Practical Eschatology: A Quick Run Around the Web--August 30, 2015

Exo exterior

Exo interior

"The Exo is an innovative solution to one of humanity's most basic needs: shelter. An Exo housing unit provides private living and sleeping quarters for up to four people within a climate-controlled environment. It is durable enough to be stored on a long-term basis and stacks for efficient storage and transportation. The Exo's design allows for numerous configurations to meet any need or deployment condition." More information at Wired.
"China and Russia are using hacked data to target U.S. spies, officials say"--Los Angeles Times.
"Islamic State fights Syrian rebels and 'moves closer to central Damascus'"--The Telegraph. "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) battled Syrian rebel forces in a Damascus neighbourhood on Monday, bringing the extremists closer than ever to the centre of the capital, a monitoring group said."
"EXCLUSIVE A family brutally murdered, secret police threats and deadly booby traps: Treasure hunter who spent 40 years searching for Nazi gold train reveals its dark secrets"--Daily Mail.
"The 'Birmingham Koran' fragment that could shake Islam after carbon-dating suggests it is OLDER than the Prophet Muhammad"--Daily Mail. From the article:

It is believed that the Birmingham Koran was produced between 568AD and 645AD, while the dates usually given for Muhammad are between 570AD and 632AD.

Historian Tom Holland, told the Times: 'It destabilises, to put it mildly, the idea that we can know anything with certainty about how the Koran emerged - and that in turn has implications for the history of Muhammad and the Companions.'
Keith Small, from the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library, added: 'This gives more ground to what have been peripheral views of the Koran's genesis, like that Muhammad and his early followers used a text that was already in existence and shaped it to fit their own political and theological agenda, rather than Muhammad receiving a revelation from heaven.