Sunspots 965

A Conversation article discusses dietary supplements, with some warnings. 

Another Conversation article tells us about synthetic human embryos.

A Grist report suggests that we are now occasionally experiencing category 6 hurricanes.

A Conversation writer examines the ethnic and national diversity among the Israeli defense forces.

Joel Duff pleads with Christian leaders who routinely post material, opinions, copied from others without checking -- the equivalent of posting material from the tabloids on sale at supermarket checkout areas, he says.

Gizmodo warns us that Mac computers are vulnerable to viruses.

A Conversation writer discusses having relationships with artificial intelligences.

Caitlin Clark has set a record for points scored over a career in women's basketball, according to NPR and multiple other sources. She's not a ball hog -- she recently made her 1000th assist. The all-time record for either sex, set by Pete Maravich over 50 years ago, is likely the next record Clark will break.

Sunspots 964

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

A splendid essay on eight principles of sound Christian thinking.

A Conversation writer discusses treason and the 14th amendment to the US Constitution.

Another Conversation writer tells us that there are limits to the length of legal briefs, and some lawyers do their best to get around such limits.

Gizmodo has an article which tells you how to find out what model your phone is.

Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength considers demons, whether real beings or diseases.

Gizmodo reports that a woman has received a brain implant device that controls her OCD and bipolar disease.

Gizmodo also reports on a Russian man who found his wife using artificial intelligence.

LiveScience reports that blue whales, the largest animals on earth, have been mating, occasionally, with another species of whale.

NPR reports that gardeners can now grow purple tomatoes. The purple color comes from snapdragon flowers.

Thanks for reading!

Sunspots 957

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

Computing: Gizmodo reports that the Biden administration has produced an executive order on artificial intelligence.

Health: NPR reports that the Food and Drug Administration appears to be going to approve the use of a gene editing technique as a treatment for sickle cell disease.

Politics: A Conversation writer discusses the violence of former President Trump's rhetoric.

Science: SciTech Daily has a report on the genetics of skin color in humans.

Phys.org reports on extensive study of the body of sea stars (aka starfish). It turns out that they are mostly head.

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

Thanks for reading.

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 946

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

Computing: VentureBeat discusses the problem of getting artificial intelligence to forget information.

Politics: Vox discusses the Supreme Court's past and present on church and state matters.

Environment: A USA Today story tells us that feeding birds is not always good for the birds.

Food: Low-paid migrant workers do much of the dangerous preparation of food for sale, for example fixing crabs for eating, according to a Conversation article.

Another Conversation article explains how carbonated drinks are made, and their effect.

Health: NPR reports that doctors lose a percentage of what they get paid. It's put into the coffers of financial middlemen.

Science: The Guardian reports on a study which indicates that there are a lot of organisms that live in the soil, but are not known well, if at all.

TheScientist (and other outlets) report on nematodes that have lived in suspended animation for over 40,000 years.

Gizmodo reports on the discovery of a large brown dwarf star.

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

Thanks for reading.

 

Sunspots 930

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

The Arts: (and computing) A Conversation author discusses art produced by artificial intelligence, and finds it wanting.

Health: Gizmodo reports on a smartphone app that can be used to take one's temperature, with no added hardware.

Science: Gizmodo reports on the use of dolphins in warfare, by Russia. (The US has also used them.)

Two Conversation writers tell us that we aren't going to crush microbes by walking on them.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 929

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

The Arts: (and computing) A Conversation writer discusses the use of artificial intelligence in the production of art works.

Christianity:  Two senators, one from each party, are introducing legislation which would hold artificial intelligence companies liable for AI errors, says Gizmodo.

Health: A Conversation writer discusses the finding that over 96% of the US population had antibodies to COVID.

Gizmodo reports that gas stoves produce carcinogens.

Science: Science Alert reports that humans have (usually invisible) stripes on their skins.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 938

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

Computing: Gizmodo reports that a TikTok official may have lied to the US Congress (which is a crime), when he said that TikTok doesn't send user data to China.

Gizmodo on how artificial intelligence can do bad things.

NPR on detecting Artificial Intelligence creations from real ones.

Environment: The National Weather Service has released a video of major air pollution in New York City, mostly from fires in Canada.

History: (and Politics) A Conversation writer describes situations somewhat like the race to become President, with a Vice President running against a previous President.

Another Conversation writer discusses Cleopatra and the rulers (at least some were female) of Nubia.

Humor: (or something) Gizmodo reports that Ikea has developed a couch that folds up for a one-person carry, weighs about 22 pounds, and doesn't require screws, etc., to put together.

Politics: A Conversation writer sets us straight on the Espionage Act.

Science: An exhaustive study, reported in Nature, finds that people all over the world believe that there is a continuing moral decline. But the study reports that this decline is merely perceived, not actual.

A fascinating article in Science Alert discusses how parasites may alter the behavior of their hosts.

Sci-Tech Daily reports that curly hair may have helped early humans to survive.

A Conversation writer tells us all sorts of things about glass.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 937

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

The Arts: Gizmodo argues that artificial intelligence is, so far, not creative. The article links to several types of artificial intelligence productions.

(or something) Gizmodo reports that production of the Barbie movie caused a shortage of some pink paint.

Education: (and Health) NPR says that medical students often don't attend classes.

Finances: A Conversation writer discusses work decisions among very wealthy US couples. Unlike in the general public, women in such families are not likely to work outside the home.

Humor: (or something) The Lego company has produced a Captain America Shield, with over 3000 pieces.

Politics: (or something) CNN reports that Japan and South Korea make better warships than the US.

Science: Gizmodo reports that ancestors of humans may have buried their dead and used symbols.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 936

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

Computing: A number of people involved in the development of artificial intelligence are warning of serious dangers from such use. Report by Gizmodo.

Education: A Conversation writer tells how to do well in spelling bees.

Health: (and Politics) A conversation writer discusses life expectancy in red states vs. blue states.

History:  A Conversation writer tells us the cause of Civil War.

Politics: Chick-Fil-A is being attacked, as some on the far right have discovered that the company has a policy of being open to a wide variety of workers, and has introduced a cauliflower-based sandwich.

Science: Science Alert describes a long-term experiment, in which selection took single-celled organisms and made much larger, multicellular ones.

Gizmodo reports that a Japanese satellite, made of wood, will be launched soon.

Gizmodo reports that a vast area of deep ocean has many previously undescribed species, but deep-sea mining may harm these.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 932

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

Christianity:  Charles Stanley, long-time pastor of Atlanta's First Baptist Church, and speaker and author, has died.

Computing: Gizmodo reports that some Artificial Intelligence databases include material from troubling sources.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that rich people's swimming pools are a serious contributor to water shortages.

Politics: (and art) A Conversation writer discusses courtroom art. There's a sketch of former President Trump with the article.

Gizmodo reports that some state legislatures and governors are making child labor legally acceptable.

Science: (and history) The BBC discusses the importance of donkeys in human endeavors.

Various entities are planning to build data-collection equipment on the moon. Example: radio astronomy would be mostly, or entirely, shielded from signals from earth, if it was based on the side of the moon that we never see, says Gizmodo.

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

Thanks for reading.

 

Sunspots 925

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

Christianity: Christianity Today discusses the so-called "Black National Anthem."

Computing: (or something) A science fiction/fantasy magazine has stopped receiving submissions, because so many of them were produced by artificial intelligence.

Finances: A The Conversation writer discusses the practice of placing company funds in non-US tax havens.

Food: On whether soy milk, almond milk, etc., can really be called "milk."

Politics: Some newspapers have dropped the Dilbert comic strip, because of racist statements by the author.

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

Thanks for reading. 

Sunspots 924

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

Christianity: Philip Yancey, one of my favorite authors, has Parkinson's. He reflects on that situation for Christianity Today.

Computing: Gizmodo reports that an artificial intelligence managed to pass a qualifying medical exam.

Education: Grammarphobia explains why the letter W is called "double U," rather than "double V."

Environment: Gizmodo  reports on breakdown of plastic waste, in oceans, by sunlight and bacteria.

A Conversation writer says that truck crashes involving hazardous material are more common than train wrecks of that type. Train wrecks just get more headlines.

Finances: (or something) Gizmodo reports on a large study of changing from a 5-day to 4-day work week.:

Health: The Scientist tells us that syphilis cases are on the rise.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight discusses four factions of House Democrats.

NPR reports (and other outlets also report) that Fox News on-line personalities knew that there was no evidence that the 2020 election had been "stolen," but acted as if their was.

A The Conversation writer discusses the clothing worn by First Ladies.

Politico describes what happened when far right people took control of county government in a Michigan district.

Sports: A basketball that doesn't need (or can't) be blown up has been developed.

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

Thanks for reading.

 

Sunspots 923

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

Computing: Gizmodo reports that voice actors are in danger of losing compensation for their work, because of artificial intelligence productions.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that California authorities have restricted access to fields of wild California poppies, because of the damage caused by visitors/selfie photographers during the last superbloom (after a rain).

(and Science) According to Gizmodo, some scientists are exploring the possibility of slowing global warming by shooting moon dust into space, to block some of the sun's light.

Politics: (or something) NPR reports that the military shot down an "object" over Alaska. Whatever it was, it doesn't seem to have been as sophisticated as the Chinese balloon shot down off the South Carolina coast.

The Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agency has released a report on the use and distribution of guns in the US. It's scary, and indicates that gun violence will increase.

FiveThirtyEight reports that President Biden's Cabinet officers have stayed put longer than is typical -- they must really like their jobs.

Science: A woodpecker, or a family of them, stored 700 pounds of acorns in a chimney, according to NPR.

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

Thanks for reading.

 

Sunspots 922

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

Christianity (and Sports): According to KMBC News, Patrick Mahones, Kansas City quarterback, is not shy about his Christian faith.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that the court system might finally hold oil companies accountable for knowing that use increased climate temperature, but denying that.

Food: (and Science) A Conversation writer tells us a lot about the processing of chocolate.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight analyzes the current congressional  Republicans.

FiveThirtyEight also discusses the effectiveness of gun laws. We don't know much about this because government was forbidden to study some of these, until recently.

NPR on why we didn't hear about 4 other incursions by Chinese balloons.

Science: Gizmodo reports that Neanderthals hunted what would today be supersized elephants, several thousands of years ago, in Europe.

NPR reports that artificial intelligence programs are a dismal failure at planning for a rocket launch.

NPR also reports that commuting may make working life less stressful.

Gizmodo reports that Jupiter has 92 verified moons, which is more than Saturn has, but searches for more around Saturn are continuing.

The Scientist reports that structures made from human brain cells respond to visual stimuli when placed in rat brains.

Todd Wood on Neanderthal hunting of giant elephants.

Sports: (and Finances) FiveThirtyEight shows, graphically, how the NFL has captured the attention of the US over the past several years.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 920

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

Christianity: A Christianity Today writer says that the American church should celebrate diversity, not shun it.

Computing: The US State Department is changing fonts/typefaces, and not everyone is happy about it.

Gizmodo gives us a primer on ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence tool.

Education: (and computing) a Gizmodo author argues that teachers should adapt to writing generated by artificial intelligence, rather than trying to stamp that out.

Finances: NPR tells us why the price of eggs has gone up so much.

Politics: A writer for The Conversation analyzes Florida Governor DeSantis's injustice denial.

Science: Gizmodo reports that the amount of artificial light at night is rapidly making it more difficult to see stars.

NPR reports that we may be choosing the wrong kinds of stones to skip across water.

According to the MIT Technology Review, an alligator gene has been added to catfish, making them more resistant to infections. (Lots of catfish are eaten in the US).

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 918

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

Computing: Gizmodo reports on an app that is designed to differentiate between human-written and ChatGPT output.

Gizmodo also reports that a company is trying to find lawyers who will let their artificial intelligence entity argue a case before the Supreme Court.

Politics: (and Sports, and Health) Anti-vaxxers are blaming COVID vaccination for Damar Hamlin's collapse, during an NFL game, and claiming other problems experienced by athletes, according to Gizmodo.

The Conversation has an article on Netanyahu's attack on democracy in Israel and the West Bank.

Science: The Scientist reports that some animals are changing their shape in response to climate change.

The Scientist also discusses microgenes -- tiny sections of DNA that are, in some cases, unique to humans.

Gizmodo reports that an organism that consumes viruses has been found.

Gizmodo also reports that the US Department of Agriculture has approved vaccinating bees. (Bee populations have declined in recent years, partly due to an infectious disease.)

And Gizmodo reports that stars which are at the edge of our galaxy have been identified.

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

Thanks for reading. 

Sunspots 915

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

Christianity: (and Politics) A Christianity Today article strongly argues against Christian Nationalism.

Computing: (or Health) Gizmodo reports that Google is developing software to read the handwriting of doctors.

Education: (and Computing) NPR reports on ChatGPT, which will write your papers for you, among other things.

Environment: Coyotes almost never attack adult humans. There is now an explanation for the death of a hiker, by coyotes, on Cape Breton Island, according to Gizmodo.

NPR reports that Louisiana is about to replace land lost to washing away with sediment from the Mississippi River.

NPR reports on a mountain lion in the Los Angeles area, which has been there for about ten years. It was subsequently euthanized.

Humor: (and Weather) NPR reports on how some snow removal equipment is getting goofy names, and is being followed on-line.

Politics: The Conversation on bipartisan bills to upgrade the way elections are counted and reported.

NPR on how Russia has been trying to ingest Ukraine for a century.

Science: According to NPR, some scientists think that time is an illusion.

The Conversation discusses stuttering.

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

Thanks for reading.

 

Sunspots 910

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

The Arts: or something) Gizmodo reports on the tallest Lego model ever, of the Eiffel Tower.

Christianity: Christianity Today on the 200 millionth Operation Christmas Child gift box.

Computing: Gizmodo tells us how to make our phones less distracting.

Environment: Gizmodo reports on a study that found that honeybees are not living as long as they
used to.

Food: NPR reports on cultured meat (grown in vats). It's coming, like the idea or not.

(and computing) Subway has installed an automated food dispenser, including the AI-enabled ability to respond, on a college campus.

Health: NPR reports that the number of premature babies has been increasing.

Politics: (or something) Gizmodo reports that about 250 Texas prisoners died because of lack of air conditioning, over the last 20 years.

Science: A child has been treated with a normal gene, replacing one that produces an  enzyme that doesn't work properly, before her birth, according to The Scientist.

The Scientist also reports on progress in healing spinal cord injuries.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 906

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

Environment: Gizmodo discusses recycling. There isn't nearly as much of it as the labels on containers would imply.

CNN reports that the Mississippi River is very low. It's possible to walk (dry-footed) out to rock formations that are normally not visible, because they are under water.

Health: NPR contradicts some common misconceptions about how much water to drink.

Politics: A Christianity Today author argues that Herschel Walker has shown no sign of repentance, and he should have.

Science: The Scientist describes teaching an array of cells to play Pong, a simple video game.

The Scientist also discusses research on placing human nerve cells into rat brains. They functioned.

Phys.org reports on research into an insect pest. The pest was found to have incorporated several genes from a host plant into the insect's genome.

CNN reports on studies of two very hot exoplanets, in orbit around the same star.

Gizmodo reports that the attempt to change the trajectory of an asteroid worked -- it was changed

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

Thanks for reading.