Author Archives: Bob Welbaum

Are Tears a Luxury?

By Fun Facts

Every once in awhile, I read something that gives me pause.  The latest was on the New York magazine’s “Science of Us” page on its website.  An article entitled “Tears Are a Luxury Item” discusses recent research on an unlikely topic — why we cry.  http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/03/tears-are-a-luxury-item.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Science%20of%20Us%20-%20May%2013%2C%202016&utm_term=Subscription%20List%20-%20Science%20of%20Us%20%281%20Year%29 This question goes back to Charles Darwin.  He tried

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Another School Year is Over

By Education

This week wrapped up my eleventh year as a substitute teacher.  I’ve slowed down the last three; in fact I officially retired in 2013 and have just worked a day or two a week during that period.  But it’s still a lot of fun (most of the time) and I have another year on my

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Another View of Immigration

By Fun Facts

I recently ran across a more positive way to look at immigration.  Viewing this from the perspective of the individuals who are making the journey, many are girls and young women who are vulnerable to exploitation along the way. But there is an organization that’s trying to protect them.   The Tahirih Justice Center, named after

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Top Four Questions About Tornadoes

By Fun Facts

Spring is always a bad time for tornadoes in the Midwest.  I remember the devastating storm that hit Xenia, Ohio in the 1970s.  Which is why a feature in the May 19th edition of EarthSky News caught my eye.  I’m copying the basic information here.  The complete article can be found at http://earthsky.org/earth/4-basic-questions-about-tornadoes?  The photo

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Admirable Poems

By Original Poetry

Occasionally I post some original poetry.  I don’t write as much poetry as I once did, but I’m interested enough to subscribe to a “Poem of the Day” from The Poetry Foundation.  I’ll admit I’m something of a purist; poetry to me should rhyme, and a lot of what I see today is the freest

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Naming Your Fears

By Fun Facts

Last time I wrote about the origins of Friday the 13th.   This leads to another subject — fears, or phobias. Fear is actually a normal protection, to keep us from doing really dumb things.  The Psychology Today website puts it this way — Fear is a vital response to physical and emotional danger—if we didn’t

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Happy Friday the 13th

By Fun Facts

I trust everyone has survived Friday the 13th?  I’ve never been very superstitious, but I’ve been wondering how we got to fear this particular day.  So I dug out the book An Uncommon History of Common Things (National Geographic, 2009, page 118).  As one might suspect, the answer isn’t very straightforward. First, the Friday component.

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