Our Times: November 2006

February 30! when? where?

Sweden and Finland had a “double” leap year in 1712 in order to get back on the Julian calendar, as they failed to leap when the rest of the world leaped!

What is a planemo?

Planemo stands for planetary mass object, one of the oddballs of the universe.
It is a Jupiter-like planet, though larger and with some of the characteristics of a star, such as a disk of gas and dust.

Mind over matter

Matthew Nagle, a 25-year-old who lost use of his limbs due to a spinal injury, has regained the ability to transform thought into action with the help of an implanted sensor. The tiny 100-electrode sensor was placed onto the surface of Nagle’s motor cortex, the brain region that governs movement. Electrical signals from neurons are transmitted through gold wires to a titanium base on Nagle’s skull. This base is linked to computers that control a robotic arm and use a standard computer.

Thumbing terrorists

Iraq’s National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie said a “huge amount of information” was found in the rubble where terrorist-in-chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed with two American bombs.
When asked by a reporter whether the government could be sure the information found was authentic, he replied: “There is nothing more authentic than finding a thumbdrive in his pocket.”

Family pressure

Australians are coming under more pressure from family members than doctors or insurance agencies to have genetic tests.The Genetic Discrimination Project surveyed 951 adults who had tests for inherited conditions including neurological conditions, cancer and blood disease between 1998 and 2003.

Sources: myway.com, sciam, <www.timeanddate.com>, ABC.

Signs 80 Years Ago

If you look carefully you’ll see that SIGNS used to literally receive a penny for their thoughts! Even today SIGNS is markedly lower priced that other magazines. And the wholesome family-based and Christ-centred message presented each month  is valuable.

For more than 120 years Signs has recognised that the way of the world and the way of Jesus are distinctly different. It is clear froom caparing Scripture and secular teaching that God’s way, alone, leads to fullness of life.