Sunspots 889

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

Politics: The Conversation writes that school hardening isn't very effective.

Science: CNN reports on a male mastodon, who was killed by another one, and also reports that study of the killed mastodon has enabled scientists to study migration patterns in these extinct animals.

The Scientist reports that scientists have been able to find Arthropod (insects, spiders, etc.) DNA in tea bags. Much of this probably was left on the tea leaves when insects bit into the leaves.

Nature discusses the Long-Term Evolution Experiment, which has tracked about 40,000 generations of bacteria (so far), and has found some interesting things, most prominently that mutation has led to a new ability to get energy from citrate.

Gizmodo reports that isolated populations of polar bears have been identified in Greenland.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 650

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

The Arts: An unusual high school band's percussion section.

Christianity: A Christianity Today author on getting rid of her own "tribalism," with lessons for all of us.

Relevant reports that the government of Nepal has made evangelism illegal.


Food: (and drink) Tea growing is expanding rapidly in the US, including in my home state. I thank one of my brothers, who sends me links that I include in this column.

Listverse tells us a lot about pumpkins.

FiveThirtyEight on which candy is most popular for Halloween, and why.

Philosophy: He Lives points out that free will is outside of nature, and of scientific explanations.


Politics: (And computing) FiveThirtyEight analyzes the responses (number of likes, retweets, or replies -- not the content of replies) to Twitter posts from President Trump, former President Obama, and other prominent politicians.

Wired reports that the Federal Communications Commission has made it easier for large companies to expand their media share. This means that one kind of political view may be unchallenged in some media markets. See also here.

FiveThirtyEight reports that the Trump Administration's first FBI crime report is much less informative than previous such annual reports.

Science: A dying female chimpanzee recognizes a former human associate. (Less than 3 minute video.)

Scientific American on whether global climate change is making hurricanes more dangerous.

FiveThirtyEight considers what would happen if there were no number 6. (This was based on a 5-year-old's question, and gets pretty deep into interesting questions.)

Listverse on how animals, of many kinds, have had large effects on the environment.

The Seattle Times on how monarch butterflies have been affected by warmer climate.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 542

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else: 
 
Christianity: Ken Schenck says that the Bible is "inspired, infallible and inerrant," and discusses the meaning of those three terms. 

  Food: Here's the difference between cilantro and Italian parsley.


Health: The New York Times reports on scientific studies on the health benefits of drinking tea.
 
National Public Radio reports that (surprise!) we are sitting down too much for our health.
 
Humor: (or something) Wired on what happens to buildings abandoned by Pizza Hut.
  Literature: Wired reports that Tolkien sketched a lot (maps, and other things) while writing his masterpiece.


Politics: Benjamin L. Corey on why the gun lobby loves a mass shooting.
Image source (public domain)