Eye on Faith

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Fido: Love me, love my 'owner'

(Photo by Mdk572)

The way to a dog’s heart may not be through its stomach, but rather through its owner’s heart.

John Moore of AFP reports on a Japanese study in which dogs refused “food offered by people who have snubbed their master.”

This discovery shows that dogs have a “capacity to cooperate socially” beyond the motivation of self-interest. This social

capacity, which is also found in “humans and some other primates,” is allegedly rare among animals.

Study leader Kazuo Fujita of Kyoto University pointed out that this trait “is one of [the] key factors in building a highly collaborative society.”

Resources

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/dogs-snub-people-who-are-mean-to-their-owners-study/ar-BBl14pZ

Monday, June 29, 2015

Through a lens lightly

(Public Domain)

Ever wonder why people seem so drawn to photography?

Whether they’re peering through pages of images gone by at family reunions, or gaping at front-page sensations in the local newspaper, viewers have been significantly impacted by such captured moments.

What is it about photography that draws people in? Jan Phillips, Executive Director of The Livingkindness Foundation, views this art as “an act of intimacy… between other individuals and herself, the earth and herself, or the great

mysteries and herself.”

Having utilized a camera to “express her emotions, heartbreaks and hope since 1969,” Phillips will soon be sharing her experiences via a Spirituality & Practice e-course.

Themes within this course will include the following: …retraining our eyes to see divinity in our midst… identifying our commonness with those who seem

different… discovering new ways to add light to the world.

Resources

http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/course/view/10148/photography-as-a-spiritual-path

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Space elevator: Tower of Babel?

Up, up and away! (Circa 1370 AD)

When humans tried to kiss the sky the first time around, it didn’t work so well. Neither did it seem to work for Hendrix himself.

Nevertheless, we’ve come a long way since the days of “Lingerie, Third Floor” type elevators. So long, in fact, that we’re now planning an elevator into space…

Astronaut Chris Impey explains to NPR’s Terry Gross that this is not as far out as it seems. You simply “string a cable up into space… to a geostationary point [the point at which the cable’s “orbital period” equals the rotation period of the heavenly body from which it was launched].”

Impey compares this to “an Indian rope trick” in which the spinning of the cable sends it “straight out away from you by the centrifugal force.” If launched from Earth, the cable “rope” would have to be 100,000 kilometers long. We don’t currently have “a material strong enough to make a cable that long suspended against [Earth’s] gravity.”

Our current technology, however, could make this work from the Moon’s surface. Because the Moon has only one-sixth the Earth’s gravity, our current cable materials can withstand that lesser amount of opposing force.

Impey concludes: …if you build a space elevator, you can get essentially anywhere in the solar system for the cost of almost no rocket fuel. A free ride? Hardly. We don’t yet know the hidden costs.

Resources

http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=405503895

Saturday, June 27, 2015

'Healer-in-Chief' sings 'Amazing Grace'

Olney Hymns (Public Domain)

When you’re President of the United States (POTUS), it often seems as though you’ve “been in the barrel tumbling down Niagara Falls…”

After surviving all that, President Obama is feeling liberated, so much so that he belted out a heartfelt rendition of “Amazing Grace” for all the world to hear.

While paying tribute to the Charleston, South Carolina shooting victims, Obama also put out “a call to action” for ending “racial insensitivities.”

This plea included some firm words regarding the “pain that the Confederate flag stirred in too many of our citizens.”

During a Rose Garden “victory lap,” the president referred to recent Supreme Court decisions regarding “Obamacare” funding and gay marriage as “justice that arrives like a thunderbolt.”

All in all, it's been an amazing week for a president who hasn’t forgotten “Amazing Grace.”

Resources

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/obama-sheds-cool-style-for-fearless-final-lap-in-office/ar-AAcc3uz

Friday, June 26, 2015

AI motto: Better a pet than a steak

Back to the future? (Photo by Sigurdas)

Thought for the hour: Be kind to pets because some day you might become one.

At least that’s what Steve Wozniak predicts. And he should know, having taking that historic bite of the Apple.

Benjamin Snyder of Fortune reports that Wozniak preached this gospel to a roomful of “captive” humans at a recent technology conference.

Wozniak stated something to the effect of “Don’t be afraid, just believe.” He theorized that such pets will be treated real well by their robot “owners” because, after all, humans were the “gods originally.”

On the other hand, you can’t necessarily trust your kitchen appliances. Wozniak warns that they may someday rise up and collectively rebel against the servitude that people have imposed upon them.

So use that blender sparingly, lest you become “a real smoothie.”

Resources

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/apple%E2%80%99s-co-founder-we%E2%80%99re-all-going-to-be-robots%E2%80%99-pets-one-day/ar-AAc6Qse?ocid=ansFortune11

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Hunting for oceans: The glint effect

Vietnam Glint (Photo by Handyhuy)

Since oceans mean water, and water often means life, scientists have been hunting for oceans in outer space.

Alan Yuhas of The Guardian explains that there are many “ice-rich worlds which potentially harbor subsurface oceans.”

Jupiter’s moon Europa is likely one of them. NASA already has White House approval to do a fly-by mission of Europa, complete with “ice-penetrating radar.”

Astronomer Vikki Meadows has been seeking out oceans via the “glint effect.” She describes this as a familiar phenomenon for anyone who has “ever sat on a beach after sunrise or sunset.”

These small flashes of light that bounce off the water might also occur on other worlds. Researchers have already calculated “the glint effect for other planets,” and will utilize it to “help detect oceans on solar systems outside our own.”

Resources

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/nasa-scientists-life-outside-of-earth-is-probably-going-to-be-really-hard-to-find/ar-BBleWgC

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Michael Douglas: Jewish by what definition?

Douglas in 2013 (Photo by Georges Biard)

Actor Michael Douglas, born of a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, has embraced a Jewish identity later in life.

Because Douglas is also married to a non-Jewish woman, his own children have a mixed heritage. Nevertheless, Douglas’ son Dylan was bar mitzvahed last year.

During a recent Israeli event in which he was awarded “the second annual Genesis prize,” Douglas stated: I strongly believe that Judaism should reflect the spirit of welcome and tradition that existed in Abraham’s tent.

However, centuries of Torah interpretation have led to some widely divergent definitions of Judaism. Who is and isn’t a Jew has been sharply debated throughout the ages.

Orthodox and Conservative Judaism would contend that Douglas was not born a Jew because his mother was not a Jew. Reform and Liberal Judaism instead note that “in the Bible the line always followed the father…”

Then there are those who ask whether the definition of Judaism should hinge so strongly upon genealogy. Genealogical definitions could make Judaism seem more like a race than a religion, a view that the Nazis murderously promoted.

As Douglas pointed: Inclusiveness and tolerance are Jewish values, too.

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew%3F

http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/michael-douglas-receives-dollar2-million-genesis-prize-in-israel/ar-AAbO9xy