Sunspots 911

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

Computing: Gizmodo reports on commonly used passwords that are too easy to hack.

Health: The Scientist reports on a study wherein tetraplegics were able to control a special wheelchair by thinking about where they wanted to go.

Humor: (and food and politics) PBS reports on the question of which President started the tradition of pardoning one or more turkeys at Thanksgiving time. The report has lots of bad puns, by and about various Presidents and turkeys.

Politics: (or something) NPR reports that government employees involved in carrying out executions are often traumatized by their participation.

Science: Tired of, or confused by, milli-, kilo-, tera-, and all the others? NPR reports that these prefixes are not enough, and more have recently been added.

Gizmodo reports that the Leap Second (something like a Leap Year, only a lot shorter) will become a thing of the past. (No joke intended there.)

Sports: NPR reports that women are slowly becoming part of major college and minor league men's baseball teams.

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

Thanks for reading.

 

Sunspots 510

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
Christianity: A Christianity Today blogger has advised a woman, who is most likely pregnant with a Down syndrome fetus, to keep the baby.
Relevant tells us how to pray when we don't feel like it.
Education: National Public Radio reports that (surprise!) teachers do have favorites, and they get better grades.
Health: FiveThirtyEight tells us that our brains are pre-programmed to draw wrong conclusions, at least some of the time.
Politics: The Jerusalem Post says that the Netanyahus have been accused of lavish household spending, at taxpayer expense. (The possible scandal is called "bottlegate," because a lot of the spending was on alcohol.)
Science: Wired describes some examples of really strange sexual behavior in animals, and considers the question, "Why is there sex?" (Many animals can reproduce without it.)
The Atlantic discusses the precision of clocks, including the idea of the Leap Second.
  
  Image source (public domain)