Sunspots 653

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


Computing: Wired reports that there is now a church, sort of, which more or less worships artificial intelligence. The IRS has granted this "church" tax-exempt status.

Health: Time, and other outlets, report that the Centers for Disease Control say that about 90% of Americans don't eat enough fruit and vegetables. Not a surprise.

Politics: Relevant reports that a game manufacturer is trying to block President Trump's wall by acquiring property on the border.

National Public Radio, and other sources, report that the Keystone Pipeline recently spilled 5,000 barrels of oil. Hardly a surprise, unfortunately.

Wired has compiled an annotated list of things Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Congress that he can't remember.

Science: Listverse describes 10 islands, and their unusual animal populations.

Scientific American reports on a body from outside our solar system that is on its way out of it.

The He Lives blog argues that the Intelligent Design movement isn't about science, although it's usually presented that way.

An illustrated and annotated periodic table.

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 621

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

The Arts: (And Christianity) A Relevant writer argues that marketers effectively isolated Contemporary Christian Music artists from the world at large, when they might have appealed to that world. The writer says that "Christian" film-makers are being steered in the same direction, when they shouldn't be.

Christianity: Christianity Today on the awful consequences of corruption, mostly (but not entirely) in other countries, where, in some, it's "normal."


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware tells us about an on-line audible pronunciation tool, which works in several languages.

Gizmo's also points to a source of music that can be used as background, etc., without violating copyright.


Education: The New York Times considers the question of whether pre-school teachers need college degrees.

History: Listverse reports on 10 ancient businesses. (Mostly from a thousand or more years ago.)

Listverse also reports on 10 islands in the Atlantic Ocean that you've probably never heard of. (I had heard of one of them.)
 
Science: Scientific American has posted a video, under 90 seconds, of a badger burying a dead cow. Really. (It took the badger longer than that.

Wired explains why it is so hard (or impossible) to prevent the production of sarin gas (the kind recently used in Syria).

Scientific American reports on a study about how couples can continue to be attracted to each other.

Scientific American also tells us that an asteroid is going to come pretty close to the earth on April 19.

Listverse describes 10 kinds of rocks that smell bad (or stink).


Image source (public domain)