Sunspots 796

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

Christianity: Relevant reports that some Christians were seriously put off  by Vice-President Pence, "whose Wednesday address raised eyebrows for paraphrasing Hebrews 12 (which is fine), but swapping out the biblical language for patriotic buzzwords (which is not)."

Christianity Today has two articles on what the Bible says about police and policing. The articles are here and here.

(and Sports) Christianity Today also has a discussion of the role of Christian athletes, mostly black, but some white, in the racial justice movement, over the past few decades. There's very little mention of women, unfortunately.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that wolverines, which have been absent from the area for a century, have returned to Mount Rainier.

Gizmodo also reports on a study that shows humans have about as large a footprint in the oceans as they do on land.

Health: Gizmodo expands on the six foot/two meter social distancing guideline.

Gizmodo also reports on the puzzling change in COVID testing guidelines, from the Centers for Disease Control.

The Huffington Post takes on the claim that only 6% of those said to have died from COVID actually died of it. It's complicated, but one quote: "Since March, when the pandemic started, the United States has suffered 200,000 more deaths than usual."

Politics: (And religion, unfortunately) Christianity Today points out the dangers of QAnon.

Science: The Scientist reports on an attempt to cut down on dengue fever, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, in Indonesia. Mosquitoes infected with bacteria were released, and the frequency of dengue fever dropped dramatically.

Listverse tells us about some amazing mushrooms.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 795

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

Finance: FiveThirtyEight has economists discuss what happens to the US economy if a vaccine is found. The consensus is that it would take months, maybe a year or more, for the economy to return to normal.

Health: Gizmodo tells us why using plasma from convalescent COVID patients may not be such a good idea.

NPR reports that the rationale for using such treatments seems to be more political than it should be -- the science isn't clear yet.

Humor: (or something - it is potentially not funny) Some researchers have figured out how to make a key to break in to a lock by using the sounds the keys make when they are inserted.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight discusses the history of how women have voted, since gaining the right to vote 100 years ago. At first, they voted just like men. No longer.

FiveThirtyEight also discusses the Republican party, which, it says, has been turning in a Trumpian direction even before Mr. Trump, and is almost certain to continue in that direction.

Science: An asteroid, as large as a car, came within 2,000 miles of the earth recently, says Gizmodo and other outlets.

Gizmodo also reports that the Tasmanian Tiger (which became extinct less than 100 years ago) was not as large as we thought it was.

Listverse tells us about some amazing mushrooms.

Sports: (And, maybe, Christianity) The WNBA teams are all living and playing at the same place, in Florida. But each game has a designated home and visitor team. The home teams are doing significantly better, and no one is sure why, according to FiveThirtyEight. That's hard to explain. One possible factor is the chapel meetings before the games.

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

Thanks for looking!