Your Best Links Now – 1/20/14

A Teacher Slandered by Korey D. Maas

An important First Things post providing more facts about that teacher who allegedly forbade the student from passing out candy canes at school because of the Christian message attached. You might’ve seen the viral outrage on Facebook or other social media sites. I did. Maas happens to be the teacher’s pastor. And the fuller story is revealing, not just about what happened but about evangelicals’ confirmation bias and knee-jerk outrage.

The Voynich Manuscript is a Mysterious Book Nobody Can Read

A BBC article on “the world’s most mysterious medieval manuscript” that “has eluded cryptographers, mathematicians and linguists for over a century.” Some have thought it to be a hoax. But new studies indicate it contains a genuine message in an unknown language.

How to Teach the Trinity

An interview with Deep Things of God author Fred Sanders by the guys at the fairly new site God-Centered Youth Ministry.

Bizarre Rock Appearance on Mars

NASA is baffled. There was no rock in front of the Mars rover. Then one day there was. Where did it come from? What is it? They’re saying it’s “like nothing we’ve ever seen before.”

The Math Claim that Will Break Your Brain

Apparently, the sum of all natural numbers from one to infinity is . . . -1/12. ?? Can that be right? What witchcraft is this?