Sunspots 938

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

Computing: Gizmodo reports that a TikTok official may have lied to the US Congress (which is a crime), when he said that TikTok doesn't send user data to China.

Gizmodo on how artificial intelligence can do bad things.

NPR on detecting Artificial Intelligence creations from real ones.

Environment: The National Weather Service has released a video of major air pollution in New York City, mostly from fires in Canada.

History: (and Politics) A Conversation writer describes situations somewhat like the race to become President, with a Vice President running against a previous President.

Another Conversation writer discusses Cleopatra and the rulers (at least some were female) of Nubia.

Humor: (or something) Gizmodo reports that Ikea has developed a couch that folds up for a one-person carry, weighs about 22 pounds, and doesn't require screws, etc., to put together.

Politics: A Conversation writer sets us straight on the Espionage Act.

Science: An exhaustive study, reported in Nature, finds that people all over the world believe that there is a continuing moral decline. But the study reports that this decline is merely perceived, not actual.

A fascinating article in Science Alert discusses how parasites may alter the behavior of their hosts.

Sci-Tech Daily reports that curly hair may have helped early humans to survive.

A Conversation writer tells us all sorts of things about glass.

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

Thanks for reading.

Excerpts from Orthodoxy, by Gilbert K. Chesterton, 14

. . . it cannot be a coincidence that glass is so common a substance in folk-lore. This princess lives in a glass castle, that princess on a glass hill; this one sees all things in a mirror; they may all live in glass houses if they will not throw stones. For this thin glitter of glass everywhere is the expression of the fact that the happiness is bright but brittle, like the substance most easily smashed by a housemaid or a cat. And this fairy-tale sentiment also sank into me and became my sentiment towards the whole world. I felt and feel that life itself is as bright as the diamond, but as brittle as the window-pane; and when the heavens were compared to the terrible crystal I can remember a shudder. I was afraid that God would drop the cosmos with a crash.

Orthodoxy, first published in 1908, by G. K. Chesterton, is in the public domain, and available from Project Gutenberg. The previous post in this series is here.  Thanks for reading! Read Chesterton.