The astronomical world never ceases to amaze me. You may have heard about another pending near miss of Earth from an asteroid. Except it might not be an asteroid. Astronomers have identified an approaching “space object” — with the catchy name 2020 SO — heading toward Earth. But this one will not go whizzing by.
On October 12, 2019, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya ran a marathon (26.2 miles) in 1:59:40. It’s not considered an official record because it involved using every possible advantage — a closed, flat course shielded from the wind and the use of pacers, for example, but it was an incredible athletic feat nonetheless. But if that
How quickly the world changes! At one time, organ transplantation was just a dream. Yet, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), in calendar year 2019 there were 39,719 total transplants in the United States, up 8.7 percent from 2018 (https://unos.org/data/transplant-trends/). Of these, 3552 were heart transplants. The first heart transplant was performed
On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued one of the most important documents in U.S. history — the Emancipation Proclamation, except it was preliminary. This first issuance was meant as a warning: if the Confederate states did not end their rebellion by January 1st, 1863, then his Proclamation would take effect for real. Unfortunately,
Dinosaurs are long extinct, right? Not quite. Scientists consider birds to be avian dinosaurs. They first appeared around 150 million years ago as small, raptor-like dinosaurs with feathers, just another branch on the dinosaur family tree. They survived for over 80 million years, occupying virtually every biological niche on the planet. Then came a major extinction
How strange am I? Now you can see for yourself. I’ve written 19 short stories over the past several years, eight of which have been published on the Bewildering Stories website (http://bewilderingstories.com/). To keep busy during the quarantine, I put them all together into a book that’s now available on Amazon.com. The book comes in two flavors —
Could it be possible? For years I’ve been reading about the complications of a growing population. How large numbers of people strain resources and create pollution. How too many are condemned to live in poverty and “food insecurity.” How we live where we’re not supposed to — in floodplains and on barrier islands to be
Today I was surprised to learn of a problem that really shouldn’t exist. It’s no secret that there is a shortage of organ donors. The Medscape website estimates almost 113,000 people are waiting for transplants. So you would think the shipment of donated organs would receive the highest priority. And you would be wrong. According
Have you ever had a strong urge to start over? I mean go missing and begin life again somewhere else with a new identity? For whatever reason — escape debt, a loveless marriage, maybe domestic violence? All over the world, people have been known to do that — just disappear and start over someplace else.
It’s happened again. The headline reads “A mom called 911 to help her 13-year-old with autism. Utah police shot him” by USA Today’s N’dea Yancey-Bragg. Basically, a mother returned to work for the first time in a year. But her 13-year-old son with Asperger’s syndrome had separation anxiety, which led to a “mental health episode.”