Sunspots 922

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

Christianity (and Sports): According to KMBC News, Patrick Mahones, Kansas City quarterback, is not shy about his Christian faith.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that the court system might finally hold oil companies accountable for knowing that use increased climate temperature, but denying that.

Food: (and Science) A Conversation writer tells us a lot about the processing of chocolate.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight analyzes the current congressional  Republicans.

FiveThirtyEight also discusses the effectiveness of gun laws. We don't know much about this because government was forbidden to study some of these, until recently.

NPR on why we didn't hear about 4 other incursions by Chinese balloons.

Science: Gizmodo reports that Neanderthals hunted what would today be supersized elephants, several thousands of years ago, in Europe.

NPR reports that artificial intelligence programs are a dismal failure at planning for a rocket launch.

NPR also reports that commuting may make working life less stressful.

Gizmodo reports that Jupiter has 92 verified moons, which is more than Saturn has, but searches for more around Saturn are continuing.

The Scientist reports that structures made from human brain cells respond to visual stimuli when placed in rat brains.

Todd Wood on Neanderthal hunting of giant elephants.

Sports: (and Finances) FiveThirtyEight shows, graphically, how the NFL has captured the attention of the US over the past several years.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 793

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

Christianity: Weekend Fisher sees the world more clearly, because of COVID.

Environment: As the Antarctic heats up, some penguins are better off, some are much worse off, says Gizmodo.

Gizmodo also reports that hurricane prediction numbers have been increased over previous predictions.

NPR reports that, in addition to trying to save tigers and whales, we should be concerned about tapeworms and other parasites.

Finance: (or something) Gizmodo reports that people are working longer hours during this pandemic.

Health: NPR reports that airlines can require passengers to wear masks.

History: He Lives argues that being a believer in a young earth, as apparently most of the church fathers did, is not the same thing as being a young-earth creationist today.

Politics: Ken Schenck talks about race, and points out a variety of white responses to the topic.

FiveThirtyEight says that most Americans don't want to postpone the November 3 election.

Science: Gizmodo reports that it's relatively easy to measure tire wear, and detect nails, by radar.

Gizmodo also reports on studies of Jupiter's atmosphere, including lightning and mushy hail.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 788

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to

someone else:

Christianity:A solid article in Christianity Today about racism and oppression in general.

Computing: Microsoft has instructions on how to disable OneDrive.


Environment: The Huffington Post points out that President Trump has destroyed far more monuments than all the protesters combined.

Democrats in a House Committee on Climate change are taking their subject seriously, but maybe too seriously, according to Gizmodo. Should we really block out part of the sunlight that falls on earth?

Health: The Scientist on whether COVID-19 is spread through the air more than we had thought.
Gizmo also has an article on spreading. There are questions.

Politics: (and education) NPR and Gizmodo report that foreign students in the US are being told that, if their college goes entirely on-line, they have to leave the country. Not exactly welcoming people who often end up as very productive members of society.

Science: From Gizmodo: The song of a common species of bird has quickly changed, apparently as the new song has been copied by other birds.

Gizmodo also reports on the discovery of a new "spot" on Jupiter.

Gizmodo also reports on the death of hundreds of elephants in Botswana.

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

Sunspots 738

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

Christianity: Christianity Today interviews Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The State Department is hosting a major event, focusing on religious freedom all over the world.

More from Speculative Faith on engaging (or not) with the culture.

Computing: Gizmodo reports that almost all activity of users on pornography web sites is tracked by Google and other companies, including Facebook. The study did not answer the question as to what, if anything, that data is used for. The study looked at over 22,000 pornography web sites.

Health: NPR reports on a study, indicating that, world-wide, we don't grow enough fruits and vegetables for everyone to have recommended amounts of them.

An NPR writer tells us how to know if we really need surgery, and how to find the right surgeon, if we do.

NPR also reports on a study of teeth, around the world. We are eating way too much sugar, and not doing preventive practices.

Humor: (or something) Listverse tells us about some elaborate and amazing things made with Legos.


Politics: An NPR person thinks that President Trump's statements about certain House members should have been reported, but that calling them "racist" was opinion, not reporting. Not everyone at NPR agrees.

Catherine Rampell summarizes several recent actions, by the Trump administration, to make immigration from the South even more difficult. Most of these actions violate US and international law, she says.

Science: Gizmodo reports that the temperature at the northernmost settlement on earth reached 70 degrees Fahrenheit, for the first time ever, recently.

An environmental success story. Thanks to heroic efforts (and funding) from many people, the California condor population has grown from 20 or so to 300 wild birds.

Gizmodo reports on studies of the frequent volcanic activity on Io, a moon of Jupiter.

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

Thanks for looking!