Sunspots 506

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
 
Christianity: Speculative Faith has a blog post about The Walking Dead, and how we deal with death generally. The author closes by saying: ". . . the reality is the absence of sex, gore, cussing, and violence doesn’t make a book Christian-compatible. How it handles death, however, determines how in sync with the Gospel a book is."
 
Speculative Faith also has a blog post by E. Stephen Burnett, which discusses six myths about heaven, which are common among believers, and others.
 
Relevant names the most important idol worshiped by Christians.

Humor: The funniest video I've ever seen on TV that didn't star an animal or a baby -- a 5+ minute interview of Anne Hathaway, by Jon Stewart, on the Daily Show. They crack each other up, uncontrollably, and apparently without really meaning to, about 2 minutes in, and never fully recover. The live audience was definitely amused. (Unlike some Daily Show scenes, there was no reason to bleep anything out, and there was no mention of politics of any kind.)
 
Science:  A 2 minute plus YouTube video on how large astronomical objects are (and how small the earth is!).
 
Wired reports on the Rosetta spacecraft's exploration of a comet.
 
FiveThirtyEight analyzes recent snowstorms in New York city, and finds that it doesn't snow as often now as it used to, but, when it does, it snows more.

Sports: Congratulations to the Gasol brothers, from Spain, who are the first brothers ever selected as NBA all-stars. (They will be on opposing teams.) Congratulations to their parents, too, I guess.
Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 291

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

Science:  Wired reports that there may be a large, dark, planet out beyond Pluto.

Wired also reports that mathematical simulation has shown how caves can get so large, so quickly.

NPR reports on similarities between overeating and drug use.

Computing: Gizmo's Freeware has an article on the best free computer games.

Christianity: Katherine has posted a compilation of some of the Biblical references to ice, snow and frost.

Jacob has some thoughts about the ancestors of Jesus. 

Image source (public domain)

Photos from Antarctica

The Boston Globe has posted 32 spectacular photos from Antarctica, which are well worth seeing.

As of today, at least, no password or special software is needed to see these.

Thanks for reading.