Category Archives: Discursive Detours

A catch-all category

Grief, Chatbots, AI, and (Sort of) Talking With Dead People

Folks have a great many ways of dealing with grief and loss. For example, folks at the hospital took a photo of our youngest daughter. She died shortly before birth. That photo’s on an ‘in loving memory of’ memorial card … Continue reading

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Venice Biennale Holy See Pavilion: Art and Cities of Refuge

Pope Francis visited the Vatican’s exhibits at an international art show last Sunday. So this week I’ll talk about the Venice Biennale, why “With My Eyes” doesn’t horrify me, share a few quotes, and show pictures from “Con i miei … Continue reading

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Kamoʻoalewa: Breakaway Asteroid and Quasi-Moon

The asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa isn’t exactly Earth’s second moon. But it’s been circling our world for centuries: and near Earth’s orbit for much longer. Now scientists say they’ve traced the asteroid back to Giordano Bruno crater on the Moon. I’ll … Continue reading

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Evolution and a Gene Expression Code Library

Scientists have found gene groups we have in common with nearly all animals: thousands of them, from a code library that’s more than half a billion years old. I’ll be talking about that this week, plus why I see no … Continue reading

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Eclipse 2024: Science, the News, Faith, and Me

Next week’s solar eclipse won’t be total here in central Minnesota. I’m not terribly disappointed, since the odds are that I couldn’t see it anyway. There’s rain in the five-day forecast. We need rain a great deal more than I … Continue reading

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