How many words are there in the English language? I’ve seen estimates ranging from 400,000 to as many as a million if you count all the scientific and technical terms, although a quick Google search says the Second Edition of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words in current use (https://wordcounter.io/blog/how-many-words-are-in-the-english-language/). No matter who is counting, a
If you are looking for a new game to play with your pet rat, may I suggest hide-and-seek? Neuroscientist Juan Ignacio Sanguinetti of the Humboldt University of Berlin does just that. Drawing inspiration from YouTube animal videos (really!) he has taught rats to play hide-and-seek. His work was recently published in the journal Science. The
I spent a nice weekend visiting my niece who started her post-high school education this fall at Syracuse University. While visiting, I began to wonder why SU’s nickname is “The Orange”. Syracuse University was founded in 1870. The first official colors in 1872 were pea green and rose pink. In 1873 the student consensus was
No, this is not a joke. It’s just a great “what if?” — if dinosaurs were alive today, how would veterinarians treat them? Like all wild animals, dinosaurs had difficult and violent lives. Scientists who study fossils can identify all kinds of wounds and injuries. For instance, a tyrannosaur skeleton has been found with a
One way to keep up with what’s happening is to follow word trends, According to Merriam-Webster, here are some of the words people have been looking up recently. Kangaroo Court — Inquiries jumped 11,000% on October 8 after President Trump described the congressional impeachment hearings as “a totally compromised kangaroo court.” Merriam-Webster’s definition is either “a
There has been a lot of talk recently about how some think the next target for our manned space exploration should be Mars. But if you examine the details about time and distance, and consider the limitations of our rocket technology, there’s a compelling case for sending women. And maybe it should be only women.
As a history nerd, I’ve often wondered how any war could be considered civil. I’ve recently found a logical explanation, and it goes all the way back to the Roman Empire. Recall how most English words have more than one meaning. So it is with civil. The first definitions we usually think of are “quiet
In case you haven’t noticed, there has been a media blitz on climate change. I’ve found a little tidbit in this blizzard of information that shows the unusual connections among life on this planet. This involves the impact of whales on the climate. Or more specifically, whale poop. According to a study by International Monetary
I remember the software package that came with my first computer had an interactive game on CD. How the game progressed depended upon which answers you gave at critical points. This was my first exposure to interactivity. So I was surprised to learn that interactivity predated computer technology. There was a series of books from
Our Founding Fathers did not make it easy for us. They could’ve given us a king or other type of supreme leader and let it go at that. That would’ve been much simpler — just do what you’re told and don’t worry. But instead they gave us a system that requires a lot of work