Sunspots 983

 

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

The BBC has fact-checked President Trump's meeting with the President of South Africa. His claims don't stand up. Other sources have published similar findings.

Earth.com reports on breakthroughs in identifying long-dead North American megafauna (mammoths, giant sloths, etc.)

The BBC discusses the so-called Golden Done defense system.

The BBC also discusses the noise associated with Bitcoin mining (whatever that is!). Apparently it's quite annoying and pervasive.

Gizmodo reports on a study of how giant sloths disappeared.

Gizmodo also reports that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's recent paper on Making America Healthy Again refers to health studies that were never carried out.

Gizmodo also reports that two different species of termites are mating and producing hybrids, which may be really destructive.

Sunspots 869

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

Christianity:  (sort of) Christianity Today on Jerry Falwell, Jr.'s, hypocrisy, and sin.

A church in Oregon has filed a lawsuit, complaining that feeding the hungry and homeless is a right under freedom of religion. (They have been doing that for years.)

Environment:  Gizmodo reports that QAnon followers have attacked a butterfly sanctuary.

ListVerse shows us videos of 10 areas that are, scenically, on a par with the National Parks.

Health: NPR reports that Malawi, and perhaps some other poor countries in Africa, have mostly beaten COVID, and how this has happened.

Politics: Christianity Today reports that Florida's governor DeSantis is taking action to present charitable groups from helping care for migrant children, which action is legal in the US (including Florida).

Science: The Scientist reports that mutation rates of especially important genes are lower than for genes in general.

Gizmodo reports that peat bogs in the UK, which are a source of archaeological material, are being lost to global climate change.

Gizmodo also reports on all-female termite colonies.

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

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 668

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

The Arts: (And Christianity) A Christianity Today author, an expert on Madeleine L'Engle, discusses what she hopes is not lost in the film version of L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. (She had not seen the film, which opened on March 9.)

Christianity: A Relevant writer says that God takes happiness seriously, and that we should, too.

(and Computing) A blog post documents that some Christian (?) leaders are deliberately inflating their social media follower numbers.

(and politics) Relevant reports that officials of the National Association of Evangelicals, and of the Southern Baptist Convention, are urging Congress to adopt some solution for the so-called Dreamers.

Relevant also reported that Wayne State University has refused to allow Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship on campus, because IVCF requires its leaders to be Christian. IVCF sued, and, two days later, Christianity Today reported that the ban was dropped.

Christianity Today reports that a Christian Canadian couple had their foster children removed because they wouldn't teach them about the Easter Bunny. But that decision was overturned.

Ken Schenck makes his annual Biblical argument for women in ministry.

"We truly ought to give thanks to God that we are not more gorgeous than we are—or more intelligent, or more creative, or more rich, or more influential, or more wise, or more whatever ..." from an article in Christianity Today.



He Lives discusses the history of sola scriptura, as part of a series on biblical inerrancy, what it is and what it means.


Politics: The New Scientist reports that fake news travels much faster than real news.

Science: Gizmodo reports that older termites are placed in more risky situations, including in battles.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 667

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

Christianity: Weekend Fisher has a good meditation on competition, from a Christian perspective, posted during Lent, and, as she notes, between the Winter Olympics and March Madness.


Education: National Public Radio reports that Dolly Parton has spearheaded a long effort, which, so far, has resulted in 100 million books being made available to children.

Finance: (and politics) An article in Bloomberg examines what US companies are doing with their tax savings. Not very much is going to employees. About twice as much is going to stockholders as to investment in upgrades, research, and such.

Food: Relevant reports on the fanciest McDonald's in the US.

Health: National Public Radio says that North Americans put their backs at risk because of their postures when bending over.

(and/or politics) Gizmodo, and other outlets, report on a study that says there are fewer gun injuries while the National Rifle Association convention is being held, presumably because the attendees aren't using their guns during that time.

History: Gizmodo reports that a 131-year-old message in a bottle has been found.

Humor: (and politics) National Public Radio reports on the annual Gridiron Dinner, giving many of the jokes, by President Trump and others.


Politics: A Pew Research poll shows that white evangelicals want more gun control, too.

Scientific American on how the Trump administration is letting public lands be exploited, and wilderness destroyed.

Science: According to The Atlantic, over half of the genes of common fruit flies have analogs in humans.

Gizmodo reports that termites have been placed in the same group of insects as cockroaches.

Christianity Today (!) reports that many environmental scientists are experiencing sadness and depression, because of the accelerating damage to the environment, caused by humans.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 548

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


Christianity: The Difference Between (a non-religious site) differentiates between faith and belief.

Health: National Public Radio debunks some ideas about flu shots.

Politics: The Washington Post's Michael Gerson says that coming down hard on Muslims is used as propaganda ammunition to recruit followers.

Relevant has an article on What the Bible says about how to treat refugees.

Science: Wired reports on how hints from termite mound design can cut energy consumption in our buildings.

Wired also reports on a high-tech repair of a cracked elephant's tusk.

The BBC reports that pigeons are able to detect breast cancer in human X-rays.


Image source (public domain)