Our Times: July 2005

110 Years Ago in Signs

The lead article in the July 22 IBible Echo and Signs of the Times, as it was known in 1895, featured the beginning of Martin Luther’s journey of discovery of the biblical concept of salvation, exactly 500 years earlier. As a 22-year-old who was still “looking for salvation in himself, in words and observances, [he] knew not as yet that salvation comes as a free gift from God by faith in Jesus.”
According to the story, Luther “was amply rewarded for his study.The light of truth behan to darm upon his mind.”  Eventually, in 1509, while stidying the book of Romans, “the light of truth entrered his heart. ‘The just shall live by faith,’ “ he read in the first chapter, verse 17, the passage that was the spark that ignited the Reformation.
How does humankind gain salvation, and why did Christ have to die for us?

Fish For Brains

A study of 7400 babies born between 1991 and 1992 and their mother’s diet while pregnant has concluded that women who ate a lot of fish when pregnant give birth to more intelligent babies. This increased brain power is believed to be due to the omega-3 and omega-6 oils found in oily fish.

Odd Taste In Music

Scientists have discovered a musician who can taste sounds. The musician, identified only as ES, finds a minor-second note tastes sour, a major-second bitter, a minor third salty, a major-third sweet and a minor-sixth creamy. According to researchers in Zurich, Switzerland, ES’s unique ability comes from crossed sensory brain wiring.

Smallest Star Ever

The smallest star ever detected has turned up in a search for extrasolar planets. The star was one of nearly 200 objects detected passing in front of or transiting brighter companion stars during the planet-hunting OGLE survey in Chile. This new sun is just 16 per cent larger than Jupiter and smaller than some known planets found beyond our solar system.

Shocking Bite

Wolves in Finland with a taste for domestic dogs could soon be in for a shock. A new dog coat sends 1000 volts through the wolf when its fangs penetrate, but is designed to ensure the pampered pet feels no pain from the jolt. In Finland, up to 30 dogs a year are killed by wolves.

Flying For Clean Air

The UK is set to announce a scheme to promote clean energy in developing countries by paying into a fund every time a minister or civil servant takes a trip by air. The idea is to offset the climate change impact of the carbon dioxide emissions from flying. As politicians are major travellers, the fund could raise up to

Dead Promotion

Over the past three years, the cryogenically frozen body of a Norwegian man has become the centrepoint of a quirky winter festival, in a small Colorado mining town. “Grandpa” Bredo Morstoel, who died in 1989, was snap-frozen by his grandson and stored in a shed in Nederland, a town 500km from Denver that began celebrating Frozen Dead Guy Day in 2002 in an effort to promote tourism

Superstition Lives

A man representing the devil, called “The Colacho“, leaps over six young babies during El Salto del Colacho (The Jump of the Colacho), in the village of Castrillo de Murcia, in northern Spain. In this medieval religious custom, the Colacho represets the devil who takes away the evil from the babes as he jumps over them.
– AAP/ Israel Lopez Murillo

Souces:
Daily Express
The Sun
www.newscientist.com
Reuters
AP
www.bbc.co.uk