Insects are tiny creatures. So why are many people afraid of them? A recent article on the Science of Us website (http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/10/why-are-so-many-people-scared-of-bugs.html?) explores this phenomenon. There are several reasons for an elevated fear factor. First, insects can be really dangerous. The ones that bite or sting can cause real trouble, especially if an allergy is
Happy Halloween! I’m writing this after having spent two hours on the front lines, handing out candy at the bottom of a driveway. This has become such a major holiday — I suspect number two now, behind Christmas — that it makes one wonder how we got here. The best explanation I’ve seen so far
You know you exist. Everyone around you can see you exist. But legally, how do you prove it? Yesterday, while I was out running, I listened to a podcast about a young lady who was trying to establish a legal identity. She had been born at home, delivered by a midwife. No birth certificate was
If you were living in the Jurassic era, what kinds of sounds would you expect to hear from dinosaurs? That takes some detective work because soft tissue isn’t usually fossilized. But according to the EarthSky website, a team of scientists has found the vocal organ of a bird that’s a relative of ducks and geese
Durable, affordable housing has always been a concern. This was especially true after World War II, when returning veterans needed lots of homes. One novel solution was the Lustron Home. These were made by the Lustron Corporation in Columbus, Ohio for 1948 to 1950. Prefabricated entirely of steel with exteriors that were baked-on glass, they
There is so much we don’t understand about our own brains. I was reminded of this again as I read about a teenager in Georgia who awoke from a coma speaking fluent Spanish. He is Rueben Nsemoh, 16, and was playing soccer when he was kicked in the head diving for a loose ball. He
Something to think about for Halloween — Why do some people find dolls creepy? For example, in San Clemente, California in 2014, dolls began mysteriously appearing on the steps of houses. Even more unusual, each bore a resemblance to a young girl living in that house. The police traced the dolls to a local woman
I have always considered the duckbill platypus to be the most unusual mammal. It’s semi-aquatic, the only mammal to lay eggs, and resembles an animal designed by committee. With a duck’s bill, a beaver’s tail, and an otter’s foot, some thought the early specimens were a hoax. But now I have read of an even
The saddest outcome when we depart a country after a conflict is the people we leave behind. It happened in Vietnam. I know personally because I had a graduate-school classmate who was Vietnamese. Somehow in the chaos of those final days the nuclear family got out (thanks largely to individual initiatives by some of my
I come from a non-drinking family, so I don’t know what it’s like to be drunk. But apparently humans aren’t the only ones who come under the influence of behavior-altering drugs. There is a column in the October 24, 2016 issue of Time magazine (page 8) that gives four examples of under-the-influence animals. — Recently
