Sunspots 954

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

Christianity: (and Politics) The Conversation discusses five events in the life of former President Jimmy Carter, and his accomplishments.

Computing: Gizmodo reports that artificial intelligence is expected to take as much electricity as a country like Sweden does.

Science: Gizmodo reports on mammals that glow in the dark. Really.

Gizmodo also reports on amazing progress in artificial hands in people who have lost one.

There's a report, in a source I'm not familiar with, of a now-extinct Mediterranean goat species that was cold-blooded, like reptiles.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 953

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

Christianity: (and Politics) Joel Edmund Anderson is not happy with our habit of picking a verse that seems to back up our position, but ignoring the biblical and cultural context. He points out examples from both major positions -- conservative and progressive.

Computing: Gizmodo reports that children with mobile phones receive a mind-blowing number of notifications each day.

Gizmodo also reports that there's a deepfake, based on the appearance and sound of Tom Hanks, that's being used to sell on-line. Hanks has nothing to do with the fake.

Politics: The Conversation has a post on "conservative" and "liberal" Supreme Court justices -- they aren't easy to categorize.

CBS News tells us about the more than a dozen government shutdowns since 1980.

Science: ScienceAlert discusses dog-like animals in South America (there are four species there), and a new hybrid between a pampas fox (one of them) and a domestic dog.

Gizmodo reports on a study that indicates that, 250 million years from now, the present continents will have merged into one, and that land mass will not be suitable for mammalian life.

And Gizmodo gives us a guide to the solar eclipse coming soon to the western hemisphere.

Gizmodo also reports on a study that indicates that some elephants are considerably better than others at solving puzzles. Gizmodo also reports that some scientists claim that elephants, humans, and bonobos are self-domesticated -- they have become more social and less aggressive towards others of the same species.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 933

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

Environment:  FiveThirtyEight reports on attempts to undo steps to reduce global warming.

Gizmodo reports that the US Supreme Court has become interested in the deception practiced by oil companies.

Politics: A Conversation writer compares the visions of Supreme Court Justices Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas.

Some Tennessee state officials are trying to remove mention of slavery from the history of the Civil War, according to a Conversation writer.

Science: Gizmodo reports that scientists are turning dead bird carcasses (including feathers) into drones.

Gizmodo (and other outlets) report on a massive study of the DNA of many types of mammals.

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

Thanks for reading.

 

Sunspots 833

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

Computing: Gizmodo reports that Colonial Pipeline had posted a job opening for a cybersecurity manager, a week or so before the ransomware attack that cut gasoline supplies down.

NPR interviews a company that helps negotiate with criminals after a ransomware attack.

Environment: Gizmodo reports on how ineffective the Environmental Protection Agency has been, during the Trump administration, and before.

Health: NPR reports that a dozen people are responsible for most of the anti-vaccination disinformation available on social networks. These people have, and will, contribute to COVID (and other diseases) deaths.

(and Computing) NPR reports on likely links between social media use and depression, among children and youth.

Science: The Scientist reports that children with severe combined immunodeficiency have been successfully treated with gene therapy, with a virus placing a normal gene in them. Treatment helps for at least a few years, and, we hope, for life.

Gizmodo reports that a system for generating characters by thought alone (in a paralyzed man) is quite effective, and surprisingly rapid. In other words, he's typing with his brain. See also report in The Scientist.

Gizmodo also reports on spectacular recently published photos of  Jupiter.

ScienceAlert reports that we would need several years to deflect an asteroid headed for earth.

Gizmodo seeks answers to the question of why birds and insects are often vividly colored, while mammals are not. (Did you ever see a blue one?)

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

Thanks for looking!