Collection for iOs and Android devices.

Gizmo's Freeware also lists the top 50 games for Windows, released in the last 10 years. Most of these are also available for other platforms.

Education: National Public Radio reports on the benefits of bilingual education.

History: Listverse tells us about 10 diseases that had a profound effect on history.

Humor: A video of 11,000 dominoes falling.


Politics: (and other things) Benjamin L. Corey says that fake news isn't the problem -- it's that people believe fake news, because they want to.

National Public Radio reports that the military has been discharging thousands of veterans who suffer from various emotional an cognitive disorders, resulting from combat, in such a way that they can't receive all the benefits of those honorably discharged. And tried to cover this up.

Science: National Public Radio also reports on the question of what birds hear when they listen to bird songs.






Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 600

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

Christianity: (sort of) Scientific American (!) on how to be a better forgiver.

Relevant on how social media are shaping our lives, in ways you may not have considered.

Listverse reminds us of 10 (actually more) people in the Bible who were important, but are not named.


Computing: You probably don't want to know how I keep up with several RSS feeds, such as those from Relevant, Christianity Today, Scientific American, BioLogos, and several blogs by individuals, but I'll tell you. I use Feedly. Gizmo's Freeware (I follow its posts through Feedly) suggests a number of RSS aggregators, including Feedly, all free. Perhaps one of these would help you.

Finance: (or something) Scientific American on how deadlines actually help people to get things done.

Food: Scientific American also reports that some insects that are eaten commonly (in some cultures, anyway) are better sources of iron in the diet than beef.

History: From the American Museum of Natural History, a video showing the growth of the human population through time, especially the last two millennia.

Listverse tells us 10 things that you didn't know about toilet paper.


Politics: Relevant says that there were lots of fake news stories related to the recent political campaigns, on Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, says that he doesn't think they influenced the election much, if at all. I saw some fake news, but figured the Facebook Friends who re-posted the items weren't interested in being told that the Mexican legislature really hasn't agreed to pay for Mr. Trump's wall, or that someone in the FBI wasn't shot to death over the e-mail leaks. As I understand it, such fake news makes money from being seen, and the more bizarre the claim, the more likely that people will look at the page.

Science: Listverse discusses 10 amazing facts (they said "eye-popping facts") about human vision.

Scientific American points out eight worrisome trends in the world's climate.





Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 531

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

 
Christianity: Relevant warns us against claiming God's favor. Among other things, the article points out that some football kickers point to the sky when they hit a field goal, but not when they miss . . .


Relevant also gives us some warning signs that we might be legalistic.
 

A meditation on how we should love others, as God loved us.

Computing: Christianity Today (surprise!) has an article on ways to spot fake "news." There's so much of it out there, I'm sorry to say.


A robot visited the White House, and the President. Really.

Health: (or something) clothing that makes it easier for autistic children, or demented adults, to dress themselves.
  Science: (and Food) Wired reports on the microbiology of cheesemaking.

 
National Public Radio reports, here, here and here, on the importance of yogurt, and the history of yogurt use.


Image source (public domain)