Discoveries

Some interesting stuff that I've come across in recent weeks, all recent if not quite brand new...

In archaeological news, the lost city of Myra (home of St. Nicholas) is no longer lost.  (If that link disappears behind a subscription firewall, here's another link with similar info.)

In astronomical news, scientists are now confirming that Earth-size planets are considerably more common than once thought.  How common biological life (much less sentient life) actually is on those planets remains to be seen, of course.

But it may someday be possible to actually find out for ourselves, if this NASA scientist is correct.  He believes that travel via warp drive, once thought to be impossible for all practical purposes, may in fact be achievable.  Perhaps some future generation of explorers really will roam the galaxy in the USS Enterprise after all.

Finally, on a Trek-related tangent, here's a link to a very funny new webcomic, LARPTrek.

Thought For the Day

Thank God we all have fallible parents!  Through their mistakes, they force us to take stock of our lives, grow up, make personal decisions, and take responsibility for them.  Thank God, too, for the fallibility of the human church - otherwise we could never distance ourselves from it and mature spiritually.

-John J. McNeill, Taking a Chance on God

Life Soundtrack 33

Pride (In the Name of Love), by U2

When U2 first became popular in the mid-80s, I avoided them.  Not because the music wasn't good, but because I couldn't get away from them (walk through my college dorm on any given day and *someone* was listening to one of their albums).  I don't always avoid things just because they're popular, but this was one of those instances.  In addition, their social justice themes seemed a bit 'liberal' to my fundamentalist-trained ears.

So it wasn't until after college that I allowed myself to appreciate their music - and their message.  Standing up for the oppressed can be a risky venture, as this song reminds us.