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Oldest living life on Earth found in 2 billion-year old rock

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Sci News reports : Researchers from the University of Tokyo and elsewhere have found pockets of living microbes in mineral-filled veins within 2-billion-year-old rock from the Bushveld Igneous Complex, South Africa. “We didn’t know if 2-billion-year-old rocks were habitable,” said Dr. Yohey Suzuki, a researcher at the University of Tokyo. “Until now, the oldest geological layer in which living microorganisms had been found was a 100-million-year-old deposit beneath the ocean floor, so this is a very exciting discovery.” Dr. Suzuki and colleagues analyzed a rock sample from the Bushveld Igneous Complex, a rocky intrusion in northeastern South Africa that formed when magma slowly cooled below the Earth’s surface. “The Bushveld Igneous Complex covers an area of approximately 66,000 km 2 (roughly the size of Ireland), varies in thickness by up to 9 km, and contains some of the richest ore deposits on Earth including about 70% of the world’s mined platinum,” they said. “Due to the way it w
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Why some Americans have to play the identity-politics game

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  Many year ago, when we were still (sort of) innocent of the atrocity of trying to make a statesman out of Donald Trump, Ian Danskin, under the name  Innuendo Studios , posted a series of videos on GamerGate, and why female and non-binary video-game critics -- notably Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency -- found it so hard to escape ruin at the hands of online, anti-feminist hate-mobs.  Part 2 was this video discussing how a simple lifestyle choice can trigger hostile reactions, even in people who agree in "principle" with the "basic idea."  He concluded his video with the following warning: "But now we circle back to people who are  minoritized.  Because this reflex to anger, this distilling of a person's presence -- of their existence -- to a critique of one's self, is how white people often respond to conversations about race; how straight people often respond to conversations about sexuality; how cis people often respond to conversations about g
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Science: Detecting gravitons

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Since the early 1900s, the possibility of gravity particles, gravitons, was discussed and debated. But since the force of gravity is so weak, it would take a huge detector about the size of Jupiter parked next to a neutron star to get the job done in a decade or two. In other words, there was no plausible way to detect one of the little buggers. And, even if a graviton exists and is detected, what it actually is would probably still be debated for another decade or two (or three). But, a physicist and colleagues at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey think they have figured out a way to actually build a detector on Earth in a lab to look for gravitons. It's kind of a simple thing. Very simple actually. Super simple.  Quanta magazine writes : It took decades of effort and the construction of the colossal, miles-long detectors that make up the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) to first sense a rumble in space-time in 2015 — one sent out by a col
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SNOWFLAKE wants to know…

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  SNOWFLAKE I had a good response to my moral dilemma thread the other day, more of them? Okay, here’s a relevant one.  I’ll ask for you: Do you think many Christians face a moral dilemma when considering whether to vote for Trump or not?  What kind of ideas go through their heads if they can find a way to justify it? What if they can't justify it? What's their reasoning/rationale there also? Like I'm speaking now for Snowy, speak for the Christian mindset, as you see it. (by PrimalSoup)
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A word about this upcoming week

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Well, maybe more than a word. But just a few. Anyone here can go over to my friend Germaine's channel to see my note there about my intentions for this upcoming week. Simply: I won't be present starting Monday. But I will be hovering. I doubt very much, that the results will cause anyone here to get into a heated exchange with anyone else. But ya never know. So I still expect our rules for civility to be obeyed. I welcome anyone who wants to post a thread to do so if they desire to, but I doubt, starting Tuesday, our minds will be on anything other than............... AND YES, if any of my authors want to post a discussion about the results, they are welcome to as well. I won't be participating, but will be keeping a watchful eye out just the same. We all know that this is going to be one nasty week. 24 hr coverage of every twist and turn. And regardless of the results, a lot of people are going to lose their cookies. Me and my lady won't be two of them. We won't be
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Nit Picker Or Go With The Flow?

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  Movies and TV series on the tube.  Do you pick at the bits that are not realistic and don’t make sense, or do you just enjoy the show? Gilligan`s Island, Mr. Ed, The Dukes of Hazzard were never meant to be taken seriously or represent real life.  Just entertainment and fun.  Dramas such as CSI and medical dramas are riveting and great to watch, but Bunny will point out the illogical or things that don’t make sense. Which type be you? J.P. Bunny
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A progressive Christian's modest proposal, and a 2020 reminder of the duty to vote

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  A couple of weeks ago,  Matthew DiStefano,  who writes at Patheos Progressive Christian, had this to say about the logical absurdity of the anti-abortion "life begins at conception" stance: "By the same logic anti-abortion folks use to protect embryos, we should be holding candlelight vigils for every spermatozoa lost down the drain. And, for the love of God, think of the mass sperm genocide happening on gym towels across this great nation. Shouldn’t we have a Supreme Court case to protect sperm rights? After all, if destroying life is  immoral , then ejaculating outside the possibility of conception is nothing short of mass murder. "Every Man is a Murderer : By now, you’re probably thinking, “But Matt, this is ridiculous! Sperm can’t survive without an egg!” To which I say: Bingo! That’s exactly the point. Anti-abortion rhetoric is similarly absurd when it suggests life begins only at conception. If we were to accept the premise that  all  life is sacred from the
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