CHICAGO, IL (October 30, 2015)—Many Covenanters routinely share links to social media articles and videos with one another that Covenant News Service believes may be of interest to others. Each Friday we post five of them. Following is a sample of those submissions—their inclusion does not represent an endorsement by the Covenant of any views expressed.

A Microbiologist Recreated “Starry Night” with Bacteria in a Petri Dish
Scientists entering the Agar Art Contest, sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology, used proteins, microbes, and yeast as paint and used agar—a gelatinous substance on which cultures are grown—as the canvas. The proteins, bacteria, and yeast colonies naturally have their own color, so the scientists arranged them in the petri dishes to live into the artwork. Scientists from around the world submitted 85 entries that included flowers, butterflies, and a map of New York City. Melanie Sullivan, a microbiologist in Missouri, submitted a reproduction of Van Gogh’s masterpiece “The Starry Night.”  After learning she had not won the contest, Sullivan promptly cut off her left ear.

The Secret Strengths of Older Workers

Much ink has been spilled about managing millennials and adapting leadership styles to their particular approaches to work and life. But this article shares strengths that older workers bring to the workplace. From the article: “We have an idea that entrepreneurs are younger because of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, but that’s rare. Almost always, big ideas come from older people.”

Beginner’s Guide: Inside the Age-Old Small Corruption Network in the DR Congo and Why It Exists
Covenant missionary Pete Ekstrand says this is an excellent description of the process he and others undergo every time they travel through the Gemena airport. Fortunately, an agent of the Congo Covenant Church takes care of much of the process and missionaries don’t have to start until number 13. Yet it remains a rough experience.

Sentenced to Be Crucified
Saudi Arabia is getting ready to execute a young man and then hang his body in the public square as a warning for the populace to not commit the same offense—he participated in an anti-government protest when he was 17 years old.

From the article by Nicholas Kristoff, who has taken on critics of Islam: “Sadly, Saudi Arabia is a gift to Islamophobes; it does far more damage to the reputation of Islam than any blaspheming cartoonists.” He notes that the United States has shown almost no interest in the institutionalized cruelty and oppression of its people because we need Saudi Arabia’s oil and view their them “as a pillar of stability in a turbulent region.” Kristoff adds, “We do neither ourselves nor the Saudi people any favors when we wink at an ally that crucifies its people.”

7 Productivity Beliefs You Should Ignore
After all those hours that have added up to days spent researching productivity secrets on websites, books, and magazines, it turns out you probably were just wasting your time.