On the second day of his inaugural overseas trip, Pope Leo XIV visited the ancient site of the First Council of Nicaea, in Turkey, urging Christians — and all faiths — to reject the use of religion to justify violence.

Fascinating find! A clay figurine unveils a storytelling shift from 12,000 years ago (Science News): A roughly 12,000-year-old clay figurine unearthed in northern Israel has unveiled a surprisingly ancient turning point in storytelling and artistic techniques. This tiny item, which fits in the palm of an adult’s hand, represents the oldest known figurine to depict an encounter between a human and a nonhuman animal, say archaeologist Laurent Davin of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and colleagues. Meticulous sculpting captured a mythological scene involving a goose and a woman, the scientists report November 17 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

I suffer from this affliction and blessing (sometimes to the chagrin of my beloved partner, but she does share my love of reading despite our stacks of books around our home and in our basement)… wonderful article here… I don’t understand people who consume books on a Kindle or just return them when they are “finished” as the book is a living organism with flesh, a spine, organs, veins, and neurons as well:

It’s no coincidence that most of these AI mega centers are being built in areas here in the United States Southeast where regulations are more lax and tax incentives are generous... AI’s water problem is worse than we thought: Here’s the gist: At its data centers in Morrow County, Amazon is using water that’s already contaminated with industrial agriculture fertilizer runoff to cool down its ultra-hot servers.

Seth describes his situation with LinkedIn posts here, but the refrain is something I’ve been saying for 20 years now… own your own work and have a canonical place for it. Don’t rely on Facebook/YouTube/LinkedIn/X/Etsy, etc., because of the allure of cheap eyeballs and “traffic"… it’s never been easier to have your own domain on your own server and control of your online expressions.

My site is having its biggest month in almost 20 years (and its best year since 2007, when I was selling sponsorships and made a decent income from them). I've not done much to promote things here besides writing, but I do appreciate the tens of thousands of visitors (not bots) that have stopped by. We're about to enter a new age of personal and professional blogging that will swing the pendulum back from the horribleness of social media coalesced around a few corporate platforms. These types of surprising numbers (for me) help convince me that my thoughts are accurate.

Most of the visible universe is not solid, liquid, or gas. Instead, it is plasma, an electrified, dynamic, relational medium that shapes stars, nebulae, auroras, and the vast glowing threads between galaxies. Plasma is not a passive substance but a field that responds, organizes, circulates, and transforms, as far as we understand it, according to the classical model of physics (having been a Physics and AP Physics teacher for years).

I occasionally get asked about my PhD work and why Edith Stein's The Science of the Cross (good article here) is such a big factor in my own thinking and research. I wanted to put together a quick overview of this incredibly important but under-read work. Edith Stein’s Science of the Cross has become essential for my own work on…

Edith Stein (later St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross as a Carmelite nun) would eventually be killed in a gas chamber by the Nazi’s because of her Jewish heritage. Her letter to Pope Pius XI remains relevant and fresh today, with many societal and spiritual ills and injustices, with government structures and religious organizations remaining either silent or complicit as we approach 2026 and almost 100 years since Stein’s imploring epistle...

I’m very (very) excited about this news and can't wait to see what the new series has in store for us… Stargate is one of those shows I’ve long clung to as a fan and loved the mythology since the original movie that I saw as a college kid way back in the ’90’s. Exciting times! Stargate Returns! - Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog…

Here's a "study guide" and reflection to go along with these thoughts if you're interested! Most readers of Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ approach it as an ecological document. It is that, of course. It gives us the vocabulary of “integral ecology,” names the cry of the Earth alongside the cry of the poor, and pushes Christians to confront the ecological devastation happening right in our backyards.

K-12 education in the United States is going to look VERY different in just a few short years... OpenAI rolls out 'ChatGPT for Teachers' for K-12 educators: OpenAI on Wednesday announced ChatGPT for Teachers, a version of its artificial intelligence chatbot that is designed for K-12 educators and school districts. Educators can use ChatGPT for Teachers to securely work with student information, get personalized teaching support and collaborate with colleagues within their district, OpenAI said. There are also administrative controls that district leaders can use to determine how ChatGPT for Teachers will work within their communities.

I love bodegas and am always so happy to discover a new one, whether in New York City or Garden City, SC! New York’s Bodegas Are Here to Stay - The New York Times: Even if their hours and the items they stock on their shelves change, there is one thing that will perhaps never disappear from the bodega — the human touch.

Great news!  More-reliable email in WordPress 6.9 – Make WordPress Core: Emails sent from WordPress will be more reliable in WordPress 6.9 thanks to a few updates and bug-fixes to the wp_mail() function.

I'm a huge fan of the Old Farmer's Almanac (not the one shutting down), but still hate to see this. A lesser-known Farmers’ Almanac will fold after 2 centuries, citing money trouble (AP): The Farmers’ Almanac, not to be confused with its older, longtime competitor, The Old Farmer’s Almanac in neighboring New Hampshire, said Thursday that its 2026 edition will be its last.

Interesting numbers for Google, etc... Are AI Chatbots Changing How We Shop? | Yale Insights: A very recent study on this topic was conducted by a group of economists in collaboration with OpenAI’s Economic Research team. According to this paper, most ChatGPT usage falls into three categories, which the authors call practical guidance, seeking information, and writing. Notably, the share of messages classified as seeking information rose from 18% in July 2024 to 24% in June 2025, highlighting the ongoing shift from traditional web search toward AI-assisted search.

Fascinating… more things like this, please. Scientists turn wood waste into glowing material for TVs and phones: An eco-friendly substitute has been developed for the light-emitting materials used in modern display technologies, such as TVs and smartphones. The new material uses a common wood waste product to create a greener future for electronics, removing toxic metals and avoiding complex, polluting manufacturing methods. Researchers from Yale University and Nottingham Trent University have designed it.

Ben and I are just getting back from his Scouts trip and overnight at the USS Yorktown in Charleston. I've been to the Yorktown several times over the years and have done overnight stays on the ship with middle school groups I've taught, but getting to spend the last few days with my son on board was such a great experience.

Worth the time to read and process… The Great Work (to invoke Thomas Berry here) ahead of us is daunting. Still, we have the opportunity to create something where human and the more-than-human are encouraged not only to survive but to thrive (together), ultimately, if we only speak up...  Is This Rock Bottom?: So yes, the fights over SNAP, ACA subsidies, and shutdowns matter — but they’re symptoms, not causes.

Here's my audio reflection on Marder's thought technology of "The Ecology of Thought"... it's a really powerful notion. This is from my regular tracking and tree-sit journal with a black walnut that I've grown to love and learn from daily.

Beautiful and profound thought here from Michael Marder and Patricia Vieira’s Writing Phytophilia (link to the essay’s PDF). Marder has quickly become one of my favorite thinkers lately and I think we have so much to learn here… 

I grew up in Mullins and attended Little Bethel Baptist down the street from Gapway Baptist, but have been to Gapway many times over the years (and my best friend Eric lived beside the church growing up, so we used the grounds as our staging area for Voltron and Transformer and He-Man adventures)… congrats on 250 years and here’s to the next 250!

As a PhD student… I do a lot of writing. I love ellipses, especially in Canvas discussions with Professors and classmates as I near the finish line of my coursework.  I’m also a younger Gen X’er / Early Millennial (born in ’78 but was heavily into tech and gaming from the mid-80’s because my parents were amazingly tech-forward despite us living in rural South Carolina).

I learned something new today... Impact of baleen whales on ocean primary production across space and time | PNAS: Whales have long been suggested to enhance ocean productivity by recycling essential nutrients, yet their quantitative impact on primary production has remained uncertain. Our study quantifies nutrient release via feces and urine by baleen whales in high-latitude feeding grounds and evaluates its impact on primary production using ecosystem models.