Sunspots 831

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

Computing: Gizmodo reports that a number of entities are calling for a national strategy on fighting ransomware.

Education: A ListVerse writer tells us about 10 subjects that used to be taught in public schools, but aren't any more, and, says the writer, should be.

I am presently a member of a Wesleyan church. The Wesleyan Church has 5 institutions of higher learning in North America. An African-American has been selected as President of one of them, for the first time.

Health: Gizmodo on home smell training to help recover from loss of the sense of smell due to COVID.

And Gizmodo on why our skin itches, sometimes (or, in some of us, all the time).

FiveThirtyEight analyzes the likelihood of getting COVID from un-vaccinated children.

The Scientist reports that the risk of blood clots is higher in those infected by COVID than the risk of such in those who have been vaccinated.

Humor: (and Christianity) A Relevant writer has ranked worship instruments in order of their expense and/or complexity, or something.

Science: Scientists are trying to sequence the DNA of all animals with backbones, according to NPR.

Gizmodo reports on glacier melting, caused by climate change.

The Scientist reports that single-celled organisms, or single cells in higher organisms, may be capable of learning.

Sports: FiveThirtyEight says that you can't really tell how good an NFL team's draft picks were.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 568

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

The Arts: (Sort of) Listverse describes 10 bizarre musical instruments, and the people who play them (and usually invented them).

Computing: Gizmo's Freeware evaluates PDF file readers/annotators.

Wired reports that the Associated Press now (finally!) agrees that it's OK to not capitalize "internet," and "web."

Gizmo's also picks a new candidate for best free anti-virus program.

Education: FiveThirtyEight tells us why media presentations of various aspects of college, including competition for admission, are unrealistic.

Politics: The New York Times reports that people in the USA like members of the other political party considerably less than they used to.

Science: Wired reports that the connections to about 50 neurons in a mouse brain have been mapped. This sounds easy, but it wasn't -- it took several people a few years.

Wired also reports on the scientific basis for itching and scratching.

Wired also tells us how to make a bottle rocket.

An under-30 female Ukrainian mathematician has solved a problem that has been worked on for a long time.

(Sort of science) Listverse reports on how 10 different chemical elements have been used to kill people. (They didn't include lead.)

FiveThirtyEight tells us why the sun hurts our eyes.

Note: This post originally linked to a Christianity Today article on the religion of one of the major candidates for President of the US. A few days later, the same periodical published an article rebutting the first one, so I removed the link to the first article.


Image source (public domain)