Sunspots 956

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

Computing: Gizmodo reports that workers who work accompanied by robots tend to slack off more than workers who work with humans.

Ethics: A Conversation writer has studied lies and lying: how often, in what circumstances.

Health: A Conversation writer tells us that chicken soup really does us some good.

Gizmodo reports on a woman who had a spider living in her ear. Really.

Politics: (or something) NPR reports on an analysis that shows that children of married parents are better off than children of single mothers.

(or something) A Conversation writer discusses traffic roundabouts.

Science: Nature reports on the question of whether there is life on earth. Really.

Sex: A Conversation writer points out that neither humans nor animals are entirely male or entirely female, and discusses other aspects of sex and reproduction.

(and the Arts) NPR reports on a study indicating that young people think there is too much sex in movies and TV.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 896

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

Christianity: Ken Schenck writes about what the Bible says about gender and sex.

Education: A Conversation post on why there is a teacher shortage.

Food: (and Science) Gizmodo reports on developments in lab-grown fish sticks.

Health: (or something) Gizmodo reports that a surgery-performing robot is about to be tested in the International Space Station.

Gizmodo reports that UPS drivers are enduring dangerous heat. There's no A/C  in the trucks, and the rear part of the trucks (where most of the packages are) can get really hot.

Science: A Conversation writer tells us about coyotes in urban environments.

SciTechDaily reports that human genes have been transferred to yeast cells, and apparently work just fine.

Sports: C. Vivian Stringer, first African-American college coach to win 1000 games, has retired.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 860

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

Christianity: Christianity Today reports on a study that shows that contemporary worship songs last for a shorter period than they used to. (In other words, they are sung for a while, then dropped.)

Relevant interviews an author who says that, according to the Bible, most views on what happens after death are wrong.

Health: Gizmodo describes some of the things we want to know about the omicron variant of COVID.

Humor:  (or something) FiveThirtyEight asks people when each of the four seasons should start. Whatever your opinion on this, it's in the minority.

Politics: NPR reports that the CIA has published a new edition of its book on the interactions between the CIA and recent presidents. The book is free. As I understand it, it does not include President Joe Biden, presumably because he is not done interacting with the CIA.

Science: Gizmodo and other outlets report on tiny constructions, made from frog stem cells, that can capture food and reproduce, in their own way. Living robots, sort of.

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

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

Thanks for reading. 

Sunspots 838

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

Computing: Relevant reports that PornHub is being sued for subjecting women and children who are sex-trafficked to non-consensual sex.

Gizmodo discusses the most significant hacking events in history.

Finance: (and Politics) Gizmodo reports that many States are using facial recognition software to verity unemployment claims is prone to error, thus denying legitimate unemployment claims. Gizmodo also says that the company is difficult to contact about an error.

Health: The Scientist reports that antibodies to COVID were present in the US in late 2019.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight on how, in the US, adherents of the two major parties despise each other more than in similar situations in other countries, and how this puts democracy itself in jeopardy.

According to Gizmodo, reporting on testimony to Congress, the upstart social network, Parler, warned the FBI, several times, about the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6.

Science: Gizmodo reports on snake-like robots that dig into the ground, and under it.

NPR reports that a fossil dinosaur as long as a basketball court has been found in Australia.

NPR also reports that several varieties of apple, thought to have disappeared, still exist.

The Scientist reports on a study indicating that different groups have different "handshakes." These variant behaviors appear to be long-lasting within the group.

Gizmodo reports that ground temperature in Siberia recently hit 48 Celsius, which is way above normal, and not good.

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

Thanks for looking!

 

Sunspots 767

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

Environment: Gizmodo/Earther says that the Trump administration is destroying part of Organ Pipe Cactus national monument, in order to build the border wall.

Ethics: Listverse describes some cases where robots have been abused. Really.

Politics: Relevant reports that most attempted immigrants from El Salvador, when returned to that country, were murdered, tortured, or raped.

The Trump administration's foreign aid cuts have seriously damaged Christian non-profits in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. One of the things these groups were working on was helping young people seek alternatives to fleeing to the US, according to Christianity Today.

President Trump used a prayer breakfast (!) -- The theme was "loving your enemies." Trump used his appearance to brag about the Senate vote on his impeachment, and to blast those who voted to remove him, or were part of that effort in the House. However, he said this, according to Yahoo! News (which reported on the entire event):  "I'm sorry. I apologize. I'm trying to learn. It's not easy,” he said. “When they impeach you for nothing and then you're supposed to like them, it's not easy folks. I do my best." 

Science: Gizmodo reports that two populations of crows in western North America must have been separated by a glacier, and were considered to be two species, descended from a single group, but are hybridizing now, and should probably be considered a single species.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 714

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

Christianity: Christianity Today reports on a survey that indicates that regular church attendants are healthier and happier than non-attenders.
He Lives has a thought-provoking post on some words or phrases -- should Christians say them?
(And Politics) Relevant points out that politicians often have a hard time quoting the Bible. Nancy Pelosi thinks she is, but she isn't.


Computing: You probably don't need Gizmodo to report that there were more robocalls than ever in 2018.

Gizmodo also reports that robots can play Jenga well. (See a bit of the videos included, if you don't know Jenga.)

Health: Gizmodo, reporting on a study published in the British Medical Journal, says that eating a good breakfast doesn't seem to help you lose weight.

Gizmodo also tells us about some remedies for the common cold that don't work, and, in some cases, shouldn't be used at all for the disease (like antibiotics), and a few that do help people to feel better.
 
Politics: FiveThirtyEight considers the questions of whether Iowa, New Hampshire and/or South Carolina will hold Republican primaries or caucuses in 2020.

The Atlantic reports that President Trump tweeted some extreme estimates (or extreme exact figures) on how many illegal immigrants we have, what it is costing us, and how many people voted illegally in Texas.

Relevant reports on the faith of Cory Booker, Democratic candidate for President.

Science: Science Alert explains the relationship between global warming and the polar vortex.

Scientific American reports on the migration of painted turtles. 

About the amazing eyes of the mantis shrimp, which can see colors, and polarization, that, as far as we know, no other creature can see.
 
The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain. 

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 673

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

The Arts: Christianity: Gizmodo reports that some Catholic priests are performing exorcisms over a phone connection.

Computing: Gizmodo reports that the European Union is proposing to give robots/artificial intelligences legal status as persons, much like corporations may have such legal status, but not be able to vote, and with other limitations. A number of AI experts, and other experts, don't think this is a good idea.

Finance: (or something) National Public Radio reports that those stickers and labels, saying "warranty void if removed," are illegal.

Health: New Scientist reports that people who stay up late are more likely to die.

(or something) FiveThirtyEight reports that suicides may be a bigger threat to police than various kinds of non-police angry people, but that no one is keeping track of police suicides, nationwide.
  
Humor: (and several other categories) National Public Radio remembers Carl Kasell, long-time newcaster with a splendid voice, and also part of its humor and news show, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, here and here.

Politics: Sojourners asks why many evangelicals still support Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, in spite of several ethically questionable actions.

More on Pruitt's questionable behaviors, which have been questioned by the EPA, itself.

We may be concerned, and should be, about the fate of Syrian civilians, but the US has accepted only 11 Syrian refugees this year, so far, according to NPR.

Relevant reports that Franklin Graham has questioned the Christianity of political progressives.

Thanks for looking!


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 641

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

Christianity: He Lives argues, from the Bible, that the days of Genesis 1 were not necessarily 24 hours in length.

And He Lives discusses the importance (or not) of belief that Mary was a perpetual virgin, and the evidence for and against that idea.


Computing:Wired warns us that robots can be hacked. In other words, we don't have to wait until they are intelligent and self-aware to be in possible danger from them.

Gizmo's Freeware suggests an easy way to download YouTube videos to your information appliance.

Finance: Wired reports that California's emphasis on cutting down on Carbon Dioxide emissions, and on green energy, has not hurt their economy.

Health: Listverse reports on 10 common "health" practices that aren't really healthy, such as the use of hand sanitizer.

History: Listverse reports on 10 controversies involving monuments, all but one of them outside North America.

Humor (or Literature): National Public Radio reports that the University of Southern California and UCLA are arguing over whether William Shakespeare should be spelled without the final e.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight tells us that there are now fake polls, in addition to fake news. And, I was surprised to learn, one of the main reasons for publishing a fake poll is to make money through betting on the outcome of a political contest. Oh, dear. Here's another post on the subject from the same source.

Wired reports that Exxon agreed that climate change was real, and human activity was an important cause of it, but did not say these things in its advertisements.

Science: Scientific American reports on studies of fairness in young children, who seem to have an inborn sense of fairness.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 639

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

Christianity: Christianity Today reports that Perry Noble, recently fired as senior pastor of the largest church in South Carolina, NewSpring, is thinking strongly about starting another church.

A Relevant writer says that Jesus didn't need the approval of others.

Ed Stetser warns against overemphasizing patriotism in church services, here and here. He cites evidence that 53% of protestant pastors think that their congregations sometimes love America more than they love God.


Computing: I haven't used it yet, but Firefox Send is said to be a free, safe way to send large files to other users.

Wired has a thorough article on how the Russians are viewing and waging warfare. Scary, and it's doubtful if our government really understands.

The Guardian reports on a man who "married" a robot. CNN reports on a man who "married" a video game character.

Food: Listverse lists 10 ice cream flavors that are popular outside of the continental United States, but you probably can't find in the US at all.

Health: Scientific American reports that women with insomnia are more likely to give birth to premature babies.

History: (or botany) Listverse on the history of 10 commonly consumed fruits.

Humor: (or botany) Wired has posted a photo of a man trimming the world's largest hedge. It's really tall.


Politics: A Christianity Today writer argues that the use of nuclear weapons is inherently, and always, evil.

Listverse reminds us of times when the press made us aware of scandalous uses of power.

The Barna group reports on what Americans think makes America great. Different groups responded differently.

Science: A Clemson University professor has spent more time in the shadow of total solar eclipses than anyone else on earth.

FiveThirtyEight reminds us that there will be less solar-powered electricity during the upcoming solar eclipse.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 638

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

Christianity: A Christianity Today article argues that Christians usually have no business watching rape, as depicted in visual media. Duh!


Computing: Wired considers the question of how to interact with intelligent robots -- not those of the future, but those of the present, for example in our homes, and which are nearly ready.

Ethics: You have probably heard that scientists have recently changed genes in human embryos. There are analyses in Wired, and two, here and here, in Scientific American.

Health: A Wired writer tells us how many time we need to click a mouse, so as to burn one calorie. A lot.

Scientific American reports that remaining friends with someone, after he/she develops dementia, is helpful to both.

History: Listverse has an interesting post about 10 important events in history, which are looked on differently by different countries. (Sample: how the UK and the US see the Revolutionary War.)
Scientific American on strawberries and politics. (The article says little or nothing about 21st Century politics.)

Humor: (or something) The US Government is auctioning off lighthouses, and they won't be very expensive.

A writer for FiveThirtyEight analyzed the contents of over 1000 "Chinese" fortune cookies, and found some interesting things.

Listverse describes 10 unusual places where people have lived, or still live. (Sample: a two-room burrow in a city park.)


Politics: Wired reports that a recently proposed immigration bill wouldn't help US productivity very much, if it were passed, and that Canada is getting a considerably higher portion of its skilled workers from immigration that the US is. (I have since heard other commentators on this bill, on radio, including one from Fox News, who agree that the main thing this proposal does is cut down seriously on the number of immigrants, and that it won't really add much, if any, to the number of skilled workers who immigrate.)

Wired reports that employees of the US Department of Agriculture have been ordered not to use "climate change" and related terms in their reports.


Science: Scientific American reports on a study of dog facial expressions.

Government scientists have produced a report on climate change, not yet released. It's not good. See here and here.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 555

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

Christianity: (and health) A post on the BioLogos Forum considers the question of whether cancer is part of God's good creation.

Ken Schenck on what the Bible does, and doesn't say, about capital punishment.

Relevant has posted some pertinent quotes from Jim Elliot, a missionary who, at 28, was murdered by South American tribal people, 60 years ago. (That tribe later became mostly Christian, partly because Elliot's wife was a missionary to them.)

Education: (sort of) The History Blog reports that a skeleton unearthed in Scotland may be that of a 16th Century pirate.

National Public Radio reports that children learn better in school if they have more recess time than most schools give them.

Finance: National Public Radio discusses the lottery: The odds of winning, whether winning would make you happy, how much you'd get if you won, and a lot more interesting stuff.

Health: The New York Times reports on the financial reasons why hospital stay lengths are shrinking.

Philosophy: (and science) Physicists wonder about how real the "real" world really is, according to NPR. (I have taught college physics, and this conversation is about a century old, by the way.)

A post on Speculative Faith considers whether the droids of Star Wars are slaves or not.

Science: Time, and many other news organizations, report on the discovery of four new elements in the Periodic Table. Wired also reports, indicating that discovering even more elements will be even more difficult.

Wired has selected the volcanic (as in real volcanoes) event of the year 2015.

Wired also tells us about a wasp with an amazing ovipositor. (There are a couple of videos in this post.)

 
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)

Sunspots 483

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

Computing: National Public Radio reports on robots made of paper, which folds into a functioning robot. (There's a brief video of this process.)
NPR also reports on the case of a monkey who took a photo of herself. Who owns the copyright?
Humor: (or something) National Public Radio reports on how to market snacks derived from insects.
Science: Wired reports on whether dogs can tell time, perhaps by smell.
Wired also reports on the microbes found in cheeses. There have been some surprises.
And Wired tells us that the white sands of Hawaiian beaches are mostly fish poop.
National Public Radio reports on the importance of mosses. Who knew?
Sports: Congratulations to Becky Hammon, who has been hired as the first full-time female assistant coach by the San Antonio Spurs, the NBA champions. She is the first full-time female coach ever hired by a major sports team in North America. See also yesterday's full-page article in USA Today.

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 480

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
Christianity: I have re-done a blog post on "Lying, deceit and dishonesty in the Bible."
Relevant Magazine has an article on "What's the Big Deal with Porn?"
Computing: Wired reports on a conference about some of the moral challenges posed by the increasing use of robots, including drones. One of the more amazing ideas was to provide pedophiles with child robots, sort of like we provide some drug addicts with a substitute. It was pointed out that this possibility is a potential moral quagmire.
Science: National Public Radio reports on a study that indicates that our friends are more genetically like us than the population at large is.
Wired reports that many large mammals in zoos are given prozac, or similar drugs.


Image source (public domain)

Extant, with Halle Berry, on CBS

In case you have wondered what TV stations do for advertising revenue, now that the political primaries are over, wonder no more. They put up promos for upcoming shows. At least the Upstate South Carolina CBS station has done so, over and over.

One such program, promoted heavily, is Extant, starring Halle Berry. If you have watched CBS recently, you already know this much: Somehow, Berry's character, an astronaut who has been on a solo mission for over a year, discovers that she is pregnant, on her return. You probably also know that the astronaut and her husband, a robotics expert, are raising a robot as their elementary school-aged son. I will try not to give anything else away.

I have seen the pilot. Two important science fiction themes, namely, the moral status of robots, and their interaction with human society; and encountering aliens (if that's what happened to the astronaut) are considered. They are among the most important in science fiction, and have been used over and over. No doubt they will be, again. So far, they are considered without violence -- no ray guns or robot murderers.

One other important theme of science fiction, also explored, is "what will the future be like?" There are plenty of interesting, sometimes amusing, vignettes of a possible future in the first episode, including a self-driving auto, 3-D presentations, a bathroom mirror that also serves as an information appliance, and a really amazing garbage disposal system.

Berry is a fine actress, which is not surprising, considering that she is an Academy Award winner. In one part of the episode, she does not say a word, but expresses lots of emotion with her facial expressions and body language. (Berry remains fully, and tastefully, clothed throughout, except for a discretely foggy shower scene with her husband.)

An interesting start to this series, which may become one of the best ever in the science fiction genre. I hope so.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 425

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

Christianity: My church, The Wesleyan Church, has a position paper on homosexuality. A good one. (Note -- it was published in 2010, so is not just a reaction to the recent Supreme Court decision.)

Health: The Guardian says that the source of pain in fibromyalgia has finally been identified. It's nerve fibers in the hand.

The LA Times reports on a "reverse vaccine" for diabetes. It helps prevent the immune system from attacking the cells that make insulin.

Science: Linguistic science, that is. Business Insider has published over 20 maps of the continental US, showing differences in pronunciation (or vocabulary) by region. Interesting.

Sports: (Sort of) The Telegraph reports on an unusual group of football matches, being played between robot teams, with the, er, goal, of being good enough to beat humans in a couple of dozen years or so. (that's the football that everyone besides some North Americans call football -- we mostly call it soccer)



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 404

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

Science:  NPR reports that sweet potatoes most likely originated in the Americas, and that some of them were taken to Asia by traffic between what is now Latin America and Polynesia, all before Columbus came from Europe.

NPR says that, instead of flu, you may have a Norovirus, which, if anything, is worse.

The Atlantic reports on using DNA to store information, such as the works of Shakespeare.

The Washington Post reports that dogs, who descended from wolves, had a change in diet preference, associated with becoming and remaining domestication.

The Arts:  A musician named James Kibble has recorded all of the organ works of J. S. Bach for free download.

Computing: A social scientist has shown that people are reluctant to wipe the memory of robots, even if they understand that these are not real people.

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 403

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

 

Science:  National Public Radio reports that sweet potatoes most likely originated in the Americas, and that some of them were taken to Asia by traffic between what is now Latin America and Polynesia, all before Columbus came from Europe.

The Atlantic reports on using DNA to store information, such as the works of Shakespeare.

The Washington Post reports that dogs, who descended from wolves, had a change in diet preference, associated with becoming and remaining domestication.

NPR says that, instead of flu, you may have a Norovirus, which, if anything, is worse.

The Arts:  A James Kibble has recorded all of the organ works of J. S. Bach for free download.

Computing: A social scientist has shown that people are reluctant to wipe the memory of robots, even if they understand that these are not real people.

Image source (public domain)

Please prove you're not a robot

The above is a clearer than usual "Please prove you're not a robot" picture. For the very few who may read this, and don't know what this is about, Blogger users (I'm one) can elect to ask for verification before a reader's comment will be accepted. I don't do that, but the result is some spam comments in my e-mail on most days. I can understand those who do use this system.

Am I really a robot? Well, now, I don't think so, but that might be hard to prove, in this day and time. First, we have to agree on a test. The Turing test is a famous test, introduced by Alan Turing, which was designed to test to see if a computer could fake responses to questions and statements well enough to fool someone interacting with it, who couldn't see who, or what, was producing the responses.

ELIZA, a computer program, produced about 15 years after Turing's proposal, seemed, at least in some cases, to pass the test, posing as a therapist, or a good listener.

You can check out an implementation of ELIZA here.

Note that Blogger has chosen to test for visual recognition, in trying to screen out spam comments, rather than allowing typed entries. Does that mean that Blogger can't tell the difference? Perhaps.

Computers are getting more sophisticated. Will they ever be able to completely fool us, on the phone, e-mailing, on Facebook, as movie stars or elected officials? I don't know. We live in interesting times.

Thanks for reading. I'm not a robot. I hope you aren't.

Sunspots 383

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

Science: National Public Radio on the differences between "organic" food and non-organic food. Not much, maybe some.

Sports: (or something) Wired reports on a robot that is able to run faster than Usain Bolt.

Politics: A pastor (I don't know him) has written about how politics and Christianity should be related. (He doesn't endorse any candidate or party.)

Another pastor posted "7 things Christians Need to Remember About Politics," which is also not an endorsement.

A young woman (I don't know her) was asked to pray at the Democratic Convention. Here's her prayer. (Again, remarkably non-partisan.)

Image source (public domain)