National Geographic News has a rather extensive article about the Gospel of Judas translation controversy, stirred up by scholar April DeConick, who claims the National Geographic Society's translation of the Gnostic gospel is incorrect and fundamentally misleading. (See my previous post on DeConick here.) In a fair treatment of both sides, NG news gets opinion from several of the scholars who worked on the text, including Marvin Meyer, who helped translate the National Geographic version of the text.

Meyer, meanwhile, dismissed any suggestion that his team set out with any kind of agenda to rehabilitate the image of Judas in its translation of the gospel.

"Our only agenda was to interpret the text, make sense of it, and get it out as quickly as possible," he said.

"To produce a first translation and the first critical edition is a thankless task, because you know you're putting yourself out on a limb. And chances are pretty good that at least a part of that limb is going to come down as time passes," Meyer added.

"That's just the way scholarship works."

Also: Would you be willing to undergo liposuction to power this "ecoboat"? It chugged nine miles on human fat.  It's captain (who donated to the fuel tank) is hoping to make a new speed record circumnavigating the globe in March, but he'll likely be using something other than laid up Christmas cookies for that.