Sunspots 982

 

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

Gizmodo reports on a study that found that all of the largest US cities are sinking.

Kenneth Schenck discusses politics and Christianity.

Gizmodo reports that the new pope (and the previous one) has warned about possible dangers from artificial intelligence.

Equus, and other sources, report that horses are especially able to move fast because of a gene peculiar to horses and their relatives.

Gizmodo on whether Pope Leo XIV is an environmentalist (and on whether Francis was).

CNN reports on the melting of polar ice and its dire consequences.

NPR reports that the Centers for Disease Control is no longer warning the medical community about disease threats.

Sunspots 970

Some things I have spotted that may be of interest to others:

The Guardian discusses Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and what it has symbolized. The Berlin Wall, Melania Trump, and other items are mentioned.

Science Alert reports that Antarctica is rising and discusses some of the consequences.

The Wikipedia has an article on downbursts, where, it says, the wind pattern is opposite that in a tornado. 

Newsweek reports that Donald Trump hasn't paid Rudy Giuliani for legal services.

NPR tells us that, for the first time, a Pakistani won an Olympic gold medal. He was also given some valuable prizes, including a buffalo. The report tells why the buffalo is a valuable gift.

Sunspots 969

 Some things I have spotted, that may be of interest to others:

An article in the Wikipedia tells about small satellites that are in orbit around some larger asteroids. 

NPR has fact-checked Donald Trump's recent press conference at Mar-A-Lago. It isn't pretty. They found over 160 lies, or serious distortions of the truth, in less than 90 minutes of the news conference.

Scientific American, and other outlets, report that the central stone of Stonehenge was moved from hundreds of miles away. How? We aren't sure.

ScienceAlert reports that the continent of Antarctica is rising, and discusses the likely consequences.

Sunspots 951

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

Education: A Conversation writer tells us about the Liberal Arts. The article considers the matter of West Virginia University planning to cut many of its courses, and the question of higher education and race.

Environment: Once again, there is a report that Exxon knew that fossil fuel use caused climate to change, but didn't really respond to this knowledge. (from NPR)

Ethics: Nature reports that research on octopi may be subject to ethical standards.

Finances: (and Politics) Yahoo! News reports that the Trump organization reported that an airplane was worth about $1,000 in April, 2023, and, more recently, reported that it was worth about $5 to $25 million.

Humor: (and Science) The Scientist and Gizmodo report on the igNobel prizes, for such work as studying licking fossils in the field and using spider-like appendages to enhance the grip.

Politics: A Conversation article on how the children of Presidents have been perceived, going back quite a while.

Science: Gizmodo reports that bumblebee populations in Europe are declining.

A Conversation writer reports that NASA has found no evidence for UFOs.

Another Conversation writer tells us why most of us adults don't urinate in our sleep.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 948

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

Computing: Zoom, a company which helps a lot of people do some or all of their jobs on-line, believes that people working for them should come in to work, according to Gizmodo.

Environment: Gizmodo publishes the responses, such as they were, of GOP Presidential candidates to global warning, during the recent debate, which Trump did not attend.

Finances: A Conversation writer explains the bail bond system.

Politics: NPR on Rudy Giuliani and RICO crime fighting.

Science: (or something) A Conversation article discusses speed of talking -- how and why some people talk faster (or slower).

Another Conversation writer tells us why our fingers wrinkle when we've been in water a long time.

NPR reports on the discovery of groups of octopi, protecting their eggs, deep down in the ocean.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 930

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

Christianity: The Natural Historian considers LeBron James in light of Psalm 139:13 ("For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb."

Computing: (and the Arts)  The Conversation reports on the use of 3-D printing in producing buildings, and architecture.

Education: Grammarphobia discusses laundry lists.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that it's not just oceans that are rising. It's also groundwater, and that is causing big problems.

Gizmodo also reports that cats have hunted several animal species to extinction.

Health: Gizmodo reports that we are running out of effective antibiotics, as bacteria have quickly adapted.

Science: The Conversation presents a discussion on the relationship between tornadoes and global warming.

Another Conversation writer tells us why snails and slugs are so slow.

Thanks for reading. 

Sunspots 906

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

Environment: Gizmodo discusses recycling. There isn't nearly as much of it as the labels on containers would imply.

CNN reports that the Mississippi River is very low. It's possible to walk (dry-footed) out to rock formations that are normally not visible, because they are under water.

Health: NPR contradicts some common misconceptions about how much water to drink.

Politics: A Christianity Today author argues that Herschel Walker has shown no sign of repentance, and he should have.

Science: The Scientist describes teaching an array of cells to play Pong, a simple video game.

The Scientist also discusses research on placing human nerve cells into rat brains. They functioned.

Phys.org reports on research into an insect pest. The pest was found to have incorporated several genes from a host plant into the insect's genome.

CNN reports on studies of two very hot exoplanets, in orbit around the same star.

Gizmodo reports that the attempt to change the trajectory of an asteroid worked -- it was changed

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 888

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

Environment: Gizmodo reports that a power company knew about the effects of climate change for decades, but kept promoting (including building new plants) that used fossil fuels.

Gizmodo also reports that microplastics have been found in newly deposited Arctic snow.

NPR reports that the Biden administration plans to designate an area of the Atlantic, off of New York, as a marine sanctuary.

Gizmodo reports that car tires also contribute a lot of pollution.

Food: NPR reports on beefalo, bison-cattle hybrids, as a meat source.

Politics: NPR reports on a group that is working to cut off Fox News' advertising revenue. More, from Gizmodo.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 870

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

Computing: NPR reports that, in Belgium, some workers are not required to answer communications related to their job, at all hours of the day and night.

Politics: Relevant discusses the matter of white evangelicals being the only significant religious group that is strongly against allowing immigration, and a path to citizenship.

Pornography (There are no photos of pornography in the article(s) linked here): A Christianity Today article on what's wrong with pornography -- it's not about relationships.

Science: The Scientist reports that plants in the UK are blooming about a month earlier than they did a few decades ago.

Gizmodo reports on chimpanzees applying insects to a wound, probably as a treatment of some sort. 

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 862

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

Christianity: Christianity Today reports on a survey that indicates that most Americans don't believe that Christ existed before His birth.

Relevant on why many Christians do not follow the Biblical mandate to care for the poor.

Environment: Gizmodo summarizes the ways in which oil companies have controlled our thinking and actions.

NPR reports that temperature records have recently been broken, all over the earth.

Finances: Gizmodo describes a study that indicates that Lego sets are a better investment than gold or stocks.

Health: Gizmodo reports that a court decision has caused county health departments in Missouri to stop all work, and all restrictions, related to COVID.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight analyzes Donald Trump's endorsements. He's endorsing more people earlier, and, in some cases, endorsed Republican challengers to a Republican incumbent.

Science: Astronomers have discovered a very large planet in a nearby solar system, according to Gizmodo.

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 861

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

Christianity: Relevant tells us that Christmas was not largely stolen from pagan celebrations.

Computing: Gizmodo reports that Microsoft is making progress on storing information in DNA, rather than on tape or in other ways usually used in computers.

Environment: The Biden administration is approving fossil fuel leases at a higher rate than the Trump administration did, according to Gizmodo.

Health: (and Politics) NPR reports that counties that were strongly pro-Trump in the last election have "far higher death rates. [from COVID]"

Politics: FiveThirtyEight tells us what Americans really think about abortion.

Science: Gizmodo reports on a study that indicates that dog breeds are highly inbred.

Gizmodo reports that four states experienced record high temperatures for December.

Gizmodo also reports on bees that survived a volcanic eruption.

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 852

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

Christianity "Resurrecting Orthodoxy" explains what the Bible says about demons. It's complicated.

(and Computing) Relevant reports that the most-viewed Christian Facebook feeds, so-called, are almost all run by troll farms in Eastern Europe. (For what it's worth, I'd never seen or heard of any of them, except the Guideposts feed, which is apparently not run by such a troll farm.)

Relevant also has an article examining the idea of modesty. It's complicated, and many of us have been operating as if it's simple.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that a bee swarm killed over 60 endangered penguins in South Africa.

Gizmodo also reports that summer 2021 wildfires, mostly in the US and Siberia, emitted more carbon dioxide than the country of India did.:

Politics: An audit of Arizona's fall Presidential election ballots, by a firm picked by the GOP legislators, found that, is anything, President Biden got more votes than were reported in November, according to Fox News and other outlets.

FiveThirtyEight on why bipartisanship in the Senate is so rare.

Science: Gizmodo tells us about tiny parasitic, nearly transparent fish found in the Amazon.

NPR reports that Mars may have been too small to hold its water from gradually escaping Martian gravity.

Gizmodo reports on the creation of new languages -- there have been some such, recently.

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 851

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

Christianity (and Health): Relevant reports that public support for allowing religious exemptions against being vaccinated is declining. Christianity Today has a somewhat different take on this matter.

Education: Grammarphobia discusses the history of the expression "put English on the ball."

Environment: (and Computing) Gizmodo reports on the amount of environmental damage from bitcoin transactions.

Relevant reports that 27 species have recently been moved from "endangered," to "extinct." The article also mentions a joint statement by the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Orthodox Patriarch, on climate change.

Health: (and Politics, unfortunately) NPR reports on ivermectin, which has been used to treat COVID, without solid evidence than it works.

Science: The Scientist reports on successful attempts to potty-train cows, and why it's a good idea to do so.

Gizmodo reports that Martian colonists could produce concrete-like building materials from Martian soil mixed with their own blood.

Gizmodo also reports that two more murder hornet nests have been found in Washington State.

Gizmodo also reports on a new tool that should help remove stuck screws.

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 850

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

Christianity:  Christianity Today reports that former President Trump no longer calls himself a Presbyterian, but a non-denominational Christian, and that there are many other people who have made similar changes.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that California law now requires companies to prove that objects they manufacture are actually recycled before they can be labeled as recyclable. The report says that less than 20% of supposedly recyclable plastics are actually recycled.

Gizmodo also reports on a study showing that young people are pessimistic about the future of the world's environment, and angry at governments for doing so little about this.

Health: FiveThirtyEight reminds us that the anti-vaxx movement has been around since long before COVID, and that, although now Republicans are more anti-vaxx, years ago, the parties had about the same number of vaccine-rejecters.

Science: Gizmodo reports that Komodo dragons, and many other species, are in danger of extinction.

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 848

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

Christianity: Relevant reports that a majority of self-identified Christians under 40 think that Christ isn't the only way to salvation.

Relevant also reports that a significant portion of guitar sales are for church worship purposes.

(and Politics) FiveThirtyEight on why white evangelicals have such a low COVID vaccination rate.

(and Politics) Relevant on what the Bible says about how to treat refugees. Christianity Today on the same subject.

Education: Grammarphobia explains why "duck" has so many meanings.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that, for the first time ever known, it rained in the heart of Greenland's ice sheet.

Gizmodo also reports that (surprise!) Texas isn't requiring big petroleum companies to follow practices that are supposed to be required, and would cut down on climate change effects.

Health: Gizmodo reports on a study indicating that the number of people with hypertension (high blood pressure), worldwide, has risen a lot in the past 30 years.

Science: Gizmodo reports on a study of types of rhinoceros, and their ancestry. The five species now alive are all in danger, from poaching or habitat destruction.

Gizmodo also reports that some paper wasps make fluorescent nests. Their function is unclear at present.

Gizmodo also has a good article on how fossils are dated.

Sports: FiveThirtyEight on how the NCAA treats women's sports poorly.

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 847

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

Christianity: Relevant reports that a majority of self-identified Christians under 40 think that Christ isn't the only way to salvation.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that, for the first time ever known, it rained in the heart of Greenland's ice sheet.

Gizmodo also reports that (surprise!) Texas isn't requiring big petroleum companies to follow practices that are supposed to be required, and would cut down on climate change effects.

Science: NPR reports that scientists have studied daddy long legs (harvestmen) quite thoroughly, and have actually produced a "daddy shortlegs" with shorter legs.

NPR also reports on why rape victims have difficulty remembering details of the crime.

Gizmodo reports on an experiment to find out how long bacteria can live without food. A long time.

The Scientist reports that baby bats babble, much like human babies do.

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 832

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

The Arts: (and Christianity) A Relevant writer analyzes the theology of Star Wars.

Christianity: (and Politics) A Christianity Today writer presents data, comparing most of the countries of the world, indicating that the more Christianity becomes entangled with the government, the weaker it becomes.

A Relevant writer says that, too often, we assume that the woman described in Proverbs 31 is what a woman should be like. The writer points out that none of the women in the Bible seem to have held up that ideal.

Environment: Gizmodo has yet another warning about rising temperatures and Antarctica.

Health: The Scientist reports that COVID vaccination does protect against the most common variant strains.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight finds that our political views largely determine how we think the economy is doing, rather than the reverse.

Science: A Gizmodo report indicates that cats like to sit in squares, even illusory squares.

NPR reports on a fish, seven feet long, and probably 100 years old or more, that was caught and released by scientists.

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

Thanks for looking!

 

Sunspots 828

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

Christianity: He Lives on the requirements for being baptized. (Many churches have a lot more than the New Testament church had.)

Relevant reports on a survey that indicates that over 40% of self-identified evangelicals go to church less than twice a year.

Peaceful Science has a good discussion of ways that Adam and Eve could have come to be.

Environment: Gizmodo on a report that methane release was alarmingly high in 2020. (Methane is a greenhouse gas.)

Science: Phys.org reports on greatly enhanced ability to turn genes off. This technique, a variation of the CRISP procedure, when studied further, might, for example, be used to fight Alzheimer's.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 810

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

The Arts: Christianity Today reports that Walter Hooper, who spent most of his life editing and publishing the writing of C. S. Lewis, has died.

Christianity: Christianity Today on the most commonly read Bible verses of 2020.

Relevant points out nine myths about Christians that many Christians believe (such as that there were three wise men.

Computing: Relevant discusses a New York Times report on sexual exploitation of children, and other bad stuff, on the most widely used source of pornography on the Internet.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that all major US banks have indicated that they will not finance oil drilling in the Arctic.

Elephants are making a comeback in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to Gizmodo.

Gizmodo also reports that "The Old Arctic is Gone," for centuries, probably.

Food: (or something) NPR reports that service workers, such as those who make deliveries, are getting smaller tips, and are more likely to be sexually harassed, since the pandemic.

Health: Gizmodo reports that the Centers for Disease Control has updated its recommendations on length of quarantine stay, relative to COVID. The recommended lengths have been shortened.

The obituary of Marvin J. Farr, a veterinarian who died from COVID, as so many others have, has gone viral. With good reason.

Politics: A Trump election lawyer has called for the execution of Chris Krebs, who was fired for saying that the 2020 Presidential election was free from anything close to lost or changed ballots, according to Gizmodo.

Science: TheScientist discusses the use of messenger RNA vaccines. (The most promising COVID vaccines are mRNA injections.)

(or something) Gizmodo reports on how a capsized cargo ship, with a few thousand autos on it, is being cut up and removed.

(And Christianity) The Wikipedia has an article on the star of Bethlehem, which considers several possible explanations, including the purely miraculous, and some astronomical phenomena.

Gizmodo has a slide show about the "most intriguing" archaeological discoveries of 2020.

Relevant and other outlets report that there will be a "Christmas Star" conjunction on December 21, and for a few days later.

Sports: FiveThirtyEight reports on findings that elite professional athletes are likely to be younger siblings.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 806

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

Christianity: Relevant has a tongue-in-cheek piece on Starbuck's cups, which, again, don't include the word, "Christmas," on them.

A Christianity Today article argues that Phoebe (Romans 16:1) had an important role in the church.

Environment: The US has officially withdrawn (finally) from the Paris Climate Accord. Gizmodo also reports that, if Biden wins, we could re-join the Accord in about a month.

Gizmodo reports that the voters of Colorado have voted to have wolves introduced into the state. (They used to live there).

Health: (or something) Relevant reports that the US divorce rate keeps dropping. However, marriage, especially among those not so well off, is also less likely.

The Panda's Thumb is not totally optimistic about Pfizer's vaccine, for more than one reason. I hope that the optimism is correct.

Politics: Neil Cavuto, Fox News anchor, had his program cut away from a White House press conference, because, he said, it was presenting unsubstantiated assertions about ballots, according to Relevant and other sources.

Nate Silver, head of FiveThirtyEight, discusses what recent polls got right.

Science: Relevant reports on an extra-solar planet that has extreme conditions.

Gizmodo reports on recent observations of a little-known kind of squid.

Sports: FiveThirtyEight reports that the number of punts returned, rather than let fall, or fairly caught, is declining.

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

Thanks for looking!