You may have heard about a mako shark swimming with an orange octopus hitching a ride on its head. This behavior did surprise a lot of people. But scientists have realized it’s not unusual in the animal kingdom. As described in “‘Sharktopus’ Wasn’t the First. These Animals Also Hitchhike on Other Animals” by Jason Bittel
Or more accurately, the hurricane season? There is such a bird, the veery thrush, that every year migrates thousands of miles from the northern United States and southern Canada across the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea to South America. But there are two complications — the veery thrush only weighs about 30 grams, and the
I’ve always been interested in communicating with animals. My second novel, Canine Champions, is about a boy and a dog with a telepathic link. But that’s more science fiction than reality. What about the real world? What is the status of our attempts to communicate with animals? And increasingly, their attempts to communicate with us?
Happy 4th of July! Again this year, I’m reprising my poem which expresses my thoughts about patriotism. It’s in my book Some Poems About Life, available on this website and Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/Some-Poems-About-Life-Actually-ebook/dp/B01FIE2LV8/ref=sr_1_7?). It’s a 99¢ download for Kindle! The Patriot Jerry is a patriot,he loves his country dear.He waves the flag on July 4th,he makes his feelings
What is the world’s most difficult job? I would vote for police officer. That’s especially true in this country, when there are so many complex situations that can arise, and most of them require split-second judgment — mental illness, drug addiction, spouse abuse, hostage situations. And the underlying assumption is that anyone, anywhere could be
Back in Colonial America, agriculture was the primary occupation for about 90% of the population (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_agriculture_in_the_United_States). But today, due to increased efficiency and other opportunities, less than two percent of the population is directly involved in farming. (https://www.google.com/search?q=percentage+of+people+in+agriculture+in+usa&sca_esv). And yet, despite the historic ‘loss’ of all those jobs, today’s unemployment rate has been consistently below five percent. I thought
It’s summertime! Are you happy? According to the World Happiness Report, you probably are if you live in Finland. On the Report’s 0-10 Happiness scale, Finland’s three-year average in 2024 was 7.736. In fact, all the Scandinavian countries score well — Denmark is second at 7.521. The USA? We don’t score as well; we’re 24th
Some laws are obsolete. If you drive through rural parts of Pennsylvania at night, a law requires you stop every mile to send up a rocket signal. (https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/top-craziest-laws-still-on-the-books) Some laws are unnecessary. It’s actually illegal to drive blindfolded in Alabama. (https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/news/g4039/crazy-state-laws/?) Some laws are just plain dumb. In Arkansas, it’s illegal to mispronounce the state’s name,
We all know how a lot of things change with the seasons, including human behavior. But what you might not realize is this includes one behavior you might not have considered — divorce. According to a recent NPR report (https://www.npr.org/2025/06/05/nx-s1-5415880/divorce-months-seasons-why?), divorces tend to spike twice a year: in the early spring and again in the
I’m always interested in quirks in the English language. So when I found an article “What’s the Longest Word in English?” on the Pocket website (https://getpocket.com/explore/item/what-s-the-longest-word-in-english?), I was intrigued. I know the Welsh language is famous (infamous?) for long words; see “The Longest Words in the Welsh Language” (https://talkpal.ai/the-longest-words-in-the-welsh-language/). And of course there is antidisestablishmentarianism