Eye on Faith: July 2020

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Mayflower 2.0

Dundalk Institute of Technology (PD)

Just as the Mayflower’s Pilgrims longed for essential freedoms, so do many of Hong Kong’s citizens.

Ivan Ko is therefore proposing that a new city be born, one that would welcome emigrants from Hong Kong. Because he is a “property tycoon,” Ko has the means to make this happen. He is hoping to found a new city between Dublin and Belfast.

Ko sees this as a win-win because Irish officials have been wanting “to develop regions outside the capital.” Ireland has low corporate taxes, along with “very strong manufacturing and biomedical companies.” Technology giants also have a large footprint there.

Ko has already been talking with Irish authorities in order to get this going. His plan is to create a haven for 50,000 Hong Kong "Pilgrims."

Resources

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/28/hong-kong-property-tycoon-ivan-ko-pitches-new-city-idea-to-ireland

Deep within the Deep

The South Pacific Gyre (Public Domain)

Part of the question regarding life on other planets concerns adaptability to seemingly harsh conditions. We

tend to assume that the sustenance of any life form requires a richly nourishing environment.

But scientists have been discovering the extreme adaptability of life on our very own planet. Japan’s Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology recently conducted a study of microbes deep within the South Pacific Gyre. This area (east of Australia) has long been “considered the deadest part of the world’s oceans.”

After drilled sediments “from as deep as 5700 meters below sea level” were taken to the lab and nutrients were added, oxygen-loving bacteria that had been dormant for perhaps millions of years began to multiply. What had kept them viable for all this time? Spores were not found, so this remains a mystery.

Yet if the mystery of life can survive such a harsh earthly environment, why can’t it also survive the challenges of other worlds?

Resources

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/scientists-pull-living-microbes-100-million-years-beneath-sea

Spilling the Salt

Kiss of Judas (Photo by Adercilla)

Salt seems pretty commonplace these days. We not only take it for granted, but often overdo its use.

Yet throughout much of history, salt was viewed as a precious

commodity. Mashed tells us that, ounce for ounce, salt had

been the trading equivalent of gold.

Although a relatively small amount of salt is essential for maintaining human life, more salt is currently sprinkled upon cold roads than into warm bodies. Yet salt is still believed to be vital for maintaining human souls.

In Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” there is noticeably “a container of spilled salt at Judas Iscariot’s elbow.” The spilling of salt has therefore been “associated with dishonesty, treachery, and bad fortune.”

Resources

https://www.mashed.com/160965/the-untold-truth-of-salt/

Monday, July 27, 2020

Is evil necessary?

Roman Empire Slaves (Photo by Dorieo)

A debate currently rages as to whether slavery was a “necessary evil” in the founding of the United States of America.

This is certainly a vital topic, which lends itself to an overall one: Is evil ever necessary?

Because so much evil exists within this troubled world, one has to wonder why. Couldn’t Creation have been better off from the get-go without it?

This is an age-old question, which has never been definitively answered. Why did Adam and Eve make choices that led to suffering? Why do big fish eat little fish? Why have wars plagued humans for centuries? Why is there hunger and starvation within lands of plenty?

Is free will really worth all that pain? And, considering the countless events that lead up to any of our choices, does free will even exist?

Philosophy might seem beside the point when asking political questions. But politics divorced from philosophy often results in shallow selfish conclusions.

Resources

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2020-07-27/republican-senator-tom-cotton-calls-slavery-necessary-evil

Tables Turned

To the rescue! (Photo by Daniel Steger)

What goes around comes around could be as true for dogs as it is for humans.

St. Bernards were originally bred to assist religious pilgrims in making it safely across a hazardous mountain pass on their way to Rome. This breed’s rescue missions began in the 1660s and

have continued ever since.

A lot of good karma must have therefore accrued. So much so that the tables were recently turned. When a St. Bernard named

Daisy collapsed last week upon “England’s highest mountain,” a human team was sent to save her.

Sixteen people carried all 121 pounds of this massive dog over many an obstacle, “including a waterfall.” They managed this while wear pandemic-issued masks. Daisy must have sensed that folks were on her side, for she became “extremely placid and compliant.” After all, her ancestors had been doing this for

centuries.

Resources

https://www.foxnews.com/world/st-bernard-dog-rescue-england-highest-mountain-scafell-pike

Copyright July 27, 2020 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved

7 Down

Anatomy of Perseverance (NASA/JPL)

According to NASA, it takes seven terrifying minutes for a spacecraft to descend through Mars’ atmosphere and successfully land on its surface.

So as not to burn up in this process, a craft must be able to withstand temperatures of “3,800 degrees Fahrenheit.” Its speed must be reduced from “13,000 mph to zero” within that same time frame.

Thus far, the odds haven’t been that good. Fifty percent of Earth’s crafts that were expected to land on Mars never quite made it.

Hopefully, the one that is scheduled to launch this week will. Its name is Perseverance, which is what it will take for success.

Resources

https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-perseverance-rover-seven-minutes-terror-landing-video-2020-7?amp%3Butm_medium=referral

Ballooning Exploration

Andromeda Galaxy (Herschel.caltech)

Balloons are often associated with fun and frivolity, but can sometimes mean serious business.

NASA is planning to launch a telescope 24.6 miles into the upper atmosphere aboard a “stadium-size balloon.” From that lofty height, the telescope will be able to detect far-infrared wavelengths of light that Earth’s atmosphere blocks.

Such exploration will assist scientists in understanding “star formation” and “galaxy evolution.” Balloon usage will

reduce expenditures of time and money, which bodes well for future endeavors.

Resources

https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-to-send-stadium-sized-balloon-to-study-the-cosmos/

Identifying the Unidentified

UFO Monument (Photo by pipeafcr)

The Pentagon won’t necessarily be identifying unidentified flying objects anytime soon, but at least their existence has been disclosed.

In March 2020, a former member of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force testified before senators that “off-world vehicles not made on this earth” were found. Such vehicles were seen “flying over U.S. airspace.”

This alarmed Senator Marco Rubio, who wondered whether China and Russia were up to no good. Had they managed to make technological strides that were way beyond anything this world has ever known?

Or were these vehicles actually from beyond our world? If so, Senator Rubio might have a lot more to worry about than earthly adversaries.

Resources

https://www.iheart.com/content/2020-07-24-pentagons-ufo-unit-will-publicly-release-some-of-its-findings/?mid=441879&rid=98364581&sc=email&pname=newsletter&cid=NATIONAL&keyid=National%20iHeart%20Daily%20NewsTalk&campid=headline5_readmore

Thursday, July 23, 2020

A Focused Dab'll Do Ya

Carrots await! (Public Domain)

Multitasking isn’t necessarily the best way to get things done. In fact, it might be counterproductive.

If three balls are coming your way at once, you stand a better chance of missing them all than of catching even one. But if they came to you one at a time, you might have caught all three.

So if you have a number of priorities on your to-do list, try tackling them one by one. If each therefore gets accomplished faster, your overall time investment might be the same. And with increased focus, the results might be way better.

But even a focused brain needs some fun. Be sure to include some periods of down time for those carrot-on-a-stick “hits of dopamine.”

Resources

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/here-s-the-1-thing-you-need-to-do-to-learn-more-about-anything

Roe, Roe, Roe Your Fish

Beluga Sturgeon (Photo by Seedlens)

Because Russian sturgeon are in danger of going extinct, scientists are trying to save them. Not because of interspecies empathy, but because these fish produce some of the world’s yummiest caviar.

While utilizing American-paddlefish sperm in order to nudge Russian sturgeons into “asexual reproduction,” Hungarian researchers instead created a “Frankenfish.” To everyone’s surprise, a hybridization occurred between the two Acipenseriformes (look it up).

Who would have thunk?

These two evolutionarily-linked partners would never have otherwise met. One inhabits the Mississippi River Basin, whereas the other swims in Russian rivers. But thanks to modern science, these aquatic hook-ups have now spawned a lineage of “sturddlefish.”

Ain’t genetics grand?

Resources

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/21/world/sturddlefish-paddlefish-sturgeon-hybrid-scn-trnd/index.html