Sunspots 641

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

Christianity: He Lives argues, from the Bible, that the days of Genesis 1 were not necessarily 24 hours in length.

And He Lives discusses the importance (or not) of belief that Mary was a perpetual virgin, and the evidence for and against that idea.


Computing:Wired warns us that robots can be hacked. In other words, we don't have to wait until they are intelligent and self-aware to be in possible danger from them.

Gizmo's Freeware suggests an easy way to download YouTube videos to your information appliance.

Finance: Wired reports that California's emphasis on cutting down on Carbon Dioxide emissions, and on green energy, has not hurt their economy.

Health: Listverse reports on 10 common "health" practices that aren't really healthy, such as the use of hand sanitizer.

History: Listverse reports on 10 controversies involving monuments, all but one of them outside North America.

Humor (or Literature): National Public Radio reports that the University of Southern California and UCLA are arguing over whether William Shakespeare should be spelled without the final e.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight tells us that there are now fake polls, in addition to fake news. And, I was surprised to learn, one of the main reasons for publishing a fake poll is to make money through betting on the outcome of a political contest. Oh, dear. Here's another post on the subject from the same source.

Wired reports that Exxon agreed that climate change was real, and human activity was an important cause of it, but did not say these things in its advertisements.

Science: Scientific American reports on studies of fairness in young children, who seem to have an inborn sense of fairness.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 498

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
Christianity: Relevant on redefining gratitude. (On being grateful for things we usually aren't grateful for.)
Computing: National Public Radio reports that major retailers have done little or nothing to prevent massive data misuse, as in the Target and Home Depot incidents. Why not? Because the credit card companies are picking up the tab. (So, of course, are consumers.)
NPR also reports on the potential (and actual) power of tech giants to control the news that we see and hear.
Health: National Public Radio tells us that our adult siblings may be quite important to our health.
Politics: (and Science) Fox News reports that some Google engineers claim that so-called green energy sources, by themselves, won't stop climate change. The article also mentions that Google is heavily invested in alternative energy sources.
Science: Capital OTC reports that a fossil ancestor of rhinos, hippos and horses has been found in India. Geologists believe that most of India was once a separate island.
Sports: You've probably seen it five times, but, just in case, here's the three-finger catch of a football, for a touchdown, by one Odell Beckham, of the New York Giants.

 Image source (public domain)