Searching for good news about 2020, I came across an interesting article, “Ten Scientific Discoveries From 2020 That May Lead To New Inventions” by Rachael Lallensack in the Smithsonian Magazine. This piece features animals with newly discovered special abilities that may be useful to us. The lessons come from many different sources, including suckerfish, flying
One of the rituals of a new year is to plan self improvement in the form of a resolution, then ultimately slip back into your former habits. There’s got to be a better way. Actually, there is. In an article entitled “How to Set Goals You’ll Actually Achieve,” Amanda Loudin lays out a plan to
What is your trigger point, the moment when you see a wrong and feel you just have to do something about it? For Dutch clothing designer Bas Timmer, it was in 2014 when a friend’s father succumbed to hypothermia after being unable to find adequate shelter. Bas had started his own outdoor, cold weather clothing line,
Mother Nature has this way of deflating our egos. Not only has a lowly virus been totally dominating our lives recently, but I’ve just read the most indestructible animal on Earth is an almost-as-lowly eight-legged segmented micro-animal named a tardigrade. Also more affectionately known as a water bear, tardigrades can survive for up to 30
From the “I Wish I’d Written That” Department — On December 29, 2020, The Writer’s Almanac (https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-writers-almanac?) reprinted one of the all-time great poems, Invictus by William Ernest Henley. This is painted on the wall of the in-school suspension classroom at the high school where I substitute teach. It’s a good way to end the
A strange story to end a strange year: If you have chronic pain and have tried massage to no avail, there is one type of massage you may consider. Or not. A small spa in Cairo, Egypt uses snakes, real snakes, to slither over patients’ backs and faces. The treatment begins very conventionally, with background
The end of the year is always a good time for reflection, and it’s the perfect time to note milestones and measure progress. As such, I’ve found a very unusual milestone in the history of our planet. The year 2020 saw the total weight of man-made materials overtake the weight of biomass made by Mother
This original story appears in my book Stories: Short and Strange, available on this website and at Amazon.com in both paperback (https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Short-Strange-Bob-Welbaum/dp/B0874PCH2G/ref=sr_1_1?) and download editions (https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Short-Strange-Bob-Welbaum-ebook/dp/B0876GGCMG/ref=sr_1_14?). A Second Chance at History Jerome had felt fear before, but this was different. Much different. The man on his right disappeared from his peripheral vision with a scream.
I have never understood hypnosis. Its use in numerous TV shows and movies over the years hasn’t really explained to me what actually happens. So a recent article entitled “Is Hypnosis Real? Here’s What Science Says” by Markham Heid caught my eye (https://time.com/5380312/is-hypnosis-real-science/?). “There are many myths about hypnosis, mostly coming from media presentations,” says
As bad as this pandemic is, and as bad as the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic was, there was an epidemic you probably have never heard of that almost brought the economy to its knees. You wouldn’t be aware because it didn’t affect people. Its victims were horses. So why was this so serious? It came