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For the last couple weeks, an intense fight has raged in the Holy Land. Following an Israeli court case to evict several Palestinian families from their homes in Jerusalem and Israeli police action on the Temple Mount, Hamas began barraging Israeli border cities with thousands of rockets launched from Gaza (Reuters, May 17, 2021). Israel responded with its own...
While it might seem preposterous, in nations that once composed “Christendom,” believing in and preaching from the Bible is now subject to persecution and threats of criminal charges. Recently, a 71-year-old preacher in London was arrested, hand-cuffed, and jailed for publicly preaching from the book of Genesis that marriage was between one man and one woman (...
As a country, Israel is quite small—smaller than Belgium, about half the size of Costa Rica, and roughly the same size as the state of New Jersey. But as small as it is, Israel is experiencing drastic differences in precipitation across the country (Times of Israel, April 5, 2021).
New research by Shanna Swan, an epidemiologist with Mount Sinai Medical Center, projects that “by 2045 most men may no longer be able to reproduce because of the impact of hormone-altering chemicals” in their environment (Politico, March 10, 2021). This research also suggests that female fertility rates are falling by about 1 percent each year.
The EU Observer reported on March 31 that more than 25 world leaders signed an open letter calling for the creation of an international treaty on pandemics. Signatories include the director-general of the World Health Organization and the president of the European Council. The letter states, “The question [of future pandemics] is not if, but when.”
That is the culture-defying title of a newly published biography chronicling the story of three polyamorous men who decided to engender two children through surrogate mothers (CNN, March 6, 2021). It tells of their court struggle to have all three names put on the birth certificates, in what may be the first of its kind legal parenting situation in the U.S.
Globally, about 4.4 percent of the population suffers from depression, and in the United States that number is nearly double, at 8 percent (Big Think, March 22, 2021). Due at least in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and its collateral impact over the last year, depression is rising around the globe.
It was once thought that one or two genes controlled eye color—with brown being genetically dominant. Earlier science, based on a rudimentary understanding of the human genome, resulted in a very simplistic view of the genetics of the eye. Fast-forward several decades to more recent times, and we find that scientists are discovering how wrong they were.
The United Kingdom comprises England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland—which have been bound together for centuries. However, in recent years, voices have been raised in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to break up the UK, become independent, and possibly rejoin the European Union (The Economist, April 17, 2021). Brexit has put pressure on the seams of...
Researchers and physicians have long understood the connection between stress and environmental noise, and recent studies continue to demonstrate that relationship. Traffic and aircraft noise has now been linked to a number of cardiovascular risks, including heart attack and stroke (BBC, March 15, 2021). Scientists are also beginning to understand why these...