Sunspots 742

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

Christianity: Christianity Today reports that Bibles which are mostly printed in China and exported to the US, will not be subject to tariffs.
Relevant points out four Bible verses that are too often used out of context.
He Lives on why it makes no sense to bear arms in church to protect against gun violence there.


Computing: National Public Radio reports that lots of people, especially teens, are addicted to the Internet in South Korea, and what the government is doiong about it.

Education: Listverse explains why 10 common objects have the shape that they do. (Why airplane windows are rounded, for example.)

Environment: (and Christianity) Christianity Today considers the matter of whether Christian businesspeople should be concerned about the environment.


Food: NPR discusses the pros and cons of grass-fed versus feed lot fed beef.

NPR reports that our banana supply is at risk.

Politics: Michael Gerson doesn't like many of the words used in the President's discourse, but thinks objecting to his language, but ignoring his attacks on human dignity, is hypocritical and short-sighted.

NPR discusses the remarkable power of the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell.

Internet watchdog Snopes has discussed a study on how people believe in the truth of satire.

Science: Gizmodo reports that a young woman had a "twin" growing inside her body.

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

Sunspots 731

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

Christianity: (and politics) NPR reports that US citizens who leave water in the desert for migrants, or otherwise assist migrants, face arrest and may face prison. This is true, apparently, even if the citizen's religious convictions require him or her to give assistance to those in dire need.

A Relevant writer says that no one ever came to believe in Christ for salvation because a Christian scolded them.

Relevant, I'm sorry to say, reports that the Houston Chronicle has documented sexual abuse by a few Southern Baptist missionaries or members of mission boards. There was a previous report on abuse of this sort by youth pastors. See here for yet more on the Houston Chronicle investigation.
Michael Gerson is not happy with Franklin Graham's call to pray for the President. (Gerson, himself, does pray for Mr. Trump on a regular basis, he says.)


Computing: A reliable source recommends a YouTube series entitled "A Crash Course in Navigating Digital Information."

Environment: (and politics) It's hurricane season. Building codes in the Florida panhandle still allow homes that won't withstand a hurricane, according to NPR. Habitat for Humanity, however builds houses that can (and, in some cases, have) withstood a major hurricane.


Finance: Catherine Rampell thinks that the economic expansion is about to end.

Health: (and finance) A woman was charged over $4000 for laughing gas (Nitrous Oxide) that she took to deal with pain during childbirth. This comes close to the cost of a Nitrous Oxide machine and the raw material for producing it, according to NPR.

Gizmodo reports that people who are caffeine or nicotine addicts do a lot worse in the ICU than people who are not so addicted. They go through withdrawal, in addition to whatever else put them in the ICU.

History: (And politics) Catherine Rampell on why we need government.

Politics: NPR reports that, although they seldom agree on policy matters, Ted Cruz And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have, together, taken the first steps toward legislation that will prohibit former members of Congress from becoming lobbyists. Good for them! The article says that the reverse is also true -- nearly 200 political appointees in the Trump administration formerly worked as lobbyists. Not exactly "draining the swamp." Trump's administration isn't the first where this sort of thing has happened.

FiveThirtyEight reports that Bernie Sanders is the most popular Democratic candidate for President among Democrats not affiliated with any religion.

Science: The Scientist reports on a study showing that the browsing of deer, which removes leaves, changes the way the sounds used by other animals, in communication, are perceived.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain. 

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 489

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
Christianity: It's not out yet, but here's a blog post warning Christians not to take the Left Behind movie too seriously.
A splendid lecture on how God is seen through nature.
Computing: Be careful of pirated e-books. Apparently, some of them can hack your Amazon account.
Relevant has posted a map showing all the web-connected devices on the planet. Interesting, but perhaps not terribly surprising -- web use is concentrated in a few places.

Science: One of the advantages of being sexual is that the offspring have new and unique combinations of the genes of their parents. But Wired reports on a microscopic organism that takes such recombination much further than any other known living thing.
Wired also reports on a parasitic worm that invades the eyestalks of snails, so it can be eaten. Really. There's a short video.
Image source (public domain)