Sunspots 959

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

Computing: A Christianity Today author warns of the danger of spending time in cyberspace. In addition to pornography and misinformation, internet use distorts the importance of the real world.

(or something:) NPR tells what happens to lost luggage. There's a lot of it!

Science: ScienceAlert describes an amazing newly found area on the ocean bottom.

A Conversation writer discusses genetic and other changes in species, which help them avoid extinction, due to climate change. Most of these strategies are not enough.

NPR reports on an attempt to grow food plants on simulated Martian soil.

(or something): NPR tells us about big tumbleweeds, lots of them.

Sports:

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 908

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

Environment: Gizmodo reports that an analysis of what we are doing to control climate change is not doing enough.

Finances: (or something) a Conversation writer tells us about sports betting: who's doing it, and what are the effects on better and society.

Health: Gizmodo reports on a study by the CDC, which indicates that alcohol consumption is involved in 1 of every 8 deaths in the US.

Politics: The Conversation reports on a study that indicates that women on news channels are treated differently than men. (MSNBC, CNN and Fox News were studied.)

Science: A writer for The Conversation tells us that a large majority of Americans say that they trust scientists.

Gizmodo reports on research indicating that cats can tell if a voice is their "owners'," and also pay more attention when the owner is  speaking to the cat.

Naturalis historia argues that studying water, or where water used to be, on Mars shows that Mars is much more than a few thousand years old.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 904

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

Computing: Gizmodo reports that Google has a tool that helps you keep your identity from prying eyes.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that leasing off-shore areas to wind power devices gives us more energy than leasing the same areas to oil and gas extraction, and such leasing also yields more taxes.

FiveThirtyEight on the Waffle House storm index -- it's real.

Health: Gizmodo reports on a large study that indicates that coffee (including decaf) is good for you.

Politics: (or something) NPR explains gaslighting,

Science: Gizmodo reports on a company that is using taxpayer dollars to attempt to bring mammoths, tasmanian tigers, and maybe the dodo back from extinction. There are lots of questions about such a project!

Gizmodo tells us that there is an ongoing debate about whether are frozen lakes on Mars.

The Scientist, and other outlets, reports that Svante Pääbo has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the DNA of early humanoids.

Sports:

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 902

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

Christianity: Christianity Today tells us about Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child, and Franklin Graham.

Computing: (and ethics) The Conversation reports on experiments that indicate that people are more likely to cheat others on-line when they use a laptop computer, compared to smartphone users.

Environment: NPR has posted a map showing when peak fall color is most likely to occur in all of the contiguous US.

Gizmodo reports on how many kinds of toilet paper are harmful to the environment.

Finances: An Indian man is now the second richest person on the planet, according to NPR.

Science: A Conversation writer describes several tons of waste that humans have left on Mars.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 893

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

The Arts: NPR reports that Mary Badham, who played Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, is now playing one of the Finch's neighbors in a theater production of the story.

Christianity: (and politics) A Christianity Today writer, along with others, believes that the US is headed for a time of political violence, and in fact is already in one. She says that Christians, of whatever political persuasion, should not participate, following the example of Jesus.

Education: Grammarphobia discusses the expression "weak in the knees."

Environment: Gizmodo tells us that European bison are being re-introduced to the United Kingdom, where they have not been (in the wild, at least) for thousands of years.

Finances: (or something) Gizmodo discusses mishandled air luggage.

Health: Fox News (and other outlets) reports on a study that says that those under 40 years old should not drink alcohol.

A Conversation writer tells us why drug names are so complicated, and explains some of how they are named.

History: (or something) ListVerse shows us some amazing bridges.

Humor: (or something) a cat escaped from a carrier, in the Boston airport, and was finally caught, after three weeks, according to NPR.

Politics: (or something) A Conversation writer says that the Shinto religion (and the Unification Church) influences the assassination of Shinzo Abe.

Science: (or something) The Conversation discusses love (by which the discussion mostly means physical attraction.)

Gizmodo reports that the Webb telescope has been damaged by a micrometeorite. It should still function, almost as well as before the damage.

Gizmodo also reports that NASAs martian explorer devices have photographed what looks like a tangle of string. The article has a link to a previous finding -- something that looks like a door.

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

Thanks for reading.

 

Sunspots 884

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

Computing: Gizmodo reports on how often our presence is registered by someone we didn't ask to do this, on-line. (For example, how Google gets information on you, and shows you ads, when you do a search.) Normal internet users leak such information into the hundreds of times a day.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that major oil companies are selling off some of their structure to smaller companies, which are unregulated, and increase emitting greenhouse gases.

Politics: Relevant reports that Americans are a lot more interested in the Depp-Heard trial than in Roe vs. Wade.

Science: Gizmodo reports that NASA has detected a magnitude 5 earthquake on Mars.

A writer in The Scientist discusses sex, and argues that sex differences are much less binary than some would have us believe.

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 874

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

Computing: Gizmodo reports that Russia is encouraging software piracy, as part of their attack on Ukraine and the West.

Education: Listverse plays 10 strange animal sounds.

Environment: The Scientist reports that the Amazon Rain Forest may be on the verge of turning into a Savannah ecosystem.:

Health: Fox News reports on a study that indicates that taking daily walks helps prevent Alzheimer's.

Humor: (sort of) Relevant lists over a dozen strangely specific Bibles, such as a camouflaged one.

Science: Gizmodo reports that a Martian rock seems to be stuck in one of the wheels of a Mars rover.

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 841

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

Christianity: (and politics) Christianity Today has an article on how some charismatic leaders realized that they had been wrong about Donald Trump being ordained of God to be re-elected, Some of them confessed this wrong, but in some cases there was serious backlash about such repentance.

Health:  (or not) Gizmodo has prepared an exhibit, describing the seven worst charlatans of the pandemic.

Humor: (or something) A YouTube video, a minute long, showing an astronaut attempting to assemble a Lego object while in zero gravity.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight on the growing influence of news networks further to the right than Fox News, on Republicans.

Gizmodo reports that the government forgave some small business loans to organizations that spread anti-vaccination propaganda.

Science: A BioLogos writer examines reasons why we might want to colonize Mars, and finds them not sufficient.

Gizmodo reports that Chinese scientists have produced hair-sized (and shaped) ice fibers that are elastic -- they can be bent out of shape and return to the original shape.

Gizmodo discusses heat waves. An interesting fact (not the only one) is that there is no generally accepted definition of heat waves.

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 839

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

Environment: (and Politics) Gizmodo reports that the US Chamber of Commerce has been denying climate change for years.

Finance: (or something) According to Politifact, prominent TV preachers Charles Stanley, Pat Robertson, and Joel Osteen are not selling cannabis products.

Food: NPR reports on nut thefts: Organized criminals are stealing pistachios and almonds,

Politics: Florida now has a law that expects universities to keep track of the beliefs of employees and students, according to Relevant.

According to Gizmodo, Florida has also given fossil fuels an advantage in energy sources.

Pornography: With considerable reluctance, I have added this category to my weekly sunspots. It's important, and it keeps coming up. I will not knowingly link directly to any pornographic sites.

Relevant gives us some misconceptions about sex trafficking and pornography.

Science: Astronomers have been thinking about the possibility of intelligent life on other planets detecting earth, according to NPR.

The Scientist reports on cicada holes, which are more permanent than some other animal-produced holes in the ground, and which have important effects on the microbes in the soil, and on the atmosphere. There are lots and lots of such holes.

Gizmodo reports that there are underground (and frozen) lakes on Mars.

Gizmodo reports on the collision of a black hole and a neutron star. 

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 830

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

Environment: An environmental activist, writing in Gizmodo, says that it's time to "kill Earth Day."

Food: (and drink) The Scientist reports that a different species of coffee may be useful as a substitute for the species now commonly grown, which is susceptible to global warming. So susceptible that there's a coffee shortage coming.

Science: NPR reports on an experiment that has been going on for over 140 years.

Gizmodo reports on an Oxygen-generating device that NASA included in a recent Mars landing. The device, or something like it, may make it possible to return to earth from Mars (plus giving Mars scientists Oxygen to breathe.)

Gizmodo also reports that sponges can move.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 801

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

Christianity: (and Politics) J. D. Greear, President of the Southern Baptist Convention, has strongly denounced white supremacy, and urged all Christians to do the same, according to Relevant.

Computing: NPR discusses claims that Facebook is biased against conservative content.

Environment: Tasmanian devils are being re-introduced to Australia.

Food: Gizmodo reports that the Irish Supreme Court has ruled that what Subway calls "bread" can't be called bread.

Listverse reports on 10 fruits that have changed a lot over the centuries.

Health: NPR on what temperature readings at the doors of various establishments do, and don't do.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight on why hatred came to dominate US politics.

Science: The Scientist reports that there may be a few bodies of water underneath the surface of Mars.

Gizmodo reports on a study that indicates that bird brain size is related to longevity.

Asian Giant hornets, aka murder hornets, are still a threat in Washington State and British Columbia, according to Gizmodo.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 733

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to

someone else:

Christianity: A Christianity Today writer discovered that you don't have to frown to defend the Gospel. He has decided to be happier, and is better for it, in many ways.

A Relevant writer asks if God really wants everyone to be happy.

(and politics) A Christianity Today article on politics and the Southern Baptist Convention includes data indicating that the more frequent their church attendance, the less likely self-proclaimed Christians are to support building a wall, the more likely to support a pathway to citizenship, and the less likely to support stricter immigration enforcement. Also white evangelicals are less likely to support President Trump's try for a second term than are Republicans as a whole. 

A Christianity Today article on steps toward racial reconciliation in Charleston, SC, where, about four years ago, a white supremacist shot and killed 9 African-Americans at a Bible study.

(and Computing) A Relevant writer asks Christians not to engage in various kinds of behavior on social media.

Computing: (or something) Gizmodo reports on an investigation that found lots of law enforcement officers are members of on-line hate groups.

Gizmodo also reports that hospitals are being besieged by robocalls, often spoofing numbers from the hospital's own phone network.

Education: Grammarphobia discusses the use of the phrase "in the weeds."

Finance: Catherine Rampell wonders how the economy can be a) as strong and stable as it's ever been and b) threatened by a slender 0.25% rise in interest rates. (Both of these according to President Trump.)

Ms. Rampell also points out the failed promises accompanying the recent GOP-driven tax law. The deficit has increased significantly.

Food: Gizmodo reports on commercially released plant-based alternatives to meat.

Humor: (or something) Listverse gives the answers to 10 fairly common questions, starting with "Do bulls hate red?"

Christianity Today recounts 10 distractions of a pastor during the sermon.


Politics: Michael Gerson reports on the desperation of Venezuelans.

Science: National Geographic discusses race and ethnicity.

Gizmodo reports on the construction of the world's strongest magnet.

Gizmodo also reported on the discovery of a new crater on Mars.

Sports: The players at the recent LPGA Meijer Classic golf tournament included J. Y. Ko, S. H. Oh, E. Ji, M. He, L. Ko and B. Do, each with about as short a surname as you can get, and P. Thanapolboonyaras and S. Santiwiwatthanaphong, whose surnames are a lot longer. None of these players won, by the way, although Oh tied for second.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 730

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

Christianity: Relevant reports that a church has a standing offer to pay (at about $8000) for weddings of couples, in the church, who are living together without being married. About 60 couples have done this.

A pastor of a white congregation explains why ministering to African-Americans and whites at the same time is hard.

Computing: Gizmodo discusses some reasons for checking our smart phones a lot.

Education: Grammarphobia tells us that the meanings of  "emerge" and "emergency" are related.

Health: If you're a woman, you probably won't be surprised. NPR reports on a study indicating that women do better at clerical tasks when the room temperature is not so cold.

Humor: (or something) A Gizmodo article explains how some magic tricks are done.

(or something) Relevant reports that the Ark Encounter is suing because of rain damage.


Politics: Catherine Rampell on how the Trump Administration has tinkered with government statistics in various ways.

NPR reports that a lot of so-called American soil is actually owned by foreign entities.

FiveThirtyEight discusses the laws that state governments are seeking to have adopted, in states where the legislature and the governor are both from the same party.

Michael Gerson is not happy with the Trump Administration's decision to slow down the replacement of Andrew Jackson's picture, on $20 bills, by that of Harriet Tubman, and says that Tubman, even after death, makes her enemies look foolish.

Science: There's a lot of water on Mars, according to Gizmodo.

A Christianity Today writer discusses the question of whether non-human animals appreciate beauty.

Gizmodo discusses attempts to control monkey populations in India, where the animals have been responsible for several human deaths.

Listverse describes 10 organisms that don't seem to have any limits on their lifespan.

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

Thanks for looking!

Some thoughts on Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra, by C. S. Lewis

I have gladly re-read, for the I don't know how manyth time, Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra, the first two parts of what is referred to as the Space Trilogy, by C. S. Lewis. I will not attempt to summarize these fine books -- see the links above for the Wikipedia articles on them.

I wish to point out two relatively minor points about these books.

First, Lewis was a fine nature writer, or could have been, judging from his made up Mars and Venus. We now know that Mars doesn't have canals, nor much water, and we have no evidence that there is any kind of intelligent life there. But Lewis took what some early astronomers called as "canals," and made them into great valleys, with scenery, water, vegetation, intelligent life, and animals. He described the effect of lower gravity on the shape of waves and ridges. If Mars was more accessible, and was really like that, it would be a fabulous place to visit, indeed, rivaling the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and any other natural scenic spot you care to mention. Lewis's Venus was mostly a water world, (some astronomers used to believe that) and, again, he clearly loved making up descriptions of animals, floating islands, undersea and cave-dwelling life, and vegetation, including fruit. Again, were Venus really at a temperature compatible with a giant world-wide ocean, and if we could get to it, this would be a fabulous place, for sight-seeing, eating the fruit, surfing, swimming, and spelunking. He knew how to make his made-up nature attractive.

Second, Lewis apparently believed that Venus (and, therefore, Mars and the Earth) were very old. This is a quotation from Perelandra: "Some day, no doubt, it would be peopled by the descendants of the King and Queen. But all its millions of years in the unpeopled past, all its uncounted miles of laughing water in the lonely present . . ." 

Thanks for reading! Read Lewis.

Sunspots 645

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

Christianity: Benjamin L. Corey is not at all happy about President Trump's threat to destroy the entire population of North Korea, and he's even less happy with Franklin Graham's reaction to the speech.

The editor of Christianity Today weighs in on athletics and the national anthem.

Ken Schenck answers the question, "Who is God?"

A writer in the Washington Post compares Tim Tebow and Colin Kaepernick, and reaches a sobering conclusion about today's Christianity.

 
Food: The New York Times reports that the plants that produce chocolate may be in danger from a fungus.

History: (and politics) Listverse describes 10 states of the US that never came into being, but were more or less seriously proposed.

Humor: (not really, but I don't have a category for this one) Listverse also reports on 10 things were are running out of. Interesting, and scary.
 

Politics: (Sort of) FiveThirtyEight points out that the news media, including some important "mainstream" entities, treat probabilities as if they were certainties, and those who are predicting (meteorologists and polling organizations) are putting out probabilities.

Science: (or extraplanetary travel) Listverse tells us why a trip to Mars would be more uncomfortable than most of us would think.

Scientific American reports, somewhat poetically (!) on the discovery of fungi, living about a half mile down in bedrock. The article mentions that possibly one-fifth of all the living things on earth live in the earth's crust, seldom, if ever, seen.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 618

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

Christianity: (And Politics) Christianity Today on how Hispanics, including some legally in the US, are now afraid to attend church (and for some valid reasons.)

Christianity Today also reports that recent executive orders are cutting off efforts to evangelize Muslims in the U. S. So is the attitude of white evangelical Christians, who are far more likely to fear Muslims and support the attempted travel bans than is the population at large.

Christianity Today discusses the importance of contemporary worship, and even defines it.


Finance: Listverse reports on 10 typos that led to some really awful consequences.

Health: The New York Times reports that, in Canada, people with cystic fibrosis live, on average, 10 years longer than they do in the US. The difference is mostly due to better insurance in Canada. The same report indicates that Canadians live about 2 years longer than Americans do.

Politics: (And Science) General Mattis, the newly installed US Secretary of Defense, believes that climate change is a real threat that our military needs to take seriously.

Shepard Smith, of Fox News, stated that that network had "no evidence of any kind that the now president of the United States was surveilled at any time in any way, full stop.”

Science: (And politics, unfortunately) The Weather Channel on why scientists believe that humans are contributing to climate change.

Wired warns us that the bananas many of us like to eat may soon be gone, because of the way we concentrate large agriculture on just "the best" types of plant.

FiveThirtyEight assesses the possibility of reproduction while in space, and finds that it's probably difficult or impossible for higher animals, based on very little research.

Wired has posted an amazing 4+ minute video of the surface of Mars. A longer video covers much the same material, but with on-screen captioning, so you can tell what you are seeing.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 617

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

The Arts: The prize-winning Welcome image award winners, science-related graphics.

Christianity: (and History) Christianity Today gives brief biographies of five women every Christian should know about.

(and Science) Paul Nelson, one of the experts interviewed in the new film, "Is Genesis History?" wishes that he had said something additional to what was recorded of him on film. To specify, he believes that there are more than two alternative beliefs about origins, and, thus, more than one belief which may be held by Christians.

Benjamin L. Corey tells us that reading the Bible is probably not as simple as some of us think it is.


Computing: GhostBrowser should be useful to some of you. You can be connected to more than one Facebook (or other such sites) site at one time.

Gizmo's Freeware reports on two items, both available through your browser. One web site tells you your IP address, and the other tells you your screen resolution.

History: (And Humor, and The Arts) Listverse reports on 10 valuable items found, and purchased cheaply, in Thrift stores (Goodwill, etc.).

Literature: (and Christianity, and The Arts) Ken Schenck, an expert in philosophy, Christianity, and more, reviews The Shack, (The book, not the film) here,  here,  here,  here and here. See also a post by E. Stephen Burnett, about the book. Burnett is less happy than Schenck seems to be, but, as he says, it's complicated.


Politics: Wired assures us that nobody is spying on us by means of our microwave ovens.

Science: Mars is the planet most like earth, but FiveThirtyEight tells us that getting there, and living there, will be difficult.

National Public Radio reports on major steps toward synthesizing the genome of yeast organisms. Are humans next?

Listverse reports that there are laws or treaties in place to cover the possibility of contact with an alien race.




Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 564

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

Christianity: Christianity Today has an article on how the author learned to love her menstrual period.

Relevant tells us a number of things that the Church is not, such as a political institution, a stronghold against the world, or a building.

Computing: Gizmo's Freeware provides an annotated list of the best free games for Windows computers. (Many of these games are also available for iOs and Android information appliances.)

Gizmo's also tells us about a site which offers 600 different free music streams.

The Environment: Climate change denial is alive and well, according to this report on beliefs about global climate change in the states that voted on March 1, Super Tuesday.

Health: National Public Radio reports on why we are more likely to snack if we haven't had enough sleep.

Humor: (and politics) There is a web site, encouraging US citizens to move to Cape Breton Island if Donald Trump wins the US Presidency. There are details on how to go about this. That's in Nova Scotia, by the way.

(or something) FiveThirtyEight reports that many parents don't want their children to be born on February 29th.

Politics: NPR analyzes why Republicans have won so many Congressional seats, but have had trouble winning the Presidency. (And the reverse.)

First Things looks at the Super Tuesday exit polls, and finds that Donald Trump really didn't do well among evangelical voters. The article also points out that not all evangelicals are Republican. Indeed.

Science: (and music) Christianity Today (!) discusses perfect pitch.

Listverse suggests that we need 10 major advances in technology before we send anyone to Mars.

Listverse also comments on 10 ways that playing video games affects the brain.


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 387

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

Humor:  (dark humor) Pippa the Weathergirl on global warming.

Leonard Pitts was going to rant about something, but thought about it. Whoops!:

This was going to be a rant.
Then I thought about it, which was a mistake. As any experienced ranter can tell you, thinking about it has the unfortunate tendency of turning a good, clean rant into a muddy quagmire of fine points, conditional sentences, and digressions as delicately balanced as a Swiss watch.

Science: National Public Radio tells us that there are strange black spidery things that appear seasonally on Mars. We don't know what they are.

Politics:  National Public Radio reports on something you may have noticed by its absence: Neither Romney nor Obama are saying much about their religious faith. It's probably better that way. What do you get when you mix religion and politics? Politics.

This is not exactly politics, but here goes: There's a big fight about feral (wild) cats. Should they be caught and euthanized, caught and sterilized, or let be? Feral cats have contributed significantly to the endangerment of other kinds of animals.

Ken Schenck, Dean of the Seminary, Indiana Wesleyan University (I am also a Wesleyan) on why pastors/churches should not endorse any particular political candidate.

Image source (public domain)