http://www.sltrib.com/lifestyle/faith/4354334-155/muslims-surpass-atheists-as-most-unpopular   And the article contains other interesting statistics, as well.     Read more

    http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6619   http://www.space.com/34095-mars-lakes-suggest-habitable-longer-than-thought.html     Read more

    “Three things in human life are important:  The first is to be kind.  The second is to be kind, and the third is to be kind.”  Henry James     Read more

    Here’s a serious question for some of my fellow Latter-day Saints:   I know many Mormons who love Brigham Young University and who are passionate fans of BYU sports.  I understand them.   I also know members of the Church who are either going to other schools or who went to other schools and who, consequently, root for the teams fielded by those schools.  Or they cheer for a local college or university near their homes.  Perfectly fine... Read more

    “Religion,” declared the late Christopher Hitchens, “poisons everything.”   But he was wrong.   Spectacularly wrong.   Here’s evidence showing just one of the ways in which he was a desperately poor guide to reality:   http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/religion-us-worth-12-trillion-economy     Read more

    Okay.  This new little factoid about our distant neighbor, the former planet Pluto, was something I didn’t expect:   http://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2016/09/14/thats-no-comet-thats-pluto-comet-like-tail-and-x-rays-discovered-at-solar-systems-edge/#2e9346027be5     Read more

    The Union Leader is disproportionately influential because of its importance for the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary, and its voice has historically carried a lot of weight.  So, when the newspaper’s 100-year-long streak of endorsing Republican presidential candidates came to an end yesterday, it was a relatively big deal:   http://www.unionleader.com/editorials/an-editorial—-joseph-w-mcquaid-publisher-a-better-choice-for-president-no-need-to-hold-your-nose–20160914   By my count, that’s at least three newspapers (including one in North Carolina and one in Virginia) that have gone for Johnson/Weld over Mr. Donald J. Trump... Read more

    Happy Friday from the Interpreter Foundation!   As you prepare to receive the sacrament on Sunday, you might find this essay to be especially meaningful reading:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/the-changing-forms-of-the-latter-day-saint-sacrament/   This new piece represents, by the way, 217th consecutive Friday on which the Interpreter Foundation, which has existed for 218.5 weeks, has published at least one article in its flagship journal — to say nothing of books, scripture roundtables, blog entries, scripture study aids, conferences, and other related things.... Read more

    I’m delighted at his words:   http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-elder-holland-migration-insights-modern-refugees   If you can manage the time, please listen to his impressive fourteen-minute remarks, which represent the second speech that he has given at this conference.     Read more

    Martin Tanner and Bruce Webster join for the Interpreter Foundation’s 180th scripture roundtable, discussing 3 Nephi 1-7 (which is the focus of 2016 Gospel Doctrine Lesson 36):   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/scripture-roundtable-180-book-of-mormon-gospel-doctrine-lesson-36-on-the-morrow-come-i-into-the-world/     Read more